ACTIVITY NO.

COMMINUTION (ROLL CRUSHER)

LABORATORY REPORT

Objective
To crush the ore sample in a Roll Crusher, evaluate the average product size by sieving,
determine the reduction ratio, determine the actual and theoretical capacity and verify the
Rittinger’s Law of Crushing.

Introduction
Communication theory deals with the relationship between the energy input and the
particle size made from a given feed size. It is assumed that most of the energy input to a crushing
or grinding machine is absorbed by the machine itself, and only a small fraction of the total energy
is available for breaking the material.
All the theories of comminution assume that the material is brittle, so that no energy is
adsorbed in processes such as elongation or contraction which is not finally utilised in breakage.
The oldest theory is that of Von Rittinger (1867), which states that the energy consumed in the
size reduction is proportional to the area of new surface produced. The surface area of a known
weight of particles of uniform diameter is inversely proportional to the diameter, hence
Rittinger's law equates to:

1 1
𝐸 = 𝐾𝑅 [𝐷 − 𝐷 ] (eq. 1)
2 1

where E is the energy input, D1 is the initial particle size, D2 is the final particle size, and KR is
Rittinger’s constant.
Roll crushers are most widely used in the secondary crushing in the process of
comminution. It consists of pair of heavy cylindrical rolls revolving towards each other. Large
particles are crushed when entering the crusher through two revolving rolls. The capacity of the
rolls can be calculated in terms of the ribbon of material that will pass the space between the
rolls. Thus theoretical capacity is given by:

Theoretical capacity (C) = 60𝜋D(S)B𝜌N (eq. 2)

MET 103 MINERAL PROCESSING

College of Engineering and Geosciences
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY
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where D, S, and B are the diameter of the roll, spacing between the rolls, and breath of the roll
in meters respectively. N is the speed of the rotation of the rolls in rotation per minute and 𝜌 is
the density of the material.
The actual capacity of the roll crusher is obtained by divide the mass of the sample feed
with the time it takes to crush the sample. With this, the efficiency of the roll crusher is then
determined by dividing the difference of actual and theoretical capacity with the theoretical yield
multiplied by a hundred. However, in practice, allowing for voids between the particles, loss of
speed in gripping the feed, etc., the actual capacity is usually about 25% of the theoretical
capacity.

Methodology
A bulk sample of limestone with size of about 10cm was prepared and dry in the oven for
15 minutes and then cooled. a graduated cylinder was prepared and filled with 500 ml water of
then five gram of sample of was acquired in the bulk material and put into the graduated cylinder
with water. The change in volume was recorded which was 2.5 ml, thus the density of the
material was found to be 2000kg/m3.
The diameter, breath, distance between the rollers were measured by metal ruler and
then recorded, ensuring that the roll crusher was powered off. The bulk material was first crushed
in jaw crusher. The jaw-crushed sample was analyzed using sieve analysis to determine its
average particle size. After, a 500 gram of the jaw-crushed sample was fed continuously to the
roll crusher. This time, the roll crusher was powered on before the sample was fed. The time was
also recorded when the sample was fed to the roll crusher until all samples were crushed. Lastly,
the roll-crushed sample was analyzed using sieve analysis. The whole activity process was
summarized in the figure below.

Figure 1. Flowchart of the Comminution Process and Sieve Analysis Performed

Bulk Sample Jaw Crusher Roll Crusher

Sieve Analysis

MET 103 MINERAL PROCESSING

College of Engineering and Geosciences
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY
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Results and Discussion
The result of the sieve analysis of samples before and after crushed into roll crusher were
summarized below in the table 6.1 and 6.2 respectively. The first column of table is the mesh
number of the test sieves that correspond to the size of sieve opening of the test sieves (second
column) which limits the particle size to pass through each layer of sieve. The third column is the
average particle size which was obtained by getting the mean of particle size between initial input
size and final output particle size in each layer of test sieves. The fourth column is the weight of
the samples retained in each layer of sieves. These weight values were obtained by subtracting
the weight of the sieve to the weight of sieve with samples it suppressed. The fifth column is the
percentage of the weight of the samples retained in each layer to the total weight of the samples.
The sixth column is the cumulative percentage of the material retained in each layer of sieves,
e.g. 52.98% of the sample is greater than 4.76 mm in size. The last column is the cumulative
percentage of the samples passing through the sieves.

Table 6.1 Results of Test Sieve Analysis (Before)

Sieve Ave. Cum.
Opening Particle Weight Wt% Cum. Wt% Wt%
Mesh (mm) Size(mm) retained (g) retained retained passing
(+4) 4.76 4.76 710 22.87 22.87 77.13
(-4), (+6) 3.36 4.06 750 24.15 47.02 52.98
(-6) 3.36 3.36 1645 52.98 100
TOTAL 3105 100
The table 6.1 shows the result of the sieve analysis on the sample after fed into the jaw
crusher. The experimenter uses only two coarse sieves in analyzing jaw-crushed sample just to
have an approximate average particle size of the samples to be fed on the roll crusher. From the
table, the experimenter used the samples that passes through mesh 4 and retained in mesh 6 to
be fed on the roll crusher which having a particle size of 4.06 mm.
The table 6.2 shows the result of the sieve analysis of the sample after fed into the roll
crusher. Out of 500 grams fed into the roll crusher about 446 grams was obtained in the sieves.
The lacking 54 grams may have lost due to mishandling and some of it were became too fine to
be able to be carried by the wind.

Table 6.2 Results of Test Sieve Analysis (after)

Sieve Ave. Weight
Weight Cum. Wt. % Cum. Wt.%
Mesh No. opening Particle Size retained
retained (g) retained passing
(mm) (mm) (%)

MET 103 MINERAL PROCESSING

College of Engineering and Geosciences
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY
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(+8) 2.36 2.36 29 6.50 6.50 93.5
(-8)(+18) 1 1.68 160 35.87 42.37 57.63
(-18)(+170) 0.18 0.59 173 38.79 81.16 18.84
(-170)(+270) 0.09 0.139 38 8.52 89.68 10.32
(+270) (-325) 0.053 0.0715 36 8.07 97.75 2.25
(-325)(+400) 0.045 0.049 8 1.79 99.54 0.46
(-400) 0.038 0.0415 2 0.45 99.99 0.01
TOTAL 446

In table 6.2, the highest percentage of the weight retained is 38.79% and is retained on
the third mesh layer which has particle sizes between 1 mm and 0.18 mm. This means that most
of the particles have particle sizes between 1 mm and 0.18 mm and, to average, have a particle
size of approximately 0.59mm. Since this particle sizes mostly composed the sample, therefore
it is assumed that the particle size after subjected to roller crusher has an average particle size of
0.59mm.
With the assumption made, the reduction ratio was 6.88. This means that the roller
crusher was able to reduce the sample of about 2.79 times of its size. Using Rittinger’s Law, the
roller crusher was able to consume 112.33 Joules to reduce the particle size from 4.06 mm to
0.59 mm. As calculated below, the roller crusher has an efficiency of 99.99%. This means that
the roller crusher is efficient in reducing the particles.

Calculate:
4.06 𝑚𝑚
Reduction Ratio = 0.59 𝑚𝑚 = 6.88

2 1 1
Energy (Rittinger’s Law) = 0.077545 𝑚 ⁄𝐽 x ( 0.00059 − 0.00406𝑚 ) = 112.33 J

Calculate:
1𝑚
Theoretical Capacity = 60𝜋 x 225mm x 0.5mm x 19.09 mm x 2000 kg/m3 x (1000𝑚𝑚)3 x 764.21 rpm
=618.73 kg rpm

𝑜.5 𝑘𝑔
Actual Capacity = 20𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.025 kg/min

|𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦−𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦| |618.73 kg rpm−0.025 kg/min|

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑥100 =
618.73 kg rpm
𝑥100 = 99.99%

MET 103 MINERAL PROCESSING

College of Engineering and Geosciences
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY
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What accounts for the difference in the theoretical and actual capacity?
Theoretical capacity is the maximum production output quantities that can be generated
or produced by using the full power of all concerned production's factors. However, in practice,
allowing for voids between the particles, loss of speed in gripping the feed, improper material
handling and any other factors made the actual capacity deviates from theoretical capacity.

Laboratory Report (60%) _____

Demonstration of Skills (40%)
Score
Cleanliness in the laboratory – 30% _____
Orderliness in performing the procedure – 30% _____
Participation in performing the activity – 20% _____
Wearing proper PPE (20%) _____

Total _____
Final Score: _______

MET 103 MINERAL PROCESSING

College of Engineering and Geosciences
CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY
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