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Steel Balls Consumption & Ball Mill Effect

Published time:08 March 2023

The ball mill must fully consider the diameter of the ball grinding surface, the strength of the iron ore, the particle size distribution of the iron ore entering the ball mill, the compressive strength of the bearing steel balls, and the speed of the ball mill.

Most of the balls just installed will have a certain running-in period with the liner of the ball mill. The amount of bearing steel balls added for the first time should account for 90% of the ball mill. In addition, we add the proportion of bearing steel balls according to the size of steel balls (ф140mm, ф150mm, ф90mm, ф65mm, ф50mm).

Steel Balls

For ball mill loading, the most important thing is to load the new machine. We must pay attention to the balls’ occupancy to ensure the mill’s grinding particle size distribution.

In the grinding operation, the demand for ball mill steel balls is huge, accounting for about 12 times the ball mill liner, making up for the bearing steel balls’ damage. It is necessary to configure and supplement bearing steel balls on time to ensure that the particle size distribution of the ball load in the ball mill remains unchanged.

The consumption of ball mill steel balls mainly comes from mechanical damage and corrosion damage, which are the reversible process of “quantum mechanics-mechanical” and “quantum mechanics-analytical chemistry” on the paste surface, so it is a necessary condition to ensure the quality of the ball mill Next, how to reduce the energy consumption of ball mill steel balls reasonably?

Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption of Steel Balls in Ball Mills

1. Change the grindability of iron ore

The particle size distribution of the raw materials fed into the ball mill is the first reason that affects the energy consumption of the steel balls of the ball mill. Generally, the smaller the grind-ability of the feed particle size distribution, the less iron ore is easy to grind, the damage of the steel balls of the ball mill is also smaller, and the energy consumption is also lower. And vice versa.

In specific production and manufacturing, if you encounter iron ore that is difficult to grind or the iron ore is required to be finely ground, you can thoroughly consider adding necessary iron ore during the grinding process when economic development and site standards allow. Analyze chemical preparations to improve the grinding effect and increase the grinding speed; or heat the iron ore to change the process performance of the entire iron ore and reduce the hardness of the ore. These two methods can reduce the energy consumption of the ball mill.

2. Reduce the feed particle size distribution

The particle size distribution of the ball mill is large, and the effect of the ball mill on the raw materials is also increasing. If you want to exceed the specified grinding particle size distribution, the workload of the ball mill will increase, so the energy consumption of the bearing steel balls will also increase.

To reduce the power consumption of the ball mill, it can reduce the particle size distribution of the vibrating feeder for grinding. So it requires that the particle size distribution of the crushed ore should be small, that is to say, “more crushing and less grinding.”

3. Effective bearing steel ball filling rate

When the speed of the ball mill exceeds a certain level, the filling rate is high, and the bearing steel balls have more and more strict inspections on the raw materials. The grinding area is large, and the damage is fast. If the filling rate is too high, it will change the movement state of the steel balls of the ball mill and reduce the effect of strict inspection on large and fine particle materials. On the contrary, the filling rate is low, and the grinding effect is not better.

The filling rate of bearing steel balls in the grinding operation of mining plants is generally 50%~60%. It is not an effective filling rate if based on each dressing plant’s specific conditions. Therefore, it must determine the balls loaded according to the beneficiation test.

4. Adequate steel ball specifications and configurations

Because the bearing steel balls in the ball mill are in point contact with the raw materials, if the diameter of the bearing steel balls is too large, the crushing force will be too large, and the damage will be too fast. Sometimes it will easily cause the raw materials to break in the direction of the penetrating force, affecting the grinding speed. On the other hand, bearing steel ball filling rate in the same situation, if the ball diameter is too large, the amount of bearing steel balls will be less, the probability of fracture is low, the over-grinding is becoming more and more serious, and the product particle size distribution is not uniform; If the bearing steel ball is too small, the crushing interaction force on the iron ore is small, and the grinding speed is low. Therefore, an effective steel ball specification configuration will reduce the steel consumption of the ball mill and reasonably increase the grinding speed.

5. Effective grinding solubility

The size of the grinding solution will affect the proportion of the pulp, the degree of adhesion of raw materials around the bearing balls, and the loss rate of the pulp. If the grinding solubility is high, the degree of adhesion of the raw material near the bearing steel ball is good, the vibration and grinding effect of the bearing steel ball on the raw material is also excellent, and the damage of the bearing steel ball is faster.

In the actual production, we can control the amount of ore supply or water output of the supply station or adjust the classification function to control the grinding solubility.

6. Control the speed of the ball mill

Under the condition that the steel balls of the ball mill are configured and practical, the rotating speed of the ball mill increases, and the steel balls of the cylindrical bearings will drop into piles; When the speed of rotation increases as necessary, the power exceeds the maximum, the grinding effect is the best, and the ball friction of the ball mill is also the most effective.

The critical value of the basic knowledge of the ball mill is usually 74 to 98%. Due to the type of raw material and other factors, we accord the specific situation to determine the speed of the ball mill.

In the process of ore grinding, many factors affect the energy consumption of ball mill steel balls, and most of the factors cannot be analyzed qualitatively and guaranteed. We can only carry out specific analyses decisively and reduce ball mill steel to ensure effective product quality standards. The power consumption of the ball must fully consider from multiple aspects, and each link must master to achieve the final investment estimate and excellent product specifications.

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