Selecting a suitable grinding mill
When searching for a suitable grinding mill and grinding tools, one has to keep in mind that the sample properties to be determined (such as moisture or heavy metal content) must not be altered in any way during the process.
To choose the right product not only precise knowledge of the instruments is required but also profound experience in the preparation of different materials. To find the best suited grinding mill for a specific application, the following aspects should be considered in advance:
- Quality/characteristics of sample (e.g. dry, tough, abrasive, fibrous, brittle, hard, soft, temperature-sensitive etc.)
- Feed size
- Required final fineness
- Sample volume
- Sample throughput
- Subsequent analysis (which type of contamination by abrasion of grinding tools is acceptable?)
- May the sample be dried or embrittled before grinding?
- Not to forget: Is the laboratory sample representative?
Depending on the quality of the material different size reduction principles are applied to obtain the required fineness. Large particles cannot always be ground to analytical fineness in one step. In some cases it is possible to carry out coarse and fine grinding in the same grinding mill with different settings; in other cases two grinders or crushers are required.
