Lab Report On

To study the operation of a Ball mill and to calculate the

efficiency , critical speed and power consumption of a Ball mill

Submitted To – Submitted By –
Dr. SHIV OM MEENA G-2(CH-3)
(Assistant Professor) SUMIT SINGH(2022uch1285)

Performed On: ……………………….

Submitted On: ……………………….

Department of Chemical Engineering

Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur (302017)
 INDEX
S. Particulars Page No. Remarks
No.
1. Aim 3

2. Introduction 4

3. Theory 5

4. Experimental Setup 6

5. Procedure 7

6. Specification 8

7. Formulae 9
8. Observation Table 10
9. Calculations 11
10. Conclusion
10.A Group Conclusion 12
10.B Individual Conclusion
11. Results 13
12. Nomenclature 14
13. References 15

1.) AIM :-
To study the operation of a Ball mill and
1.) To study the effect of RPM on the power consumption of Ball mill.
2.) To calculate the critical speed (ηc) of a Ball mill.
3.) To calculate the efficiency of a Ball mill
 2.) INTRODUCTION:-

Size reduction is a process of reducing large solid unit masses - vegetables or chemical
substances into small unit masses, coarse particles or fine particles. Size reduction is
commonly employed in pharmaceutical industries. Size reduction process is also referred to
as Comminution and Grinding. When the particle size of solids is reduced by mechanical
means it is known as Milling. The size reduction operation can be divided into two major
categories depending on whether the material is a solid or a liquid. If the material is solid, the
process is called grinding and cutting, if it is liquid, emulsification or atomization
Due to their construction, especially the complicated movement of the grinding chamber
with high centrifugal forces, today planetary ball mills are built only on laboratory and pilot
scales, which means with jar sizes up to 1 litre. Typical applications of planetary ball mills
are material development and liberation of minerals and other materials for analysis. The
highly efficient mixing of materials in the grinding chamber makes planetary ball mills also
useful tools for mechanochemical approaches. In a mechanical alloying (MA)
process a mixture of different powders is milled under material transfer to a homogenous
alloy. In mechanical milling uniform, often stoichiometric composition powders are
processed in ball mills without material transfer. Thus no homogenization is
required.

Ball milling is a method used to break down the solids to smaller sizes or into a powder. A
ball mill is a type of grinder which consists of a cylinder. It is used in grinding (or mixing)
materials like ores, chemicals, ceramic raw materials and paints. The cylinder rotates around
a horizontal axis. It is partially filled with the grinding medium and the material to be ground.
Materials which can be used as media are ceramic balls, pebbles and stainless steel balls.
Large to medium-sized ball mill is mechanically rotated on its axis, but small one (as in our
laboratory) has its container sits on two drive shafts (where pulleys and belts are utilised to
transmit rotary motion).

Generally the Ball mills are known as the secondary size reduction equipment. The Ball mill
is made in a great many types and sizes and can be used on a greater variety of soft materials
than any other type of machine. The feed must be non-abrasive with a hardness of 1.5 or less.
A Ball mill consists of a cylindrical shell slowly turning about a horizontal axis and filled to
about 1/4th of its volume with solid grinding medium (i.e. metallic balls etc.). When the ball
mill is rotated, the grinding elements (balls) are carried to the side of the shell nearly to the
top, from where: they fall on the particles under gravity. In a ball mill most of the size
reduction is done by impact. The energy expanded in lifting the grinding units are utilizes in
reducing the size of the particles. Ball mill can accept a feed size of 12mm or less and deliver
a product size in the range of 50µm. The speed of ball mill varies between 60-70 RPM. As
the product size becomes fine, the capacity of a mill reduces, the energy requirement
increases. Ball mills uses combined impact and attrition methods.

3.) THEORY :-
Ball mill is a tumbling mill, where in size reduction occurs as a result of impact of the balls,
and by attrition. The ball mill consists of a cylindrical shell rotating about it axis. Cylindrical
mills are classified according to the mode of product discharge taking place from the mill.

Different parts of ball mills are:

1. Cylindrical shell

2. Inner surface or liner

3. Grinding media

4. Drive

The grinding process is attributed to 3 different stages of ball mill working.

i. Cascading

ii. Cataracting

iii. Centrifuging

If the speed of the ball mill is too low then only cascading occur, and particle lead to rolling
down of the ball and limiting grinding will occur. On the other hand, if the speed of the ball
is very high (greater than critical speed) centrifuging occur leading to little or no grinding. So
the mill is to be operated between two extreme speed i. e below critical speed of the mill.

A Ball mill consists of a cylindrical shell slowly turning about a horizontal axis and filled
with solid grinding medium (metallic balls, wooden balls or rubber balls). In Ball mill, most
of the size reduction is done by impact.

Critical Speed of a Ball Mill (ƞc):

𝜂𝑐 = 1/ 2𝜋 ∗ (√𝑔 /√𝑅−𝑟) ----------- (1)

Where , ηc is a critical rotational speed, ‘R’ is radius of the ball mill and ‘r’ is radius of the
ball. For effective operation of the mill, the mill should be operated at 65 to 80% of critical
speed. As the product size becomes finer, the capacity of the mill reduces and the energy
requirement increases. As the speed of the mill exceeds ηc (i.e. mill is centrifuging), the size
reduction capacity decreases.)

A more realistic method of estimating the power required for crushing and grinding is

𝑃 𝑚 = 𝐾𝑏 √𝐷𝑝 ---------- (2)

Where, Kb is a constant which depends on the type of machine and on the material being
crushed, Dp is in millimetres, P in kilowatts and ‘m’ in tons per hour

4.) EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:-

5.) PROCEDURE:-
1. Prepare a uniform sized material for feed using sieve shaker (5mm-8mm approx.).

2. Fill the shell with the balls provided

3. Ensure that switches given on the panel are at OFF position

4. Now switch ON the main power supply.

5. Set the revolution counter to zero position.

6. Switch ON the MCB and then starter to run the machine.

7. Run the machine at no load condition by determining the time for 10 or 20 pulses on the energy

meter.

8. Switch OFF the starter and then MCB.

9. Fill the feed in the Ball mill.

10. Switch ON the MCB and then start to run the machine.

11. Run the machine at loaded condition by determining the time for 10 or 20 pulses on the energy

meter.

12. Repeat the experiment for different RPM.

13. When experiment is over, switch OFF the power supply.

6.) SPECIFICATION:-
7.) FORMULA:-
8.) OBSERVATION TABLE:-
NOM VALUE UNITS
Tc sec
Dpa mm
Dpb mm
9.)CALCULATION:-
10 .) CONCLUSION :-
From the above experiment , the efficiency of the ball mill will increase due to increase kinetic
energy , the rotational speed due to increase as the result of increasing motor speed will increase
the efficiency of ball mill and also concluded that fineness increases with increase in crushing
frequency up to critical speed, and above critical speed there is no grinding taking place.

so that is why I use this way to define

efficiency. At the 45 rpm motor
speed, the sample that
was obtained is the least which is 71.0
g (23.67 %) while at the 100 rpm
motor speed, the
output sample is the most at 91.0 g
(30.00%). Thus, I have come with a
conclusion that the
efficiency of the ball mill will increase
due to the increasing kinetic energy.
The resulted of rotational speed that
increasing as the result of increasing
motor speed will
increase the efficiency of the ball mill
in term of crushin
11.) RESULT
12.) NOMENCLATURE:-
NOM HEADING UNITS

Dpa Average feed size mm

Dpb Average product size mm
g Acceleration due to gravity m/sec^2
Kb Bond’s constant Kwh/tons
m Feed Rate Tons/h
Nc Critical Speed of Ball Mill RPM
P Power kw
R Radius of ball mill m
r Radius of ball m
tc Time for crushing sec
N opt Optimum speed rpm

*symbols are unitless

\
13.)REFERNCE:

1.) https://old.amu.ac.in/emp/studym/99991332.pdf

2.) https://beautifultf.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/practical-1-ball-milling/
3.)https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
235415547_Process_Engineering_with_Planetary_Ball_Mills
4.)https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/ball-mill

5.)https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?
repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=36d6d07d1c7ba7ab5d6a153574438409f9d95e4c