A Comparative Study on PSD Models for Chromite Ores Comminuted by Different Devices

Abstract

AbstractThe objective of this study was to characterize the particle size distributions (PSDs) of chromite ores comminuted by different devices, i.e., subjected to different breakage modes and to compare the performances of the PSD functions selected. Different PSDs were obtained for five different mineralogical samples of chromite ores by jaw, cone and hammer crushing and ball mill grinding. The PSDs of the products were characterized to find the most suitable model by Gates–Gaudin–Schuhmann (GGS) and Rosin–Rammler (RR) functions. It was found that the PSDs of all chromite types in single‐pass devices, i.e., jaw and cone crushing were better described by the GGS model than RR model. The RR model gave the best results for all ore sample PSDs generated by retention type systems, i.e., hammer crushing and ball mill grinding. Both distribution functions gave higher R2 values as the size distribution became uniform. The results of piecewise regression were found very useful to improve the performance of GGS distribution in terms of correlation coefficients for samples from a hammer crusher and ball mill.