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Comminution Comminution is the stage in mineral processing where mined rock is successively reduced in size until most of gangue and mineral occur as separate particles. Two primary mechanisms: Crushing: - by compression or impact with hard surfaces within restricted path - typically a dry process. Small reduction ratios (no more than 3-6 at each stage). RR is defined as the ratio of max feed particle size to max product particle size. Grinding: - abrasion and impact by free motion of unconnected media (itself, balls, pebbles etc) - typically a wet process, so that feed to concentration can be in slurry form Principles of Comminution Minerals are typically crystalline with physical and chemical bonds determining the layout of atoms. These bonds are effective only for small distances and can be broken if tensile stress is applied (by tensile or compressive loading). Internal stresses are never uniform as rock contains many different minerals in many different sizes. While the stresses do depend on the mechanical properties of each constituent, they are more dependent on the presence of cracks. o Increase in stress at crack tip is proportional to square root of the length of crack perpendicular to the stress direction. Once the length of crack exceeds a certain value, it can break the atomic bond at the tip, thereby increasing the length the crack, which in turn increases the stress. Failure is therefore rapid. Crystals can be elastic though theories assume brittle failure. Elastic implies that they can store energy without breaking; and release the stored energy when the stress is removed. Strain energy is released when a crack is formed. When breakage does occur (Griffiths theory), a portion of the stored energy goes to become the free surface energy, or potential energy of atoms at the newly created surface. Increase in potential energy makes the new surfaces more chemically active. Note that crack propagation can be
Author: Dr. Rajive Ganguli. Based on book on mineral preparation by BA Wills.

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hurt by presence of other cracks or crystal boundaries. Water, especially when containing additives, reduces the energy required for comminution. This probably because water/additive reduces the bond strength at the crack tip. Particle breakage occurs by crushing (compressive failure), impact (tensile failure) and attrition (shear failure). o When it fails in compression, particles of two types of sizes occur. Fines from compressive failure occur near the points of loading, while coarse particles occur from induced tensile failure. By using ridged surfaces, the area of point of loading can be reduced, thereby, reducing compressive forces and hence fines. o In impact breaking, the particle is exposed to very high stresses rapidly. Particle breaks by tension into similarly sized products. o Attrition typically occurs due to particle-particle interaction. It produces lots of fines and is hence undesirable. Attrition results if rocks are fed too rapidly into the crusher, thereby, increasing compressive stresses between rocks. Theories of Comminution A major problem with comminution is that a large portion of the consumed energy goes to the tool for comminution i.e. the machine itself. For example, for ball mills, only 1% of the energy goes to comminution. Therefore, it is difficult to isolate the energy consumed in comminution. Additionally, different from most comminution theories that assume all material are brittle, plastic material may consume energy to change shape, without creating additional new surfaces. The three major theories are: Von Rittinger theory (1867): Energy consumed is proportional to the area of new surface produced.

1 1 E =CVR D D 1 2 where E is the energy input and D1 and D2 are the feed and product sizes respectively and CVR is a constant This theory applies to fine grinding (10-1000 microns)

Author: Dr. Rajive Ganguli. Based on book on mineral preparation by BA Wills.

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Kicks theory (1885): energy consumed is proportional to the ratio of the feed particle volume to product particle volume D E =CK log 1 D 2 where E is the energy input and D1 and D2 are the feed and product sizes respectively and CK is a constant It does not take into account the absolute sizes of feed and product and, therefore, for example, implies that the energy consumed to reduce a 5 micron particle to half its size is the same as that needed to reduce a 1000 mm particle. It has been shown that this law is fairly accurate for crushing above 1 cm size. Bonds Third Theory: The wattage (kw-h per short ton) consumed in reducing a feed of size 80% passing size F (microns) to a product of size 80% passing size P (microns) is given by: W=
10Wi P 10Wi F

where Wi is the Bond work index for the material. The Bond index is an indicator of the materials resistance to crushing and grinding. It is equal to the kwh/st required to reduce material from a theoretically infinite feed size to 80% passing 100 microns. This law has been shown to be valid for ball and rod mill grinding.
Grindability: The most common quantifier of grindability is the Bonds work index introduced previously. Note that grindability is dependent on particle sizes and hence, the appropriate particle size should always be specified with the listed work index. The work index is obtained in the laboratory using the standard Bond test. Undersize material is constantly removed to replicate closed circuit operation. Among the alternatives suggested to Bonds test are Smith and Lees batch type test and Berry and Bruces comparative method. The latter requires ore of known grindability. An identical weight of the unknown ore (t) and the reference ore (r) are ground so that both consume the same power (Wt or Wr respectively). 10 10 10 10 Wr = Wt = Wir = Wit Fr Ft Pr Pt 10 10 Wir Fr Pr Wit = 10 10 Ft Pt

Author: Dr. Rajive Ganguli. Based on book on mineral preparation by BA Wills.

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Wr and Wt are the work indices for the reference and unknown ore whereas Pr and Pt are the sizes for reference and unknown ore respectively at which 80% of the product passes. Similarly, the sizes at which 80% of the feed passes are Fr and Ft for the reference and unknown ore. Note that the work index, which quantifies the kw-h, is dependent on the type of grinding machine used. Some machines are more efficient than others and, therefore, will show lower work index than others. For example, jaw and gyratory crushers consume a lot of energy and, therefore, have the highest work indices. Roll crushers have the lowest work indices while impact crushers and vibration mills have moderate work indices.

Author: Dr. Rajive Ganguli. Based on book on mineral preparation by BA Wills.