Dispersants in Stirred Ball Mill Grinding

Abstract

The influence of chemical dispersants on the milling of dolomite was examined using a stirred ball mill. The effective degree of grinding was found to depend on the aggregation/dispersion state or the viscosity of the slurry, which can be controlled by the amount of dispersants and by the solids content. It has been indicated that a more viscous slurry should be preferred in the grinding operation to improve the grinding rate and specific energy input. The beneficial effect of the periodic addition of the polymeric dispersants on the grinding efficiency was quite pronounced at a 70% by wt. solids slurry. In addition, the size distribution of the product becomes steeper in the cases of periodic polymer addition. Viscosity control in the ultrafine grinding of dolomite is important from the viewpoints of grinding efficiency and specific energy input. The results were obtained from carefully conducted experiments.