Size Reduction

HARISH SINGH THAPA

MECHANISMS OF SIZE REDUCTION

● There are four main methods of effecting size reduction, involving different
mechanisms
● Cutting:
● as the name implies, the material is cut by means of a sharp blades
Compression:
● in this the material is crushed by application of pressure.
Impact:
● occurs when the material is more or less stationary and is hit by an object moving at
high speed or when the moving particle strikes a stationary surface. In either case the
material shatters to smaller pieces.
Attrition:
● In attrition the material is subjected to pressure as in compression, but the surfaces
are moving relative to each other, resulting in shear forces which break the particles.
Pistle and mortar
Toughness:
Toughness of a material is sometimes more important than hardness,

a soft but tough material may present more problems in size reduction than a hard but brittle
substance for example it is difficult to break rubber than a stick of blackboard chalk.

Toughness is encountered in many pharmaceutical materials, particularly in fibrous drugs, and is

often related to moisture content
For some materials, toughness can be reduced by treating the material with a liquefied gas such
as liquid nitrogen, substances can be cooled to temperatures lower than -100 to -150○ C.
Abrasiveness:
Abrasiveness is a property of hard materials (particularly those of mineral origin) and may limit
the type of machinery that can be used.
During the grinding of some very abrasive substances the final powder may be contaminated
with more than 0.1 percent of metal worn from the grinding mill.
Stickiness:
Stickiness is a property that causes considerable difficulty in size reduction, for material may
adhere to the grinding surfaces, or the meshes of the screen may become choked.
If the method used for size reduction produces heat then substances that are gummy or
resinous may be troublesome to the size reduction process.
Sometimes the addition of inert substances may be of assistance such as kaolin to sulphur.
The reverse of this property, which can be described as slipperiness, for want of a better term,
can also give rise to size reduction difficulties, since the material acts as a lubricant and lowers
the efficiency of the grinding surfaces.
Softening temperature:
During size reduction process sometimes heat is generated which may cause some substances to
soften, and the temperature at which this occurs can be important.
Waxy substances, such as stearic acid, or drugs containing oils or fats are examples that may be
affected. Some methods can be used to overcome this like cooling the mill, either by a water
jacket or by passing a stream of air through the equipment.
Another alternative is to use liquid nitrogen, as discussed earlier.
Material structure:
Some substances are homogeneous in character, but the majority show some special structure,
for example, mineral substances may have lines of weakness along which the materials splits to
form flake-like particles, while vegetable drugs have a cellular structure often leading to long
fibrous particles.
Moisture content:
Moisture content influences a number of properties that can affect size reduction, for example,
hardness, toughness or stickiness. In general materials should be dry or wet and not merely
damp.
Usually, less than 5 percent of moisture is suitable if the substance is to be ground dry or more
than 50 if it is being subjected to wet grinding
Physiological effect:
Some substances are very potent and small amounts of dust have an effect on the operators. To
avoid this dust, enclose mills must be used, systems that can extract air are also desirable, and
wet grinding also, if possible, as it eliminates the problem entirely.

Purity required
Certain types of size reduction apparatus cause the grinding surfaces to wear, and such
methods must be avoided if a high degree of purity of product is needed. Similarly, some
machines will be unsuitable if cleaning between batches of different materials is difficult.
.
Ratio of feed size to product ratio:
Machines that produce a fine may be necessary to carry out the size reduction process in several
stages with different equipment, for example, preliminary crushing, followed by coarse grinding
and then fine grinding.

Bulk density:

The capacity of most batch mills depend on volume, whereas processes usually demand solid
materials by weight. Hence, all other factors being equal, the output of the machine is related to
the bulk density of the substance
 TECHNIQUES
 ROTARY CUTTER MILL

 MORTAR AND PESTLE

 ROLLER MILL

 HAMMER MILL

 BALL MILL

 FLUID ENERGY MILL

 COLLOID MILL

 EDGE RUNNER MILL

 END RUNNER MILL

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 ROTARY CUTTER MILL
Principle:
In the cutter mill, size reduction involves successive cutting or shearing
the feed materials with the help of sharp knives.

Feed

Milling chamber
Stationary
knives
Rotating
knives

Fig: Rotary cutter mill

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Working:
 Rotor disc rotate at 200-900 revolution per min.
 Feed material loaded through hopper.
 Material is cut between rotating & stationary knives in small
pieces, therefore particle pass through the screen product is collected
into receiver.

Uses:
 Size reduction (finer than 80-100 mesh) of tough and fibrous material.
 Ex. Medicinal plant, plant parts and animal tissue.
 It also used in manufacture of rubber, plastics, recycling of paper
waste and plastic material.

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 ROLLER MILL
Principle:
The material is crushed (compressed) by the application of
stress. The stress is applied by rotator wheels, rollers.
Feed

Hopper

Rollers

Fig: Roller mill. 34

Working:
The rollers are allowed to rotate. The material is feed into
hopper through gap between two rollers by applying high
pressure material is cursed.

Uses:
Roller mill is used for crushing and cracking of seed before
extraction of fixed oils and also used to crush soft tissue to
help in the penetration of solvent during extraction process.

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 HAMMER MILL
Principle:
The hammer mill operates on the principle of impact between
rapidly moving hammer mounted on a rotor and the powder
material.

Fig: Hammer mill 38

Working: The hammers are allowed to be in continuous motion(8000-
15000 rpm) the feed material is placed into the hopper, whiles hammers
are in continuous motion.
Uses:
 Particle size obtained from 10-400mm.
 Also used to mill dry, wet and filter press cakes materials.

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 BALL MILL
Principle:
The ball mill works on the impact between the rapidly moving
ball and the powder material, both enclosed in a hollow cylinder.
Thus, in the ball mill, impact or attrition or both are responsible
for the size reduction.

Fig: Ball mill 44

Working:
The drug is filled into cylinder 60% of the volume. A
fixed number of ball introduced and cylinder is close.

Uses:
Fine grinding with a particle size of 100-5 mm or less
can be obtained.

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 Fluid Energy Mill
Principle:
Fluid energy mill operates on the principle of impact and attrition the
feed stock is suspended with in a high velocity air stream.

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Fig: Fluid energy mill
Working:
Powder is introduced through the inlet of venture. Air introduce through
the grinding nozzles transport the powder in the circular track of the
mill. The turbulent air stream break the particles colloids with each
other and break. Particles are carried out to outlet and the coarse
particle undergo recirculation.

Uses:

 Fluid energy mill is used to reduce the particle size(10-325mesh) of

most of the drugs such as antibiotics and vitamins.
 Ultrafine grinding can be achieved moderately hard material can be
processed for size reduction.

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Advantages:
Contamination is not possible.

Disadvantage:
Not suitable for milling of soft, tacky and fibrous materials.

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 COLLOID MILL
Principle:
Colloid mill consist of 2 steel disc having very small clearance
between them. One disc is rotating, while the other one is
stationary.

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Fig: Colloid Mill
Working:
Suspension and emulsion are placed in hopper. The solid
are mixed with the liquid vehicle before introduce into colloid mill
Rotor is moved 3000 to 20000 rpm. The dispersion flow down and
adher to the rotor.

Uses:
Colloidal dispersion, suspension, emulsion, and ointment.

Advantage:
Production of sterile product.

Disadvantage:
Not useful to dry milling.

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 SELECTION
The choice of the mill is based on:
OF A MILL
1. Product specification (size range, shape, moisture content, physical &
chemical prosperities, hard, soft)
2. Capacity of the mill & production rate requirements
3. Versatility of operation (wet & dry milling, rapid change of speed and
screen, safety)
4. Dust control (lost of costly drug, health hazards, contamination of
plant)
5. Sanitation (ease of cleaning , sterilization)
6. Auxiliary equipment (cooling system and dusting collector)
7. Batch or continuous operation
8. Economical factors (cost, space occupied and power , labor
consumption)
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Milling process may have the following
effects:
May alter the crystalline structure of the API liberating the water
causing the clogging of the mill
Hygroscopic material as CaCl2 rapidly absorb moisture to the
extent that causing the mass sticks and clogs the mill
The heat during milling softens and melts the API with low melting
point as resins, gums, and wax
Excessive heat cause change in the shade of color of pigments

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