GRINDERS

INTRODUCTION

A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid

material into smaller pieces. In general, milling refers to the
size reduction and separation operations used for processing
of food grains into edible form by removing and separating
the inedible and undesirable portions from them. Milling may
involve cleaning/separation, husking, sorting, polishing,
grinding etc (5).
The grinding of solid matters occurs under exposure of
mechanical forces that trench the structure by overcoming of
the interior bonding forces. After the grinding the state of the
solid is changed: the grain size, the grain size disposition and
the grain shape (6).

GRINDING MAY SERVE THE FOLLOWING

PURPOSES IN ENGINEERING
• magnification of the surface area of a solid
• manufacturing of a solid with a desired grain size
• pulping of resources (6)

PRINCIPLE
Observation and research finding indicate that earliest type of
grinding mill is called a quern-stone. Two heavy stones which
fit together. The top rotates and the corn (etc) is trapped
between the two stones. The faces usually have small groves
carved into then, and these function a lot like the teeth on a
file. The corn gets "stuck", and other side rotates, and files
away the free surface of the stuck grain. There are LOTS of
different patterns for these groves. Different ones are
probably better for different grains (2).
If the grain are approximately a sphere (but isn't) and isn't
perfectly spread over the grinding faces. The upper stone will
be supported by thin layer of grain which works a little bit like
ball-bearings. But because the grains aren't perfect spheres,
when they rotate a few will rotate and try to raise the upper
stone, increasing the pressure on the grain to such an extent
that the husk is likely to crack. If the upper stone is being
turned fairly fast, the pressure gets bigger (3).

(7
)
 (7)

THE CHARACTERISTIC OF GRINDING OPERATION

IS AFFECTED BY THE FOLLOWING GRAIN
PARAMETERS:
Type of cereal grain
Variety
Moisture content
Extent of hydro thermal treatment given to the grain
Mechanical properties.
(8)
 TYPES OF GRINDING MILLS:
Ball mill
Colloid mill
Conical mill
Disk mill
Edge mill
Grist mill, also called flour mill or corn mill
Hammer mill
Wiley mill
(8)
1. BALL MILL:
A typical type of fine grinder is the ball mill. A slightly inclined
or horizontal rotating cylinder is partially filled with balls,
usually stone or metal, which grinds material to the necessary
fineness by friction and impact with the tumbling balls. The
feed is at one end of the cylinder and the discharge is at the
other. Ball mills are commonly used in the manufacture of
Portland cement also at lower temp. ball mill is used for
grinding of spices(2).

2.ROD MILL:
A rotating drum causes friction and attrition between steel
rods and ore particles. But note that the term 'rod mill' is also
used as a synonym for a slitting mill, which makes rods of iron
or other metal.
Rod mills are very similar to ball mills, except they use long
rods for Rod mills are very similar to ball mills, except they
use long rods for grinding media. The rods grind the ore by
tumbling within the the mill, similar to the grinding balls in a
ball mill. To prevent the conditions leading to rod charge
tangling, the length to diameter ratio is maintained at 1.4 to
1.6. Rod mills accept feed up to about 50 mm (2 in.) and
produce a product in the size range of 3000 to 270 mm (–4 to
–35 mesh). Grinding action is by line contact between the
rods extending the length of the mill. Rods tumble and spin in
roughly parallel alignment simulating a series of roll crushers.
This results in preferential grinding of coarse material and
minimizes production of slimes. The rods grind the ore by
tumbling within the mill, similar to the grinding balls in a ball
mill. The rod mill, a tumbling mill characterized by the use of
rods as grinding media, grinds ores, coal/ coke, and other
materials for both wet and dry applications (3,4).
3.SAG MILL:
SAG is an acronym for Semi-Autogenous Grinding, and applies
to mills that utilize steel balls in addition to large rocks for
grinding. The SAG mills use a minimal ball charge of 6 to
15%.
Principle of SAG Mill operation
A rotating drum throws large rocks and steel balls in a
cataracting motion which causes impact breakage of larger
rocks and compressive grinding of finer particles. Attrition in
the charge causes grinding of finer particles. SAG mills are
characterized by their large diameter and short length. The
inside of the mill is lined with lifting plates to lift the material
inside up and around the inside of the mill, where it then falls
off the plates and falls back down.
SAG mills are primarily used in the gold, copper and platinum
industries with applications also in the lead, zinc, silver,
alumina and nickel industries .In food industry SAG mills are
used for reducing the size of sugar to fine powder (2,5,8).
4. HAMMER MILL :
A hammermill is a machine whose purpose is to shred
material into fine particles. They have many sorts of
applications in many industries, including:
• Milling grain.
• Ethanol plants (corn).

• Grinding used shipping pallets for mulch.

• Sawmills, size reduction of trim scrap and planer

shavings into boiler fuel or mulch.
 • A farm machine, which mills grain into coarse flour to be
fed to livestock.

Desktop hammer mill used for preparing growth media in a

lab.
• Shredding paper.
• Shredding scrap automobiles (see automotive shredder
residue).
• In waste management
(8)
• Fruit juice production

5. DISC MILL:
A disc mill, is a type of crusher that can be used to grind,
cut, shear, shred, fiberize, pulverize, granulate, crack, rub,
curl, fluff, twist, hull, blend, or refine. It works in a similar
manner to the ancient Burstone mill in that the feedstock is
fed between opposing discs or plates. The discs may be
grooved, serrated, or spiked (3).
Applications
SINGLE DISC MILL DOUBLE DISC MILL

three stages of the wet bark, barley, borax, brake

milling of field corn, lining scrap, brass chips,
manufacture of peanut sodium hydroxide, chemical
butter, processing nut salts, coconut shells, copper
shells, ammonium nitrate, powder, cork, cottonseed
urea, producing chemical
hulls, pharmaceuticals,
slurries and recycled paper
feathers, hops, leather,
slurries, and grinding oilseed cakes, phosphates,
chromium metal. rice, rosin, sawdust, and
seeds.

Disc mills are relatively expensive to run and maintain, and

are not used where ball mills or hammermills produce the
desired results at a lower cost (8).
Mechanism
Substances are crushed between the edge of a thick, spinning
disk and something else. Some mills cover the edge of the
disk in blades to chop up incoming matter rather than crush
it.
In materials processing a grinder is a machine for producing
fine particle size reduction through attrition and compressive
forces at the grain size level. See also crusher for
mechanisms producing larger particles (3).
 (8)
6.AUTOGENOUS MILL:
A rotating drum throws large rocks in a cataracting motion
which causes impact breakage of larger rocks and
compressive grinding of finer particles. It is similar in
operation to a SAG mill as described above but does not use
steel balls in the mill. Attrition in the charge causes grinding
of finer particles. Also known as ROM or "Run Of Mine"
grinding. Autogenous mills are available for both wet and dry
grinding. The diameter of Autogenous mills is normally two to
three times the length. The ore charge is usually 25 to 35% of
the mill volume.Autogenous mills have grate discharges to
retain the coarse grinding media in the mill (8).
7.PEBBLE MILL:
A rotating drum causes friction and attrition between rock
pebbles and ore particles. May be used where product
contamination by iron from steel balls must be avoided (3,8).
8.BUHRSTONE MILL:
Another type of fine grinder commonly used is the buhrstone
mill, which is similar to old-fashioned flour mills (8).
9. HIGH PRESSURE GRINDING ROLLS:
The ore is fed between two rollers which are pushed firmly
together while their rotating motion pushes the ore through a
small gap between them. Extreme pressure causes the rocks
to fracture into finer particles and also causes microfracturing
at the grain size level.
It consists of a pair of horizontal cylindrical rollers through
which material is passed. The two rollers rotate in opposite
directions, "nipping" and crushing material between them. A
similar type of intermediate crusher is the edge runner, which
consists of a circular pan with two or more heavy wheels
known as mullers rotating within it; material to be crushed is
shoved underneath the wheels using attached plow blades
(2,8)
.
10. PELLET MILL:
pellet mill is a type of mill used to create cylindrical pellets
from a mixture of dry powdered feedstock, such as flour,
sawdust, or grass, and a wet ingredient, such as molasses or
steam. The pellets are made by compacting the mash or meal
into many small holes in a die. The die is usually round and
the pellets are pushed from the inside out. Pellet mills are
used in the production of animal feeds, and of wood and
grass fuel pellets for use in a pellet stove.
Pellet mills are unlike grinding mills, in that they combine
small materials into a larger, homogeneous mass, rather than
break large materials into smaller pieces. In this way, pellet
mills are similar to extruders. Feedstocks for pellet mills can
sometimes break down and then re-form, or polymerize,
under the extreme heat and pressure of the pellet mill.
Pressures in the die can reach up to 25,000 psi (2,3,8).

11. GRIST MILL

gristmill or grist mill is a building where grain is ground into

flour, or the grinding mechanism itself. In many countries
these are referred to as corn mills or flour mills. Gristmills
only grind clean grains, that is, grain from which stalks and
chaff have previously been removed, but some mills also
housed equipment for threshing, sorting, and cleaning prior to
grinding. Gristmills also grind corn into meal. Gristmills only
grind clean grains, that is, grain from which stalks and chaff
have previously been removed, but some mills also housed
equipment for threshing, sorting, and cleaning prior to
grinding. Gristmills also grind corn into meal
 (Grain mill with
bevel gears)
Although gristmill can refer to any mill that grinds grain, the
term historically was used to refer to a local mill where
farmers brought their own grain and received the flour from
it, minus the "miller's toll"(8).

12. WILEY MILL

The Wiley mill is a laboratory-scale machine for grinding

materials to a powder. This mill prepares materials for
analysis with minimal moisture loss. Well-dried samples are
preferred. In this grinding mill, the material is loaded cut into
crude pieces or lumps and loaded into a hopper. From the
hopper, the material drops by gravity into the path of a set of
rotating hard tool steel blades (driven by an electric motor).
The revolving knives work against stationary knives and the
resulting powder is forced through a steel screen. The
powdered material then drops into a waiting collection vessel
underneath. The Wiley mill is commonly used in agriculture
and soil science laboratories (8).

REFRENCES:

1. Lynch, A., Rowland C., The history of grinding,SME, 2005

2. Gimpel, J., The Medieval Machine, Gollanz, 1976, Chapter
3. ^ Donald Routledge Hill (1996), "Engineering", p. 781, in (Rashed &
Morelon 1996, pp. 751-95)
4. ^ Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near
East", Scientific American, May 1991, pp. 64-69 (cf. Donald Routledge Hill,
Mechanical Engineering)
5. Unit operation in food processing – R.L EARLE
6. Post harvest technology-
7. www.googleimages.com
8. www.wikipedia.org