Effects of operating parameters on the efficiency of dry stirred milling

Stirred media milling is an industrially accepted efficient grinding method for fine and coarse particles. The stirred mills can be operated both in vertical and horizontal configurations and the selection depending on the process variables. Successful operation of horizontal stirred milling (i.e. IsaMill) in wet applications encouraged the studies in dry applications. In this study, series of dry grinding tests were performed in a prototype horizontal stirred mill (42 L) to investigate the effects of operating parameters such as stirrer speed, feed rate, media filling and ball size on grinding considering the degree of size reduction and the energy consumption. The test results have shown that the stirrer speed, the media size and the media filling are directly proportional and the feed rate is inversely proportional with the specific energy consumption. Besides, energy savings up to 27% were achieved by adjusting the milling conditions properly (suitable media size) and the size reduction values (F-50/P-50) were between 1.05 and 2.42. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.