The Importance of Steel Balls in Grinding Operations BY:Danny
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- 、Saskia
- Issue Time
- Oct 28,2025
Summary
Grinding steel balls are pivotal in mineral processing, with material selection (cast/forged), filling ratio optimization, and size grading directly impacting efficiency.
The Importance of Steel Balls in Grinding Operations Ⅱ BY:Danny
Steel Ball Size
In grinding operations, steel balls exert both impact and abrasive effects on ore particles. If the steel ball diameter is too small, the impact crushing effect on the ore is weak, affecting the mill's production efficiency. Increasing the steel ball diameter increases the impact crushing energy per unit of ore, improving the crushing effect. However, at the same steel ball filling rate, increasing the steel ball diameter reduces the number of steel balls, decreasing the frequency of ore crushing. Therefore, the appropriate steel ball size must be determined based on actual operating conditions. Furthermore, while increasing the steel ball diameter increases ore processing capacity, it also coarsens the product particle size of the semi-autogenous mill, increasing the impact force on the mill liners and reducing their service life. Special attention must be paid to this when optimizing the steel ball diameter.
For example, after the properties of the ore fed into the Meishan ore dressing plant changed, replacing the original φ120mm steel balls with φ100mm steel balls saved 492,300 yuan in electricity costs and 166,300 yuan in steel ball procurement costs annually, while maintaining the same hourly processing capacity. This translates to an annual reduction in production costs of 658,600 yuan. Furthermore, it extends the service life of the mill liners and reduces noise, resulting in significant economic and environmental benefits.
4. Steel Ball Ratio During mill operation, a certain number of steel balls need to be added periodically to complete the grinding operation. Because the particle size of the raw ore fed into the mill consists of several particle sizes, steel balls of a single size cannot be added. Instead, steel balls of various corresponding sizes from several particle sizes in the raw ore must be used to complete the operation to achieve the best efficiency. In actual grinding operations, steel balls that are too large will result in excessive impact force, easily causing "through crushing" and over-grinding; steel balls that are too small will result in insufficient impact force, leading to problems such as overly coarse or insufficiently fine ground products. Therefore, during production operations, it is essential to adjust the steel ball replenishment scheme in a timely manner based on the properties and particle size distribution of the raw ore. Yunnan Phosphate Group Anning Mining has proposed modifying its steel ball replenishment scheme to effectively reduce over-grinding of the grinding product while ensuring adequate monomer liberation, thereby significantly improving grinding efficiency and capacity.
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