Size Reduct solid state or use solid material in the processing of fluids, reduction in the size of the solid par- ticles is frequently required. In the production of gypsum plaster, the raw gypsum rock is removed from the quarry in large blocks, sometimes 5 ft in diameter. It must be reduced to particles fine enough to pass through a 100-mesh sereen in order to provide sufficient specific surface for hydration to take place rapidly. This means @ reduction in size from 60 in. to 0.005 in. Pigments in paints must be very fine in order to give good coverage when applied to 2 surface Reduction in size involves the production of smaller mess units from larger mass units of the same material; it therefore follows that the operation must cause fracture to take place in the larger units. This fracturing or shattering of the larger mass units is accomplished by the application of pressure. All true solid materials are crystalline in nature; that is, the atoms in the individual crystals are arranged in definite repeatitig geometric patterns, and there are certain planes in the crystel along which shear takes place more readily. ‘The pressure applied must be sufficient to cause failure by shear along these cleavage planes. If the shear along these planes re- sults in deformation but not rupture, the deformation js called plastic deformation. The segments of the crystal slide along on each other like a pack of cards, the only result being a change in dimensions of the crystal. In order to bring about actual size reduc- tion, it is necessary that the material be actually fractured and that shear movement, once started, resulis in complete separation of the segments be- tween which the shear failure occurred. [: industries that process raw material in. the CHAPTER 4 ion of Solids From this, it might appear thatthe best metbod of causing rupture to take place in solid material would be the applicetion of shearing loads, How- ever, the orientation of erystals in solid matter is usually so irregular that the direct application of compressive loads is just as effective as shearing loads. ‘All equipment for size reduction of solids uses com- pression, or shear, or both, as disrupting forces. OBJECTIVES ‘The purpose of size reduction is not oniy to make * “ttle ones out of big ones” when the effectiveness can be measured by the degree of fineness of the product, but also to produce a product of the desired size or size range. The size requirements for various products may vary widely, end hence different ms- chines and procedures are employed. A size range entirely satisfactory for one purpose may be highly undesirable for another, even when the same sub- stance is involved. Powdered coal is widely used for firing industrial furnaces, and lump coal is also fed into furnaces by mechenical stokers. But powdered coal could not be used in the stoker, and lurap coal could not be used in the equipment designed for firing pulverized or powdered coal. In many cases, itis necessary to use a product with rather narrow limits in size variation. It is usually impossible to accomplish this by size reduction orly. Screening and classification by various means are required to secure the desired limitation in size range. The two unit operations of size reduction and. size separation are further closely associated in that laboratory screea analyses ure necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of a given size reduction operation 25