Open AccessEnergy-effective Grinding of Inorganic Solids Using Organic Additives
Author(s) -
Ratan K. Mishra,
Martin Weibel,
Thomas Müller,
Hendrik Heinz,
Robert J. Flatt
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2017.451
Subject(s) - grinding , comminution , ball mill , materials science , specific energy , cement , high energy , process engineering , metallurgy , environmental science , chemical engineering , engineering , engineering physics , physics , quantum mechanics
We present our research findings related to new formulations of the organic additives (grinding aids) needed for the efficient grinding of inorganic solids. Even though the size reduction phenomena of the inorganic solid particles in a ball mill is purely a physical process, the addition of grinding aids in milling media introduces a complex physicochemical process. In addition to further gain in productivity, the organic additive helps to reduce the energy needed for grinding, which in the case of cement clinker has major environmental implications worldwide. This is primarily due to the tremendous amounts of cement produced and almost 30% of the associated electrical energy is consumed for grinding. In this paper, we examine the question of how to optimize these grinding aids linking molecular insight into their working mechanisms, and also how to design chemical additives of improved performance for industrial comminution.