Effect of ball and feed particle size distribution on the milling efficiency of a ball mill: An attainable region approach

Abstract

In this article, alternative forms of optimizing the milling efficiency of a laboratory scale ball mill by varying the grinding media size distribution and the feed material particle size distribution were investigated. Silica ore was used as the test material. The experimental parameters that were kept constant in this investigation was the grinding media filling, powder filling and the mill rotational speed. The data obtained from these batch tests was then analyzed using a model free technique called the Attainable Region method. This analysis technique showed that the required product fineness is a function of grinding media and feed material size distributions. It was also observed from the experimental results that in order to increase the milling efficiency of a ball mill, towards optimum production of material in the desired size class, there is a need to correlate the ball size and the feed size distributions.