Screen analysis

Screen is identified by meshes per inch.

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 linear inch.

One common series, is the Tyler standard screen series. This set of screens is based on the
opening of the 200-mesh screen, which is established at 0.074mm. (ref McCabe, appendix 5).
The area of the openings in any one screen in the series is exactly twice that of the openings in
the next smaller screen. The ratio of the actual mesh dimension of any screen to that of the
next smaller screen is then √ 2 = 1.41.

eg: mesh no opening

(4.699)2/(3.327)2 = 2
mesh 4 4.699 mm

mesh 6 3.327 mm

The BS and ASTM standards, sieve sizes are given in terms of number of openings per inch (mesh no).
Indian Standard, the sieves are designed by the size of aperture in mm.

Analysis using standard screen: Screens are arranged serially in a stack, with the smallest mesh
at the bottom and the largest at the top. Materials are loaded at top and then shacked for a period
of time (e.g. 20 minutes).

14/20: through 14 mesh and on 20 mesh

Mesh Screen opening Average particle Mass Mass fraction

Dpi, mm __
Retained, mi Retained, mi =¿ x
diameter, Dpi , mm m
i
 m=

Screen analysis gives: xi and .

Screen analysis

Mesh Screen opening Mass fraction Average particle Cummulative fraction

Dpi, mm Retained, xi __
smaller than, Dpi
diameter, Dpi , mm
4 4.699 0.000 ------- 1.000
6 3.327 0.0251 4.013 0.9749
8 2.362 0.1250 2.845 0.8499
10 1.651 0.3207 2.007 .
14 1.168 0.2570 1.409 .
20 . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
150 0.104 0.0041 0.126 0.0106
200 0.074 0.0031 0.089 0.0075
Pan ----- 0.0075 0.037 0.000

Particle size distribution data can be presented numerically (tabular format) or

graphically. When presented graphically, there are two types: differential and
cumulative.
Differential and cummulative distribution curves
Differential screen analysis

Cumulative Screen analysis

 Cumulative Distribution:
The corresponding cumulative distribution is
also shown. The cumulative undersize
distribution shows the relative amount* at or
below a particular size.

In this example 50% of the amount of particles

is at or below 9.5 nm.

Ninety percent are at or below 16.2 nm.

Material balances over a screen

Let F, D, and B be the mass flow rates of feed, overflow, and underflow, respectively,
and xF, xD, and xB be the mass fractions of oversize material in the streams. The mass
fractions of undersize material in the feed, overflow, and underflow are 1- xF, 1- xD,
and 1- xB.

F=D+B

FxF = DxD + BxB

Elimination of B from the above equations gives

Elimination of D gives

4.1.3 Screen effectiveness

A common measure of screen effectiveness is the ratio of oversize material that is

actually in the overflow to the amount of oversize material entering with the feed.
These quantities are DxD and FxF respectively. Thus

where EA is the screen effectiveness based on the oversize. Similarly, an effectiveness

EB based on the undersize materials is given by

A combined overall effectiveness can be defined as the product of the two individual
ratios.
Capacity and effectiveness of screens

The capacity of a screen is measured by the mass of material that can be fed per unit time to a
unit area of the screen. Capacity and effectiveness are opposing factors. To obtain maximum
effectiveness, the capacity must be small, and large capacity is obtainable only at the expense of
a reduction in effectiveness.

Crushing laws

(1) Kicks law

Limitations of Kick’s law

It is ridiculous to say that the energy required for reducing a 100 mm to 50 mm will be same as
that for reducing 1mm to 0.5 mm. In fact, higher amount of energy is required for reducing
fine particles to still finer than for breaking large pieces of rocks.

Kick’s law can be applied without much serious error to coarse crushing.

A more accurate law has been proposed by Rittinger .

(2) Rittingers law-work required for size reduction is directly proportional to the new surface
created.

E / M= KR (Sp – SF)
P
Or ṁ
=K R ( S P−S F )

P in Watts (or J/s)

ṁ in Kg/s

Sp, SF = specific surfaces of product and feed (cm2/Kg)

KR = Rittinger’s constant

The reciprocal of KR is called Rittinger’s number.

E 1
= (S −S )
M Rittinger ’ s number P F

Rittinger’s number (cm2/J)-designates the new surface created per unit mechanical
energy absorbed by the material being crushed. It is expressed as cm 2/J.

Its value is determined by drop weight test.

Drop weight test-a standard weight, m is allowed to fall freely on a given

mass of feed from a given height h. The specific surface of crushed product and
that of feed are determined.
Energy input = mgh * no of falls of the weight
the value of Rittinger’s number can be computed from the equation
E 1
= (S −S ) Another form of Rittinger’s equation E / M = KR (Sp – SF)
M Rittinger ’ s number P F
E 6KR 1
M
=
[ −
1
ρs Dvs , P D vs. F ]
6
s p=
this is obtained by substituting ρ D vs ( s is specific surface, surface area per unit mass
P
6
s p=
ρ D vs (derivation is shown below)

where Dvs,p & Dvs,F are the sauter diameter (or volume surface diameter) of product
and feed respectively.

E
[1 1
]
'
R
=K −
M D vs, P D vs. F
Or

Where K’R = (6 KR / ρs)

Dvs = Sauter diameter is defined as the diameter of a spherical particle having same
specific surface (surface area per unit volume) as the particle under consideration.

( )
2
D vs
4π πD
'
P 2 vs
2 6
s = = =

( )
3 3 D vs
4 D vs π ( D vs )
π
surface area per unit volume) 3 2 6

6
(surface area per unit mass) sP = D vs ρs
It is to be noted that Rittinger’s law does not account for the mechanical losses (due to friction
and inertia) in the comminution equipment.

The energy efficiency of a crushing equipment can be defined in two ways.

Overall energy efficiency = (Energy required to create new surface)

(Total energy supplied)
Theoritical effectiveness = (Energy required to create new surface)

Energy supplied - that required to run empty mill)

Rittinger’s law is best applicable to coarse and intermediate size reduction

(3) Bond crushing law and work index

The work required to form particles of size Dp from very large feed is proportional to the square
root of the surface-to-volume ratio of the product, sp/vp.

By relation Sp/Vp = 6/ɸsDp, from which it follows that

where Kb is a constant that depends on the type of machine and on the material being crushed.

The work index, wi, is defined as the gross energy required in kWh per ton of feed to reduce a
very large feed to such a size that 80% of the product passes a 100µm screen.

E P Kb
= =
M ṁ √ D p

Kb
w i=
√Dp
If Dp is in millimetres, P in KW, and in tons per hour, then

work index is given as kilowatt -hour per metric ton (kWh/t)

If 80% of the feed passes a mesh size of Dpa millimetres and 80% of the product a
mesh of Dpb mm, it follows that
Problem (1): What is the power required to crush 100 ton/h of limestone if 80% of the feed pass a 2-in screen
and 80% of the product a 1/8 in screen? The work index for limestone is 12.74.

Solution: =100 ton/h, wi =12.74

Dpa =2" x 25.4=50.8 mm, Dpb =25.4/8=3.175 mm

Mesh : 6/8 or -6 +8, means the mass which has passed through 6 mesh and is retained on 8 mesh

Problem (2): Rock is being crushed in a jaw crusher. The feed is nearly uniform sphere of 2˝ diameter. The differential
screen analysis of the product is given below. Estimate the energy required per ton of rock grinding. Given work index for
the rock is 19.32 kWh/ton. Construct necessary table and graph.

Mesh Weight fraction

retained
6/8 0.017
8/10 0.235
10/14 0.298
14/20 0.217
20/28 0.105
28/35 0.062
35/48 0.028
48/65 0.017
65/100 0.010
pan 0.011

Soln:
 Mesh Screen opening in µm
6 3327
8 2362
10 1651
14 1168
20 833
28 589
35 417
48 295
65 208
100 147

mesh Screen opening in mm Wt fraction retained Cummulative mass fraction smaller than Dpi
6 3.327 0 1.0
8 2.362 0.017 0.983
10 1.651 0.235 0.748
14 1.168 0.298 0.45
20 0.833 0.217 0.233
28 0.589 0.105 0.128
35 0.417 0.062 0.066
48 0.295 0.028 0.038
65 0.208 0.017 0.021
100 0.147 0.010 0.011
pan 0 0.011 0
total 1.00