Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Determination of the axial grinding media distribution in the IsaMill using T

radiometric densitometry
D. Schons , A. Kwade
⁎

Institute for Particle Technology, TU Braunschweig, Volkmaroder Straße 5, 38104 Braunschweig, Germany

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: When horizontal stirred media mills are used to grind highly concentrated slurries with a large throughput the
Stirred media mill grinding media tend to be pushed towards the product discharge. This displacement may lead to hydraulic
Axial grinding media distribution packing which has, in turn, negative consequences for the grinding process like ineffective energy utilisation and
Radiometric densitometry increased wear. The IsaMill™ with its internal classifier keeps the grinding media away from the discharge. This
Internal classifier
technology enabled the fine grinding of minerals in an open circuit. Since the classifier implies a current
counteracting the drag forces due to the product flow, it gets more complex to understand the axial distribution
of the grinding media. In order to measure the filling ratio along the M4 IsaMill™ a radiometric densitometer
with a linear bearing was installed. This method enables the determination of the spatial filling ratio by cor-
relating it with the attenuation of gamma radiation of a Cs137 nuclide. Several tests have been carried out in
water as a model fluid to introduce this novel technology and to characterize the general behavior of the
IsaMill™. Future experiments will have to identify the impact of the process parameters on the axial grinding
media distribution by using different Newtonian and non-Newtonian model fluids.

1. Introduction
Wet stirred media milling is a well-established top down process for
a wide range of organic and inorganic products as for all kind of particle
loaded coatings, active pharmaceutical ingredients, fertilizer, ores in
particular and many other minerals in general. Whatever the field of
application is, the pivotal effect to grind the particles down to the de-
sired size is by stressing them between colliding grinding beads. To
understand the whole process on a particle level, the breakage of the
particles during one or several stress events is as important as the in-
formation about the stress events provided by the mill. Especially on the
machine level a lot of effort has been made to the development of
models which describe the impact of the common parameters on the
power draw of stirred mills. Machine based models treat the grinding
media as uniformly distributed along the mill axis. However, as the
grinding media are affected by hydrodynamic forces they can be axially
transported due to the acting drag, following the product flow to the
discharge. In the worst case grinding media accumulate to a packed bed
in front of the classification device, the so called hydraulic packing.
This tendency of packing was investigated for horizontal (Thiel, 1993)
and vertical (Stehr, 1989) stirred media mills for varying conditions.
They both faced an increased power draw as well as a higher pressure
reading when packing occurs. In addition, the works of Radziszewski
and Moore (2017) and Rule and de Waal (2011) indicate that a packing,
or at least an irregularly distributed media filling, can be accompanied
by an uneven mill wear. Thiel (1993) and Theuerkauf (2000),
Theuerkauf and Schwedes (2000) both used transparent grinding
chambers to examine the phenomena of grinding media motion and
distribution in a stirred media mill. The disadvantage of these optical
approaches is the fact that they only spot the grinding beads which are
close to the grinding chamber liner. Furthermore, a transparent
chamber enables the distinction between packed and freely movable
grinding media at the grinding chamber wall, but does not reflect the
charge of grinding media concentration along the axis. Since the in-
ternal classifier of the IsaMill™ implies a current counteracting the
product flow it gets even more challenging to describe the axial
grinding media distribution. Discrete element method (DEM) (Cleary
and Sinnott, 2015; Jayasundara et al., 2008, 2010; Yang et al., 2006)
and simulations coupling DEM with SPH (smoothed particle hydro-
dynamics) (Cleary and Sinnott, 2015) have been carried out in the past
years as well as experiments using modern techniques like positron
emission particle tracking (PEPT) (van der Westhuizen et al., 2011) to
get a better understanding of the fluid and particle dynamics especially
inside the IsaMill™ with and without classifier. Jayasundara et al.
(2011) coupled CFD (computational fluid dynamics) with DEM and
compared the results with experimental results from PEPT

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: d.schons@tu-braunschweig.de (D. Schons).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2018.09.021
Received 14 May 2018; Received in revised form 17 September 2018; Accepted 27 September 2018
0892-6875/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Schons, A. Kwade
measurements. Even though none of these investigations were focused
on the axial grinding media distribution they all show either way how
the IsaMill™ geometry affects the media distribution and thus how the
mill performance varies along the stirrer axis. The acquired information
refers to the media occupancy (van der Westhuizen et al., 2011), the
velocity (Cleary and Sinnott, 2015) of and stressing between grinding
beads (Yang et al., 2006). Thus, simulations and the sophisticated PEPT
technology provide essential knowledge about the behavior of the Isa-
Mill™. Although these methods give valuable precise results on the
dynamics inside the mill, the main drawback of these methods for
studying a wider range of operating conditions is the time requirement
and their complexity. To raise the level of understanding the IsaMill™
performance a new measurement technique, the so called radiometric
densitometry, is set up. This method enables the determination of the
spatial filling ratio by correlating it with the attenuation of gamma
radiation of a Cs137 nuclide. This work introduces the radiometric
densitometry by gamma radiation as a technique to examine the ob-
lique impact of the process parameters, the mill geometry and the
rheological properties of model fluids on the mill performance focusing
on the axial grinding media distribution.
2. Radiometric densitometry
The radiometric densitometry by gamma radiation uses a radio
nuclide as source which emits photons (gamma rays) during its decay
process. This technique exploits the phenomenon of the attenuation of
gamma radiation as it interacts with materials in order to deduce the
phase fractions inside the mill. Therefore, the transmitted beam is de-
tected at the opposite side of the grinding chamber with a scintillator.
In the case of mono energetic gamma radiation passing through
homogeneous material the resulting exponential loss of intensity can be
described according to Lambert-Beer’s law as follows:
I = I0exp( µx ) (1)
In this equation, I0 represents the initial intensity, while I is the
intensity of the radiation after the gamma beam has penetrated the
distance x of the absorbing material. The density of the material is given
by . The mass absorption coefficient µ describes the capability of
materials to absorb gamma radiation depending on the radiation en-
ergy. As a scintillator is a crystal, which emits light flashes after being
hit by a gamma photon, a counting rate N is measured in reality instead
of the intensity. The photons counted per second are directly propor-
tional to the radiation intensity I in the case of mono energetic photons
(Stahl and von Rohr, 2004):
N I (2)
Thus, the radiation intensity in Eq. (1) can be replaced by the de-
tected counting rate. Furthermore, the value in the exponent is com-
bined to the attenuation factor k for a constant material density, ab-
sorption coefficient and passed distance.
N = N0exp( µx ) = N0exp( k ) (3)
For the purpose of determining the local grinding media filling ratio
Eq. (3) has to be extended for a second material, leading to a mixed
attenuation factor kmix as a function of the local filling ratio i .
kmix = kliquid (1 + ) + kbeads i (1 ) (4)
i i
Besides the consideration of the attenuation factors of both phases,
the fluid phase (kliquid ) and the grinding beads (kbeads ) , the mixed factor
considers the filling ratio and the static void fraction of the grinding
media bulk to describe the absorbing behavior of any phase fraction
inside the IsaMill™.
The attenuation factor of the fluid can be determined by a mea-
surement of the transmitted photons of the purely fluid filled mill
without grinding media and by converting Eq. (3) to
111
Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116
kliquid = ln(
N0
)
Nliquid (5)
The determination of the attenuation factor of the grinding beads is
similar. Therefore, a bead filling ratio of 100% is set while the mill is
not running. According to Eq. (4), the void fraction of the bulk has to
be respected as the cross section of the mill is not completely filled with
the material.
kbeads = ln(
N0
)
1
Nbeads 1 (6)
Referring to different authors (Kumara et al., 2010; Stahl and von
Rohr, 2004) a logarithmic approximation is chosen for the calculation
of the ratio of the fluid phase and the grinding beads. This approx-
imation has been shown to be the most suitable for a well dispersed
two-phase system.
N ( i ) = N0exp[ kmix ( i )] (7)
Inserting Eq. (4) in Eq. (7) leads to the basic equation to determine
the local filling ratio including an additional term respecting the sta-
tistical uncertainty stat in the less dense phase which is the liquid
fraction in a wet stirred media mill.
ln(N / N0 ) + kliquid
i = ± ( stat )
(1 )(kliquid kbeads ) (8)
The uncertainty respects the statistical deviation occurring due to
the fluctuation in a given small range of the natural gamma decay.
Apart from the count rate at any local filling ratio the uncertainty stat
depends on the sensitivity S of the setup which can be described as the
relative difference between the response of pure liquid and 100%
grinding media filling. For this relation the following equation can be
derived from Chan (1981):
1 Nbeads + Nliquid 1
stat ( i ) = =
S N ( i) 2(Nliquid Nbeads ) N ( i) (9)
The statistical error in void fraction has then to be translated to the
statistical error of the filling ratio.
In this work the initial counting rate N0 is defined as the transmitted
photon rate through the empty mill. Thus, the absorption caused by the
mill chamber has not to be considered in the mixed attenuation factor.
3. Experimental setup
A radiometric densitometer was set up to determine the axial
grinding media distribution in a M4 IsaMill™ while running the mill.
The mill consists of six perforated stirrer discs with a diameter of
100 mm and a distance of 35 mm to each other. A classifier is situated
behind the last disc to retain the beads in the active grinding zone of the
mill. The setup of the radiometric densitometer consists of two main
parts, the gamma source above and the detector below the mill
chamber (Fig. 1a). The mono energetic gamma radiation is provided by
a radioactive Cs137 (661 keV) nuclide which is detected by a thallium
activated NaI crystal after passing the grinding chamber. Both the
source and the detector are products of the VEGA Grieshaber KG
(Germany). A linear bearing in axial direction ensures different mea-
surement positions along the grinding chamber. For the measurements
the mill is divided in 7 compartments (C0 to C6). The caught beam has
a spread of half of the distance between two stirrer discs in the IsaMill™.
Thus, two independent measurements in each compartment are pos-
sible without overlapping. The compartment C0 is not accessible for the
densitometry due to the flange and the product inlet. Nevertheless, a
higher resolution of the grinding media distribution in the mill can be
achieved choosing smaller axial displacement steps. Even though the
measurement points are then partially overlapping more information
can be extracted. Regarding the cross sectional area the gamma beam is
directed besides the stirrer shaft (Fig. 1b). This set up ensures higher
D. Schons, A. Kwade
Fig. 1. Scheme of the axial (a) and radial (b) setup for the measurements with the radiometric densitometer.
count rates as the radiation is not disturbed by the shaft and, thus, a
lower statistical error (see Eq. (9)) is achieved. The two radial positions
are defined as “up” and “down” with regard to the direction of grinding
media motion. They can be triggered to characterize the cross-sectional
grinding media mixing in the IsaMill™.
As this setup enables the discrimination of two phases, model fluids
should be used instead of slurries. To establish this method the fol-
lowing tests are performed under reliable conditions using water as
model fluid and alumina media with 2.5 mm in diameter.
Even though the IsaMill™ is used for the continuous grinding of
minerals, the tests were run in circulation mode (Fig. 2). Due to the use
of water as a first model fluid, there will be no change of the fluid
properties during the tests. In order to ensure constant conditions, the
process temperature is kept constant with the help of a heat exchanger.
4. Results and discussion
Before running the tests with the new measurement set up the
radiometric densitometer has to be calibrated to get the local filling
ratio as a function of the photon counting rate as described before.
Besides the calibration results will be discussed in the following to show
some general grinding media flow phenomena as well as to highlight
the mode of action of the IsaMill™.
4.1. Calibration
In order to derive the local filling ratios from the measured count
rate of gamma photons (see Eq. (8)) the densitometer was calibrated
based on the theory described before. The attenuation due to the pure
liquid phase is determined by pumping water through the mill in ab-
sence of grinding media. For the second calibration step, the
Fig. 2. Schematic mill set up (circulating mode).
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Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116
attenuation by the beads, a compartment which is completely filled
with grinding media had to be set up. While filling the beads in the mill
they distribute randomly over the length of the chamber as typical for a
bulk material. Hence, an area with 100% local filling ratio for the ca-
libration is not easily achievable. Therefore, the stirrer geometry was
modified in a way that allows locking the beads in compartment C5 (see
also Fig. 1a). A cross sectional view of the opened mill with the new
configuration for locking the grinding media in C5 is shown in Fig. 3.
The calibration itself is carried out repeatedly yielding for the standard
deviation of the measurement. While calibrating the mill is not running
to prevent the shaft drive and the mill liner from getting damaged. As it
is generally accepted to define the grinding media filling referred to the
static void fraction of the media bulk no more calculations are neces-
sary. Fig. 4 shows the correlation of the counting rate and the local
filling ratios of alumina grinding media with 2.5 mm in diameter in
water. The calibration curve takes the statistical uncertainty into ac-
count. Since the standard deviation of the repetitions is smaller than the
statistical uncertainty, the curve is specified by latter. It is calculated
inserting the counting rates Nbeads and Nliquid which were obtained
during the calibration as well as the counting rate at any local filling
ratio N ( i ) like expressed in Eq. (9). The error in void fraction is then
translated to the uncertainty in filling ratio. With this setup an absolute
accuracy of ( stat ) 2% for the local filling ratio is obtained with this
Fig. 3. Opened IsaMill™ with cross sectional view on the locked grinding media
prepared for calibration.
D. Schons, A. Kwade Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116

3000 C5 are lower. Besides the first impression of an obviously non-uniform

Grinding media: 2.5 mm alumina axial grinding media distribution, different phenomena can be read out
2500 Fluid: water of this one test. Some of them are supposed to occur in all horizontal
stirred media mills with stirrer discs whereas others are typical for the
Counting rate N [ct/s]

2000
1500
1000
500
stat
) %
0 the fluid or suspension which is pumped through the mill faces a
0 10 20 30 40 50
Local filling ratio
Fig. 4. Calibration curve for the determination of the local filling ratio for
2.5 mm alumina beads.
set up. Since the attenuation of the gamma radiation in this application
depends on the grinding media material and the bulk void fraction,
kbeads has to be determined for each grinding media type and size.
During a test a count rate reading of approximately 2400 per second
would show that no grinding media is detected in the considered axial
position of the mill. Whereas a count rate of around 540 photons per
second would indicate a media packing. The shape of the calibration
curve is given by the logarithmic relation in Eq. (8).
4.2. Grinding media distribution
Tests were carried out to disclose the general potentials of the
densitometer. The distribution of the 2.5 mm grinding media with an
overall filling ratio of 70% is shown in Fig. 5. It should be noted that the
overall filling ratio is related to the grinding zone (C0 to C5) excluding
the classifier (see also Fig. 1a). The flow rate Q was set to 100 l/h and
the stirrer tip speed vt to 6 m/s. Both radial positions “up” and “down”
of the stirrer, i.e. where the media is taken up and the one where the
media is dragged downwards, were surveyed. In addition to the two
axial positions within each compartment which do not interact (closed
symbols) the local filling ratios in the centric positions between two
discs (open symbols) are determined. Only in the classifier zone no
superimposing measurements were carried out.
Focusing on the compartments C1 to C3 it can be stated that the
local filling ratios are higher than the overall filling ratio of 70%
whereas the local media filling in the subsequent compartments C4 and
100
90
80
70
[%]
IsaMill™. First of all it should be stated that no grinding media are
detected in the classifier zone (C6) which shows the effectiveness of the
classifier. The geometry of the classifier induces centrifugal streams
which are followed by the grinding media and oversized product par-
ticles within a grinding process (Cleary et al., 2015). At the outer cir-
cumference of the pins the suspension is then forced to turn into an
axial backflow as the flow towards the discharge is hindered by the lid
of the mill. Although water is used instead of a suspension the influence
of the classifier on the fluid dynamic stays the same in principal. Since
60 70 80 90 100 counter current flow in the circular ring between the stirrer discs and
i
[%] the mill chamber, especially in the compartments close to the classifier,
the flow along the axis in direction of the discharge has to find its way
through the holes of separator disc. Meaning suction is prevailing in the
inner part of the classifier from where the fluid and both product par-
ticles and grinding beads are centrifuged. By considering this back
pressing caused by the classifier the reason for the absence of grinding
media in this area becomes clear. The fact that there is often no screen
in the industrial scaled IsaMill™ which would risk blocking is one of the
main advantages and allows using a wide range of media sizes and
types at high product throughputs.
Furthermore, an expected distribution between two stirrer discs can
be seen in the first three compartments. It can be stated that the local
filling ratio directly in front of and behind a stirrer disc is lower than in
the middle between the discs. This effect can be described with the
typical micro-dynamics occurring in stirred media mills with stirrer
discs. Grinding media are accelerated in the vicinity of the discs before
they follow an axial impulse in direction of the center between two
discs close to the liner. In this area the streams coming from two
neighboring discs meet, slow down and flow towards the shaft. As the
beads converge in the middle and as the beads are accelerated and
pulled apart close to the stirrer disc the detected local filling ratio is
lower near the discs. Altogether, the explanation for this phenomenon
can be reduced to the strict compliance of the principle of continuity.
The small differences in local filling ratio between the two radial
positions (up and down) in C1 to C3 are explainable with the slightly
higher gravity induced acceleration of the beads while they are on their
way down. Thus, the stream is a bit more stretched. This effect is
generally in accordance to simulations [5]. The grinding media dis-
tribution can be considered as to be almost rotationally symmetric.
Nevertheless, a flow pattern which is typical for the IsaMill™ with its
internal classifier can be derived. As explained before the fluid dynamic
due to the classifier rotation rather presses the grinding media back to
retain them in the active grinding zone. The conspicuous difference in
Classifier the local filling ratio at the two radial positions in C4 and C5 is a result
of both the axial and the radial impulses of the caused back flow. A test
run with a glass chamber and glass beads has confirmed that the ro-
tational flow axis is declined related to the cross section of the mill

60 (Fig. 6). This means that the trajectory of some beads cross over from
i

compartment C5 to C4 during the ascending motion and vice versa on

Local filling ratio

50
their way down. Through this first example of the axial grinding media
40 distribution several transport phenomena could be revealed giving an
idea of the IsaMill™ performance.
30
If more information is necessary smaller increment could be chosen
20
( overlap) for the measurement positions. To emphasis the media transport in
front of the classifier Fig. 7 shows a higher resolution of the axial
i,up
10 ( overlap)
grinding media distribution in the compartments C4 and C5 for the
i,down

0
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 same test which has been described extensively before. The width of the
Flow direction
caught beam is not modified compared to the former tests. The incre-
ment is set to be small enough to obtain 12 measurements in each
Fig. 5. Grinding media distribution of 2.5 mm alumina media for both radial compartment whereas 10 points are superimposing instead of one as
positions. shown before. Thus, the shape of the grinding media distribution in the

113
D. Schons, A. Kwade Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116

Fig. 6. View on the media distribution (glass beads) through a glass chamber.

100 deviation between repetitive tests into account. As the stirred media
"up" position milling is a new application of the radiometric densitometry its relia-
90
bility was proven. The error bars illustrated in Fig. 5 for the measure-
80
ment of the axial grinding media distribution are reflecting the statis-
70 tical nature of the radioactive decay as described by Eq. (9). Hence, it is
[%]

60 independent of the usual standard deviation which is derived from data

i

obtained by repeated operation under the same conditions. The relia-

Local filling ratio

50
40
30
20
10
0 point remains constant within the statistical error meaning that the
C4 C5
Flow direction
Fig. 7. Close up of the axial media distribution in C4 and C5.
area in front of the classifier becomes clearer. Here, only data for the
“up” position are depicted in these two compartments.
In compartment C4 the grinding media accumulate in flow direction
whereas the grinding media concentration drops drastically behind the
disc (C5). This result is now explained step by step under the con-
sideration of different flow phenomena occurring in this area. As de-
scribed earlier, the classifier pushes the grinding media out of com-
partment C5. Grinding media in C5 are conveyed in direction of C4
where they eventually meet a physical barrier, the disc which separates
the two compartments. The grinding media transport between C4 and
C5 is limited to the area between the outer circumference of the disc
and the liner as well as to the transport through the holes of the disc.
Hereby it is possible to have a large gradient between both sides of a
bility of the measurement setup is illustrated in Fig. 8. Here, the mea-
surement was repeated at the same conditions for a second time. Fur-
thermore, before the mill was stopped after the second run the
measurement was started from the beginning to confirm that the axial
grinding media distribution stays stable during the steady state of
several hours. It can be seen that the measured local filling ratio at any
measurements are reliable in terms of operating the radiometric den-
sitometry. The overall accuracy is dominated by the uncertainty due to
the gamma radiation itself and, thus, stays at ( stat ) 2% for this
setup. Nevertheless, it has to be mentioned that the radiometric den-
sitometer has to be installed thoroughly at the mill before each ex-
perimental run in order to ensure the shown precision.
4.4. Classifier back pressing
The revealed data can subsequently be used to point out the influ-
ence of the process parameters and the slurry properties as well as to
incorporate the knowledge of the distribution into grinding models.
Here, the influence of the overall filling ratio on the axial grinding
media distribution is discussed for constant operating conditions. The
100
90 Classifier

stirrer disc. However, due to the back pressing of the classifier a similar 80
trend for the grinding media filling over the length of compartment C4 1. run
[%]

would be expected. Having a higher concentration at the beginning and 70 2. run

long term stability
reduced filling in direction of the discharge would be in accordance to
i,up

60
the grinding media transport in C5. It is assumed that the disc which
Local filling ratio

50
separates C4 from C5 protects the grinding media from being dragged
in direction of the feed end the closer they are to the disc. 40
The first test has introduced the complexity of the grinding media 30
transport behavior in the IsaMill™ and the potential of the gamma ra-
20
diation densitometry to gain knowledge about it.
10
4.3. Reliability
0
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
The axial grinding media distribution is supposed to be more or less Flow direction
the same for a definite parameter set once the mill runs in steady state.
At least they should be similar in a certain range taking a standard Fig. 8. Reliability test with the standard conditions.

114
D. Schons, A. Kwade Minerals Engineering 130 (2019) 110–116

100 discrepancy changes with the magnitude of the local filling ratio itself
90 Classifier such as it can be seen in compartment C4. Increasing the overall filling
ratio from 60% to 70% results in an incremental filling of C4 and thus
80
to a rise in the ratio between both radial positions. As the mill is
charged with 10% more media filling from 60% to 70% the initial ratio
[%]

70
of around 0.5 in C4 rises to a value of 0.65. At an overall grinding media
i,up

60
( )
filling of 80% the compartment C4 is sufficiently filled to develop a
Local filling ratio

50 ( )
radially homogeneous mixing of the beads.
( )
40
( )
( ) 5. Conclusion
30

20 Radiometric densitometry by gamma radiation was introduced as a

10 reliable method to measure the axial grinding media distribution in the
IsaMill™. After the calibration of the setup with regard to the used
0
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 combination of fluid and grinding beads, the reliability of the mea-
surements has been proven. The first results of the axial grinding media
Flow direction
distribution clearly demonstrated the impact of the internal classifier.
Fig. 9. Gradually filling of the IsaMill™. Counteracting the drag of the grinding media by the main flow of the
fluid towards the discharge the induced back pressing of the classifier
1.1 retains the grinding media in the grinding zone. However, this leads to
1.0 an inhomogeneous distribution of the grinding media along the stirrer
Classifier axis. The effect of the classifier on the media distribution in the IsaMill™
0.9
was further highlighted by a gradually overall filling of the mill
0.8 showing that the mill chambers fill step by step beginning at the feed
0.7 inlet of the IsaMill™. Depending on the desired information the incre-
ment for measuring the local filling ratio can be adapted.
[-]

0.6
Thus, the radiometric densitometry enables studying the impact of
i,up

0.5
the rheology by using model fluids and the mill parameters on the axial
/ i,down

0.4 transport of different grinding media as well as the consequences of a

0.3 certain local media filling on the IsaMill™ performance. For future in-
vestigations the knowledge about the grinding media distribution could
0.2
help to understand the grinding process along the axis during con-
0.1
tinuous grinding. A further benefit from learning about the grinding
0.0 media transport in the IsaMill™ is the potential to reduce media and
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
mill wear by obtaining a homogeneous distribution.
Flow direction

Fig. 10. Ratio “down”/“up” of local media filling. Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Glencore Technology for the financial

variation of process parameters and the rheology of the fluid will be
discussed elsewhere. In order to underline the impact of the IsaMill™
classifier on the axial grinding media distribution the experiment with
an overall filling ratio of 70% is extended to a range of 40–80%. The
stirrer tip speed (6 m/s) and the flow rate of water (100 l/h) were kept
constant within this series of experiments. By increasing the overall
filling ratio the compartments gradually fill up starting from the mill
feed inlet. The shift of the local filling ratios at an increasing overall
filling is shown in Fig. 9 for the “up” position. The opposite side
(“down”) was also measured even though it is not shown in this dia-
gram. The relation between both radial positions depending on the
filling ratio is incorporated in Fig. 10 by calculating the quotient of the
“down” to the “up” side. A value of one equals a perfectly balanced
grinding media filling in the cross section. When the local filling ratio
on the downward motion is lower than on the way up, the ratio drops
below this bench mark and the other way around. The introduced ratio
stays within the range of 0.9 to approximately 1.05 in the saturated
axial sections of the mill confirming a good cross sectional mixing of the
grinding beads. Moreover, the inclination of the radial distribution re-
lated to the cross section as described before is shown to occur in every
compartment as long as the next one closer to the classifier is empty.
This indicates that the described pattern is independent of the com-
partment, but influenced by the adjacent sections in the mill. The
tendency that the local filling ratio is lower on the down position than
on the way up remains for all shown tests. Only the degree of the radial
support. The financial support of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
within the priority program SPP 1679 “Dynamic flowsheet simulation of
interconnected solids processes” is gratefully acknowledged.
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