NAME : FORTUNE MAFIRAKUREVA

STUDENT NUMBER : N0187524K

FACULTY : INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY AND

MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

PROGRAMME : CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

COURSE CODE : TCEP 2209

COURSE NAME : CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY

ENGINEERING INSTRUCTOR : L TSHUMA

LAB 1 : Particulate System

ABSTRACT

The aim of the experiment is to determine the effect that grinding time has on the quantity of fines
that will be collected and the particle size of the fines that ere produced and this was achieved by
crushing a sample of clays for a set amount of time and sieving the products of the crushing and this
was achieved by using a ball mill with 10 balls and a sieve shaker and a thick lump of clay. The
collected data and the plotted graphs show the trend of increasing fines with the amount of milling
and that the average product size can be calculated further conclusions show that as time increases
the efficiency of the ball mill is greatly reduced and there exists an optimum time.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Objectives
Theoretical Background
Experimental
Apparatus
Procedure
Analysis of Results
Results & Discussion
Conclusion

References

Appendixes
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the effect of milling time on the quantity of
clay fine that were obtained. Size reduction is major unit operation in industries handling
particulate solid. The industries like mineral dressing, paint, cement, bauxite, pharmaceutical
as well as black powder handles large amount solid materials which need to be grinded to
fine size.

1.1 OBJECTIVES

 To grind the given limestone material to a smaller size using a ball mill
 To analyze the finely ground particles using a Sieve.
 Determining the optimum time to run the mill to get the most efficient output

1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind and blend materials for use in mineral dressing
processes, paints, pyrotechnics, ceramics. Size reduction is major unit operation in industries
handling particulate solid. The basic motive behind performing the size-reduction is to make
too large to be used solid materials usable. It leads to an increase in surface area per unit
volume which enhances the rate of the reaction by allowing more sites for the reaction to take
place. Moreover, handling of smaller size particles is much easier as compared to that of
bigger particles. Ball mill is a metal cylinder which rotates about its horizontal axis on rollers.
It is partially filled with balls. The grinding media is the balls, which may be made of chrome
steel, stainless steel, ceramic, or rubber. The inner surface of the cylindrical shell is usually
lined with an abrasion-resistant material such as manganese steel or rubber. Less wear takes
place in rubber lined mills. The coarse material charged along with the metal balls breaks to
fine powder by impact of metal balls this is the principle of Tumbling action that is impact
and attrition: size reduction is done by impact as the balls drop from near the top of the shell.
Significance of the experiment size reduction of particle is very important and useful in many
chemical and other industries this is because handling of small particles is easier as compared
to that of big particles. There is an increase in surface area per unit volume, higher surface
area will enhance the rate of reaction involving solids. Particles and components entrapped
within less desirable material are separated and may be available for fu cost-effectiveness,
reliability, ease of operation, reproducible results due to energy and speed control,
applicability in wet and dry conditions on a wide range of materials (e.g. cellulose, chemicals,
fibres, polymer, metal oxides, pigments, catalysts). Potential disadvantages include: the
possibility of contamination, formation of nanomaterials with irregular shape, noise, long
milling and cleaning times. rather reaction this forms the basis for ore extraction in mineral
processing and
2 EXPERIMENTAL

2.1. APPARUTUS
 2.2. PROCEDURE

The experiment began with the electric balance being plugged in and it was switched
on at the mains and the balance was switched on at the start and as zeroed. A 500g
sample of clay was measured and this was loaded into the cylinder along with 10 steel
balls and the lid of the cylinder as closed and this was placed on the pair of rollers and
the protective case was lowered on the cylinder and the latch was rotated until it was
on locked. The ball mill as plugged into the main switch and this as turned on and
then the control box on the ball mill as was subsequently switched on and the ball mill
was allowed to run for 3 minutes. After 3 3 minutes the ball mill was stopped and the
protective case was unlocked and the cylinder was removed and the contents of the
ball mill were placed in a tray and the steel balls were removed and then the products
ere loaded into a sieve stack that has 2 sieves one that was 710 micrometres and the
other being 310 micrometres and the sieve shaker was allowed to run for 3 minutes
after 3 minutes the collected fines where collected and where collected and the
corresponding masses were recorded. After recording all the material in the sieve
shaker was collected and returned to the ball mill and the process was reported five
times until there were 5 sets of readings.

3 Analysis of Results

3.1 Results and Discussion

3.1.1 Graphs
 3.1.2 Discussion

The graph of cumulative percentage of fines show that as grinding time increases the number
of fines that is generated also increases and this due to the particles having more time to be
crushed in the mill. Nut due to the shape of the graph it shows the is a point where running
the mill will not be as efficient as it should be this is shown by the % of fines that were
collected between 9 and 12 minutes and this compared to the exponential jump that occurred
between 3 to 6 minutes and this can be attributed to the material getting more coarse and
harder to crush as grinding continues. The inefficiency of the ball mill increases as time
increases that is the number of new fines generated per run will reduce and therefore it
becomes necessary to calculate the optimum time to run the mill and based on the cumulative
graph the optimum time will be 10 minutes of running, the anomalous increase that occurs
from 12 to 15 minutes can be attributed to the clay sample having another layer of clay that
was underneath a subsequent harder layer as the trend would have been a smaller increase in
the quantity of fines that were collected

The major source of error in the experiment arises from the fines that get lost during the
multiple stages with some being lost as the mill cylinder is emptied some are left stuck in the
mill cylinder whilst other fines are coating the balls and a greater inaccuracy will arise from
the fines which are stuck in the sieves and don’t end up being measured and the sample that
escape from the tiny opening on the lid of the mill cylinder. The loss of fines can be
minimized by using a clear plastic wrap around the equipment that will capture the fines that
otherwise would have been lost and also after sieving shaking the tray to dislodge any
particles that would have been stuck in the sieve. Another source of error arose during the
weighing when sone fines where lost due falling over the sides during the transfer from the
collection tray to the balance and this can be minimized by using a cone to transfer particles
from the tray to the balance

4.0 Conclusion

The experimental data shoed that fines increase with grinding time but only up to a given
point and upon analyze that the average product size was 833 micrometers and there as an
optimum time of 10 minutes to run the experiment of 10mins

5.0 References

Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering by McCabe, Smith, and Harriot.

https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/effect-grinding-media-milling

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1026918517300720

6.0 Appendix

Sample calculations
 710+310
Average particle size = =510 μm
2

33.543 57.869
Mass fraction =¿0.0671 and =0.116
500.16 500.16

Cumulative percentage = (0.0671 + 0.116) *100 = 18.3

Total mass 500.16 100 sieves used

710
310
Average particle size 510
reciprocal 0.001960784

Try Mass of fines % of fine Cumulative % total cumulative * 100

1 33.543 0.067064539 0.067064539 6.706453935
2 57.869 0.115700976 0.182765515 18.2765515
3 72.07 0.14409389 0.326859405 32.6859405
4 78.25 0.156449936 0.483309341 48.3309341
5 97.3 0.194537748 0.677847089 67.78470889

Cumulative % total reciprocal

0.067064539 0.001960784
0.182765515 0.001960784
0.326859405 0.001960784
0.483309341 0.001960784
0.677847089 0.001960784

area under graph 0.001197613

reciprocal of area 834.994386 average product size