Improving grinding efficiency by increasing load bulk density through the use of Cylpebs instead of balls

Cylpebs, cylindrical grinding media with the same diameter and length, have a higher bulk density than balls. Accordingly, without publishing data, a Cylpebs manufacturer has claimed that the efficiency and capacity of ball mills are increased using Cylpebs. Hence, comparative closed-circuit grinding tests using balls and Cylpebs were conducted at the same fractional mill filling but with different limiting screen apertures. Moreover, the grinding media voidage was determined. The results imply that the voidage of Cylpebs is around 20% lower than that of balls, indicating Cylpebs have about 12% higher bulk density than balls. The specific energy obtained with Cylpebs was 10% less than that obtained with balls. Cylpebs provided more grinding efficiency than balls for coarse particles. Finally, it is revealed that at the same fractional mill filling, the capacity of the grinding circuit can be increased by up to 20% by using Cylpebs instead of balls. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.