processingdetails

Chemical Size Reduction

Chemical size reduction is the process of reducing particle size, usually by grinding, to the desired size. The chemical, pharmaceutical, food and mining industries all rely on size reduction. Its uses include grinding polymers for recycling, improving extraction of a valuable constituent from ores, facilitating separation of grain components, boosting the biological availability of medications, and producing particles of an appropriate size for a given use. There are many types of size-reduction equipment, which are often developed empirically to handle specific materials and then are applied in other situations. Knowing the properties of the material to be processed is essential. Probably the most important characteristic governing size reduction is hardness because almost all size-reduction techniques involve somehow creating new surface area, and this requires adding energy proportional to the bonds holding the feed particles together. A common way of expressing hardness is the Mohs scale, on which talcum is a 1 and diamond is a 10. Also important is whether a material is tough or brittle, with brittle materials being easier to fracture.