Microwave assisted limestone grinding

Abstract

In this study, limestone samples were investigated in terms of grinding product particle size distribution (PSD) differentiations after microwave treatment. Initially, collected limestone samples (a total of 58 sample) were crushed and prepared for microwave treatment. In order to observe the effect of microwave treatment, 58 of these samples were ground directly while the other 58 samples were objected to microwave treatment (5 min, 180 W) prior to the grinding. In this paper, size parameters (D₁₀, D₅₀, D₉₀, D₃₂, and D₄₃) and their corresponding differentiations after microwave treatment were evaluated. As regards to the finding of this study, microwave treatment prior to grinding can be claimed to ease the grinding, and finer size distribution can be obtained especially for lower Fe₂O₃ content samples. It was also found out the fact that MgO and CaO content of samples have influenced the abovementioned PSD differentiation to some extent.

Keywords:

• Limestone
• microwave
• particle size distribution
• chemical composition
• iron content

Acknowledgments

The authors of this study would like to thank Limestone Quarry Companies’ owners and the operators for providing the samples. The authors also would like to express their appreciation to Bülent Ecevit University and Eren Enerji Company for their contribution as regards to chemical analyzes of the limestone samples and Mining Engineering Department of Bülent Ecevit University as regards to the facilities in terms of PSD analyzes and microwave treatment, i.e., Malvern Mastersizer and Microwave.