Comminution

Introduction the last stages of comminution. Grinding is usually

performed "wet" to provide a slurry feed to the
Because most minerals are finely disseminated and
concentration process, although dry grinding has
intimately associated with the gangue, they must be
limited applications. There is an overlapping size
initially "unlocked" or "liberated" before separation
area where it is possible to crush or grind the ore.
can be undertaken. This is achieved by comminu-
From a number of case studies, it appears that at the
tion in which the particle size of the ore is progres-
fine end of crushing operations equivalent reduc-
sively reduced until the clean particles of mineral
tion can be achieved for roughly half the energy
can be separated by such methods as are available.
and costs required by tumbling mills (Flavel, 1978).
Comminution in its earliest stages is carried out in
Stirred mills are now commonly used in mineral
order to make the freshly excavated material easier
processing, though they have been present in other
to handle by scrapers, conveyors, and ore carriers,
and in the case of quarry products to produce mate- industries for many years (Stehr and Schwedes,
rial of controlled particle size. 1983). They represent the broad category of mills
Explosives are used in mining to remove which use a stirrer to provide motion to the steel,
ores from their natural beds, and blasting can ceramic, or rock media. Both vertical and horizontal
be regarded as the first stage in comminution. configurations exist, and since they can operate
Comminution in the mineral processing plant, or with smaller media sizes, they are far more suit-
"mill", takes place as a sequence of crushing and able for fine grinding applications than ball mills.
grinding processes. Crushing reduces the particle Stirred mills are claimed to be more energy effi-
size of run-of-mine ore to such a level that grinding cient (by up to 50%) than conventional ball mills
can be carried out until the mineral and gangue are (Stief et al., 1987). This is thought to be the result
substantially produced as separate particles. of having a narrower range of applied energy.
Crushing is accomplished by compression of the A relatively new comminution device, the high
ore against rigid surfaces, or by impact against pressure grinding rolls (HPGR), utilises compres-
surfaces in a rigidly constrained motion path. This sion breakage of a particle bed, in which energy
is contrasted with grinding which is accomplished efficient inter-particle breakage occurs (Schrnert,
by abrasion and impact of the ore by the free 1988). The reduction ratio obtained in a single
motion of unconnected media such as rods, balls, pass through the HPGR is substantially higher
or pebbles. than that obtained in conventional rolls crushers.
Crushing is usually a dry process, and is Some evidence has also been reported for down-
performed in several stages, reduction ratios being stream benefits such as reduced grinding strength
small, ranging from three to six in each stage. The and improved leachability due to microcracking
reduction ratio of a crushing stage can be defined (Knecht, 1994). The HPGR offers a realistic poten-
as the ratio of maximum particle size entering tial to markedly reduce the comminution energy
to maximum particle size leaving the crusher, requirements needed by tumbling mills. Reports
although other definitions are sometimes used. have suggested the HPGR to be between 20 and
Tumbling mills with either steel rods or balls, 50% more efficient than conventional crushers and
or sized ore as the grinding media, are used in mills (Esna-Ashari and Kellerwessel, 1988).
 Comminution lO9

P r i n c i p l e s of c o m m i n u t i o n direction. Therefore, there is a critical value for

the crack length at any particular level of stress at
Most minerals are crystalline materials in which the
which the increased stress level at the crack tip is
atoms are regularly arranged in three-dimensional
sufficient to break the atomic bond at that point.
arrays. The configuration of atoms is determined by
Such rupture of the bond will increase the crack
the size and types of physical and chemical bonds
length, thus increasing the stress concentration and
holding them together. In the crystalline lattice of
causing a rapid propagation of the crack through
minerals, these inter-atomic bonds are effective only
the matrix, thus causing fracture.
over small distances, and can be broken if extended
Although the theories of comminution assume
by a tensile stress. Such stresses may be generated by
that the material is brittle, crystals can, in fact, store
tensile or compressive loading (Figure 5.1).
energy without breaking, and release this energy
when the stress is removed. Such behaviour is
known as elastic. When fracture does occur, some
of the stored energy is transformed into free surface
energy, which is the potential energy of atoms at
the newly produced surfaces. Due to this increase
in surface energy, newly formed surfaces are often
more chemically active, and are more amenable
to the action of flotation reagents, etc., as well as
oxidising more readily.
Griffith (1921) showed that materials fail by
crack propagation when this is energetically
feasible, i.e. when the energy released by relaxing
Figure 5.1 Strain of a crystal lattice resulting from the strain energy is greater than the energy of the
tensile or compressive stresses
new surface produced. Brittle materials relieve the
strain energy mainly by crack propagation, whereas
Even when rocks are uniformly loaded, the "tough" materials can relax strain energy without
internal stresses are not evenly distributed, as the crack propagation by the mechanism of plastic
rock consists of a variety of minerals dispersed as flow, where the atoms or molecules slide over each
grains of various sizes. The distribution of stress other and energy is consumed in distorting the
depends upon the mechanical properties of the indi- shape of the material. Crack propagation can also
vidual minerals, but more importantly upon the be inhibited by encounters with other cracks or
presence of cracks or flaws in the matrix, which by meeting crystal boundaries. Fine-grained rocks,
act as sites for stress concentration (Figure 5.2). such as taconites, are therefore usually tougher than
It has been shown (Inglis, 1913) that the increase coarse-grained rocks.
in stress at such a site is proportional to the square The energy required for comminution is reduced
root of the crack length perpendicular to the stress in the presence of water, and can be further
reduced by chemical additives which adsorb onto
the solid (Hartley et al., 1978). This may be due
to the lowering of the surface energy on adsorption
providing that the surfactant can penetrate into a
crack and reduce the bond strength at the crack tip
before rupture.
Real particles are irregularly shaped, and loading
is not uniform but is achieved through points,
or small areas, of contact. Breakage is achieved
mainly by crushing, impact, and attrition, and all
three modes of fracture (compressive, tensile, and
shear) can be discerned depending on the rock
Figure 5.2 Stress concentration at a crack tip mechanics and the type of loading.
110 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

When an irregular particle is broken by compres- relationship between the energy required to break
sion, or crushing, the products fall into two distinct the material and the new surface produced in the
size r a n g e s - coarse particles resulting from the process, but this relationship can only be made
induced tensile failure, and fines from compres- manifest if the energy consumed in creating new
sive failure near the points of loading, or by shear surface can be separately measured.
at projections (Figure 5.3). The amount of fines In a ball mill, for instance, it has been shown that
produced can be reduced by minimising the area less than 1% of the total energy input is available
of loading and this is often done in compressive for actual size reduction, the bulk of the energy
crushing machines by using corrugated crushing being utilised in the production of heat.
surfaces (Partridge, 1978). Another factor is that a material which is plastic
will consume energy in changing shape, a shape
/ / / / / / / which it will retain without creating significant new
surface. All the theories of comminution assume
that the material is brittle, so that no energy
is adsorbed in processes such as elongation or
contraction which is not finally utilised in breakage.
The oldest theory is that of Von Rittinger (1867),
which states that the energy consumed in the
size reduction is proportional to the area of new
surface produced. The surface area of a known
/ / / / / /
weight of particles of uniform diameter is inversely
Figure 5.3 Fracture by crushing proportional to the diameter, hence Rittinger's law
equates to
In impact breaking, due to the rapid loading, a
particle experiences a higher average stress while E=K
(1 1) (5.1)
D2 D1
undergoing strain than is necessary to achieve
simple fracture, and tends to break apart rapidly, where E is the energy input, D~ is the initial
mainly by tensile failure. The products are often particle size, D 2 is the final particle size, and K is
very similar in size and shape. a constant.
Attrition (shear failure) produces much fine The second theory is that of Kick (1885). He
material, and may be undesirable depending on stated that the work required is proportional to
the comminution stage and industry sector. Attri- the reduction in volume of the particles concerned.
tion occurs mainly in practice due to particle- Where f is the diameter of the feed particles and
particle interaction (inter-particle comminution), p the diameter of the product particles, the reduc-
which may occur if a crusher is fed too fast, tion ratio R is f/p. According to Kick's law, the
contacting particles thus increasing the degree of energy required for comminution is proportional to
compressive stress and hence shear failure. log R/log 2.
Bond (1952) developed an equation which is
based on the theory that the work input is propor-
Comminution theory
tional to the new crack tip length produced in
Comminution theory is concerned with the rela- particle breakage, and equals the work represented
tionship between energy input and the particle size by the product minus that represented by the feed.
made from a given feed size. Various theories have In particles of similar shape, the surface area of unit
been expounded, none of which is entirely satisfac- volume of material is inversely proportional to the
tory (Wills and Atkinson, 1993). diameter. The crack length in unit volume is consid-
The greatest problem lies in the fact that most of ered to be proportional to one side of that area and
the energy input to a crushing or grinding machine therefore inversely proportional to the square root
is absorbed by the machine itself, and only a small of the diameter.
fraction of the total energy is available for breaking For practical calculations the size in microns
the material. It is to be expected that there is a which 80% passes is selected as the criterion of
 Comminution 111

particle size. The diameter in microns which 80% If the breakage characteristics of a material remain
of the product passes is designated as P, the size constant over all size ranges, then the calculated
which 80% of the feed passes is designated as F, work index would be expected to remain constant
and the work input in kilowatt hours per short ton since it expresses the resistance of material to
is W. Bond's third theory equation is breakage. However, for most naturally occurring
10w, 10w, raw materials, differences exist in the breakage
W= (5.2) characteristics depending on particle size, which
47 can result in variations in the work index. For
where Wi is the w o r k index. The work index is instance, when a mineral breaks easily at the
the comminution parameter which expresses the boundaries but individual grains are tough, then
resistance of the material to crushing and grinding; grindability increases with fineness of grind.
numerically it is the kilowatt hours per short ton Consequently work index values are generally
required to reduce the material from theoretically obtained for some specified grind size which typi-
infinite feed size to 80% passing 100 l~m. fies the comminution operation being evaluated
Various attempts have been made to show that (Magdalinovic, 1989).
the relationships of Rittinger, Kick, and Bond Grindability is based upon performance in a care-
are interpretations of single general equations. fully defined piece of equipment according to a
Hukki (1975) suggests that the relationship between strict procedure. The Bond standard grindability
energy and particle size is a composite form test has been described in detail by Deister (1987),
of the three laws. The probability of breakage and Levin (1989) has proposed a method for deter-
in comminution is high for large particles, and mining the grindability of fine materials. Table 5.1
rapidly diminishes for fine sizes. He shows that lists standard Bond work indices for a selection of
Kick's law is reasonably accurate in the crushing materials.
range above about 1 cm in diameter; Bond's theory
applies reasonably in the range of conventional Table 5.1 Selection of Bond work indices
rod-mill and ball-mill grinding, and Rittinger's law Material Work index Material Work index
applies fairly well in the fine grinding range of
10-1000 I~m. Barite 4.73 Fluorspar 8.91
On the basis of Hukki's evaluation, Morrell Bauxite 8.78 Granite 15.13
(2004) has proposed a modification to Bond's equa- Coal 13.00 Graphite 43.56
tion that sees the exponent of P and F in Equa- Dolomite 11.27 Limestone 12.74
tion 5.2 varying with size as" Emery 56.70 Quartzite 9.58
Ferro-silicon 10.01 Quartz 13.57
KM i KM i
W=
pf(P) Ff(F)
where M i is the m a t e r i a l index related to the The standard Bond test is time-consuming, and
breakage property of the ore and K is a constant a number of methods have been used to obtain
chosen to balance the units of the equation. The the indices related to the Bond work index. Smith
application of the new energy-size relation has and Lee (1968) used batch-type grindability tests to
been shown to be valid across the size r a n g e arrive at the work index, and compared their results
covered by most modern grinding circuits, i.e. with work indices from the standard Bond tests,
0.1-100 mm. which require constant screening out of under-
size material in order to simulate closed-circuit
operation. The batch-type tests compared very
Grindability favourably with the standard grindability test data,
Ore grindability refers to the ease with which mate- the advantage being that less time is required to
rials can be comminuted, and data from grindability determine the work index.
tests are used to evaluate crushing and grinding Berry and Bruce (1966) developed a comparative
efficiency. method of determining the grindability of an ore.
Probably the most widely used parameter to The method requires the use of a reference ore of
measure ore grindability is the Bond work index W~. known grindability. The reference ore is ground for
112 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

a certain time and the power consumption recorded. allows a direct comparison of grinding efficiency.
An identical weight of the test ore is then ground Ideally Wi should be equal to Wio and grinding
for a length of time such that the power consumed efficiency should be unity. It should be noted that
is identical with that of the reference ore. If r is the the value of W is the power applied to the pinion
reference ore and t the ore under test, then from shaft of the mill. Motor input power thus has to be
Bond's Equation 5.2. converted to power at the mill pinion shaft unless

Wr-Wt-Wir
[,0 10] [,0 ,0] -Wit
the motor is coupled direct to the pinion shaft.
While Bond is the best-known grindability test
,/Er ,/ rr 4 tt VTtt for rod and ball mills, in recent years the SPI (SAG
Therefore Power Index) test has become popular for SAG

Wit- Wir
[10 10] (5.3)
mills. The SPI test is a batch test, conducted in
a 30.5 cm diameter by 10.2 cm long grinding mill
4gr JEt JEt charged with 5 kg of steel balls. Two kilograms
Reasonable values for the work indices are obtained of sample are crushed to 100% minus 1.9 cm and
by this method as long as the reference and test 80% minus 1.3 cm and placed in the mill. The test
ores are ground to about the same product size is run with several screening iterations until the
distribution. sample is reduced to 80% minus 1.7 mm. The time
The low efficiency of grinding equipment in required to reach a P80 of 1.7 mm is then converted
terms of the energy actually used to break the to an SAG power index Wsag via the use of a
ore particles is a common feature of all types of proprietary transformation (Starkey and Dobby,
mill, but there are substantial differences between 1996):
various designs. Some machines are constructed in n

such a way that much energy is adsorbed in the

component parts and is not available for breaking.
Work indices have been obtained (Lowrison, 1974)
The parameters K and n are empirical factors whilst
from grindability tests on different sizes of several
types of equipment, using identical feed materials. Lag incorporates a series of calculations (unpub-
The values of work indices obtained are indica- lished), which estimate the influence of factors such
tions of the efficiencies of the machines. Thus, the as pebble crusher recycle load, ball load, and feed
equipment having the highest indices, and hence the size distribution. The test is essentially an indicator
largest energy consumers, are found to be jaw and of an ore's breakage response to SAG abrasion
gyratory crushers and tumbling mills; intermediate events. As with other batch tests, the test is limited
consumers are impact crushers and vibration mills, by the fact that a steady-state mill load is never
and roll crushers are the smallest consumers. The reached.
smallest consumers of energy are those machines
which apply a steady, continuous, compressive Simulation of comminution processes
stress on the material.
and circuits
Values of operating work indices, Wio, obtained
from specific units can be used to assess the Simulation of comminution, particularly of
effect of operating variables, such as mill speeds, grinding and classification, has received great atten-
size of grinding media, type of liner, etc. The tion in recent years, due to the fact that this is by
higher the value of Wi, the lower is the grinding far the most important unit operation both in terms
efficiency. The Wio can be obtained using Equa- of energy consumption and overall plant perfor-
tion 5.2, by defining W as the specific energy mance. Other aspects of mineral processing have
being used (power draw/new feed rate), F and not received the same intensive research accorded
P as the actual feed and product 80% passing to grinding.
sizes, and Wi as the operating work index, Wio. The Bond work index has little use in simula-
Once corrected for the particular application and tion, as it does not predict the complete product
equipment-related factors, Wio can be compared size distribution, only the 80% passing size, nor
on the same basis as grindability test results. This does it predict the effect of operating variables
 Comminution 113

on mill circulating load, nor classification perfor- the mill to provide a description of open-circuit
mance. The complete size distribution is required grinding, which can be coupled with information
in order to simulate the behaviour of the product concerning the classifier to produce closed-circuit
in ancillary equipment such as screens and classi- grinding conditions (Napier-Munn et al., 1996).
fiers, and for this reason population balance models These models can only realise their full potential,
are finding increased usage in the design, optimisa- however, if accurate methods of estimating model
tion and control of grinding circuits (Napier-Munn parameters are available for a particular system.
et al., 1996). One of the most successful applica- The complexity of the breakage environment in
tions of these models has been through the mineral a tumbling mill precludes the calculation of these
processing simulator, JKSimMet. A range of case values from first principles, so that successful appli-
studies can be found in the literature, coveting cation depends on the development of efficient
both design and optimization of grinding circuits. techniques for the estimation of model parame-
Recent examples include Richardson (1990), Lynch ters from experimental data. The methods used for
and Morrell (1992), McGhee et al. (2001), and the determination of model parameters have been
Dunne et al. (2001). In the model formulation the compared by Lynch et al. (1986). This comparison
particulate assembly that undergoes breakage in a shows that, while all the modem ball mill models
mill is divided into several narrow size intervals use a similar method for describing the breakage
(e.g. x/2 sieve intervals). The size reduction process rate and the breakage distribution functions, each
is defined by the matrix equation: model has its own way of representing the material
transport mechanisms.
p=K.f
Parameter estimation techniques can be classi-
where p represents the product and f the feed fied into three broad categories:
elements. The element Pij in the product array is
given by: (a) Graphical methods which are based mainly on
Pij = Kij " f j
the grinding of narrow size distributions.
(b) Tracer methods, involving the introduction of
where Kij represents the mass fraction of the parti- a tracer into one of the size intervals of the
cles in the jth size range which fall in the ith size feed, followed by analysis of the product for
range in the product. The product array for n size the tracer.
ranges can thus be written as: (c) Non-linear regression methods, which allow
Product array all parameters to be computed from a min-
The product array is only useful if K is known. imum of experimental data.
The behaviour of particles in each size interval
is characterised by a size-discretised selection, or Rajamani and Herbst (1984) report the develop-
breakage rate function, S, which is the proba- ment of an algorithm for simultaneous estimation
bility of particles in that size range being selected of selection and breakage functions from exper-
for breakage, the remainder passing through the imental data with the use of non-linear regres-
process unbroken, and a set of size-discretised sion, and present the results of estimation for batch
breakage functions, B, which give the distribution and continuous operations. The estimated param-
of breakage fragments produced by the occurrence eter values show good agreement with parameters
of a primary breakage event in that size interval. determined by direct experimental methods, and a
S. f represents the portion of particles which are computer program based on the algorithm has been
broken, ( 1 - S). f thus representing the unbroken developed. The program is said to be capable of
fraction. K in Equation 5.4 is thus replaced by B, simulating tumbling mill grinding behaviour for a
and the equation for a primary breakage process specified set of model parameters, and of estimating
becomes: the model parameters from experimental data.
Wiseman and Richardson (1991) give a detailed
p=B.S, f +(1-S). f review of the JKSimMet software package for
The model can be combined with informa- simulating mineral processing operations, particu-
tion on the distribution of residence times in larly comminution and classification. It is based on
114 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

more than 25 years of modelling and simulation to the complexities of mineral release. However,
research and development at the Julius Kruttschnitt recent work has focused on the development of
Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC). One of the grinding models which include mineral liberation
main applications for the software package is the in the size-reduction description (Choi et al., 1988;
analysis and optimization of the performance of Herbst et al., 1988). In terms of liberation models
existing operations using experimental circuit data. for comminution, King (1994) and Gay (2004)
Kojovic and Whiten (1994) outline a procedure for have made the most significant progress. Gay's
evaluating the quality of models typical of those entropy-based multiphase approach models particles
used in mineral processing simulation. individually rather than using the standard approach
Single particle breakage tests have been used by of using composite classes. The development of
a number of researchers to investigate some salient such liberation models is essential if true simulation
features of the complex comminution process. A of integrated plants is ever to be developed.
comparison of the results from single particle The Discrete Element Method (DEM) approach
breakage tests with grindability and ball mill is recognized as an effective tool for modelling (in
tests is given by Narayanan (1986). Application both two and three dimensions) the flow of granular
of the results from single particle breakage tests materials in a variety of mining industry applica-
to modelling industrial comminution processes is tions, including the motion of grinding media in
described, and the necessity for further research a mill. The technique combines detailed physical
into single particle breakage tests to develop a models to describe the motion of balls, rocks, and
simple but comprehensive technique for estimating slurry and attendant breakage of particles as they
the breakage characteristics of ores is discussed. are influenced by moving liner/lifters and grates.
Napier-Munn et al. (1996) give a detailed descrip- The DEM has been used to model many indus-
tion of the single particle breakage tests developed trial applications over the past decade. Of specific
at the JKMRC, and their application to the determi- interest to comminution is the modelling of ball
nation of ore-specific parameters used in comminu- mills by Mishra and Rajamani (1992, 1994), Inoue
tion models. and Okaya (1995), Cleary (1998), Datta et al.
Although selection and breakage functions for (1999) and SAG mills by Rajamani and Mishra
homogeneous materials can be determined on a small (1996), Bwalya et al. (2001), Cleary (2001), Nordel
scale and used to predict large-scale performance, it et al. (2001), and Djordjevic (2004, 2005). One of
is more difficult to predict the behaviour of mixtures the features of three-dimensional DEM simulation
of two or more components. Furthermore, the rela- is the cutaway images of particle motion in the mill,
tionship of material size reduction to subsequent an example of which is presented in Figure 5.4 for
processing is even more difficult to predict, due a 1.8 m diameter pilot SAG mill.

Figure 5.4 Example of ball and particle motion in a slice of a pilot SAG mill using three-dimensional DEM
simulation (Courtesy CSIRO (Dr. Paul Cleary))
 Comminution 115

Figure 5.5 Comparison of three-dimensional DEM with experiment for 75% critical speed, scale model 0.6 m
diameter SAG mill (Courtesy CSIRO (Dr. Paul Cleary))

Modelling of SAG mills by DEM is leading material properties. Large-scale simulations, with
to improved understanding of charge dynamics, over 100,000 particles can take weeks for a single
and offers the potential to improve mill design simulation. The computational time step is deter-
and control, and reduce wear. This could lead mined by the size of the smallest particle present in
to reduced downtime, increased mill efficiency, the model and material properties (elastic). These
increased throughput, lower costs, and lower computational demands and lack of detailed exper-
energy consumption. DEM has not yet advanced to imental verification have limited the value of DEM
the stage of surpassing the predictive capability of techniques in the mining industry. Hence there is
the current milling models, but the improved under- much effort around the world seeking to fill the
standing may in the short term lead to improved vital gap linking computational results to rigorous
mechanistic models and design equations. Coupling experimental data. It is only with validated DEM
of slurry to particles and adding direct prediction that any confidence can be given to the predictive
of particle breakage to the full scale DEM model capability of such computational tools, especially
are two of the major unresolved issues. when the predictive range lies beyond that for
Validation of the predictions made by DEM which the existing semi-empirical models were
is a critical part of understanding the effect of developed.
various modelling assumptions and for separating
more accurate DEM variants from less accurate
ones. Examples of such validations can be found in References
Cleary and Hoyer (2000) and Cleary et al. (2001).
Berry, T.F. and Bruce, R.M. (1966). A simple method
Govender et al. (2001) uses an automated three-
of determining the grindability of ores, Can. Min. J.
dimensional tracking technique utilising biplanar (Jul.), 63.
X-ray filming for providing rigorous validation data Bond, F.C. (1952). The third theory of comminution,
on the motion of particles in an experimental small Trans. AIMF, 193, 484.
scale mill. Figure 5.5 shows a good agreement Bwalya, B.W., Moys, M.H., and Hinde, A.L. (2001). The
between DEM simulation and experiment in terms use of discrete element method and fracture mechanics
of the charge motion for a scale model SAG mill. to improve grinding rate predictions, Minerals Engng.,
Though advances in computing power have 14(6), 565-573.
enabled DEM simulations to tackle increasingly Choi, W.Z., Adel, G.T., and Yoon, R.H. (1988). Esti-
mation of model parameters for liberation and size
more complex processes, three-dimensional DEM
reduction, Min. Metall. Proc., 5 (Feb.), 33.
simulation of large mills with many thousands Cleary, P.W. (1998). Predicting charge motion power
of particles can be a time-consuming task. The draw, segregation and wear in ball mill using
speed of computation is determined principally by discrete element methods, Minerals Engng., 11(11),
two parameters: number of particles involved and 1061-1080.
116 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Cleary, P.W. (2001). Modelling comminution devices King, R.P. (1994). Linear stochastic models for mineral
using DEM, Int. J. Numer. Anal. Meth. Geomechan., liberation, Powder Tech., 81, 217-234.
25, 83-105. Knecht, J. (1994). High-pressure grinding rolls - a tool to
Cleary, P.W. and Hoyer, D. (2000), Centrifugal mill optimize treatment of refractory and oxide gold ores.
charge motion and power draw: Comparison of DEM Fifth Mill Operators Conf., AusIMM, Roxby Downs,
predictions with experiment, Int. J. Min. Proc., 59(2), Melbourne (Oct.), 51-59.
131-148. Kojovic, T. and Whiten, W.J. (1994). Evaluating the
Cleary, P.W., Morrison, R.D., and Morrell, S. (2001). quality of simulation models, lIMP Conf., Sudbury,
DEM validation for a full scale model SAG 437-446.
mill, SAG2001 Conference, Vancouver, Canada, IV, Levin, J. (1989). Observations on the Bond standard
191-206. grindability test, and a proposal for a standard grind-
Datta, A., Mishra, B.K., and Rajamani, R.K. (1999). ability test for fine materials, J.S. Afr. lnst. Min.
Analysis of power draw in ball mills by discrete Metall, 89 (Jan.), 13.
element method, Can. Metall. Q., 38, 133-140. Lowrison, G.C. (1974). Crushing and Grinding, Butter-
Deister, R.J. (1987). How to determine the Bond work worths, London.
index using lab. ball mill grindability tests, Engng. Lynch, A.J. and Narayanan, S.S. (1986). Simulation-
Min. J., 188(Feb.), 42. the design tool for the future, in Mineral Processing
Djordjevic, N. (2005). Influence of charge size distri- at a Crossroads - Problems and Prospects, ed. B.A.
bution on net-power draw of tumbling mill based on Wills and R.W. Barley. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,
DEM modeling, Minerals Engng., 18(3), 375-378. Dordrecht, 89.
Djordjevic, N., Shi, F.N., and Morrison, R.D. (2004). Lynch, A.J. and Morrell, S. (1992). The understanding of
Determination of lifter design, speed and filling effects comminution and classification and its practical appli-
in AG mills by 3D DEM, Minerals Engng., 17(11-12), cation in plant design and optimisation, Comminu-
1135-1142. tion: Theory and Practice, ed. Kawatra, AIME,
Dunne, R., Morrell, S., Lane, G., Valery, W., and Hart, 405-426.
S. (2001). Design of the 40 foot diameter SAG mill Lynch, A.J., et al. (1986). Ball mill models: Their
installed at the Cadia gold copper mine, SAG2001 evolution and present status, in Advances in Minerals
Conference, Vancouver, Canada, I, 43-58. Processing., ed. P. Somasundaran, Chapter 3, 48, SME
Esna-Ashari, M. and Kellerwessel, H. (1988). Inter- Inc., Littleton.
particle crushing of gold ore improves leaching, Magdalinovic, N.M. (1989). Calculation of energy
Randol Gold Forum 1988, Scottsdale, USA, 141-146. required for grinding in a ball mill, Int. J. Min. Proc.
Flavel, M.D. (1978). Control of crushing circuits 25 (Jan.), 41.
will reduce capital and operating costs, Min. Mag., McGhee, S., Mosher, J., Richardson, M., David, D.,
Mar., 207. and Morrison, R. (2001). SAG feed pre-crushing
Gay, S. (2004). Application of multiphase liberation at ASARCO's ray concentrator: development,
model for comminution, Comminution '04 Confer- implementation and evaluation. SAG2001 Conf.,
ence, Perth (Mar.). Vancouver, Canada, 1, 234-247.
Govender, I., Balden, V., Powell, M.S., and Nurick, Mishra, B.K. and Rajamani, R.J. (1992). The discrete
G.N. (2001). Validating DEM - Potential major element method for the simulation of ball mills, App.
improvements to SAG modeling, SAG2001 Confer- Math. Modelling, 16, 598-604.
ence, Vancouver, Canada, IV, 101-114. Mishra, B.K. and Rajamani, R.K. (1994). Simulation
Griffith, A.A. (1921). Phil. Trans. R. Soc., 221, 163. of charge motion in ball mills. Part 1: Experimental
Hartley, J.N., Prisbrey, K.A., and Wick, O.J. (1978). verifications, Int. J. Min. Proc., 40, 171-186.
Chemical additives for ore grinding: How effective Morrell, S. (2004). An alternative energy-size relation-
are they?, Engng. Min. J. (Oct.), 105. ship to that proposed by Bond for the design and
Herbst, 1.A., et al. (1988). Development of a optimisation of grinding circuits. Int. J. Min. Proc.
multicomponent-multisize liberation model, Minerals (in press).
Engng., 1(2), 97. Napier-Munn, T.J., Morrell, S., Morrison, R.D., and
Hukki, R.T. (1975). The principles of comminution: An Kojovic, T. (1996). JKMRC, University of Queens-
analytical summary, Engng. Min. J., 176(May), 106. land, Brisbane, 413pp.
Inglis, C.E. (1913). Stresses in a plate due to the presence Narayanan, S.S. (1986). Single particle breakage tests: A
of cracks and sharp comers. Proc. Inst. Nav. Arch. review of principles and applications to comminution
Inoue, T. and Okaya, K. (1995). Analysis of grinding modelling, Bull. Proc. Australas. Inst Min. Metall.,
actions of ball mills by discrete element method, Proc. 291(June), 49.
XIX Int. Min. Proc. Cong., 1, SME, 191-196. Nordell, L., Potapov, A.V. and Herbst, J.A. (2001).
Kick, F. (1885). Des Gesetz der Proportionalem wider- Comminution simulation using discrete element
stand und Seine Anwendung, Felix, Leipzig. method (DEM) a p p r o a c h - from single particle
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breakage to full-scale SAG mill operation, SAG2001 Starkey, J. and Dobby, G. (1996). Application of
Conf., Vancouver, Canada, 4, 235-236. the minnovex SAG power index at five canadian
Partridge, A.C. (1978). Principles of comminution, Mine SAG plants, SAG1989 Conf., Vancouver, Canada,
and Quarry, 7(Jul./Aug.), 70. 345-360.
Rajamani, K. and Herbst, J.A. (1984). Simultaneous Stehr N. and Schwedes J. (1983). Investigation of the
estimation of selection and breakage functions from grinding behaviour of a stirred ball mill, Ger. Chem.
batch and continuous grinding data, Trans. lnst. Min. Engng., 6, 337-343.
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Rajamani, R.K. and Mishra, B.K. (1996). Dynamics of Tower mill and its application to fine grinding. Min.
ball and rock charge in SAG Mills, SAG1996 Conf., Metall. Proc., 4(1), Feb., 45-50.
Vancouver, Canada, 700-712. Von Rittinger, P.R. (1867). Lehrbuch der Aufbereitungs
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Crushers

Introduction crushing. A washing stage is included, which is

often necessary for sticky ores containing clay,
Crushing is the first mechanical stage in the process
which may lead to problems in crushing and
of comminution in which the main objective is the
screening (see Chapter 2).
liberation of the valuable minerals from the gangue.
Vibrating screens are sometimes placed ahead of
It is generally a dry operation and is usually
the secondary crushers to remove undersize mate-
performed in two or three stages. Lumps of run-
rial, or scalp the feed, and thereby increase the
of-mine ore can be as large as 1.5 m across and
these are reduced in the primary crushing stage to capacity of the secondary crushing plant. Undersize
10-20 cm in heavy-duty machines. material tends to pack the voids between the large
In most operations, the primary crushing particles in the crushing chamber, and can choke
schedule is the same as the mining schedule. the crusher, causing damage, because the packed
When primary crushing is performed underground, mass of rock is unable to swell in volume as it is
this operation is normally a responsibility of the broken.
mining department; when primary crushing is on Crushing may be in open or closed circuit
the surface, it is customary for the mining depart- depending on product size (Figure 6.2).
ment to deliver the ore to the crusher and for the In open-circuit crushing, undersize material from
mineral processing department to crush and handle the screen is combined with the crusher product
the ore from this point through the successive ore- and is then routed to the next operation. Open-
processing unit operations. Primary crushers are circuit crushing is often used in intermediate
commonly designed to operate 75 % of the available crushing stages, or when the secondary crushing
time, mainly because of interruptions caused by plant is producing a rod mill feed. If the crusher
insufficient crusher feed and by mechanical delays is producing ball-mill feed it is good practice to
in the crusher (Lewis et al., 1976). use closed-circuit crushing in which the under-
Secondary crushing includes all operations for size from the screen is the finished product. The
reclaiming the primary crusher product from ore crusher product is retumed to the screen so that any
storage to the disposal of the final crusher product, over-size material will be recirculated. One of the
which is usually between 0.5 and 2 cm in diameter. main reasons for closing the circuit is the greater
The primary crusher product from most metallif- flexibility given to the crushing plant as a whole.
erous ores can be crushed and screened satisfacto- The crusher can be operated at a wider setting if
rily, and the secondary plant generally consists of necessary, thus altering the size distribution of the
one or two size-reduction stages with appropriate product and by making a selective cut on the screen,
crushers and screens. If, however, the ore tends to the finished product can be adjusted to give the
be slippery and tough, the tertiary crushing stage required specification. There is the added factor
may be substituted by coarse grinding in rod mills. that if the material is wet or sticky (and climatic
On the other hand, more than two size-reduction conditions can vary), then it is possible to open
stages may be used in secondary crushing if the the setting of the crusher to prevent the possibility
ore is extra-hard, or in special cases where it is of packing, and by this means the throughput of
important to minimise the production of fines. the machine is increased, which will compensate
A basic flowsheet for a crushing plant is shown for the additional circulating load. Closed-circuit
in Figure 6.1, incorporating two stages of secondary operation also allows compensation for wear which
 Crushers 119

Run-of-mine ore enough storage capacity to maintain a steady feed

to the crusher. In most mills the crushing plant
Surg!bin does not run for 24 h a day, as hoisting and trans-
port of ore is usually carded out on two shifts
1
Feeder
only, the other shift being used for drilling and
blasting. The crushing section must therefore have

1
Grizzly
(-)
a greater hourly capacity than the rest of the plant,
which is run continuously. Ore is always stored
(+) after the crushers to ensure a continuous supply
to the grinding section. The obvious question is,
Primary crusher why not have similar storage capacity before the
I crushers and run this section continuously also?
Washing plant Apart from the fact that it is cheaper in terms

1 Sands
1 1
Slimes
of power consumption to crush at off-peak hours,
large storage bins are expensive, so it is uneco-
Washed ore nomic to have bins at the crushing and grinding

1
Bins or stockpile
stage. It is not practicable to store large quantities
of run-of-mine ore, as it is "long-ranged", i.e. it
consists of a large range of particle sizes and the
1
Screens
(-) small ones move down in the pile and fill the voids.
This packed mass is difficult to move after it has
(+) settled. Run-of-mine ore should therefore be kept
Secondary crushers moving as much as possible, and surge bins should
have sufficient capacity only to even out the flow

-"
1
Screens =
(-) to the crusher.
(+)
Primary crushers
Tertiary crushers
Primary crushers are heavy-duty machines, used to
Fine ore bin reduce the run-of-mine ore down to a size suitable
for transport and for feeding the secondary crushers
Figure 6.1 Basic crushing plant flowsheet
or AG/SAG mills. They are always operated in
open circuit, with or without heavy-duty scalping
takes place on liners, and generally gives greater screens (grizzlies). There are two main types of
freedom to meet changes in requirements from primary crusher in metalliferous operations - j a w
the plant. and gyratory crushers- although the impact crusher
Surge bins precede the primary crusher to receive has limited use as a primary crusher and will be
dumped loads from skips or lorries and should have considered separately.

Feed Feed

l
Primary crusher
(+)
Secondary
crusher
1
Primary ! Secondary
crusher
crusher
I _
Screen
J = Scr en (+) I
= Product (-)
(a) Product
(b)
Figure 6.2 (a) Open-circuit crushing, (b) closed-circuit crushing
120 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Jaw crushers (-~ Pivot

\Fixed jaw iF
The distinctive feature of this class of crusher is \ ~ (~~ Eccentric
the two plates which open and shut like animal \ swingjaw/!
jaws (Grieco and Grieco, 1985). The jaws are
set at an acute angle to each other, and one jaw // '>'tman
is pivoted so that it swings relative to the other
; i
fixed jaw. Material fed into the jaws is alternately I

nipped and released to fall further into the crushing

chamber. Eventually it falls from the discharge L_ i Front"-...--" Back
toggle toggle
aperture. Throw
Jaw crushers are classified by the method of Figure 6.4 Blakejaw crusher (functional diagram)
pivoting the swing jaw (Figure 6.3). In the Blake
crusher the jaw is pivoted at the top and thus
has a fixed receiving area and a variable discharge The important features of the machine are:
opening. In the Dodge crusher the jaw is pivoted at
the bottom, giving it a variable feed area but fixed (1) Since the jaw is pivoted from above, it moves
delivery area. The Dodge crusher is restricted to a minimum distance at the entry point and
laboratory use, where close sizing is required, and a maximum distance at the delivery. This
is never used for heavy-duty crushing as it chokes maximum distance is called the throw of the
very easily. The Universal crusher is pivoted in crusher.
an intermediate position, and thus has a variable (2) The horizontal displacement of the swing jaw
delivery and receiving area. is greatest at the bottom of the pitman cycle
and diminishes steadily through the rising
half of the cycle as the angle between the
Pivot

/p /; ivot
(3)
pitman and the back toggle plate becomes less
acute.
The crushing force is least at the start of the
cycle, when the angle between the toggles is
most acute, and is strongest at the top, when
full power is delivered over a reduced travel
Blake Dodge Universal of the jaw.

Figure 6.3 Jaw-crushertypes Figure 6.5 shows a cross-section through a double-

toggle jaw crusher. All jaw crushers are rated
The Blake crusher was patented by W.E. Blake according to their receiving areas, i.e. the width
in 1858 and variations in detail on the basic form of the plates and the gape, which is the distance
are found in most of the jaw crushers used today. between the jaws at the feed opening. For example,
There are two forms of the Blake c r u s h e r - an 1830 • 1220mm crusher has a width of
double toggle and single toggle. 1830 mm and a gape of 1220 mm.
Consider a large piece of rock falling into the
Double-toggle Blake crushers In this model mouth of the crusher. It is nipped by the jaws,
(Figure 6.4), the oscillating movement of the which are moving relative to each other at a rate
swinging jaw is effected by vertical movement of depending on the size of the machine and which
the pitman. This moves up and down under the usually varies inversely with the size. Basically,
influence of the eccentric. The back toggle plate time must be given for the rock broken at each
causes the pitman to move sideways as it is pushed "bite" to fall to a new position before being nipped
upward. This motion is transferred to the front again. The ore falls until it is arrested. The swing
toggle plate and this in turn causes the swing jaw to jaw closes on it, quickly at first and then more
close on the fixed jaw. Similarly, downward move- slowly with increasing power towards the end of the
ment of the pitman allows the swing jaw to open. stroke. The fragments now fall to a new arrest point
 Crushers 121

Figure 6.5 Cross-section through double-toggle crusher

as the jaws move apart and are then gripped and mechanical systems which allow remote control
crushed again. During each "bite" of the jaws the (Anon., 1981).
rock swells in volume due to the creation of voids A feature of all jaw crushers is the heavy fly-
between the particles. Since the ore is also falling wheel attached to the drive, which is necessary
into a gradually reducing cross-sectional area of the to store energy on the idling half of the stroke
crushing chamber, choking of the crusher would and deliver it on the crushing half. Since the jaw
soon occur if it were not for the increasing ampli- crusher works on half-cycle only, it is limited in
tude of swing towards the discharge end of the capacity for its weight and size. Due to its alternate
crusher. This accelerates the material through the loading and release of stress, it must be very rugged
crusher, allowing it to discharge at a rate suffi- and needs strong foundations to accommodate the
cient to leave space for material entering above. vibrations.
This is arrested or free crushing as opposed to Single-toggle jaw crushers In this type of crusher
choked crushing, which occurs when the volume (Figure 6.6) the swing jaw is suspended on the
of material arriving at a particular cross-section eccentric shaft, which allows a lighter, more
is greater than that leaving. In arrested crushing, compact design than with the double-toggle
crushing is by the jaws only, whereas in choked machine. The motion of the swing jaw also differs
crushing, particles break each other. This interpar- from that of the double-toggle design. Not only
ticle comminution can lead to excessive production does the swing jaw move towards the fixed jaw,
of fines, and if choking is severe can damage the under the action of the toggle plate, but it also
crusher. moves vertically as the eccentric rotates. This ellip-
The discharge size of material from the crusher tical jaw motion assists in pushing rock through
is controlled by the set, which is the maximum the crushing chamber. The single-toggle machine
opening of the jaws at the discharge end. This can therefore has a somewhat higher capacity than
be adjusted by using toggle plates of the required the double-toggle machine of the same gape. The
length. Wear on the jaws can be taken up by eccentric movement, however, increases the rate of
adjusting the back pillow into which the back toggle wear on the jaw plates. Direct attachment of the
plate bears. A number of manufacturers offer jaw swing jaw to the eccentric imposes a high degree
setting by hydraulic jacking, and some fit electro- of strain on the drive shaft, and so maintenance
122 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Figure 6.6 Cross-section of single-toggle jaw crusher

costs tend to be higher than with the double-toggle the surface at each contact point. They are bolted in
machine. sections on to the jaws so that they can be removed
Double-toggle machines cost about 50% more easily and reversed periodically to equalise wear.
than single-toggle machines of the same size, and Cheek plates are fitted to the sides of the crushing
are usually used on tough, hard, abrasive mate- chamber to protect the main frame from wear.
rials, although the single-toggle crusher is used in These are also made from hard alloy steel and
Europe, especially Sweden, for heavy-duty work on have similar lives to the jaw plates. The jaw plates
tough taconite ores, and it is often choke fed, since themselves may be smooth, but are often corru-
the jaw movement tends to make it self-feeding. gated, the latter being preferred for hard, abra-
sive materials. Pattems on the working surface
Jaw-crusher construction Jaw crushers are extre- of the crushing members also influence capacity,
mely heavy-duty machines and hence must be especially at small settings. Laboratory tests have
robustly constructed. The main frame is often made demonstrated that the capacity is reduced about
from cast iron or steel, connected with tie-bolts. It is 50 times when a corrugated profile is used rather
often made in sections so that it can be transported than a smooth surface. The corrugated profile
underground for installation. Modem jaw crushers is claimed to perform compound crushing by
may have a main frame of mild steel plate welded compression, tension, and shearing. Conventional
together. smooth crushing plates tend to perform crushing by
The jaws themselves are usually constructed compression only, though irregular particles under
from cast steel and are fitted with replaceable liners, compression loading might still break in tension.
made from manganese steel, or "Ni-hard", a Ni-Cr Since rocks are around 10 times weaker in tension
alloyed cast iron. Apart from reducing wear, hard than compression, power consumption and wear
liners are essential in that they minimise crushing costs should be lower with the corrugated profiles.
energy consumption, reducing the deformation of Nevertheless, some type of pattern is desirable for
 Crushers 123

the jaw plate surface in a jaw crusher, partly to clearance of the blockage. This allows a full crusher
reduce the risk of undesired large flakes easily to be started under load (Anon., 1981).
slipping through the straight opening, and partly Jaw crushers range in size up to 1680 mm gape
to reduce the contact surface when crushing flaky by 2130 mm width. This size machine will handle
blocks. In several installations, a slight wave shape ore with a maximum size of 1.22 m at a crushing
has proved successful. The angle between the jaws rate of approximately 725th -~ with a 203mm
is usually less than 26 ~ as the use of a larger angle set. However, at crushing rates above 545th -1
than this causes slipping, which reduces capacity the economic advantage of the jaw crusher over
and increases wear. the gyratory diminishes; and above 725th -1 jaw
In order to overcome problems of choking near crushers cannot compete with gyratory crushers
the discharge of the crusher, which is possible if (Lewis et al., 1976).
fines are present in the feed, curved plates are
sometimes used. The lower end of the swing jaw
is concave, whereas the opposite lower half of the
Gyratory crushers
fixed jaw is convex. This allows a more gradual Gyratory crushers are principally used in surface-
reduction in size as the material nears the exit, crushing plants, although a few currently operate
hence minimising the chances of packing. Less underground. The gyratory crusher (Figure 6.7)
wear is also reported on the jaw plates, since the consists essentially of a long spindle, carrying a
material is distributed over a larger area. hard steel conical grinding element, the head, seated
The speed of jaw crushers varies inversely in an eccentric sleeve. The spindle is suspended
with the size, and usually lies in the range of from a "spider" and, as it rotates, normally between
100-350revmin -1. The main criterion in deter- 85 and 150rev min -~, it sweeps out a conical path
mining the optimum speed is that particles must within the fixed crushing chamber, or shell, due to
be given sufficient time to move down the the gyratory action of the eccentric. As in the jaw
crusher throat into a new position before being crusher, maximum movement of the head occurs
nipped again. near the discharge. This tends to relieve the choking
The maximum amplitude of swing of the jaw, due to swelling, the machine thus being a good
or "throw", is determined by the type of material arrested crusher. The spindle is free to turn on its
being crushed and is usually adjusted by changing axis in the eccentric sleeve, so that during crushing
the eccentric. It varies from 1 to 7 cm depending on the lumps are compressed between the rotating head
the machine size, and is highest for tough, plastic and the top shell segments, and abrasive action in
material and lowest for hard, brittle ore. The greater a horizontal direction is negligible.
the throw, the less danger is there of chokage, as At any cross-section there are in effect two sets
material is removed more quickly. This is offset of jaws opening and shutting like jaw crushers.
by the fact that a large throw tends to produce In fact, the gyratory crusher can be regarded as
more fines, which inhibits arrested crushing. Large an infinitely large number of jaw crushers each of
throws also impart higher working stresses to the infinitely small width. Since the gyratory, unlike
machine. the jaw crusher, crushes on full cycle, it has a much
In all crushers, provision must be made for higher capacity than a jaw crusher of the same
avoiding the damage which could result from gape, and is usually favoured in plants handling
uncrushable material entering the chamber. Many very large throughputs. In mines with crushing
jaw crushers are protected from such "tramp" mate- rates above 900t h -1, gyratory crushers are always
rial (usually metal objects) by a weak line of rivets selected.
on one of the toggle plates, although automatic trip- Crushers range in size up to gapes of 1830 mm
out devices are now becoming more common, and and can crush ores with top size of 1370 mm at a
one manufacturer uses automatic overload protec- rate of up to 5000t h -1 with a 200 mm set. Power
tion based on hydraulic cylinders between the fixed consumption is as high as 750 kW on such crushers.
jaw and the frame. In the event of excessive pres- Large gyratories often dispense with expensive
sure caused by an overload, the jaw is allowed to feeding mechanisms and are often fed direct
open, normal gap conditions being reasserted after from trucks (Figure 6.8). They can be operated
124 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Figure 6.7 Gyratory crusher: (a) functional diagram, (b) cross-section

satisfactorily with the head buried in feed. Although Gyratory-crusher construction The outer shell of
excessive fines may have to be "scalped" from the crusher is constructed from heavy steel casting
the feed, the modem trend in large-capacity plants or welded steel plate, with at least one construc-
is to dispense with grizzlies if the ore allows. tional joint, the bottom part taking the drive shaft
This reduces capital cost of the installation and for the head, the top, and lower shells providing
reduces the height from which the ore must fall the crushing chamber. If the spindle is carried on
into the crusher, thus minimising damage to the a suspended bearing, as in the bulk of primary
spider. Choked crushing is encouraged to some gyratories, then the spider carrying the beating
extent, but if this is not serious, the rock-to-rock forms a joint across the reinforced alloyed white
crushing produced in the primaries reduces the cast-iron (Ni-hard) liners or concaves. In small
rock-to-steel crushing required in the secondaries, crushers the concave is one continuous ring bolted
thus reducing steel consumption (McQuiston and to the shell. Large machines use sectionalised
Shoemaker, 1978). Choke feeding of a gyratory concaves, called staves, which are wedge-shaped,
crusher has been claimed to be also beneficial and either rest on a ring fitted between the upper
when the crusher is followed by SAG mills, whose and the lower shell, or are bolted to the shell. The
throughput is sensitive to the mill feed size (Simkus concaves are backed with some soft filler mate-
and Dance, 1998). Operating crushers under choke rial, such as white metal, zinc, or plastic cement,
feeding conditions gives more even mantle wear which ensures even seating against the steel
and longer life. bowl.
 Crushers 125

Figure 6.8 Gyratory crusher fed direct from truck

The head is one of the steel forgings which make

up the spindle (Figure 6.9). The head is protected
by a manganese steel mantle, which is fastened on
to the head by means of nuts, on threads which
are pitched so that they are self-tightening during
operation. The mantle is backed with zinc, plastic Figure 6.9 Crusher head
cement, or, more recently, with an epoxy resin. The
vertical profile is often bell-shaped to assist the
crushing of material having a tendency to choke.
provided that the chamber can be kept full, which
Some gyratory crushers have a hydraulic
is normally easy, since the crusher can work with
mounting and, when overloading occurs, a valve
the head buried in ore.
is tripped which releases the fluid, thus dropping
the spindle and allowing the "tramp" material to Jaw crushers tend to be used where the crusher
pass out between the head and the bowl. This gape is more important than the capacity. For
mounting is also used to adjust the set of the crusher instance, if it is required to crush material of a
at regular intervals so as to compensate for wear certain maximum diameter, then a gyratory having
on the concaves and mantle. Many crushers use the required gape would have a capacity about three
simple mechanical means to control the set, the times that of a jaw crusher of the same gape. If
most common method being by the use of a ring high capacity is required, then a gyratory is the
nut on the main shaft suspension. answer. If, however, a large gape is needed but
In deciding whether a jaw or a gyratory crusher not capacity, then the jaw crusher will probably be
should be used in a particular plant, the main factor more economical, as it is a smaller machine and the
is the maximum size of ore which the crusher will gyratory would be running idle most of the time.
be required to handle and the capacity required. A useful relationship, which is often used in plant
Gyratory crushers are, in general, used where design, is that given by Taggart (1945):
high capacity is required. Since they crush on full If t h -1 < 161.7 (gape in metres) z, use a jaw
cycle, they are more efficient than jaw crushers, crusher.
126 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Conversely, if the tonnage is greater than this saving in some cases, with the elimination of expen-
value, use a gyratory crusher. sive feeding devices, such as the heavy-duty chain
Because of the complex nature of jaw and feeder. This is, however, often false economy as the
gyratory crushers, exact formulae expressing their capital cost saving is considered of less importance
capacities have never been entirely satisfactory. in many cases than the improved performance and
Crushing capacity depends on many factors, such as the pre-crusher scalping which is available with
the angle of nip (i.e. the angle between the crushing separate feeding devices.
members), stroke, speed, and the liner material, as In some cases, the jaw crusher has found favour,
well as on the feed material, and its initial particle due to the ease with which it can be sectionalised.
size. Capacity problems do not usually occur in the Thus, because of the need for transportation to
upper and middle sections of the crushing cavity, remote locations and for underground use, it may
providing the angle of nip is not too great. It is be advantageous to install jaw crushers.
normally the discharge zone, the narrowest section The type of material being crushed may also
of the crushing chamber, which determines the determine the crusher used. Jaw crushers perform
crushing capacity. better than gyratories on clayey, plastic material,
Broman (1984) describes the development of due to their greater throw. Gyratories have been
simple models for optimising the performance of found to be particularly suitable for hard, abra-
jaw and gyratory crushers. The volumetric capacity sive material, and they tend to give a more cubic
of a jaw crusher is expressed as: product than jaw crushers if the feed is laminated
or "slabby".
Q = B S s . cot[a 9k. 60n] m3/h

where B = inner width of crusher (m); S = open Secondary crushers

side setting (m); s = throw (m); a = angle of
Secondary crushers are much lighter than the
nip; n = speed of crusher (rpm); and k is a mate-
heavy-duty, rugged primary machines. Since they
rial constant, the size of which varies with the
take the primary crushed ore as feed, the maximum
characteristics of the crushed material, the feeding
feed size will normally be less than 15 cm in diam-
method, liner type, etc., normally having values
eter and, because most of the harmful constituents
between 1.5 and 2.
in the ore, such as tramp metal, wood, clays, and
For gyratory crushers, the corresponding for-
slimes have already been removed, it is much easier
mula is:
to handle. Similarly, the transportation and feeding
Q = ( D - S ) T r S s c o t ( a . k . 60n) m3/h arrangements serving the crushers do not need to
be as rugged as in the primary stage. Secondary
where D - - diameter of the outer head mantle at crushers also operate with dry feeds, and their
the discharge point (m), and k the material constant purpose is to reduce the ore to a size suitable for
normally varying between 2 and 3. grinding. In those cases where size reduction can
The capital and maintenance costs of a jaw be more efficiently carried out by crushing, there
crusher are slightly less than those of the gyra- may be a tertiary stage before the material is passed
tory, but they may be offset by the installation to the grinding mills.
costs, which are lower with the gyratory, since Tertiary crushers are, to all intents and purposes,
it occupies about two-thirds the volume and has of the same design as secondaries, except that they
about two-thirds the weight of a jaw crusher of have a closer set.
the same capacity. This is because the circular The bulk of secondary crushing of metallif-
crushing chamber allows a more compact design erous ores is performed by cone crushers, although
with a larger proportion of the total volume being crushing rolls and hammer mills are used for some
accounted for by the crushing chamber than in the applications.
jaw crusher. Jaw-crusher foundations need to be
much more rugged than those of the gyratory, due
The cone crusher
to the alternating working stresses.
The better self-feeding capability of the gyra- The cone crusher is a modified gyratory crusher.
tory compared with the jaw results in a capital cost The essential difference is that the shorter spindle
 Crushers 127

Figure 6.10 Cross-section of heavy-duty Symons cone crusher

of the cone crusher is not suspended, as in the gyra- a high capacity, since the capacity of gyratory
tory, but is supported in a curved, universal beating crushers is roughly proportional to the diameter of
below the gyratory head or c o n e (Figure 6.10). the head.
Power is transmitted from the source to the The head is protected by a replaceable mantle,
countershaft through a V-belt or direct drive. The which is held in place by a large locking nut
countershaft has a bevel pinion pressed and keyed threaded onto a collar bolted on the top of the head.
to it, and drives the gear on the eccentric assembly. The mantle is backed with plastic cement, or zinc,
The eccentric has a tapered, offset bore and provides or more recently with an epoxy resin.
the means whereby the head and main shaft follow Unlike a gyratory crusher, which is identified
an eccentric path during each cycle of rotation. by the dimensions of the feed opening and the
Since a large gape is not required, the crushing mantle diameter, a cone crusher is rated by the
shell or "bowl" flares outwards which allows for diameter of the cone lining. Cone crushers range
the swell of broken ore by providing an increasing
in size from 559mm to 3.1 m and have capacities
cross-sectional area towards the discharge end.
up to 1100 t h -1 with a discharge setting of 19 mm,
The cone crusher is therefore an excellent arrested
although two 3.1 m Symons cone crushers, each
crusher. The flare of the bowl allows a much greater
with capacities of 3000t h -1, have been installed in
head angle than in the gyratory crusher, while
a South African iron-ore plant (White, 1976).
retaining the same angle between the crushing
members (Figure 6.11). This gives the cone crusher The throw of cone crushers can be up to five
times that of primary crushers, which must with-
stand heavier working stresses. They are also oper-
ated at much higher speeds. The material passing
through the crusher is subjected to a series of
hammer-like blows rather than being gradually
compressed as by the slowly moving head of the
gyratory.
The high-speed action allows particles to flow
(a) (b) freely through the crusher, and the wide travel of
Figure 6.11 Head and shell shapes of (a) gyratory, the head creates a large opening between it and the
and (b) cone crushers bowl when in the fully open position. This permits
128 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

the crushed fines to be rapidly discharged, making members. The set on the cone crusher is thus the
room for additional feed. minimum discharge opening.
The fast discharge and non-choking characteris- The distributing plate on the top of the cone helps
tics of the cone crusher allow a reduction ratio in the to centralise the feed, distributing it at a uniform
range 3-7:1, but this can be higher in some cases. rate to all of the crushing chamber.
The Symons cone crusher is the most widely An important feature of the crusher is that the
used type of cone crusher. It is produced in bowl is held down either by an annular arrangement
two forms: the Standard for normal secondary of springs or by a hydraulic mechanism. These
crushing and the Short-head for fine, or tertiary allow the bowl to yield if "tramp" material enters
duty (Figures 6.12 and 6.13). They differ mainly in the crushing chamber, so permitting the offending
object to pass. If the springs are continually "on the
the shape of their crushing chambers. The Standard
work", as may happen with ores containing many
cone has "stepped" liners which allow a coarser
tough particles, oversize material will be allowed to
feed than in the Short-head (Figure 6.14). They
escape from the crusher. This is one of the reasons
deliver a product varying from 0.5 to 6cm. The
for using closed-circuit crushing in the final stages.
Short-head has a steeper head angle than the Stan-
It may be necessary to choose a screen for the
dard, which helps to prevent choking from the much circuit which has apertures slightly larger than the
finer material being handled. It also has a narrower set of the crusher. This is to reduce the tendency for
feed opening and a longer parallel section at the very tough particles, which are slightly oversize, to
discharge, and delivers a product of 0.3-2.0 cm. "spring" the crusher, causing an accumulation of
The parallel section between the liners at the such particles in the closed-circuit and a build-up
discharge is a feature of all cone crushers and is of pressure in the crushing throat.
incorporated to maintain a close control on product The set on the crusher can easily be changed,
size. Material passing through the parallel zone or adjusted for liner wear, by screwing the bowl
receives more than one impact from the crushing up or down by means of a capstan and chain

Figure 6.12 Standard cone crusher

 Crushers 129

Figure 6.13 Short-head cone crusher

causing hydraulic oil to flow into the accumulator.

When the tramp iron has passed from the chamber,
nitrogen pressure forces the hydraulic oil from
the accumulator back into the supporting hydraulic
cylinder, thus restoring the original setting.
Liner wear monitoring is possible using a Faro
Arm (Figure 6.15), which is a portable coordi-
nate measurement machine. A typical profile of
a Symons concave liner is shown in Figure 6.16.
Figure 6.14 Liners of standard and short-head cone More advanced systems use lasers to profile the
crushers mantle and concave in a vertical plane. This is
accomplished by driving a laser/mirror arrangement
into the crushing cavity along a track, guided by
arrangement or by adjusting the hydraulic setting,
a computer-controlled motor/drive belt assembly.
as on the "425 Vail-Cone" crusher manufactured
The laser calculates the relative distance from the
by Hewitt-Robins, which allows the operator to
mirror to the liner surface. Some of the benefits of
change settings even if the equipment is operating
the liner profiling systems include:
under maximum load (Anon., 1985). To close the
setting, the operator opens a valve and presses 9 Improved information for predicting mantle and
a button starting a pump that adds hydraulic oil concave liner replacement
to the cylinder supporting the crusher head. To 9 Identifying high wear areas
open the setting, another valve is opened allowing 9 Quantifying wear life with alternative liner
the oil to flow out of the cylinder. Efficiency is alloys
enhanced through automatic tramp iron cleating
and reset. When tramp iron enters the crushing In 1988 Nordberg Inc. introduced wet tertiary
chamber, the crushing head will be forced down, cone crushing at a Brazilian lea&zinc mine (Karra,
130 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

for developing more cost-effective conventional

circuits.
However, the presence of water during crushing
can increase the liner wear rates substantially,
depending on the application. In pebble crushing
applications found in AG/SAG circuits, Water
Flush crushers have been problematic due to high
wear and resulting maintenance demand.
The gyradisc crusher This is a specialised form
of cone crusher, used for producing very fine mate-
rial, and such crushers have found application in
the quarrying industry for the production of large
quantities of sand at economic cost (Anon., 1967).
The main modification to the conventional cone
crusher is that the machine has very short liners and
a very flat angle for the lower liner (Figure 6.17).
Crushing is by interparticle comminution by the
impact and attrition of a multi-layered mass of parti-
FARO, FAROARM and the Faro Blue color are registered trademarks and
trademarks of FARO Technologies Inc. 9 2006 FARO Technologies Inc.
cles (Figure 6.18).
All Rights Reserved. The angle of the lower liner is less than the angle
of repose of the ore, so that when the liner is at
Figure 6.15 Faro Arm (Courtesy Faro Technologies)
rest the material does not slide. Transfer through
the crushing zone is by movement of the head.
Each time the lower liner moves away from the
upper liner, material enters the attrition chamber
from the surge load above. When reduction begins,
material is picked up by the lower liner and is
moved outward. Due to the slope of the liner it is
carried to an advanced position and caught between
the crushing members.
The length of stroke and the timing are such that
after the initial stroke the lower liner is withdrawn
faster than the previously crushed material falls by
gravity. This permits the lower liner to recede and
return to strike the previously crushed mass as it is
falling, thus scattering it so that a new alignment
of particles is obtained prior to another impact. At
each withdrawal of the head, the void is filled by
Figure 6.16 Example of a worn Symons concave particles from the surge chamber.
liner profile, overlaid on the new liner profile At no time does single-layer crushing occur, as
(Courtesy Rio Tinto Technical Services)
with conventional crushers. Crushing is by particle
on particle, so that the setting of the crusher is not
1990). The so-called Water Flush technology uses as directly related to the size of product as it is on
a cone crusher incorporating special seals, internal the cone crusher.
components, and lubricants to handle the large flow Their main use is in quarries, for producing sand
of water, which is added to the crusher to produce and gravel. When used in open circuit they will
a product slurry containing 30-50% solids, which produce a product of chippings from about 1 cm
can be fed directly to ball mills. Such technology downwards, of good cubic shape, with a satisfac-
has potential for the crushing of sticky ores, for tory amount of sand, which obviates the use of
improving productivity in existing circuits, and blending and rehandling. In closed circuit they are
 Crushers 131

Figure 6.17 Gyradisc crusher

The Rhodax crusher

This is a specialised form of a cone crusher,
referred to as an inertial cone crusher. Developed
by the FCB Research Centre in France, the Rhodax
crusher is claimed to offer process advantages over
conventional cone crushers and is based on inter-
particle compression crushing. It consists of a frame
supporting a cone and a mobile ring, and a set of
rigid links forming a set of ties between the two
parts (Figure 6.19).
The frame is supported on elastic suspensions
isolating the environment from dynamic stresses
created by the crushing action. It contains a central
shaft fixed on a structure. A grinding cone is
mounted on this shaft and is free to rotate. A sliding
sleeve on this shaft is used to adjust the vertical
position of the cone and therefore the gap, making
Figure 6.18 Action of gyradisc crusher it simple to compensate for wear. The ring structure
is connected to the frame by a set of tie rods. The
used to produce large quantities of sand. They may ring and the cone are made of wear resistant steel.
be used in open circuit on clean metalliferous ores One set of synchronised unbalanced masses trans-
with no primary slimes to produce an excellent mits a known and controlled crushing force to the
ball-mill feed. Less than 19 mm material may be ring when they rotate. This fragmentation force is
crushed to about 3 mm (Lewis et al., 1976). proportional to moo2r, and stays constant even if
132 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

Figure 6.19 Schematic of the Rhodax crusher, and principle of operation (Courtesy JKMRC and JKTech
Pty Ltd)

the feed varies, or an unbreakable object enters the very easily and quickly. Two series of machines have
crushing chamber. The Rhodax is claimed to achieve been developed on this basis, one for the production
reduction ratios varying from 4 to more than 30 in of aggregates (maximum pressure on the material bed
open circuit. The relative positions of the unbal- between 10 and 25 MPa), and the other for coarse
anced masses can be changed if required, so the grinding or fine grinding (25-50 MPa maximum
value of the crushing force can thus be remotely pressure on the material bed). Given the design
controlled. As feed particles enter the fragmenta- of the machine (relative displacement of two non-
tion chamber, they slowly advance between the cone imposed wear surfaces), the product size distribution
and the moving ring. These parts are subjected to is independent of the gap and wear. These are
horizontal circular translation movements and move distinct advantages over conventional crushers
towards and away from each other at a given point. which suffer problems with the variable product
During the approach phase, materials are quality caused by wear. In conjunction with FCB
subjected to compression. The maximum pres- in France, Multotec Process Equipment from South
sure to which a material bed may be subjected is Africa is participating in the ongoing development
10-50MPa. During the separation phase, frag- of the Rhodax crusher in the mineral industry.
mented materials pass further down in the chamber
until the next compression cycle. The number of Roll crushers Roll crushers, or crushing rolls, are
cycles is typically 4-5. During these cycles the cone still used in some mills, although they have been
rolls on a bed of stressed material a few millimetres replaced in most installations by cone crushers.
thick, with a rotation speed of a 10-20rpm. This They still have a useful application in handling
rotation is actually an epicyclical movement due to friable, sticky, frozen, and less abrasive feeds, such
the lack of sliding friction between the cone and as limestone, coal, chalk, gypsum, phosphate, and
the feed material. The unbalanced masses rotate at soft iron ores. Jaw and gyratory crushers have a
100-300rpm. The following three parameters can tendency to choke near the discharge when crushing
be adjusted on the Rhodax crusher: friable rock with a large proportion of maximum
size pieces in the feed.
9 the gap between the cone and the ring,
The mode of operation of roll crushers
9 the total static moment of unbalanced masses,
is extremely simple, the standard spring rolls
and
(Figure 6.20) consisting of two horizontal cylin-
9 the rotation speed of these unbalanced masses.
ders which revolve towards each other. The set is
The combination of the latter two settings enables determined by shims which cause the spring-loaded
the operator to fix the required fragmentation force roll to be held back from the solidly mounted roll.
 Crushers 133

Figure 6.20 Crushing rolls

Unlike jaw and gyratory crushers, where reduction Therefore

is progressive by repeated pressure as the material
passes down to the discharge point, the crushing
/z -- tan (6.2)
process in rolls is one of single pressure.
Roll crushers are also manufactured with only
one rotating cylinder, which revolves towards a
fixed plate. Other roll crushers use three, four, or
six cylinders. In some crushers the diameters and
speeds of the rolls may differ. The rolls may be
gear driven, but this limits the distance adjustment
between the rolls; and modern rolls are driven by
V-belts from separate motors.
Multi-roll machines may use rolls in pairs or in
sets of three. Machines with more than two rolls
are, however, rare in modern mills. The great disad-
vantage of roll crushers is that, in order for reason-
able reduction ratios to be achieved, very large rolls Figure 6.21 Forces on a particle in crushing rolls
are required in relation to the size of the feed parti-
cles. They therefore have the highest capital cost
of all crushers. The coefficient of friction between steel and most
Consider a spherical particle, of radius r, being ore particles is in the range 0.2-0.3, so that the
crushed by a pair of rolls of radius R, the gap value of the angle of nip 0 should never exceed
between the rolls being 2a (Figure 6.21). If ~ is about 30 ~, or the particle will slip. It should also
the coefficient of friction between the rolls and the be noted that the value of the coefficient of fric-
particle, 0 is the angle formed by the tangents to tion decreases with speed, so that the speed of the
the roll surfaces at their points of contact with the rolls depends on the angle of nip, and the type of
particle (the angle of nip), and C is the compres- material being crushed. The larger the angle of nip
sive force exerted by the rolls, acting from the (i.e. the coarser the feed), the slower the peripheral
roll centres through the particle centre, then for a speed needs to be to allow the particle to be nipped.
particle to be just gripped by the rolls, equating For smaller angles of nip (finer feed), the roll speed
vertically, can be increased, so increasing the capacity. Periph-
eral speeds vary between about 1 ms -1 for small
0 0
t rolls, up to about 15 ms -1 for the largest sizes of
1800 mm diameter upwards.
134 Wills' Mineral Processing Technology

The value of the coefficient of friction between Table 6.1 Maximum diameter of rock gripped in
a particle and moving rolls can be calculated from crushing rolls relative to roll diameter
the equation Roll diameter Maximum size of rock gripped (mm)
1 + 1.12v] (mm) Reduction ratio
/z~ -- 1 + 6v /x (6.3)
2 3 4 5 6
where/z k is the kinetic coefficient of friction and ~, 200 6.2 4.6 4.1 3.8 3.7
is the peripheral velocity of the rolls (m s-l). From 400 12.4 9.2 8.2 7.6 7.3
Figure 6.21, 600 18.6 13.8 12.2 11.5 11.0
800 24.8 18.4 16.3 15.3 14.7
cos
(;) __ R + a
R+ r
(6.4) 1000 30.9 23.0 20.4 19.1 18.3
1200 37.1 27.6 24.5 22.9 22.0
1400 43.3 32.2 28.6 26.8 25.7
Equation 6.4 can be used to determine the
maximum size of rock gripped in relation to roll
diameter and the reduction ratio (r/a) required. performed in rolls having corrugated surfaces, or
Table 6.1 lists such values for rolls crushing mate- with stub teeth arranged to present a chequered
rial where the angle of nip should be less than 20 ~ surface pattern. "Sledging" or "slugger" rolls have
in order for the particles to be gripped (in most a series of intermeshing teeth, or slugs, protruding
practical cases the angle of nip should not exceed from the roll surfaces (Figure 6.22). These dig into
about 25~ the rock so that the action is a combination of
It can be seen that unless very large diameter compression and ripping, and large pieces in rela-
rolls are used, the angle of nip limits the reduc- tion to the roll diameter can be handled. Their
tion ratio of the crusher, and since reduction ratios main application is in the coarse crushing of soft or
greater than 4:1 are rarely used, a flow-line may sticky iron ores, friable limestone, coal, etc., rolls
require coarse crushing rolls to be followed by of 1 rn diameter being used to crush material of top
fine rolls. size 400 mm.
Smooth-surfaced rolls are usually used for Wear on the roll surfaces is very high and they
fine crushing, whereas coarse crushing is often often have a manganese steel tyre, which can be

Figure 6.22 Toothed crushing mills