PAGE 1/2

AIB 030

Nordberg Barmac improves grinding mill

performance
Introduction
Higher capital, operating costs and environmental
concerns, mean cement operations are becoming
increasingly marginal. The challenge is to improve,
and more importantly, utilise crushing and milling
technologies that provides reduced capital and
operating costs whilst increasing unit efficiencies.

Cement Clinker Feed

Process
In the cement industry, there are two distinct milling
operations before the final cement product can be
packaged and sold. Initially the process is a typical
crushing and screening application. Rock is taken
from the quarry face, crushed and screened down to
a 40mm to 20mm product before being placed through
a mill. The milled raw material is then heated in a
kiln with additives to produce cement clinker which
in turn requires grinding to a fine particle size to
produce a saleable cement product.

Grizzly

Barmac B8000
185kW [250 hp]
Tip speed 60 m/s

Frequent breakdowns and down time may result when

conventional crushing equipment are pushed beyond
design capacity in an effort to increase production or
to produce a finer product. Most cement plants are
designed with tight general circuit arrangement and
selection of equipment that operates at its rated
capacity .

Screen
Cut 1 = 8.0mm
Cut 2 = 4.0mm

The grinding mill is the single largest user of energy

within the circuit. The lifting and subsequent tumbling
of grinding media and the material being milled is
very inefficient, requiring large power requirements.
Therefore new technology must be employed to make
the mill more efficient. This can be done by improved
milling techniques or by introducing a finer feed to
the mill, in order to reduce the amount of work the
mill has to perform.
Major Benefits of using a Barmac
The common application for Barmac VSI crushers
are as pre-grinders for raw materials and cement
clinker. In raw material processing, the VSI is typically
placed in the final reduction stage to condition the
feed before entering the mill. The ability of the VSI
to produce a product with a high proportion of fine
material improves milling circuit performance by
reducing energy requirement and increasing plant
capacity.
CASE STUDY
The Problem
An Indian cement company was looking at ways of
reducing the costs and increasing the tonnage in the
cement clinker section of their plant. The plant was
feeding a minus 35mm feed to the mill.

Cone
Crusher

Ball Mill

The Proposal
To place a Barmac VSI in closed circuit to condition
the feed to a minus 4mm product before it entered
the mill.
The Solution
After consultation with the customer on the benefits
of installing a Barmac VSI into their operation, the
customer placed an order for a B8000 crusher. To
maximise the savings that could be obtained by putting
a finer feed into the ball mill, the mill charge was resized to suit the finer feed.

AIB030 PAGE 2/2

Mill feed before and after Barmac installed

100
Mill feed - before Barmac was installed
90

Mill feed - after Barmac was installed

80

Cum % Passing

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.01

0.10

1.00
Sieve Size (mm.)

10.00

100.00

Benefits and Advantages

Further business

The product obtained from the mill after the inclusion

of the Barmac in the circuit has lead to a 33% increase
in the capacity of the mill, from 45tph to 60tph.

Applying a Barmac VSI as a pre-grinder has provided

a new and exciting application where the benefits are
only just being realised by the industry.

This is directly attributed to the decreased feed size

and the decreased mill retention time of the feed
material.

Reasons for Success

The slight increase in power consumption of the

whole plant with the addition of the Barmac VSI in
the circuit was offset by a higher percentage increase
in net capacity coupled with further savings from a
more efficient milling operation.

The unique crushing action of the Barmac provides

a finer feed to the mill and the production of
substantially finer material than traditional compression
crushing equipment.
This is taking the high energy requirements of fine
particle reduction away from the mill and placed these
duties with the Barmac.

Nordberg Barmac VSI crushers are also used in the industrial minerals, mining, recycling and general quarrying industries. A wide
range of materials are processed through Barmac VSI crushers worldwide. For more information on this or any other application,
please contact your nearest Metso Minerals representative.

Metso Minerals (Matamata) Limited

Mangawhero Road, Private Bag 4071,
Matamata, New Zealand
Tel. +64 7 881 9060, fax +64 7 888 5244
minerals.info@metso.com
AIB030 1 10/01