Application Bulletin AC05
Quadro Comil
 

DEAGGLOMERATION OF TRAY DRIED CENTIFUGE CAKE
 

Background / Requirement

The requirement was to produce fine powder 100% (-) 200 mesh. The individual particles were already less than 200 mesh but had a tendency to agglomerate. When the centrifuge cake tray dried, it resulted in lumps, chunks and agglomerates much coarser than 200 mesh. Further, while sitting the (hygroscopic) material attracts moisture from the air which also causes lumping. This is a very typical problem associated with many fine powders.

Various types of milling equipment had been tested in an attempt to deagglomerate this product however, all produced excessive heat or dust. Indium oxide is expensive as well as heat sensitive. The manufacturer had been grinding this product by hand using a mortar and pestle at a rate of 50 kg/day.

Comil Performance

The Comil model equipped with a screen and an impeller was able to produce a final product that is 100% smaller than 75 micron (200 mesh) at a rate of 360 kg/hr.

The Comil did not produce a noticeable temperature rise in the product and since the Comil is choke fed, there is no dust produced during milling.

Summary

This customer is now milling his entire day’s production requirement in 10 minutes. This allows the Comil to be used to mill other similar products for the rest of the day. One mill - many products.

Another product that has been deagglomerated to similar fine particle sizes is Indium Hydroxide.

The Comil’s gentle low energy grinding action and high capacity makes it ideal for this application.