SIZE REDUCTION AND

SCREENING OF SOLIDS

Prof. Dr. Şebnem TAVMAN

Doç. Dr. Seher KUMCUOĞLU

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

Critical speed
The speed at which the balls on the
mv2
inner wall of the mill, lose contact
R  r  with the wall depends on the balance
between gravitational and centrifugal
A
forces.
R-r
mg cosα
Consider the ball at point A on the
r
α periphery of the mill.
mg
R: radius of the mill
O
r: radius of the ball
R
The distance of the center of the ball
from the axis of the mill is: (R-r)
Let the radius OA form the angle α
with the vertical.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 Critical speed
mv2 Two forces act on the ball:
R  r  1. The force of gravity, mg

A where m is the mass of the ball

R-r
mg cosα
r
mv2
R  r 
2. The centrifugal force,
α
mg where v is the peripheral speed
O of the center of the ball

The centripetal (acting towards

the centre) component of the
force of gravity is: mgcos α
This force opposes the
centrifugal force

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

Critical speed
As long as the centrifugal force
2
mv exceeds the centripetal one, the
R  r  particle will not contact with the
wall. As the angle α decreases,
A however, the centripetal force
R-r increases.
mg cosα
r If the speed does not exceed the
α critical value, a point is reached
mg
where the opposing forces are
O equal and the particle is nearly
fall. The angle at which this
R
occurs is found by equating the
centrifugal and centripetal
forces:

mv2
mg cos  
R  r 
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
 mv2 v2
mg cos   cos  
R  r  R  r g
The speed v is related to the speed of rotation by the equation:

v  2N R  r  4 2 N 2 R  r 
and it can be written as: cos  
g

At the critical speed,

α=0° and cos α=1 and N becomes the critical speed Nc. With all
considerations:

1 g
Nc 
2 R  r 
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
 CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMINUTED
PARTICLES
• Unlike an ideal crusher or grinder, an actual unit does not yield a
uniform product, whether the feed is uniformly sized or not.
• The product always consists of a mixture of particles, ranging from a
definite maximum size to very small particles.
• Some machines, especially in the grinder class, are designed to control
the magnitude of the largest particles in their products, but the fine
sizes are not under control.
• In some types of grinders fines are minimized, but they are not
eliminated.
• If the feed is homogeneous, both in the shapes of the particles and in
chemical and physical structure, the shapes of the individual unit in the
product may be quite uniform; otherwise, the grains in the various sizes
of a single product may differ considerably in shape.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 SCREENING

Screening is the unit operation

in which a mixture of various
sizes of solid particles is
separated into two or more
fractions by passing over a
screen.

Each fraction is more uniform in size than the original mixture.

A screen is a surface containing a number of equally sized apertures. The
surface may be plane or may be cylindrical.
Small capacity plane screens are called sieves.
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
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 SCREENING
Besides its use in the industrial
separation of a feed material
into two or more size ranges of
particles for specific process
proposes, screening or sieving
is used in particle size analysis
to determine particle sizes and
size distributions of powdered
materials.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
 FACTORS AFFECTING THE EFFICIENCY OF A
SCREENING OPERATION
1. Rate of feeding: If the feed rates is too high, insufficient residence time
on the screening surface will result. The screen becomes overloaded and
material capable of passing leaves with the oversize.
2. Particle size: Even though sufficiently small, the particle will only pass the
screen of its alignment, relative to the openings, is favorable.
3. Moisture: Moisture in the feed can cause adhesion between small and
large particles
4. Worn or damaged screens: Oversized particles will pass through
damaged area and the efficiency of the separation will be low.
5. Blinding (clogging) of screens: Blinding or clogging of the openings is
particularly likely to occur when the size of the particles is near to that of
the screen aperture.
6. Electrostatic charge: In screening dry powders, surfaces become
charged. Small particles can clump together and leave the screening
surface with the oversize rather than the undersize stream.
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
SCREENING TERMINOLOGY

Undersize: fines or minus(-) material: Material passing through a given

screen
Oversize: tails or plus (+) material: Material failing to pass a given screen
Screen aperture: The space between the individual wires of a wire mesh
screen
Screen interval: The relationship between successively decreasing
openings in a standard screen series
Diameter of a sieve fraction: The average diameter of a fraction
passing a given sieve, but retained on the next smaller in the series, is
often taken as the arithmetic average of the two screen apertures.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 SIEVE (SCREEN) ANALYSIS
• In making an analysis a set of standard
screens is arranged serially in a stack,
with the smallest mesh at the bottom
and the largest at the top.
• The sample is placed on the top
screen and the stack shaken
mechanically for 20 min
• The particles retained on each screen
are removed and weighed, and the
masses of the individual screen
increments are converted to mass
fractions or mass percentages of the
total sample
• Any particles that pass the finest
screen are caught in a pan at the
bottom of the stack
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
SIEVE (SCREEN) ANALYSIS
Standard screens are used to measure
the size and size distribution of particles
in the size range between about 3 and
0.0015 in.(76 mm and 38 m).
Testing sieves are made of woven wire
screens, the mesh and dimensions of
which are carefully standardized.
The openings are square.
Each screen is identified in meshes per
inch.
The actual openings are smaller than
those corresponding to the mesh
numbers, however, because of the
Pan thickness of the wires.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

SCREEN SERIES

Several different screen series are in use:

Tyler Standard
British Standards
American Society of Testing Materials

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

Screen analysis, standard screen series:
MESH NUMBER is define as the
number of openings per linear inch.
To determine mesh, count the
number of openings from the center
of any one wire to the center of the
parallel wire which is one inch in
distance.
When the point one inch distance
4 Mesh from the center of a wire is between
wires, the mesh count is expressed
in fractions. When two parallel wires
are on centers of 3/4", 1", etc, they
can be expressed as 3/4" Mesh, 1"
Mesh, etc.

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 ¾ in Mesh
4 Mesh

SPACE is the actual space

between inside edges of two
parallel wires

¼ in space

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

Average particle size:

The average particle size for a mixture of particles is defined several

different ways. The most used is the volume-surface mean diameter,
Ds. It is defined by the equation:

1
Ds 
 x / D pi 
n

i
i 1

Dpi =average particle diameter, taken as arithmetic average of smallest and

largest particle diameters in fraction
Xi= mass fraction in a given fraction

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

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MIXED PARTICLE SIZE AND SIZE ANALYSIS
By adding, consecutively,
Information from such a
the individual increments,
particle size analysis is
starting with that containing
tabulated to show the mass
the smallest particles, and
or fraction in each size
tabulating or plotting the
increment as a function of
cumulative sums against
the average particle size (or
the maximum particle
size range) in the increment
diameter in the increment.
Differential
sieve analysis
Cumulative
sieve analysis

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 Screen analysis:
Screen Mass Average particle Cumulative Cumulative
Mesh opening fraction diameter in fraction fraction
Dpi, mm retained, Xi increment, Dpi, mm smaller than Dpi bigger than Dpi

4 0.0000

6 0.0251

8 0.1250

10 0.3207

14 0.2570

20 0.1590

28 0.0538

35 0.0210

48 0.0102

65 0.0077

100 0.0058

150 0.0041

200 0.0031

Pan 0.0075
30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ
 Average
Cumulative
Screen particle Cumulative
Mass fraction fraction
Mesh opening diameter in fraction
retained, Xi smaller than
Dpi, mm increment, Dpi, bigger than Dpi
Dpi
mm

4 4.699 0.0000 - 1 0
6 3.327 0.0251 4.0130 0.9749 0.0251
8 2.362 0.1250 2.8445 0.8499 0.1501
10 1.651 0.3207 2.0065 0.5292 0.4708
14 1.168 0.2570 1.4095 0.2722 0.7278
20 0.833 0.1590 1.0005 0.1132 0.8868
28 0.589 0.0538 0.7110 0.0594 0.9406
35 0.417 0.0210 0.5030 0.0384 0.9616
48 0.295 0.0102 0.3560 0.0282 0.9718
65 0.208 0.0077 0.2515 0.0205 0.9795
100 0.147 0.0058 0.1775 0.0147 0.9853
150 0.104 0.0041 0.1255 0.0106 0.9894
200 0.074 0.0031 0.0890 0.0075 0.9925
Pan - 0.0075 0.0370 0.0000 1.0000

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 Cumulative plots are made from results like those in columns 2 and 5
or 2 and 6.

4 Mesh

6 Mesh

8 Mesh
Screen
Series

Pan

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 1,0

0,8
Cumulative mass fraction

Cumulative
fraction
0,6 smaller than
Dpi
Cumulative
fraction
0,4 bigger than
Dpi

0,2

0,0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Particle diameter, Dpi (mm)

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ

 0,4
Differential mass fraction

0,3

0,2

0,1

0,0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Particle diameter, Dpi (mm)

30.11.2020 UNIT OPERATIONS 1 2020-2021 GÜZ