Wet Grindability of Calcite to Ultra-Fine Sizes in Conventional Ball Mill

Abstract

An experimental practice on the ultra-fine wet grinding of calcite ore in a conventional batch ball mill is reported. In this study, the effect of wet grinding conditions on the production of fine particles was researched. The influence of operating parameters such as operation speed (% of critical speed), ball filling ratio, calcite filling ratio, pulp density, ball size distribution, and grinding time on the grindability of calcite ore was systematically examined. Experimental results were evaluated on the basis of d₈₀ product size. As a result of this study, optimum experimental conditions were found to be 80% of critical speed for operation speed, 35% for ball filling ratio, 15% for calcite filling ratio, 75% for pulp density, 50% (1 cm) and 50% (2 cm) for ball size distribution, and 60 min for grinding time. It was found that the best product has d₁₀ = 1.51, d₅₀ = 12.53, and d₈₀ = 30.02 µm particle size and its steepness factor is 3.75. The outcomes indicate that the wet grinding technique in conventional ball mill for calcite ore is effective to obtain ultra-fine size products.

Keywords:

• Calcite
• conventional ball mill
• grindability
• ultra-fine sizes