Dear Sheik,

To Manufacture Zircon Opacifier of D50=1.2 micron, you will surely need a dynamic classifier.

To operate efficiently, the classifier needs minimum 30% of the needed product size

to be discharged from the mill (ideally 70%),

The question which mill could provide that with minimal CAPEX & OPEX?

Also fyi in classifiers you control D97-100, D50 is not under control, you get what you get.

It would be helpful if you could provide more info concerning your requirements.

Kind Regards

Ezry Akkerman

Oy Cyclotec Ltd

cyclotec.net ■

My little company has a VKE mill using rods as media(I cannot use balls as my feed material is about 7% moisture and the mill will plug up) They are good mills and are low cost maintenance although very noisy when grinding dry. They also need a good base to minimize vibrations throughout your building structure. For the 1.2 micron size that you want to go to I think your pushing the limits of vibratory mills but that also really depends on the material your grinding. Personally I am grinding a carbonatite which is 65% calcium carbonate, 15% vermiculite and biotite, 15% rock phosphate and 5% rare earths. With the micas in it I am struggling to get it 97% below 30 micron with a d50 of 6 microns without decreasing output to much. If I had a second mill with balls I would do better, just not sure how much.

For your grinding needs I think that a more energy intensive mill that uses smaller media like a stirred media mill would get down to your size requirements quicker. A few manufacturers are RSG Inc with their UFG mill - they also build classifiers, Hosokawa has a few mills such as the Pulvis with a built in classifier, Eirich with their Maxxmill and there is Union Process - they only build stirred mills. Those companies all build dry stirred media mills. I do not think that jet mills are as energy efficient as stirred media mills. Hosokawa is claiming 80% more energy efficiency with their new Pulvis mill over a regular jet mill.

Regular ball mills are good for a top size of 45 micron and are used mostly for ultra fine grinding if large tonnage requirements are needed.

Personally I am going to use a vibratory mill for my primary grind from 5mm to an finished top size of ~50 micron and then for my secondary grinding go with a stirred media mill to a top size of 10 micron in conjunction with a classifier. ■