Mody and Marchildon: Chemical Engineering Process Design Chapter 14 FORMATION AND PROCESSING OF SO IDS

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Solids may be produced either from the reduction in size from larger particles, from the removal of solvent, or through coating and agglomeration. 14#1# Solid$ Si%e Red&ction: Creating small solids, or specifically, nanoparticles is in the newsfront these days. A majority of the nanoparticles used today are being applied in the field of microelectronics which requires line widths as small as 0. ! m, which is driving industry to produce colloidal silica measuring "0 to #0 nanometers $ref #%. &o begin the e'ercise of determining what size reduction method should be used, the engineer should first decide what final particle size is required and determine the hardness $(ohs scale% of the material.

Mill Type vs Final Particle Size

(ohs Scale of )ardness

Cutting (ills 5se rotating and stationary -nives to cut materials on the shearing edges. Cutting mills are often used with fibrous materials such as vegetable matter, spices, herbs, plastics and paper. &he end product size is to / mm. Crushers 5se compressive force between two solid surfaces to cause size reduction. &hey are often used in the mining industry to reduce the size of minerals, gravel and ores. &he final particle size is to 00 mm usually. 5niversal and pin mills &hese are also referred to as fine6grinding impact6mills and use the principal of impact against both the grinding media and inter6particle collision and attrition. An e'ample of this type of mill is the pin mill which uses a set of rotating pins and a set of stationary pins. 7article size is determined by the feed rate and the rotational rate. 8ther mills are equipped with hammers and screens, but in all situations the material hardness is limited to ! (ohs because of pin materials. &he applications of this type of mill are wide and varied but include milling of pharmaceuticals, food confectionaries, animal feeds, fertilizers, paints, pesticides etc. )ammermills &he material is forced between the housing and a screen or other rigid surface. 4ifferent screens, hammer type, and speed of the hammers determine the particle size. 9t is simple to stop the mill and change a screen, so the hammermill is ideal when a wide range of different particle sizes or products are to be handled. Cryogenic processing can be done which allows soft materials to be made brittle for easier processing. (ills with Classifiers 8ften a hammermill will be fitted with a classifier which entrains particles in a gas stream where a classifier wheel is used to reject and return oversized material bac- to the mill. &he classification system provides a tighter particle distribution in the final product. &he constant air flow reduces temperature and is thus beneficial to a material which is heat sensitive. )igh Compression :oller (ills &hese mills use compressive forces of one particle on another by way of a stationary and a rotating roll to reduce the size of the material. &hey e'ert at least 0 fold more pressure on the particles than a coarse crusher. &he material e'iting the mill is usually a slab and a hammermill or universal mill is used to reduce it to its component particles, followed by air classification. Coarse particles are returned to the roller mill. &he roller mill can produce powders from # to "# microns, and with material which has a (ohs hardness up to 0. Compared to ball mills the power usage can be #0; lower. <et (ills Spiral and loop jet mills can produce very fine particles but only on materials with a hardness up to ! (ohs, thus, they are limited in their application. &he principle of

operation of the devices is to reduce particle size by impact and all combine some degree of classification, however, the fluidized bed jet mill $.=<(% provides a further classification and can handle materials with hardness to 0 (ohs. 4ry (edia (ills &ypical of these mills is the horizontal dry6ball mill. &hese units along with a classifier can produce powders in the 0 to "0 micrometer size. A variety of different configurations and materials of construction are possible to provide an iron free material, or for products with a hardness above " (ohs. Although the mill itself is fairly simple, the classification system can become sophisticated to ensure a narrow range in particle distribution. >et (edia (ills &hese mills are very similar to their dry cousins but provide finer particulates , m in size, at lower energy costs than a dry mill $and even produce particles less than 00 nm%, or are used when the end product will be a slurry $i.e. paints and in-s%. >et processing can produce a particle size distribution that is not possible or not economical in dry processing. :eferences? . 7erry@s Chemical Angineers )andboo-. +. (iranda S., Baeger S.C D)oming in on the best size reduction methodE, Chemical AngineeringC Fov 332 pp 0+6 0. !. 7awar <C D>et ,rinding At 9ts .inestEC Chemical Angineering, Sept +00! pp !36"+. ". Clement S., 7urutyan ).C DFarrowing 4own Aquipment Choices for 7article6Size :eductionEC Chemical Angineering 7rogressC <une +00+, pp #06#". #. )airston 4. D&he Fanosphere? A =rave Few >orldEC Chemical Angineering, .eb +00+, pp +06! .

14#'# Si%e Enlar(e)ent Proce$$e$ .or the purposes of ease of handling, dispensing, improved flow properties, elimination of dust hazards, control of solubility etc. having larger sized particulates may benefit a particular product. 7rocesses and Aquipment that generate larger sized solids include? T&)*lin( Gran&lator$ 4isc or 4rum tumbling granulators are suitable for generating solids in the to +0 mm range. ,enerally they use a continuous feed of solids and wetting liquid to slowly enlarge the solid size. 9n the case of a drum granulators a large $up to " m in diameter% inclined $0 to 0 G% cylinder rotates at 0 to 0 rpm while the material flows in almost plug flow $first in first out% manner. Scrappers are sometimes employed to prevent buildup on the inside of the drum. 4isc granulators are somewhat more sophisticated in that they provide some degree of classification and thus particle size is better controlled. Mi"er Gran&lator$ (aterial 0. to + mm in size can be produced using mi'er granulators. &hese devices use an agitator to mi' particles and liquid to create the granulation. &hey are particularly adept at handling stic-y, plastic type materials and are less sensitive to operating conditions than tumbling granulators. Fl&idi%ed Gran&lator$ .luidized bed and spouted beds are suitable for producing solids in the range of 0. to + mm. &he particles are generally either highly porous due to agglomeration of powders or high6strength layered granules due to coating of seed particles by liquid feeds. .luidized bed granulators provide simultaneous drying and particle size growth. Centri+&(al Gran&lator$ 7rimarily used in the pharmaceutical industry to generate particles in size from 0.! to ! mm. 9n all of the various designs the feed enters a horizontal dis- rotating at high speed to form a rotating rope li-e solid. &he particles created are spherical and can be coated if a liquid feed is provided. &he particles created are usually denser than those made in a granulator. Capital costs are higher than most other types of granulator. :otary fluidized bed designs are possible which provide simultaneous drying. Spray Method$ ,Spray Dryin( and Prillin(Spray processes include spray dryers, prilling towers and flash dryers. A variety of different feeds $solution gel, paste, emulsion, slurry, melt% can be accommodated. 7article size is typically small $0.0# to .# mmC up to + mm in the case of prilling% &he particle size generated by the spray processes is dependant on the spray droplet size. 7rilling is a spray cooling process, opposite to spray drying where a large amount of solvent must be evaporated. 9n the situation where fines are an issue a fluidized system or hybrid fluid6bed spray dryer can be used.

Pre$$&re Co)paction 7ressure compaction uses an e'ternal force to join particles which then maintain shape through interparticle bonds. &here are confined6pressure devices such as pistons, tableting, and roll presses which can e'ert the necessary forcesC alternatively e'trusion devices such as pellet mills and screw e'truders can be used. Ther)al Sinterin( Solids may be combined through the use of elevated or reduced temperatures. &his phenomenon may be applied in conjunction with other size enlargement processes or by itself. (etal powders are often joined with this technology $sometimes with a binder%. )igh temperatures with associated operating costs are requirement.

:eferences? . 7erry@s Chemical Angineers )andboo+. (iranda S., Baeger S.C D)oming in on the best size reduction methodE, Chemical AngineeringC Fov 332 pp 0+6 0. !. 7awar <C D>et ,rinding At 9ts .inestEC Chemical Angineering, Sept +00! pp !36 "+. ". Clement S., 7urutyan ).C DFarrowing 4own Aquipment Choices for 7article6Size :eductionEC Chemical Angineering 7rogressC <une +00+, pp #06#". #. )airston 4. D&he Fanosphere? A =rave Few >orldEC Chemical Angineering, .eb +00+, pp +06! .