Ball Milling
“A ball mill, a type of grinder, is a cylindrical device used in grinding (or mixing) materials like ores, chemicals, ceramic raw materials and paints. Ball mills rotate around a horizontal axis, partially filled with the material to be ground plus the grinding medium. Different materials are used as media, including ceramic balls, flint pebbles and stainless steel balls. An internal cascading effect reduces the material to a fine powder. Industrial ball mills can operate continuously, fed at one end and discharged at the other end. Large to medium-sized ball mills are mechanically rotated on their axis, but small ones normally consist of a cylindrical capped container that sits on two drive shafts (pulleys and belts are used to transmit rotary motion). “ (Wikipedia, Ball Mill, 11/11/2010)
Compounding
Fabrication
Grinding
High Energy Ball Milling
Mixing
Stirred Media Milling /Tower Mills
Recent US Patents
12/7/2010
7,845,589
Agitating ball mill
Pausch of Netzsch-Feinmahltechnik, Germany, hasdevelopedan agitating ball mill with a cylindrical grinding vessel having at least one grinding stock inlet and at least one grinding stock outlet, wherein in the grinding stock vessel an agitating shaft connected with a drive is arranged which transmits a part of the drive energy to auxiliary grinding bodies which are loosely arranged in the grinding vessel and a separating device arranged in front of the grinding stock outlet. (RDC 5/9/2011)
9/7/2010
7,789,333
Media mill process
Zakheim, Jiang and Sorser of the E.I. DuPont found that cubic plastic grinding media is particular effective in reducing particle size and dispersing colorants for ink jets and automotive coatings. The cubic particles are 0.3 to 1 mm on edge and can be polyamide nylons or polycarbonates. (RDC 11/12/2010)
Recent Journal Articles
Scale-up methodology for tumbling ball mill based on impact energy of grinding balls using discrete element analysis
(623-629) Advanced Powder Technology 21 #6 (2010)
Iwasaki et al of Osaka Prefecture University, Japan developed a scale—up method based on the motion of grinding balls in tumbling ball mills with different drum diameters calculated using the discrete element method. (RDC 11/29/2010)
11/26/2010
Lignin/Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Blends with Tuneable Mechanical Properties Prepared by High Energy Ball-Milling
(326-334) Journal of Polymers and the Environment 18 #3 (2010)
Pucciariello et al used High Energy Ball Milling to form tuneable blends of lignin and Poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL). These blends are immiscible and the lignin is an UV stabilizer for PCL. (RDC 11/23/2010)
10/22/2010
Incorporation of Carbon Nanotubes into Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene by High Energy Ball Milling
(438 – 449) International Journal of Polymer Analysis and Characterization 15 #7 (2010)
Campo and Visco of the University of Messina, Italy dry mixing powders in a ball mill dispersed 0.3 to 1 wt% multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in the UHMWPE matrix. There was little interaction between the two components but the nanotubes tended form a bi-dimensional conductive network. (RDC 11/11/2010)