Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

Optimization of a fully air-swept dry grinding cement raw meal ball mill
closed circuit capacity with the aid of simulation
. Gen
Mugla Stk Koman University, Faculty of Engineering, Dept. of Mining Engineering, Ktekli, Mugla 48000, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 19 August 2014
Accepted 9 January 2015

Keywords:
Grinding
Classication
Modelling
Simulation
Optimization

a b s t r a c t
Production capacity of a fully air-swept industrial scale two-compartment KHD Humboldt Wedag
cement ball mill was optimized with the aid of simulation. It was proposed to operate the mill as a single
compartment by eliminating the pre-drying compartment. In this respect, grinding performance of the
air-swept ball mill was evaluated and modelled as a perfectly mixed single tank using the perfect mixing
ball mill modelling approach (Whiten, 1974). Static separator was modelled by efciency curve model
(Whiten, 1966). The empirical breakage function required in the estimation of average specic breakage
rates was measured by drop-weight technique. The full scale model parameters were used to simulate
the raw meal mill grinding circuit with the aid of JKSimMet Steady State Mineral Processing Simulator.
Simulation results indicated 23% production capacity increase in cement throughput in case the predrying compartment was used in grinding.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Air-swept raw meal ball mills introduced by the cement mill

manufacturers F.L.Smidth (Smidth, 2002), Polysius (Polysius,

2002) and KHD Humboldt Wedag are the most commonly used
ones. KHD Humboldt Wedag manufactured fully air-swept raw
meal mills which have two compartments used for drying and
grinding processes. In these mills drying and grinding are per
formed in a single mill as similar to the Polysius fully air-swept
mill (Polysius, 2002). First compartment is used as a pre-drying
compartment where it is equipped with lifters and operated without grinding media in order to increase the drying efciency. In
such systems, kiln discharge gases are used as a drying air. Drying
compartment consumes more energy as compared to the other
systems due to the high level of moisture in the feed. In air-swept
mills circulating load is carried pneumatically. Thus, the energy
consumption for a fully air-swept grinding circuit is higher by
approximately 1012% as compared to the grinding circuit with
bucket elevator (Duda, 1985). Modelling of fully air-swept ball
mills used in the cement industry were studied with different
approaches in the literature (Austin et al., 1975, 1984;
Viswanathan,
1986;
Viswanathan
and
Narang,
1988;
Viswanathan and Reddy, 1992; Zhang et al., 1988; Zhang, 1992;
Ergin, 1993; Apling and Ergin, 1994; Benzer, 2004). Grinding model
Tel.: +90 252 2111938; fax: +90 252 2111912.
E-mail addresses: ogenc@mu.edu.tr, omurdeng@gmail.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2015.01.006
0892-6875/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

parameters are similar except of the material transport function in

the related models. The population balance model requires residence time which is difcult to determine for the full-scale mill.
Value of residence time distribution is determined experimentally.
Perfect mixing model (Whiten, 1974) simplies the discharge
(transport) function by assuming a particle size dependent discharge rate function. The discharge of any particle fraction from
the mill can be calculated on the basis of the mass of size fraction
in the mill hold-up and mass ow rate of that particle fraction out
of the mill as product. Perfect mixing model does not constitute
many grinding parameters which needs to be scaled up. The model
could be used directly to predict the performance of full-scale
mills. The relation between particle size and discharge rate dependent breakage rate parameter which was dened as a ratio of
breakage rate to discharge rate function was established to measure the ball milling performance based on perfect mixing modelling approach by Zhang (1992), Benzer (2000) and Hashim (2003).
Breakage function and breakage rate parameters are determined by laboratory experiments in Austins approach (Austin
et al., 1984) and the resulting mathematical equations relating
the breakage function and breakage rate to particle size constitute
many parameters. Thus, more than one parameter set could be
produced in the solution of these equations each of which dene
different breakage rate-particle size relationships. For this reason,
it is difcult to relate the effects of operating variables of ball mills
on specic breakage rates. Design and operational parameters
were studied on laboratory scale mills which need to be

42

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Nomenclature
i
j
fi
pi
ri
di

di
a
si
Q
D
L

particle size fraction i

particle size fraction j
mass owrate of mill feed (ton/hour)
mass owrate of mill discharge (ton/hour)
specic breakage rate of size fraction i (h1)
specic discharge rate of size fraction i (h1)
normalized discharge rate of size fraction i
single column step triangular breakage function matrix
mass of size fraction i (ton)
volumetric feed rate (m3/h)
mill diameter (m)
mill length (m)

scaled-up. There had been a few attempts to relate their model

with air ow through the mill, feed rate, feed size distribution,
material lling and ball lling (Viswanathan, 1986; Zhang, 1992).
Air swept ball mill model proposed by Austin et al. (1975) was validated by Apling and Ergin (1994) using the industrial scale data
from a cement grinding circuit.
In this study, production capacity of a fully air-swept dry grinding raw meal ball mill circuit was evaluated by modelling the mill
using the perfect mixing modelling approach (Whiten, 1972). Static separator in the circuit was modelled by efciency curve model
(Whiten, 1966). JKSimMet Steady State Mineral Processing Simulator was used in the simulation stage. Simulation results indicated
23% capacity increase in cement throughput at the steady state
condition. However, the static separator is expected to operate
with the maximum tonnage that can be handled.
2. Methods
2.1. Sampling survey
The simplied process owsheet of the sampled circuit with the
sampling points is given in Fig. 1. Air-swept ball mill is operating in
closed circuit with a static separator. The static nes are collected
in product cyclones where the separation of particles from the air
is performed. Product of electrolter is combined with the cyclone
products to form nal cement. Design specications of the fully
air-swept ball mill and static separator are given in Table 1. Design
ball size distribution applied in the ball mill is given in Table 2.
Steady state condition of the circuit was veried by examining
the variations in the values of operational variables of the ball mill
and the static separator in the process control room system. Sampling was started when the steady state condition was achieved.
Representative amount of samples were collected from the shown
sampling points in Fig. 1. Samples from the raw meal feed were
collected for the determination of moisture content of the mill feed
materials. Values of the operational variables were recorded in
every 5 min from the process control system to be used in the circuit performance assessment during sampling Control room
recordings and related standard deviation values at the steady
state condition are tabulated in Table 3.
2.2. Experimental
Samples were prepared by using a rifer for dry sieving from
the top size down to 150 lm. Sub-sieve sample (150 lm) was
sized in wet mode in a SYMPATHEC laser diffractometer. Dry
sized material (+150 lm) and wet sized sub-sieve sample
(150 lm) were combined to dene the full size distribution from
the top size down to 1.8 lm. Raw meal materials were dried at

r/d
Eoa
C
B
d50c
b
d
x

ratio of breakage rate to normalized discharge rate

fraction of feed reporting to overow
fraction undergoing real classication (1-bypass fraction)
reduced efciency curve sh hook parameter
size of a particle in feed which has equal probability of
going to underow or overow (cut size)
model parameter to preserve the denition of d50c
particle size
ratio of di to d50c
reduced efciency curve sharpness parameter

approximately 100 C before sizing in order to carry out an efcient

screening operation. Calculated moisture contents and dry owrates of mill feed materials are given in Table 4.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Mass balancing
Measured particle size distributions and operational tonnage
owrates were used to perform mass balance calculations around
the circuit with the aid of mass balance module of the JKSimMet
simulator to calculate the best t estimates of the size distributions
and tonnage owrates. Mass balanced owrates and calculated
neness as 0.045 mm passing % are given in Table 5. Circulating
load ratio was dened as the ratio of static separator reject tonnage
to static separator ne tonnage and calculated as 75.34%. The
results of mass balance calculations were checked out by plotting
the experimental and calculated particle size distributions
(Fig. 2). Experimental versus mass balanced particle size distributions were found to be tted satisfactorily which indicated that,
sampling was successful and the data could be used for modelling
purpose. Experimental size distributions of nal cement cyclone
collectors were presented in Fig. 3. Particle size distributions indicated no segregation in the cyclones verifying the sufcient level of
air ow and balanced air distribution within the cyclones.
3.2. Mill inside sampling and granulometry
The circuit was crash-stopped to collect samples from inside of
the mill after completing sampling of the circuit streams. A view of
mill inside at the crash-stop condition is given in Fig. 4. Average
material height above the ball surface level (18 cm) and free height
of the mill (2.27 m) were measured to be used in mill powder load
(hold-up) calculation ahead of collecting the samples along the
long axis of the mill at the crash-stop condition. Mill lling was calculated to be 32% using the mentioned geometrical measurements.
Photograph of the lifter bar design in the drying compartment is
presented in Fig. 5. Considerable abrasion and damage on lifters
were recognized. Whole length of the grinding compartment was
lined with classifying liners. Classifying liner conguration is presented in Fig. 4.
Sample collection dips were formed by digging out the mill
charge (mill powder + balls) approximately 40 cm below the
charge level. Samples were collected along the long axis of the mill
towards the end of the discharge grate in order to demonstrate the
size reduction performance using the inside mill size distributions
(granulometry). Samples were collected by one meter up to the
sixth meter of the grinding length whereas by half meter at the rest
of the mill length. Mill inlet and outlet temperatures were recorded

43

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Fig. 1. Simplied owsheet of a raw meal grinding-classication circuit. Streams/sampled: (1) iron ore bunker belt; (2) clay bunker belt; (3) limestone bunker belt; (4) total
fresh feed; (7) static separator reject (coarse); (9a) product cyclone-1 underow; (9b) product cyclone-2 underow; (10) product cyclone combined; (12) electrolter return;
(13) dust from cooler. Streams/not sampled: (5) mill feed; (6) mill discharge; (8) static separator ne; (11) cyclone dust.

Table 1
Design specications for air-swept raw meal ball mill and static separator.
Raw meal ball mill
Diameter (m)
Drying compartment length (m)
Grinding compartment length (m)
Mill power (kW)
Mill rotational speed (rev/min)
Critical speed %
Ball lling %
Discharge diaphragm middle grate aperture size (cm)
Static separator
Separator diameter (m)

Table 3
Control room recordings during the sampling survey.

3.8
2.935
6.935
1600
15
69
27
88
5.2

Table 2
Design ball size distribution of the grinding compartment.
Ball size (mm)

Weight (kg)

Weight %

Cumulative weight %

80
70
60
50
40
30

2853
17,552
18,594
17,040
17,442
6827

4
22
23
21
22
9

100.00
96.45
74.59
51.44
30.22
8.50

Total

80,308

100

as 325 C and 93 C respectively at the crash-stop condition. The

mill was cooled down for 67 h before inside mill sampling by
opening the mill inlet. Air ow through the was not allowed as ne
particles will discharge from the mill.
It should be mentioned that, it is crucial to collect representative samples in any sampling operation. The technique used in this
study provided collecting representative inside mill samples at the
regarding sample collection dip. Collection of material and ball
samples just above the charge surface (which is common in such
sampling procedures) will not give statistically representative
results for the evaluation of ball charge load and distribution which
affects the size reduction performance of the mill. Sample amount
collected at each sample collection dip were tabulated in Table 6.
Mill length given in Table 6 refers to the measured length at the
sampling condition. Particle size distribution at the mill inlet was
found to be coarser than that of the following sampling dips
excluded of the particle size distribution of the sample collected
from the rst meter of the mill length. This condition could be

Operational variables

Value

Standard deviation

Limestone (t/h)
Clay (t/h)
Iron ore (t/h)
Total fresh feed wet owrate (t/h)
Static separator reject (t/h)
Ball mill lling %
Ball mill inlet temperature (C)
Ball mill discharge temperature (C)
Ball mill inlet pressure (mmSS)a
Ball mill discharge pressure (mmSS)
Ball mill ventilation pressure (mmSS)
Static separator pressure difference (mmSS)
Ball mill (Amper)
Ball mill elevator (Amper)
Ball mill motor (kW)
Mill specic energy consumption (kW h/t)
Kiln capacity (t/h)

65
26
1.72
92.72
64
83
325
93
25
360
767
335
120
24
1240
14.57
71

1.38
1.37
0.13
1.55
14.40
1.44
2.96
3.31
4.04
22.46
27.79
19.49
0.00
0.00
7.90
0.26

Millimeters of water column.

related to the difculty of digging of the sample collection dip at

the rst meter due to the existing coarse balls such as 90 mm
and 80 mm which could have affected the quality of sampling. Particle size distribution of the mill inlet was found to be ner than
the rst meter sample as shown in Fig. 6. This condition could be
due to the accumulation of static separator reject material at the
mill inlet which affected the particle size distribution at the
crash-stop condition. Particle size distributions of the inside mill
samples and the mass balanced mill feed and discharge size distributions are presented on loglog scale in Fig. 6. Particle size distribution of the mill hold-up (mill load) was assumed to be calculated
using the average size distribution of the inside mill samples which
is denoted by the average mill content size distribution in Fig. 6.
The mill modelling approach was to use average mill hold-up
particle size distribution when calibrating the model parameters
of perfect mixing model proposed by Whiten (1974). Inside mill
particle size distributions (Fig. 6) indicated a consistent size reduction towards the mill discharge end such that, particle size distribution of the samples became ner towards the discharge grate.
Mill inside neness curve established using the 0.045 mm
cumulative passing % size is given in Fig. 7. Amount of ne material
production in the rst meter decreased. However, ne material
production increased in the following two meters. No more

44

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Table 4
Moisture contents of mill feed and calculated dry owrates.
Raw meals

Moisture %

Measured wet
owrate (t/h)

Dry owrate
(t/h)

Limestone
Clay
Iron ore
Total raw meal

2.08
22.64
4.12
6.64

65
26
1.72
92.72

63.65
20.11
1.65
85.41

considerable size reduction was achieved at the rest of the mill

length which could be due to a series of operational factors as
given below:
 probable increase in amount of ne material due to the low air
ow rate, such that, less nes extracted from the mill,
 increase in mill inside temperature which could lead to cushioning effect as explained by Austin et al. (1984). Coating of ball
surface with material is expected to have an adverse effect on
grinding performance of the grinding media thus will result in
lower specic breakage rate,
 probable agglomeration of ne particles inside the mill which
could have decreased the transportation (discharge) rate of
particles through the mill. This claim could be supported by

the work of (Kolacz, 1999). Effect of air owrate on the discharge rate of material in an air swept ball mill was studied
by Kolacz (1999). It was concluded that, transportation of material through the mill by air sweeping becomes more difcult if
the mill content is ner which is due to the agglomeration of
very ne particles falling back into the mill bed,
 material coating observed at the discharge grate could
have affected the ne material accumulation amount in the
mill and decreased the grinding performance of the grinding
media.
Particle size distribution of the mill discharge estimated by
mass balance calculations was found to be ner than that of the
sample collected at the mill discharge end which corresponded
to the sample at the seven point fourth meter of the grinding
length. This condition is expected under sufcient screening effect
of the discharge diaphragm (Fig. 6). Screening effect was
explained as the rejection of coarse particles to the last meter of
the compartment length after screening at the diaphragm and discussed in the literature (Benzer, 2000; Gen, 2008; Gen and
Benzer, 2009) for intermediate and discharge diaphragms of overow (gravity discharge) type multi-compartment cement grinding
ball mills.

Table 5
Mass balanced owrates and neness as 0.045 mm passing %.
Stream No

Stream identication

Sample amount (kg)

Calculated owrate (t/h)

0.045 mm passing %

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9a
9b
10
11
12
13
14

Iron ore bunker belt

Clay bunker belt
Limestone bunker belt
Total fresh feed
Mill feed
Mill discharge (static separator feed)
Static separator reject (coarse)
Static separator ne
Product cyclone-1 underow
Product cyclone-2 underow
Product cyclone combined
Cyclone dust
Electrolter return
Dust from cooler
Final cement

64.86
47.36
55.77

5.36

2.56
2.60
2.65

3.24
4.55
2.42

1.65
20.07
63.41
85.13
149.26
149.26
64.14
85.13

82.73
2.40
4.97
2.57
87.70

3.57
2.79
1.58
1.91
8.00
52.32
16.29
79.58
80.00
78.80
78.10
100.00
100.00
100.00
80.71

Fig. 2. Agreement between experimental and mass balanced size distributions of the circuit streams.

45

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Fig. 3. Experimental size distributions of nal cement cyclone collector products

and dust from cooler upstream.

Fig. 6. Axial mill inside particle size distributions towards the mill discharge end.

Grinding
compartment

Classifying
liners

Fig. 4. Photographs of mill inside and classifying liners in the grinding

compartment.

0.045mm cumulative passing %

100

80

60

40

20

0
0

Grinding compartment length (m)

Fig. 7. Fineness variation along the grinding compartment length.

Fig. 5. A view of lifter bar liners in the drying compartment.

Table 6
Mill inside sample amounts.
Length (m)

Sample (kg)

Mill inlet
1
2
3
4
5
6
6.7
7.4

10.42
6.60
7.96
5.79
3.91
3.43
3.83
3.72
6.30

Mill powder was expected to discharge through the middle

grate of the discharge diaphragm as the grate opening was wide

enough (8  8 cm) to allow transportation of nely ground raw

meal powder by only air sweeping in the studied mill. Mill inside
size distributions demonstrated consistent size reduction. Particle
size distributions of the sample at the seventh meter of the grinding compartment length was found to be considerably coarser than
that of the mill discharge (Fig. 6). Both size distributions should be
closely similar under the effective air owrate operational
conditions.
Another observation was the existence of coarse particle accumulation in the mill. Certain amount of coarse particle accumulation within the size range of 25 + 19 mm, 19 + 13.2 mm,
13.2 + 9.5 mm was observed at the fourth meter of the mill
length. Such operational inefciencies were attributed to the hardness of these particles, material coating at the discharge diaphragm
and low air owrate condition as the operational air owrate at the
mill outlet was recorded to be 25.9 m/s. Typical range for the air
owrate at the mill outlet is 24.435.1 m/s for air swept ball mills
(Duda, 1985). Recorded low air owrate at the mill outlet could
have decreased the grinding capacity due to the transportation of
ne material through the mill. On the otherhand, air owrate
through the mill was calculated as 5.02 m/s using the measured
mill lling (32%) at the sampling condition. This gure was found
to be higher than the typical air owrate range suggested for airswept mills which is 34 m/s inside the mill as given by Duda
(1985).

46

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

3.3. Ball size classication

In order to assess the classifying performance of the mill liners,
ball samples were collected during the inside mill powder sampling by screening out the balls over a screen with 25  25 mm
aperture size in order to separate the raw meal powder and the
grinding media at the sampling dips. Ball samples were collected
every meter, up to the fourth meter of the mill. The sampling procedure was to collect some amount of mixture of raw meal powder
and balls and then screening. Balls were retained on the screen and
collected in a sampling bag to be weighted and sized to determine
the ball size distribution along the mill length. On the otherhand,
raw meal powder which was the screen undersize was collected
in another sampling bag. Collected ball sample mass along the mill
length was tabulated in Table 7. It should be mentioned that, the
presented values are not representative of the whole ball load at
the sampling dip. However, the results clearly indicated the ball
size classication along the long axis of the mill. Ball size distribution was found to get ner towards the mill discharge end, except
for the sample collected at the second meter of the compartment
which indicated true ball size classication. The concept of true
ball size classication was discussed for cement grinding multicompartment ball mills by Gen et al. (2008). This condition shows
the affect of classifying liners. Weighted average ball size was calculated using the collected ball samples at each sampling location
which demonstrated the true ball size classication along the considered mill length and given in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Weighted measured ball size along the mill length.

3.4. Material characterization

Drop weight technique was used to characterize breakage distribution function of the mill feed material so as to reect breakage
characteristics to the model parameters of the mill. Breakage test
was conducted on single particles in the size fraction of
9.5 + 8 mm at an energy level of 1 kW h/ton. A modied manual
version of a JK Tech drop weight test device (Napier Munn et al.;
Brown and Grimes, 2005) was used in the characterization tests.
Specications of the drop weight tester which was used was given
by Gen (2002) and Gen et al. (2004). It was proposed to use a
combined breakage function that was determined by combining
the single particle impact breakage functions of individual components of the mill feed using the weight percentages of the mill feed
components (Gen and Benzer, 2008) in modelling of cement
grinding mills. The combined breakage function determined on
the basis of the mentioned assumption and is shown in Fig. 9 as
total feed combined. Mill feed is composed of 60% clinker, 24%
trass, 11% limestone and 5% gypsum by weight and used to determine the combined breakage function. Combined breakage distribution was found to be shifted towards the breakage function of
the dominant component of the mill feed which was clinker.
Investigated raw meal mill feed constitutes 74% limestone, 24%
clay and 2% iron ore by weight. According to the recorded ndings
(Gen and Benzer, 2008), the approach was to use single particle
breakage distribution function of limestone which is the major
component of the raw meal mill feed to estimate the average
breakage function and presented in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9. Normalized single particle breakage functions (replotted after Gen et al.,
2008).

Standard Bond work index value of the mill feed material was
also experimentally determined as 11.03 kW h/ton according to
TS 7700 standard (TS 7700, 1989) using a 90 lm test sieve.
3.5. Ball mill model
Air-swept ball mill was modelled using the perfect mixing modelling approach (Whiten, 1974) which denes the comminution
process in terms of three parameters; breakage rate, discharge rate
and breakage function Eq. (1). On the other hand, discharge rate
(di) of particles were dened to be a function of mill product (pi)
and mill hold-up (si) as given by Eq. (2) (Napier Munn et al.)

f i  pi r i =di

Grinding compartment length (m)

Total sample weight (kg)

1
2
3
4

26.27
33.14
28.80
15.43

j1

di pi =si
Table 7
Ball sample amounts along the mill length.

i
X
aij pi r i =di  pi 0

In these equations, fi and pi are the mass owrates (t/h) of size

fraction i in mill feed and product respectively, aij is the breakage
function (in the form of single column step triangular matrix), ri
is the specic breakage rate of size fraction i (tonnes broken per
hour per tonne in the mill which is h1), di is the specic discharge
rate of size fraction (i) (tonnes discharged per hour per tonne in the
mill which is h1), and si is the mass of size fraction (i) inside the

47

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

mill as tons. Perfect mixing model was used by Benzer (2004) in

modelling of an air-swept raw meal grinding ball mill by considering the single compartment mill as three perfectly mixed tanks
whereas air-sweeping through the mill was modelled by a classier at the mill discharge. In the model, tank-1 corresponded to
the mill length where lifting liners were applied whereas tank-2
and tank-3 lengths corresponded to the mill length where classifying liners were applied. In the related study, mill performance was
evaluated through particle size versus r/d combined breakage rate
parameter which normalized the discharge rate effect.
In order to correct the variations in residence time, di is scaled
in terms of the mill volume and volumetric feed rate (Q) to the

term di using Eq. (3), where D and L are the diameter and the
length of the mill respectively. Then, r/d model parameter is calcu
lated. Normalized discharge rate (di ) is a function of particle size
Eq. (3) (Napier Munn et al.)


di

di

Fig. 11. Specic breakage rates (ri) in the air-swept raw meal ball mill. Replotted
after (Gen et al., 2008).

4Q =D2 L

Normalized discharge rate function variation established using

the estimated mill hold-up (si) was given for the investigated airswept raw meal mill in Fig. 10. Experimentally determined values
(measured) are denoted by the scatter plot and compared with the
typical trend observed in semi-autogenous grinding mills (SAG)
(Napier Munn et al.; Leung, 1987) which is denoted by the dotted
lines in Fig. 10. This function was calculated by eliminating the
classication effect of the discharge grate. The discharge rate function (di) was considered to be the product of two mechanisms;
transport and classication by the discharge grate as explained
for SAG mills by Leung (1987).
There is a critical particle size in the mill which is denoted by xc

and can be determined using normalized discharge rate (di ) function as shown in Fig. 10. Particles ner than this size (xc) behave
like a uid medium in the mill and discharge at a constant rate
through the mill. The rate of discharge for particles coarser than
this size was found to decrease systematically in wet grinding
conditions (Napier Munn et al.; Morrell and Man, 1997). Particles
coarser than the grate size (xg) remain in the mill for further size
reduction where the discharge rate equals to zero. In the investigated air-swept mill, the uid medium corresponded to air and
the critical particle size (xc) was expected to be highly depended
on the airow rate through the mill (Fig. 10).
In this study, the modelling approach was to consider the mill
as a perfectly mixed single tank as the whole length of the mill
was lined with classifying liners. Specic discharge rate functions
(di) were calculated from Eq. (2) using the estimated mill
hold-up. Specic breakage rate (ri) function was estimated using
the calculated discharge rate functions from Eq. (1). Mill hold-up
(tons in each size fraction) in grinding compartment was

calculated using the size distribution of average mill content and

measured mill lling data at the crash-stop condition. The specic
breakage rate calculation procedure was formulated on Excel
spreadsheets.
Specic breakage rate function is presented in Fig. 11. Agreement between experimental and back-calculated mill product size
distributions are given in Fig. 12. The experimental data was found
to be tted to the model satisfactorily. Specic breakage rates were
assumed to not change along the mill in the modelling approach.
The r/d combined breakage rate parameters of the perfect mixing model were calculated as ln(r/d) in the model t module of the
JKSimMet simulator considering the mill as a perfectly mixed single tank. The tted values were of the best values that dened the
mill discharge size distribution. The r/d breakage rate parameters
tted to the perfect mixing model were tabulated in Table 8 and
used in the simulation step which characterized the specic breakage rates in the mill. It should be mentioned that, spline function
knot values, which could be dened usually by maximum of four
data points, were selected from the whole set of specic breakage
rate values calculated for each particle size given in Fig. 11.
3.6. Static separator model
Grinding efciency in ball mills depends on the classifying performance of air separators as explained in the study of (Klumpar
and Slavsky, 1989) and (Kolacz, 1999). Their ndings indicated
that, energy consumption in ball milling can be reduced if the classication efciency is sufciently high. The classication behavior
of air separators are described using the efciency curve concept in
the literature (Austin et al., 1975; Zhang et al., 1988; Zhang, 1992;
Benzer, 2000; Luckie and Austin, 1975; Schneider et al., 1983;
Kuhlmann, 1984; Dunn, 1985; Plank, 1985; Kellett and Rock,
1986; Benzer et al., 2001; Hashim, 2003; Gnl, 2006; Altun,
2007). The mathematical equation of the efciency curve model
is given in Eq. (4) (Napier Munn et al.).

Eoa C

Fig. 10. Measured normalized discharge rate function (di ) in a full scale fully airswept raw meal mill (xc = 50 lm). Replotted after (Gen et al., 2008).

1 bb xexpa  1
expab x expa  2


4

where,
Eoa: fraction of feed reporting to overow.
C: fraction undergoing real classication (1-bypass fraction).
a: reduced efciency curve sharpness parameter.
b: reduced efciency curve sh hook parameter.
b: parameter to preserve the denition d50c, i.e. d = d50c when
E = (1/2)C where E denotes the fraction of feed.
x: ratio of particle size d to corrected size d50c.

48

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

performance is not at maximum as 11.85% of feed reports to separator coarse product. However, this value is reasonable and classication performance of the static separator is sufciently high.

4. Simulation

Fig. 12. Agreement between experimental and calculated (model tted) mill
product size distributions.

Table 8
ln(r/d) combined model parameters of the ball mill.
Particle size (mm)

ln(r/d)

1.18
0.425
0.15
0.045

4.00
1.78
0.83
0.23

Fig. 13. Efciency curve (tromp) for static separator (d50 = 0.099 mm; bypass = 11.85%; sh-hook = 2.39%).

d50c: size of a particle in feed which has equal probability of

going to underow or overow (cut size)
The fraction of feed reporting to underow (EUA) was dened as
1Eoa (Napier Munn et al.). The separator performance can be
modelled in terms of d50c, C, a and b. It was stated that, b controls
the initial rise in the efciency curve at ne sizes, while a determines the slope at larger values of d which is around d50c. b is calculated iteratively during the tting of Eq. (4) Whiten, 1966. Effects
of operational parameters on efciency curve model parameters
were given for air separators used in the cement industry by
Gnl (2006), Altun (2007) and Benzer et al. (2001). The efciency
curve (tromp curve) for the static separator established on the
basis of the mass balanced size distributions is presented in
Fig. 13. The characteristic efciency curve parameters which are
d50, by-pass and sh-hook are also given in Fig. 13.
Fish-hook parameter characterizes the difference between the
maximum percentage of ne material amount that appears in
coarse stream (underow of the separator) and the by-pass percentage. Model tted efciency curve parameters used in the simulation of the circuit are given in Table 9. The separator

Simulation model of the circuit was designed in simulation

module of the JKSimMet simulator by dening the perfect mixing
model parameters of the air-swept ball mill and efciency curve
model parameters of the static separator given in Tables 8 and 9
respectively. The ball mill was simulated as a single compartment
mill by eliminating the mill length of 2.935 m which was used in
drying stage, such that the full length (L = 9.87 m) of the mill was
used in grinding. Thus, drying of the raw meal outside the mill
by an appropriate dryer was assumed. Static separator performance was sufciently high and assumed to not change at the simulated condition. Cyclones are used to separate static nes from
gas and store static separator ne product (cement). There is not
any classication. Thus, cyclones were excluded in the simulation
model whereas electrolter return was identied as a stream.
The circuit response to the proposed operational condition in
terms of tonnage ow rates and neness (0.045 mm passing percentage) is presented in Table 10. Mass balanced particle size distributions in comparison to those obtained after simulation
(simulated) at 23% capacity increase case in the cement throughput are given in Fig. 14. Simulation parameters were kept constant
during the optimization study.
As a consequence of the proposed modication in the mill and
the expected capacity increase, a series of operational modications will be required such that, regulation of static separator operational parameters. For instance, particle size distribution of the
static separator feed (mill discharge) is estimated to become ner
as indicated by the simulated particle size distributions which will
require the optimization of the static separator. Parameters that
can be adjusted in the classication process to attain the target
neness were recorded in the literature by Kohlhaas (1983) as:
 varying of the air ow rate; increase in air ow rate will
decrease the cut size (d50),
 adjusting of the deector over the bottom of the inlet duct
through which the powder carrying air enters the separator;
position of the deector can be adjusted which will effect the
cut size (d50),
 adjusting of the top outlet duct; where the cut size can be varied by vertical adjustment of the air outlet duct at the top of the
separator. For a constant air ow rate, increase in the length of
the duct will lead to decrease the cut-size (ner product) or vice
versa.
Air ow rate in the duct of the mill should be increased before
the adjustment of the static separator parameters (i.e., angle setting adjustable vanes, deector) by controlling the by-pass
amount. The cyclone performance will change depending on the
cyclone geometry such that, as the cyclone diameter decreases
and the length of the conical section increases, centrifugal force

Table 9
Model tted efciency curve parameters used in the simulation of circuit.
Model parameter

Value

d50c
C (1-by-pass)

0.1069
85.15
3.74
0.3633
1.16

a
b
b

49

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Table 10
Comparison of crash-stop and simulated cases.
Crash-stop condition (Calc)

Simulated condition (Sim)

Stream ows

t/h

0.045 mm passing %

t/h

0.045 mm passing %

Total fresh feed

Mill discharge
Static separator reject
Electrolter return
Final cement

85.13
149.26
64.14
4.97
90.10

1.91
52.32
16.29
100.00
80.71

105.00
165.27
60.27
4.97
109.97

1.91
58.21
21.43
100.00
82.41

Acknowledgements
Authors appreciation goes to SET Italcementi Group Balkesir
Plant for providing the access to the plant and their valuable support during the sampling survey. Prof. A. Hakan Benzer for his valuable discussions and contributions, Assistant Prof. Okay Altun and
Assistant Prof. Hakan Dndar from Hacettepe University are also
gratefully acknowledged.
References

Fig. 14. Agreement between mass balanced and simulated particle size distributions of streams.

effect on the particle ow pattern will increase and will lead to

effective separation of powder carrying air as explained by
Kohlhaas (1983). Separation efciency of the cyclones will
decrease at very low or high grain concentrations. Based on the
simulation results, cyclone and electrolter capacities are expected
to handle 23% capacity increase in addition to the increase in the
dust concentration in the product cyclone overow. However, the
cyclone will be operated at full capacity.
5. Conclusions
Conventional two-compartment fully air-swept KHD Humboldt
Wedag raw meal ball mill operating in closed circuit with a static
separator was modelled and simulated to evaluate the probable
capacity increase in the circuit in case the pre-drying compartment
was used in the grinding stage. The mill was modelled as a perfectly mixed single tank as the material discharge was provided
only by air-sweeping. Performance of the separator was assumed
to not change in the simulation stage.
Simulation results indicated that, 23% capacity increase in the
cement throughput could be achieved at the steady state condition
by operating the pre-drying compartment at the same ball charge
level and ball size distribution, without any change in the product
cyclone capacity, and by assuming that the process of pre-drying is
performed in the ball mill upstream. However, air owrate through
the mill should be critically regulated as the velocity of the air controls the particle size distribution of the mill product in addition to
the operational parameters of the static separator at the new operational condition for a stable and optimum production rate. Grinding heat generated could increase which may lead to
agglomeration of particles unless reduced. The new design may
require larger dust collectors, larger ventilation fans which will
bring additional cost.

Altun, O., 2007. Comparison of different efciency curve approaches in modelling of

air classiers. MSc Thesis, Mining Engineering Department, Hacettepe
University, Ankara, Turkey.
Apling, A.C., Ergin, H., 1994. Validation of a grinding model for a full-scale air swept
cement mill. Demirel-Ersayn (Ed.), Progress in Mineral Processing Technology,
1994, pp. 527538.
Austin, L.G., Luckie, P.T., Wightman, D., 1975. Steady state simulation of a cement
milling circuit. Int. J. Miner. Process. 2, 27150.
Austin, L.G., Klimpel, R.R., Luckie, P.T., 1984. Process Engineering of Size Reduction:
Ball Milling. AIME Publication, NY, pp. 205290, 51119.
Benzer, A.H., 2000. Mathematical Modelling of Clinker Grinding Process. PhD Thesis,
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Benzer, A.H., 2004. Modelling and simulation of a fully air swept ball mill in a raw
material grinding circuit. Powder Technol. 150, 145154.
Benzer, A.H., Ergn, S
.L., ner, M., Lynch, A.J., 2001. Simulation of open circuit
clinker grinding. Miner. Eng. 14 (7), 701710.
Benzer, H., Ergun, L., Lynch, A.J., Oner, M., Gunlu, A., Celik, I.B., Aydogan, N., 2001.
Modelling cement grinding circuits. Miner. Eng. 14 (11), 14691482.
Brown, D., Grimes, A., 2005. JK tech drop weight testing device. Operating Manual,
JKMRC, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Duda, W.H., 1985. Cement-Data-Book, International Process Engineering in the
Cement Industry, vol. 1,, French & European Publication, pp. 80656.
Dunn, M.R., 1985. A method for analysing the performance of a mechanical air
separator. World Cem., 327332
Ergin, H., 1993. The Simulation of an Air Swept Cement Grinding Mill. PhD Thesis,
University of Leeds.
Gen, ., 2002. An Investigation of the Breakage Distribution Functions of Clinker
and Additive Materials. MSc Thesis, Hacettepe University, Mining Engineering
Department, Turkey (in Turkish).
Gen, ., 2008. An Investigation on the Effect of Design and Operational Parameters
on Grinding Performance of Multi-compartment Ball Mills used in the Cement
Industry. PhD Thesis, Hacettepe University, Mining Engineering Department,
Turkey (in English).
Gen, ., Benzer, A.H., 2008. Analysis of single particle breakage characteristics of
cement clinker and cement additives by drop-weight technique. J. Chamber
Min. Eng. Turkey 47 (1), 1326.
Gen, ., Benzer, A.H., 2009. Single particle impact breakage characteristics of
clinkers related to mineral composition and grindability. Miner. Eng. 22 (13),
11601165.
Gen, ., Benzer, A.H., Ergn, S
.L., 2004. Single particle breakage characterization of
materials by drop weight testing. Physicochem. Probl. Miner. Process. Pol. 38,
241255.
Gen, ., Benzer, A.H., Ergn, S
.L., 2008. Effect of ball size classication on specic
breakage rates of particles in full-scale cement grinding tube mills. In: 24th
International Mineral Processing Congress Proceedings, Beijing, China, pp. 529
539.
Gnl, A., 2006. Mathematical modelling of air separators used in cement grinding
circuits. PhD Thesis, Mining Engineering Department, Hacettepe University,
Ankara, Turkey.
Hashim, S., 2003. Mathematical modelling the two-compartment mill and
classication. PhD Thesis, Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, The
University of Queensland, Australia.
Kellett, D., Rock, H.G., 1986. Operating experience with the O-Sepa air separator.
Zement-Kalk-Gips, (Translation of No. 6/86), 234235.
Klumpar, I.V., Slavsky, S.T., 1989. Designing and testing air classiers. Int. J. Eng.
Fluid Mech. 2 (2), 119140.
Kohlhaas, B., 1983. Cement Engineers Handbook, fourth English ed.

50

. Gen / Minerals Engineering 74 (2015) 4150

Kolacz, J., 1999. Control of the mill charge behaviour in dry tumbling mills. Miner.
Eng. 12 (1), 5164.
Kuhlmann, K., 1984. Signicance of classication in cement grinding results of a
balance analysis of grinding circuit. Zement-Kalk-Gips (Translation of No. 9/84),
257260.
Leung, K., 1987. An energy-based ore specic model for autogenous and semiautogenous grinding. PhD Thesis, JKMRC, The University of Queensland,
Australia.
Luckie, P.T., Austin, L.G., 1975. Mathematical analysis of mechanical air separator
selectivity curves. Trans. IMM 84, 253255.
Morrell, S., Man, Y.T., 1997. Using modelling and simulation for the design of full
scale ball mill circuits. Miner. Eng. 10 (12), 13111327.
Napier Munn, T.J., Morrell, S., Morrison, R.D., Kojovic, T., 2005. Mineral
comminution circuits their operation and optimization. JKMRC Monograph
Series in Mining and Mineral Processing, No. 2, The University of Queensland,
Brisbane.
Plank, F.W., 1985. Inuence of the separating effect of the classier on the capacity
of the closed-circuit grinding plant. Zement-Kalk-Gips, (Translation of No, 1/
85), 6265.
Polysius, 2002. Tube mills for dry grinding. Krupp Polysius Manufacturers
Catalogue.

Schneider, L.T., Eickholt, H., Blasczyk, G., 1983. Inuence of separators on grinding
systems operating results. Zement-Kalk-Gips (Translation No. 12/83), 2631.
Smidth, F.L., 2002. Tirax Raw Mill. F.L. Smidth Manufacturers Catalogue.
TS 7700, 1989. Determination Method of Grinding Work Index, Ankara.
Viswanathan, K., 1986. Computer based models for grinding and industrial case
studies. Aufbereitungs Technik 27, 560572.
Viswanathan, K., Narang, K.C., 1988. Computer simulation and optimization of ball
mills/circuits. World Cem. 19, 143148.
Viswanathan, K., Reddy, C.S., 1992. Mathematical modelling of the effect of air
ventilation on solids recycle rate and ball mill performance. World Cem., 2026
Whiten, W.J., 1966. Winter School on Mineral Processing. Dept. of Min. and Met.
Eng, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Whiten, W.J., 1972. Simulation and Model Building for Mineral Processing. PhD
Thesis, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Whiten, W.J., 1974. A matrix theory of comminution machines. Chem. Eng. Sci. 29,
588599.
Zhang, Y.M., 1992. Simulation of Comminution and Classication in Cement
Manufacture. PhD Thesis, JKMRC, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Zhang, Y.M., Napier-Munn, T.J., Kavetsky, A., 1988. Application of comminution and
classication modelling to grinding of cement clinker. Trans. Inst. Min. Metall.
Sect. C 97, 207213.