Crushers PDF
Crushers PDF
Crushers PDF
Crushers
Primary crushers
Primary crushers are heavy-duty machines, used to
reduce the run-of-mine ore down to a size suitable
Figure 6.1 Basic crushing plant flowsheet
for transport and for feeding the secondary crushers
or AG/SAG mills. They are always operated in
open circuit, with or without heavy-duty scalping
takes place on liners, and generally gives greater screens (grizzlies). There are two main types of
freedom to meet changes in requirements from primary crusher in metalliferous operations – jaw
the plant. and gyratory crushers – although the impact crusher
Surge bins precede the primary crusher to receive has limited use as a primary crusher and will be
dumped loads from skips or lorries and should have considered separately.
Jaw crushers
The distinctive feature of this class of crusher is
the two plates which open and shut like animal
jaws (Grieco and Grieco, 1985). The jaws are
set at an acute angle to each other, and one jaw
is pivoted so that it swings relative to the other
fixed jaw. Material fed into the jaws is alternately
nipped and released to fall further into the crushing
chamber. Eventually it falls from the discharge
aperture.
Jaw crushers are classified by the method of Figure 6.4 Blake jaw crusher (functional diagram)
pivoting the swing jaw (Figure 6.3). In the Blake
crusher the jaw is pivoted at the top and thus
has a fixed receiving area and a variable discharge The important features of the machine are:
opening. In the Dodge crusher the jaw is pivoted at
the bottom, giving it a variable feed area but fixed (1) Since the jaw is pivoted from above, it moves
delivery area. The Dodge crusher is restricted to a minimum distance at the entry point and
laboratory use, where close sizing is required, and a maximum distance at the delivery. This
is never used for heavy-duty crushing as it chokes maximum distance is called the throw of the
very easily. The Universal crusher is pivoted in crusher.
an intermediate position, and thus has a variable (2) The horizontal displacement of the swing jaw
delivery and receiving area. is greatest at the bottom of the pitman cycle
and diminishes steadily through the rising
half of the cycle as the angle between the
pitman and the back toggle plate becomes less
acute.
(3) The crushing force is least at the start of the
cycle, when the angle between the toggles is
most acute, and is strongest at the top, when
full power is delivered over a reduced travel
of the jaw.
Figure 6.3 Jaw-crusher types Figure 6.5 shows a cross-section through a double-
toggle jaw crusher. All jaw crushers are rated
The Blake crusher was patented by W.E. Blake according to their receiving areas, i.e. the width
in 1858 and variations in detail on the basic form of the plates and the gape, which is the distance
are found in most of the jaw crushers used today. between the jaws at the feed opening. For example,
There are two forms of the Blake crusher – an 1830 × 1220 mm crusher has a width of
double toggle and single toggle. 1830 mm and a gape of 1220 mm.
Consider a large piece of rock falling into the
Double-toggle Blake crushers In this model mouth of the crusher. It is nipped by the jaws,
(Figure 6.4), the oscillating movement of the which are moving relative to each other at a rate
swinging jaw is effected by vertical movement of depending on the size of the machine and which
the pitman. This moves up and down under the usually varies inversely with the size. Basically,
influence of the eccentric. The back toggle plate time must be given for the rock broken at each
causes the pitman to move sideways as it is pushed “bite” to fall to a new position before being nipped
upward. This motion is transferred to the front again. The ore falls until it is arrested. The swing
toggle plate and this in turn causes the swing jaw to jaw closes on it, quickly at first and then more
close on the fixed jaw. Similarly, downward move- slowly with increasing power towards the end of the
ment of the pitman allows the swing jaw to open. stroke. The fragments now fall to a new arrest point
Crushers 121
as the jaws move apart and are then gripped and mechanical systems which allow remote control
crushed again. During each “bite” of the jaws the (Anon., 1981).
rock swells in volume due to the creation of voids A feature of all jaw crushers is the heavy fly-
between the particles. Since the ore is also falling wheel attached to the drive, which is necessary
into a gradually reducing cross-sectional area of the to store energy on the idling half of the stroke
crushing chamber, choking of the crusher would and deliver it on the crushing half. Since the jaw
soon occur if it were not for the increasing ampli- crusher works on half-cycle only, it is limited in
tude of swing towards the discharge end of the capacity for its weight and size. Due to its alternate
crusher. This accelerates the material through the loading and release of stress, it must be very rugged
crusher, allowing it to discharge at a rate suffi- and needs strong foundations to accommodate the
cient to leave space for material entering above. vibrations.
This is arrested or free crushing as opposed to Single-toggle jaw crushers In this type of crusher
choked crushing, which occurs when the volume (Figure 6.6) the swing jaw is suspended on the
of material arriving at a particular cross-section eccentric shaft, which allows a lighter, more
is greater than that leaving. In arrested crushing, compact design than with the double-toggle
crushing is by the jaws only, whereas in choked machine. The motion of the swing jaw also differs
crushing, particles break each other. This interpar- from that of the double-toggle design. Not only
ticle comminution can lead to excessive production does the swing jaw move towards the fixed jaw,
of fines, and if choking is severe can damage the under the action of the toggle plate, but it also
crusher. moves vertically as the eccentric rotates. This ellip-
The discharge size of material from the crusher tical jaw motion assists in pushing rock through
is controlled by the set, which is the maximum the crushing chamber. The single-toggle machine
opening of the jaws at the discharge end. This can therefore has a somewhat higher capacity than
be adjusted by using toggle plates of the required the double-toggle machine of the same gape. The
length. Wear on the jaws can be taken up by eccentric movement, however, increases the rate of
adjusting the back pillow into which the back toggle wear on the jaw plates. Direct attachment of the
plate bears. A number of manufacturers offer jaw swing jaw to the eccentric imposes a high degree
setting by hydraulic jacking, and some fit electro- of strain on the drive shaft, and so maintenance
122 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
costs tend to be higher than with the double-toggle the surface at each contact point. They are bolted in
machine. sections on to the jaws so that they can be removed
Double-toggle machines cost about 50% more easily and reversed periodically to equalise wear.
than single-toggle machines of the same size, and Cheek plates are fitted to the sides of the crushing
are usually used on tough, hard, abrasive mate- chamber to protect the main frame from wear.
rials, although the single-toggle crusher is used in These are also made from hard alloy steel and
Europe, especially Sweden, for heavy-duty work on have similar lives to the jaw plates. The jaw plates
tough taconite ores, and it is often choke fed, since themselves may be smooth, but are often corru-
the jaw movement tends to make it self-feeding. gated, the latter being preferred for hard, abra-
sive materials. Patterns on the working surface
Jaw-crusher construction Jaw crushers are extre- of the crushing members also influence capacity,
mely heavy-duty machines and hence must be especially at small settings. Laboratory tests have
robustly constructed. The main frame is often made demonstrated that the capacity is reduced about
from cast iron or steel, connected with tie-bolts. It is 50 times when a corrugated profile is used rather
often made in sections so that it can be transported than a smooth surface. The corrugated profile
underground for installation. Modern jaw crushers is claimed to perform compound crushing by
may have a main frame of mild steel plate welded compression, tension, and shearing. Conventional
together. smooth crushing plates tend to perform crushing by
The jaws themselves are usually constructed compression only, though irregular particles under
from cast steel and are fitted with replaceable liners, compression loading might still break in tension.
made from manganese steel, or “Ni-hard”, a Ni–Cr Since rocks are around 10 times weaker in tension
alloyed cast iron. Apart from reducing wear, hard than compression, power consumption and wear
liners are essential in that they minimise crushing costs should be lower with the corrugated profiles.
energy consumption, reducing the deformation of Nevertheless, some type of pattern is desirable for
Crushers 123
the jaw plate surface in a jaw crusher, partly to clearance of the blockage. This allows a full crusher
reduce the risk of undesired large flakes easily to be started under load (Anon., 1981).
slipping through the straight opening, and partly Jaw crushers range in size up to 1680 mm gape
to reduce the contact surface when crushing flaky by 2130 mm width. This size machine will handle
blocks. In several installations, a slight wave shape ore with a maximum size of 1.22 m at a crushing
has proved successful. The angle between the jaws rate of approximately 725 t h−1 with a 203 mm
is usually less than 26 , as the use of a larger angle set. However, at crushing rates above 545 t h−1
than this causes slipping, which reduces capacity the economic advantage of the jaw crusher over
and increases wear. the gyratory diminishes; and above 725 t h−1 jaw
In order to overcome problems of choking near crushers cannot compete with gyratory crushers
the discharge of the crusher, which is possible if (Lewis et al., 1976).
fines are present in the feed, curved plates are
sometimes used. The lower end of the swing jaw
Gyratory crushers
is concave, whereas the opposite lower half of the
fixed jaw is convex. This allows a more gradual Gyratory crushers are principally used in surface-
reduction in size as the material nears the exit, crushing plants, although a few currently operate
hence minimising the chances of packing. Less underground. The gyratory crusher (Figure 6.7)
wear is also reported on the jaw plates, since the consists essentially of a long spindle, carrying a
material is distributed over a larger area. hard steel conical grinding element, the head, seated
The speed of jaw crushers varies inversely in an eccentric sleeve. The spindle is suspended
with the size, and usually lies in the range of from a “spider” and, as it rotates, normally between
100−350 rev min−1 . The main criterion in deter- 85 and 150 rev min−1 , it sweeps out a conical path
mining the optimum speed is that particles must within the fixed crushing chamber, or shell, due to
be given sufficient time to move down the the gyratory action of the eccentric. As in the jaw
crusher throat into a new position before being crusher, maximum movement of the head occurs
nipped again. near the discharge. This tends to relieve the choking
The maximum amplitude of swing of the jaw, due to swelling, the machine thus being a good
or “throw”, is determined by the type of material arrested crusher. The spindle is free to turn on its
being crushed and is usually adjusted by changing axis in the eccentric sleeve, so that during crushing
the eccentric. It varies from 1 to 7 cm depending on the lumps are compressed between the rotating head
the machine size, and is highest for tough, plastic and the top shell segments, and abrasive action in
material and lowest for hard, brittle ore. The greater a horizontal direction is negligible.
the throw, the less danger is there of chokage, as At any cross-section there are in effect two sets
material is removed more quickly. This is offset of jaws opening and shutting like jaw crushers.
by the fact that a large throw tends to produce In fact, the gyratory crusher can be regarded as
more fines, which inhibits arrested crushing. Large an infinitely large number of jaw crushers each of
throws also impart higher working stresses to the infinitely small width. Since the gyratory, unlike
machine. the jaw crusher, crushes on full cycle, it has a much
In all crushers, provision must be made for higher capacity than a jaw crusher of the same
avoiding the damage which could result from gape, and is usually favoured in plants handling
uncrushable material entering the chamber. Many very large throughputs. In mines with crushing
jaw crushers are protected from such “tramp” mate- rates above 900 t h−1 , gyratory crushers are always
rial (usually metal objects) by a weak line of rivets selected.
on one of the toggle plates, although automatic trip- Crushers range in size up to gapes of 1830 mm
out devices are now becoming more common, and and can crush ores with top size of 1370 mm at a
one manufacturer uses automatic overload protec- rate of up to 5000 t h−1 with a 200 mm set. Power
tion based on hydraulic cylinders between the fixed consumption is as high as 750 kW on such crushers.
jaw and the frame. In the event of excessive pres- Large gyratories often dispense with expensive
sure caused by an overload, the jaw is allowed to feeding mechanisms and are often fed direct
open, normal gap conditions being reasserted after from trucks (Figure 6.8). They can be operated
124 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
(a)
satisfactorily with the head buried in feed. Although Gyratory-crusher construction The outer shell of
excessive fines may have to be “scalped” from the crusher is constructed from heavy steel casting
the feed, the modern trend in large-capacity plants or welded steel plate, with at least one construc-
is to dispense with grizzlies if the ore allows. tional joint, the bottom part taking the drive shaft
This reduces capital cost of the installation and for the head, the top, and lower shells providing
reduces the height from which the ore must fall the crushing chamber. If the spindle is carried on
into the crusher, thus minimising damage to the a suspended bearing, as in the bulk of primary
spider. Choked crushing is encouraged to some gyratories, then the spider carrying the bearing
extent, but if this is not serious, the rock-to-rock forms a joint across the reinforced alloyed white
crushing produced in the primaries reduces the cast-iron (Ni-hard) liners or concaves. In small
rock-to-steel crushing required in the secondaries, crushers the concave is one continuous ring bolted
thus reducing steel consumption (McQuiston and to the shell. Large machines use sectionalised
Shoemaker, 1978). Choke feeding of a gyratory concaves, called staves, which are wedge-shaped,
crusher has been claimed to be also beneficial and either rest on a ring fitted between the upper
when the crusher is followed by SAG mills, whose and the lower shell, or are bolted to the shell. The
throughput is sensitive to the mill feed size (Simkus concaves are backed with some soft filler mate-
and Dance, 1998). Operating crushers under choke rial, such as white metal, zinc, or plastic cement,
feeding conditions gives more even mantle wear which ensures even seating against the steel
and longer life. bowl.
Crushers 125
Conversely, if the tonnage is greater than this saving in some cases, with the elimination of expen-
value, use a gyratory crusher. sive feeding devices, such as the heavy-duty chain
Because of the complex nature of jaw and feeder. This is, however, often false economy as the
gyratory crushers, exact formulae expressing their capital cost saving is considered of less importance
capacities have never been entirely satisfactory. in many cases than the improved performance and
Crushing capacity depends on many factors, such as the pre-crusher scalping which is available with
the angle of nip (i.e. the angle between the crushing separate feeding devices.
members), stroke, speed, and the liner material, as In some cases, the jaw crusher has found favour,
well as on the feed material, and its initial particle due to the ease with which it can be sectionalised.
size. Capacity problems do not usually occur in the Thus, because of the need for transportation to
upper and middle sections of the crushing cavity, remote locations and for underground use, it may
providing the angle of nip is not too great. It is be advantageous to install jaw crushers.
normally the discharge zone, the narrowest section The type of material being crushed may also
of the crushing chamber, which determines the determine the crusher used. Jaw crushers perform
crushing capacity. better than gyratories on clayey, plastic material,
Broman (1984) describes the development of due to their greater throw. Gyratories have been
simple models for optimising the performance of found to be particularly suitable for hard, abra-
jaw and gyratory crushers. The volumetric capacity sive material, and they tend to give a more cubic
of a jaw crusher is expressed as: product than jaw crushers if the feed is laminated
or “slabby”.
Q = BSs · cota · k · 60n m3 /h
where B = inner width of crusher (m); S = open Secondary crushers
side setting (m); s = throw (m); a = angle of
Secondary crushers are much lighter than the
nip; n = speed of crusher (rpm); and k is a mate-
heavy-duty, rugged primary machines. Since they
rial constant, the size of which varies with the
take the primary crushed ore as feed, the maximum
characteristics of the crushed material, the feeding
feed size will normally be less than 15 cm in diam-
method, liner type, etc., normally having values
eter and, because most of the harmful constituents
between 1.5 and 2.
in the ore, such as tramp metal, wood, clays, and
For gyratory crushers, the corresponding for-
slimes have already been removed, it is much easier
mula is:
to handle. Similarly, the transportation and feeding
Q = D − SSs cota · k · 60n m3 /h arrangements serving the crushers do not need to
be as rugged as in the primary stage. Secondary
where D = diameter of the outer head mantle at crushers also operate with dry feeds, and their
the discharge point (m), and k the material constant purpose is to reduce the ore to a size suitable for
normally varying between 2 and 3. grinding. In those cases where size reduction can
The capital and maintenance costs of a jaw be more efficiently carried out by crushing, there
crusher are slightly less than those of the gyra- may be a tertiary stage before the material is passed
tory, but they may be offset by the installation to the grinding mills.
costs, which are lower with the gyratory, since Tertiary crushers are, to all intents and purposes,
it occupies about two-thirds the volume and has of the same design as secondaries, except that they
about two-thirds the weight of a jaw crusher of have a closer set.
the same capacity. This is because the circular The bulk of secondary crushing of metallif-
crushing chamber allows a more compact design erous ores is performed by cone crushers, although
with a larger proportion of the total volume being crushing rolls and hammer mills are used for some
accounted for by the crushing chamber than in the applications.
jaw crusher. Jaw-crusher foundations need to be
much more rugged than those of the gyratory, due
The cone crusher
to the alternating working stresses.
The better self-feeding capability of the gyra- The cone crusher is a modified gyratory crusher.
tory compared with the jaw results in a capital cost The essential difference is that the shorter spindle
Crushers 127
of the cone crusher is not suspended, as in the gyra- a high capacity, since the capacity of gyratory
tory, but is supported in a curved, universal bearing crushers is roughly proportional to the diameter of
below the gyratory head or cone (Figure 6.10). the head.
Power is transmitted from the source to the The head is protected by a replaceable mantle,
countershaft through a V-belt or direct drive. The which is held in place by a large locking nut
countershaft has a bevel pinion pressed and keyed threaded onto a collar bolted on the top of the head.
to it, and drives the gear on the eccentric assembly. The mantle is backed with plastic cement, or zinc,
The eccentric has a tapered, offset bore and provides or more recently with an epoxy resin.
the means whereby the head and main shaft follow Unlike a gyratory crusher, which is identified
an eccentric path during each cycle of rotation. by the dimensions of the feed opening and the
Since a large gape is not required, the crushing mantle diameter, a cone crusher is rated by the
shell or “bowl” flares outwards which allows for diameter of the cone lining. Cone crushers range
the swell of broken ore by providing an increasing
in size from 559 mm to 3.1 m and have capacities
cross-sectional area towards the discharge end.
up to 1100 t h−1 with a discharge setting of 19 mm,
The cone crusher is therefore an excellent arrested
although two 3.1 m Symons cone crushers, each
crusher. The flare of the bowl allows a much greater
head angle than in the gyratory crusher, while with capacities of 3000 t h−1 , have been installed in
retaining the same angle between the crushing a South African iron-ore plant (White, 1976).
members (Figure 6.11). This gives the cone crusher The throw of cone crushers can be up to five
times that of primary crushers, which must with-
stand heavier working stresses. They are also oper-
ated at much higher speeds. The material passing
through the crusher is subjected to a series of
hammer-like blows rather than being gradually
compressed as by the slowly moving head of the
gyratory.
The high-speed action allows particles to flow
freely through the crusher, and the wide travel of
Figure 6.11 Head and shell shapes of (a) gyratory, the head creates a large opening between it and the
and (b) cone crushers bowl when in the fully open position. This permits
128 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
the crushed fines to be rapidly discharged, making members. The set on the cone crusher is thus the
room for additional feed. minimum discharge opening.
The fast discharge and non-choking characteris- The distributing plate on the top of the cone helps
tics of the cone crusher allow a reduction ratio in the to centralise the feed, distributing it at a uniform
range 3–7:1, but this can be higher in some cases. rate to all of the crushing chamber.
The Symons cone crusher is the most widely An important feature of the crusher is that the
used type of cone crusher. It is produced in bowl is held down either by an annular arrangement
two forms: the Standard for normal secondary of springs or by a hydraulic mechanism. These
crushing and the Short-head for fine, or tertiary allow the bowl to yield if “tramp” material enters
duty (Figures 6.12 and 6.13). They differ mainly in the crushing chamber, so permitting the offending
object to pass. If the springs are continually “on the
the shape of their crushing chambers. The Standard
work”, as may happen with ores containing many
cone has “stepped” liners which allow a coarser
tough particles, oversize material will be allowed to
feed than in the Short-head (Figure 6.14). They
escape from the crusher. This is one of the reasons
deliver a product varying from 0.5 to 6 cm. The
for using closed-circuit crushing in the final stages.
Short-head has a steeper head angle than the Stan- It may be necessary to choose a screen for the
dard, which helps to prevent choking from the much circuit which has apertures slightly larger than the
finer material being handled. It also has a narrower set of the crusher. This is to reduce the tendency for
feed opening and a longer parallel section at the very tough particles, which are slightly oversize, to
discharge, and delivers a product of 0.3–2.0 cm. “spring” the crusher, causing an accumulation of
The parallel section between the liners at the such particles in the closed-circuit and a build-up
discharge is a feature of all cone crushers and is of pressure in the crushing throat.
incorporated to maintain a close control on product The set on the crusher can easily be changed,
size. Material passing through the parallel zone or adjusted for liner wear, by screwing the bowl
receives more than one impact from the crushing up or down by means of a capstan and chain
Maximum compression
Minimum gap opening
Material being
crushed
Figure 6.19 Schematic of the Rhodax crusher, and principle of operation (Courtesy JKMRC and JKTech
Pty Ltd)
the feed varies, or an unbreakable object enters the very easily and quickly. Two series of machines have
crushing chamber. The Rhodax is claimed to achieve been developed on this basis, one for the production
reduction ratios varying from 4 to more than 30 in of aggregates (maximum pressure on the material bed
open circuit. The relative positions of the unbal- between 10 and 25 MPa), and the other for coarse
anced masses can be changed if required, so the grinding or fine grinding (25–50 MPa maximum
value of the crushing force can thus be remotely pressure on the material bed). Given the design
controlled. As feed particles enter the fragmenta- of the machine (relative displacement of two non-
tion chamber, they slowly advance between the cone imposed wear surfaces), the product size distribution
and the moving ring. These parts are subjected to is independent of the gap and wear. These are
horizontal circular translation movements and move distinct advantages over conventional crushers
towards and away from each other at a given point. which suffer problems with the variable product
During the approach phase, materials are quality caused by wear. In conjunction with FCB
subjected to compression. The maximum pres- in France, Multotec Process Equipment from South
sure to which a material bed may be subjected is Africa is participating in the ongoing development
10–50 MPa. During the separation phase, frag- of the Rhodax crusher in the mineral industry.
mented materials pass further down in the chamber
until the next compression cycle. The number of Roll crushers Roll crushers, or crushing rolls, are
cycles is typically 4–5. During these cycles the cone still used in some mills, although they have been
rolls on a bed of stressed material a few millimetres replaced in most installations by cone crushers.
thick, with a rotation speed of a 10–20 rpm. This They still have a useful application in handling
rotation is actually an epicyclical movement due to friable, sticky, frozen, and less abrasive feeds, such
the lack of sliding friction between the cone and as limestone, coal, chalk, gypsum, phosphate, and
the feed material. The unbalanced masses rotate at soft iron ores. Jaw and gyratory crushers have a
100–300 rpm. The following three parameters can tendency to choke near the discharge when crushing
be adjusted on the Rhodax crusher: friable rock with a large proportion of maximum
size pieces in the feed.
• the gap between the cone and the ring,
• the total static moment of unbalanced masses, The mode of operation of roll crushers
is extremely simple, the standard spring rolls
and
• the rotation speed of these unbalanced masses. (Figure 6.20) consisting of two horizontal cylin-
ders which revolve towards each other. The set is
The combination of the latter two settings enables determined by shims which cause the spring-loaded
the operator to fix the required fragmentation force roll to be held back from the solidly mounted roll.
Crushers 133
The value of the coefficient of friction between Table 6.1 Maximum diameter of rock gripped in
a particle and moving rolls can be calculated from crushing rolls relative to roll diameter
the equation Roll diameter Maximum size of rock gripped (mm)
1 + 112 (mm) Reduction ratio
k = (6.3)
1 + 6 2 3 4 5 6
where k is the kinetic coefficient of friction and 200 6.2 4.6 4.1 3.8 3.7
is the peripheral velocity of the rolls m s−1 . From 400 12.4 9.2 8.2 7.6 7.3
Figure 6.21, 600 18.6 13.8 12.2 11.5 11.0
800 24.8 18.4 16.3 15.3 14.7
R+a
cos = (6.4) 1000 30.9 23.0 20.4 19.1 18.3
2 R+r 1200 37.1 27.6 24.5 22.9 22.0
1400 43.3 32.2 28.6 26.8 25.7
Equation 6.4 can be used to determine the
maximum size of rock gripped in relation to roll
diameter and the reduction ratio r/a required. performed in rolls having corrugated surfaces, or
Table 6.1 lists such values for rolls crushing mate- with stub teeth arranged to present a chequered
rial where the angle of nip should be less than 20 surface pattern. “Sledging” or “slugger” rolls have
in order for the particles to be gripped (in most a series of intermeshing teeth, or slugs, protruding
practical cases the angle of nip should not exceed from the roll surfaces (Figure 6.22). These dig into
about 25 ). the rock so that the action is a combination of
It can be seen that unless very large diameter compression and ripping, and large pieces in rela-
rolls are used, the angle of nip limits the reduc- tion to the roll diameter can be handled. Their
tion ratio of the crusher, and since reduction ratios main application is in the coarse crushing of soft or
greater than 4:1 are rarely used, a flow-line may sticky iron ores, friable limestone, coal, etc., rolls
require coarse crushing rolls to be followed by of 1 m diameter being used to crush material of top
fine rolls. size 400 mm.
Smooth-surfaced rolls are usually used for Wear on the roll surfaces is very high and they
fine crushing, whereas coarse crushing is often often have a manganese steel tyre, which can be
replaced when worn. The feed must be spread 50 MPa, by the action of a hydraulic pres-
uniformly over the whole width of the rolls in order sures system acting on a piston which presses
to give even wear. One simple method is to use a the movable roller against the material bed
flat feed belt of the same width as the rolls. (Figure 6.23) (density >70% solids by volume).
Since there is no provision for the swelling of Under such high forces, the product is a compacted
broken ore in the crushing chamber, roll crushers cake containing a high proportion of fines and
must be “starvation fed” if they are to be prevented grains with microcracks. The compacted cake is
from choking. Although the floating roll should subsequently deagglomerated, releasing the fines,
only yield to an uncrushable body, choked crushing and it has been shown (Brachthauser and Keller-
causes so much pressure that the springs are contin- wessel, 1988; Schwechten and Milburn, 1990)
ually “on the work” during crushing, and some that the specific energy consumption for compres-
oversize escapes. Rolls should therefore be used in sion and ball mill-deagglomeration is considerably
closed circuit with screens. Choked crushing also less than that of ball mill grinding alone. The
causes interparticle comminution, which leads to typical comminution energy in an HPGR unit is
the production of material finer than the set of the 2.5–3.5 kW h/t, compared to 15–25 kW h/t in ball
crusher. mill grinding. These mills are now being utilised in
The capacity of the rolls can be calculated in the cement, diamond, and limestone industries, and
terms of the ribbon of material that will pass the there is some evidence to show that mineral libera-
space between the rolls. Thus theoretical capacity tion can be improved by using these devices, so that
is equal to they may be useful in the comminution of industrial
and metalliferous ores (Esna-Ashari and Keller-
1885 NDW sd kg h−1 (6.5)
wessel, 1988; Clark and Wills, 1989; Knecht, 1994;
where N is the speed of rolls rev min−1 , D is the Watson and Brooks, 1994; Daniel, 2004). The
roll diameter (m), W is the roll width (m), s is the mills were originally designed to be operated with
specific gravity of feed material kg m−1 , and d is smooth rolls, but studded rolls have become stan-
the distance between the rolls (m). dard in the new designs, because of their improved
In practice, allowing for voids between the parti- wear-resistant characteristics (Figure 6.24).
cles, loss of speed in gripping the feed, etc., the
capacity is usually about 25% of the theoretical.
Impact crushers
The pressure exerted on the feed particles
in conventional roll crushers is in the range In this class of crusher, comminution is by impact
10–30 MPa, but work in Germany led to the devel- rather than compression, by sharp blows applied at
opment in the mid-1980s of the High-Compression high speed to free-falling rock. The moving parts
Roller Mill, which utilises forces in excess of are beaters, which transfer some of their kinetic
Product
Figure 6.23 High pressure grinding rolls (from Napier-Munn et al., 1996; Courtesy JKMRC, The University of
Queensland)
136 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
Hammer mills have been used by Australian The rotary impact mill gives a much better
coking coal producers to prepare coke oven feeds control of product size than does the hammer mill,
(0.125–6 mm). To assist in the beneficiation of coke since there is less attrition. The product shape is
oven feeds, recent work has led to the develop- much more easily controlled and energy is saved
ment of a model of the swing hammer mill (Shi by the removal of particles once they have reached
et al., 2003). The energy-based model comprises a the size required.
mechanistic model for the mill power draw and a The blow bars are reversible to even out wear,
perfect mixing mill model with a dual-classification and can easily be removed and replaced.
function to describe the operation of the hammers Large impact crushers will reduce 1.5 m top
and underscreen. The model is able to accurately size run-of-mine ore to 20 cm, at capacities of
predict the product size distribution and power draw around 1500 t h−1 , although crushers with capaci-
for given hammer mill configurations (breaker gap, ties of 3000 t h−1 have been manufactured. Since
under-screen orientation, screen aperture) and oper- they depend on high velocities for crushing, wear
ating conditions (feed rate, feed size distribution, is greater than for jaw or gyratory crushers.
and coal breakage characteristics). Hence impact crushers should not be used on ores
For much coarser crushing, the fixed hammer containing over 15% silica (Lewis et al., 1976).
impact mill is often used (Figure 6.26). In these However, they are a good choice for primary
machines the material falls tangentially on to a crushing when high reduction ratios are required
rotor, running at 250–500 rev min−1 , receiving a (the ratio can be as high as 40:1) and a high
glancing impulse, which sends it spinning towards percentage of fines, and the ore is relatively non-
the impact plates. The velocity imparted is deliber- abrasive.
ately restricted to a fraction of the velocity of the The Tidco Barmac Crusher was developed in
rotor to avoid enormous stress and probable failure New Zealand in the late 1960s, and is finding
of the rotor bearings. increasing application (Rodriguez, 1990). The mill
The fractured pieces which can pass between the combines impact crushing, high-intensity grinding,
clearances of the rotor and breaker plate enter a and multi-particle pulverising, and as such, is best
second chamber created by another breaker plate, suited in the tertiary crushing or primary grinding
where the clearance is smaller, and then into a third stage, producing products in the 0.06–12 mm size
smaller chamber. This is the grinding path which range. A cross-section of the Duopactor, which can
is designed to reduce flakiness and gives very good handle feeds of up to 650 t h−1 , at a top size of
cubic particles. over 50 mm, is shown in Figure 6.27. The basic
Figure 6.29 Canica VSI crusher impeller and anvil schematic; Model 100 wear profile (Courtesy JKMRC and
JKTech Pty Ltd)
An overview of some of the recent work on is increasingly used, larger crushers have been
modelling rotary breakers has been given by Esterle constructed, and mobile crushing units have been
et al. (1996). The work was based at three open cut used, which allow relatively cheap ore transporta-
coal mines in Central Queensland, Australia, where tion by conveyor belts rather than by trucks to a
3 m diameter breakers were handling ROM coal. fixed crushing station (Kok, 1982; Woody, 1982;
Gresshaber, 1983; Frizzel, 1985). A mobile crusher is
a completely self-contained unit, mounted on a frame
Crushing circuits and control that is moved by means of a transport mechanism in
In recent years, efforts have been made to improve the open pit as mining progresses. Mobile units typi-
crusher efficiency in order to reduce capital and oper- cally use jaw, hammer, or roll crushers, fed directly
ating costs. Automatic control of crushing circuits or by apron feeders, at rates of up to 1000 t h−1 . Some
140 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
Figure 6.31 Three-stage crushing circuit for ball mill feed (after Motz, 1978)
units employ large gyratory crushers with capacities oversize with the circulating load, and regulation of
of up to 6000 t h−1 (Wyllie, 1989). the tertiary crusher feed, providing more efficient
A typical flowsheet for a crushing plant crushing. The circuit is also more readily adaptable
producing ball mill feed is shown in Figure 6.31 to automatic feed control to maintain maximum
(Motz, 1978). The circuit is typical of current prac- power utilisation (Mollick, 1980).
tice in that the secondary product is screened and In some cases, the crushing circuit is designed
conveyed to a storage bin, rather than feeding not only to produce mill feed, but also to provide
the tertiary crushers directly. The intermediate media for autogenous grinding. Figure 6.32 shows
bins allow good mixing of the secondary screen the flowsheet for the crushing circuit at Pyhasalmi
in Finland, where grinding is performed in lump the rate required by the grinding plant. The fine-
mills, followed by pebble mills (Wills, 1983). ness of the crusher product is maintained by the
Primary crushing is carried out underground and selection of screens of the appropriate aperture in
the product is hoisted to the fine crushing plant the final closed circuit loop. The most effective
on top of the fine ore bin. This plant consists of way of maximising throughput is to maintain the
two parallel crushing lines, one including a stan- highest possible crusher power draw, and this has
dard Symons cone crusher as the first stage, and been used to control many plants. There is an
the other commencing with a vibrating grizzly of optimum closed side setting for crushers operating
70 mm set. The grizzly oversize of 70–250 mm in closed circuit which provides the highest tonnage
is conveyed directly to a coarse lump bin, while of finished screen product for a particular power
the undersize joins the cone crusher product from or circulating load limit, although the actual feed
the other line. This material is screened on two tonnage to the crusher increases at larger closed
double deck vibrating screens, to produce a fine side settings. The power draw can be maintained
ore product of −25 mm, an intermediate product by the use of a variable speed belt feeding the
of 25–40 mm, which is crushed to −25 mm in crusher. Changes in ore hardness and size distri-
an open circuit short-head Symons cone crusher, bution are compensated for by a change in belt
and a +40 mm fraction which is transferred to a speed. Operations under such choked conditions
40–70 mm pebble bin via a 70 mm scalping grizzly. also require sensing of upper and lower levels
Recent advances in instrumentation and process of feed in the crusher by mechanical, nuclear,
control hardware have made the implementation sonic, or proximity switches. Operation of the
of computer control more common in crushing crusher at high power draw leads to increased fines
circuits. Instrumentation employed includes ore
production, such that if the increased throughput
level detectors, oil flow sensors, power measure-
provided by the control system cannot be accom-
ment devices, belt scales, variable speed belt drives
modated by the grinding plant, then the higher
and feeders, blocked chute detectors, and particle
average power draw can be used to produce a
size measurement devices (Horst and Enochs,
finer product. This can be done by using screens
1980). The importance of automatic control is
with smaller apertures in the closed circuit, thus
exemplified by the crushing plant at Mount Isa
increasing the circulating load and hence the total
in Australia, where the output increased by over
15% after controls were introduced (Manlapig and crusher feed. In most cases, high screen loading
Watsford, 1983). decreases screening efficiency, particularly that of
Supervisory control systems are not usually the particles close to the screen aperture size.
applied to primary crushers, the instrumentation This has the effect of reducing the effective “cut-
basically being used to protect them. Thus lubrica- size” of the screen, producing a finer product.
tion flow indicators and bearing temperature detec- Thus a possible control scheme during periods of
tors may be fitted, together with high and low level excess closed circuit crushing capacity or reduced
alarms in the chamber under the crusher. throughput requirement is to increase the circu-
The operating and process control objectives for lating load by reducing the number of screens used,
secondary and tertiary crushing circuits differ from leading to a finer product. The implementation of
one plant to the next, but usually the main objec- this type of control loop requires accurate knowl-
tive is to maximise crusher throughput at some edge of the behaviour of the plant under various
specified product size. Numerous variables affect conditions.
the performance of a crusher, but only three – In those circuits where the crushers produce
ore feed rate, crusher opening and, in some cases, a saleable product (e.g. road-stone quarries), the
feed size – can be adjusted. Lynch (1977) has control objective is usually to maximise the produc-
described case studies of automatic control systems tion of certain size fractions from each tonne of
for various applications. When the purpose of the feed. Since screen efficiency decreases as circu-
crushing plant is to produce feed for the grinding lating load increases, producing a finer product
circuit, the most important objective of the control size, circulating load can be used to control the
system is to ensure a supply of crushed ore at product size. This can be affected by control of
142 Wills’ Mineral Processing Technology
the crusher setting, as on the Allis-Chalmers hydro- mill performance, and thereby regulate crusher
cone crusher (Flavel, 1977, 1978; Anon., 1981), product size through a combination of feed rate and
which has a hydraulic setting adjustment system setting control (Dance, 2001). Figure 6.34 illus-
which can be controlled automatically to optimise trates the effect of crusher feed size on the SAG
the crusher parameters. The required variation in mill throughput. As expected, as the amount of
crusher setting can be determined by the use of medium or critical size fed to the mill increased
accurate mathematical models of crusher perfor- −125 +50 mm, the tonnage of one of the semi-
mance (Lynch, 1977; Napier-Munn et al., 1996), autogenous mills fell from 2000 to 1800 t/h. The
from empirical data, or by measuring product size effect of increasing the setting from 152 to 165 mm
on-line. Image processing based systems for the is shown in Figure 6.35. While the feed size
continuous measurement of fragment size for use in % coarse +125 mm dropped from 15 to 8%,
primary crushing and AG/SAG mill process control the larger setting allowed more to pass through
have been in use in the mining industry since the uncrushed and the product % coarse values actually
mid-1990s. Currently two systems are in use: Split- increased over time.
Online from Split Engineering and WipFrag from In most crushing plants there are long process
WipWare Inc. A description of the systems and delays, and standard PI controllers can be inade-
how they work are given elsewhere (Maerz et al., quate for the control loops. It is therefore desirable
1996 for WipFrag; and Girdner et al., 2001 for to provide a model of the process which incorpo-
Split). An example of the screen capture from a rates the actual time delays, and use this model to
moving conveyor belt is shown in Figure 6.33 (see adjust the controller inputs (McKee and Thornton,
also Chapter 4). 1986). Such a dynamically compensated controller
was developed for the Mount Isa crusher circuit
(Manlapig and Watsford, 1983). The variation in
operating conditions and significant circuit delays
would seem to be well suited to control strate-
gies based on modern model-based control tech-
niques (see Chapter 3). In order to apply modern
control theory to crushing, it is first necessary
to develop dynamic models that are sufficiently
detailed to reproduce the essential dynamic char-
acteristics of crushing. For a cone crusher, this
would involve accurately predicting the discharge
size distribution, throughput, and power consump-
tion as a function of time. Then optimal estimation
using a Kalman filter has to be developed for the
dynamic model. Finally, an optimal control algo-
rithm is employed to determine the values of the
Figure 6.33 Screen capture of the Windows Version manipulated variables which optimise the chosen
of Split-Online (Courtesy Split Engineering) control objectives. The optimal control algorithm
will also supervise the set-points of the regulatory
Additional loops are normally required in control loops. Herbst and Oblad (1986) have used
crushing circuits to control levels in surge bins a dynamic model of a cone crusher in conjunction
between different stages. For instance, the crusher with an extended Kalman filter to optimally esti-
product surge bins can be monitored such that at mate the size distributions of the material within the
high level, screen feed is increased to draw down crusher as well as the measured output variables. In
the bins. addition, estimation of the specific crushing rates
The importance of primary crusher control at has been implemented for the purpose of detecting
Highland Valley Copper was well recognized, and ore hardness changes. The dynamic model and esti-
through the use of image analysis, HVC was able mator are incorporated in a simulator as a first
to quantify the effect of feed size on crusher and step in developing an optimal control scheme for
Crushers 143
50 2400
45 2300
40 2200
Weight % Medium
30 2000
25 1900
24 hours
10 1600
Figure 6.34 Crusher setting effect on mill product size (Courtesy Teck Cominco, Highland Valley Copper)
25
152 mm 165 mm
setting setting
20
Weight %Coarse
15
10
Feed
5
Product
4 hours
0
Figure 6.35 Effect of crusher setting on product size (Courtesy Teck Cominco, Highland Valley Copper)
crushing circuits. An overview of some of the Anon. (1985). Rugged roller-bearing crusher, Mining
recent work on crushing and screening models and Mag. (Sept.), 240.
a description of general policies for the control of Brachthauser, M. and Kellerwessel, H. (1988). High
crushing plants have been given by Whiten (1984) pressure comminution with roller presses in mineral
and Napier-Munn et al. (1996). processing, Proc. XVIth Int. Min. Proc. Cong. (ed. E.
Forssberg), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 293.
Broman, J. (1984). Optimising capacity and economy in
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