Using statistical moments to describe grinding in a ball mill for industrial-scale process

The aim of the paper was to describe the process of grinding of raw materials used in the industrial-scale production of ceramic tiles, by applying the theory of statistical moments. Grinding was performed in industrial ball mills in ceramic the factories Ceramika Parady(Z) Ltd. and Opoczno S.A. The ball mills operated in a batch mode. A mixture of feldspars and clay was comminuted. Its composition and fractions depended on the conditions that should be satisfied by raw materials for the production of wall tiles (monoporosis and stoneware) and terracotta. The ground material was subjected to a particle size analysis. Results of the analysis were used in the calculation of relationships applied in the theory of statistical moments. The main parameters, i.e. zero moment of the first order and central moments of the third and fourth order were determined. The values of central moments were used in the calculation of skewness and flatness coefficients. Additionally, changes of mean particle size in time were determined. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.