Size Reduction

Dr.
Akmal Hadi Ma’ Radzi

School of Bioprocess Engineering
SIZE REDUCTION
 Particles of solids are cut or broken into smaller pieces
 In process industries, solids are reduced by different
methods for different purposes
 Examples:
-Chunks of crude ore are crushed to workable size
-Synthetic chemicals are ground into powder
- Sheets of plastic are cut into tiny cubes or diamonds
 Commercial products must often meet stringent
specifications regarding the size and sometimes the
shape of the particles they contain
 The importance of reducing the particle size ;
(a) Increases the reactivity of solids
(b) Permits separation of unwanted ingredients by
mechanical methods
(c) Reduces the bulk of fibrous materials for easier
handling and for waste disposal
 Size of solids may be reduced in many different ways,
but only 4 are commonly used in size-reduction
machines:
(1) Compression -is used for coarse reduction of hard

solids, to give relatively few fines
(2) Impact (crash) - gives coarse, medium or fine
products
(3) Attrition (wear)
/rubbing - yields very fine products from soft,
nonabrasive materials
(4) Cutting -gives a definite particle size and sometimes

a definite shape, with few or no fines
Characteristics of Comminuted
Products
 Objective of crushing & grinding-to produce small
particles from larger ones
 Smaller particles are desired because of:
-their large surface
-their shape, size and number
 One measure of the efficiency of the operation is
based on the energy required to create new surface,
since the surface area of a unit mass of particles
increases greatly as the particle size is reduced
 Unlike an ideal crusher or grinder-an actual unit does
not yield a uniform product, whether the feed is
uniformly sized or not
 The product always consists of a mixture of particles
(from maximum size-very small particles)
 Some machines especially in the grinder class, are
designed to control the magnitude of the largest
particles in their products, but the fine sizes are not
under control
 In some types of grinders, fines are minimized, but
they are not eliminated
 If the feed is homogenous, both in the shapes of the
particles and in chemical and physical structure, then
the shapes of the individual units in the product may
be quite uniform; otherwise, the grains in the various
sizes of a single product may differ considerably in
shape
crusher
Grinder
 The ratio of the diameters of the largest and smallest
particles in a comminuted product is on the order of
10ˆ4
 Because of this extreme variation in the sizes of the
individual particles, relationships adequate for
uniform sizes must be modified when applied to such
mixture
 Unless they are smoothed by abrasion after crushing,
comminuted particles resemble polyhedrons with
nearly plane faces and sharp edges corners
 The particles may be compact with length, breadth
and thickness nearly equal; or they may be plate like
or needlelike
Energy And Power Requirement
 The cost of power is a major expense in crushing and

grinding
 During size reduction, the particles of feed material are
first distorted and strained
 The work necessary to strain them is stored temporarily in
the solid as mechanical energy of stress, just as mechanical
energy can be stored in a coiled spring
 As additional force is applied to the stressed particles, they
are distorted beyond their ultimate strength and suddenly
rupture into fragments
 New surface is generated
 Since a unit area of solid has a definite amount of
surface energy, the creation of new surface requires
work, which is supplied by the release of energy of
stress when the particle breaks
 By conservation of energy, all energy of stress in excess
of the new surface energy created must appear as heat
Crushing Laws And Work Index
 Rittinger’s and Kick’s Law:
 The work required in crushing is proportional to the new surface
created. This is equivalent to the statement that the crushing efficiency
is constant and, for a giving machine and material, is independent of
the sizes of feed and product. The relationship between the diameter of
the particles and the energy required for grinding is expressed from
the equation below:
𝐾𝑑 𝐷𝑝
d𝐸 = − where K and n are constant.
(𝐷𝑝 )𝑛
 For n = 2 and if the sphericities Фa (before size reduction) and Фb (after
size reduction) are equal and the machine efficiency is constant,
the Rittinger’s law can be written as
where P is the power required,
m is the feed rate to crusher,
D1 is the average particle diameter before crushing,
D2 is the average particle diameter after crushing,
2 1 and Kr is Rittinger’s coefficient
 Kick’s law: for n =1, the work required for crushing a
given mass of material is constant for the same
reduction ratio, that is the ratio of the initial particle
size to the finial particle size
 where Kk is Kick’s coefficient.

 Bond’s Law: for n= 1.5
Kb – a constant that depends on the type of machine

and on the material being crushed
Work Index, Wi - defined as the gross energy

requirement in kilowatthours per ton (kWh/ton)of
feed needed to reduce a very large feed to such a size
that 80% of the product passes a 100µm screen
 If Dp in mm, P in kW, in ton/hr
 If 80% of feed passes a mesh size of Dpa mm and 80% of

the product a mesh of Dpb mm,
or
(English unit)
 The work index includes the friction in the crusher and

the power given by the above equation is gross power
Equipment for Size Reduction
 Size reduction equipment is divided into:
- Crusher
- Grinder
- Ultrafine grinder
- Cutting machine
Crusher
 Do the heavy work of breaking large pieces of solid
material into small pieces
 A slow speed machines for coarse reduction of large
quantities of solids
 Primary crusher- breaking solids into 150-250mm size
 Secondary crusher- reduced the particle from primary
crusher to 6mm in size
 Reduce the solid size by compression
 Type of crusher- jaw crusher, gyratory crusher, smooth-
roll crusher and toothed-roll crusher
Grinder
 Reduce crushed feed to powder
 Product from a crusher is often fed to a grinder for
further reduction.
 The product from an intermediate grinder might pass
a 40-mesh screen.
 Most product from a fine grinder would pass a 200-
mesh screen with 74 μm opening.
 Reduce the solid size by impact and attrition,
sometimes combine with compression
 Types of commercial grinder – hammer mills and
impactors, rolling compression machine, attrition
mills and tumbling mills.
Ultrafine Grinder
 Reduce solids to fine particles
 Accepts feed particles not larger than 6 mm.
 The product size is typically 1 to 50 μm.
 Reduce the solid size by attrition
 Types: Classifying hammer mills, fluid energy mills,
agitated mills and colloid mills.
Cutting machine
 Give particles of definite size and shape 2-10mm in
length
 Reduce the size by cutting, dicing and slitting
 Type:
-Granulators- yield more or less irregular pieces
-Cutters – produce cube, thin squares or diamonds.
Exercise 1
 What is the power required to crush 100 ton/h of
limestone if 80% of the feed passes a 2-in. screen and
80% of the product a 1/8-in. screen?
Solution 1
 From Table 28.2,the work index for limestone is
12.74.Other quantities for substitution into
 are:
 The power required is:

Exercise 2
 It is desired to crush 10 ton/h of iron ore hematite.
The size of the feed is such that 80% passes a 3-in
(76.2 mm) screen and 80% of the product is pass to
1/8-in (3.175-mm) screen. Calculate the gross power
required in English unit. Use a work index Wi for iron
hematite is 12.68
Solution 2
Exercise 3
 Calculate the power ratio to crush the coffee extract
from 38 mm to 17 mm and from 10 mm to 6 mm. Use
Rittinger’s law.
Solution 3
 From Rittinger’s Law:
2 1
1 1
 𝑃1 = 𝐾r . 𝑚( - )
17 38
1 1
 𝑃2 = 𝐾r . 𝑚( - )
6 10
𝑃1 𝑃2
 = 0.4875 or = 2.051
𝑃2 𝑃1
Thank You

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Dr.

Akmal Hadi Ma’ Radzi

(1) Compression -is used for coarse reduction of hard

(4) Cutting -gives a definite particle size and sometimes

 The cost of power is a major expense in crushing and

 where Kk is Kick’s coefficient.

Kb – a constant that depends on the type of machine

Work Index, Wi - defined as the gross energy

 If 80% of feed passes a mesh size of Dpa mm and 80% of

 The work index includes the friction in the crusher and

 The power required is:

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