Radial mixing of particles in a dry batch ball mill

Poor mixing in dry ball mills can lead to insufficient presentation of fine particles to the classifying air, overgrinding of particles and wastage of energy in a ball mill. A video capture method has been used to study radial mixing kinetics in a dry batch ball mill. Experiments were conducted in a ball mill with PVC plastic powders being used as particles so that the effect of size reduction could be neglected. Radial mixing in ball mills was studied at typical industrial speeds of 75%, 80% and 90% of critical. The rate of particle mixing was observed to increase with increasing mill speed. A simplified mathematical model is presented that can be used to predict the radial mixing of particles in a ball mill. A parameter, k, was used to quantify the kinetics of mixing as affected by the mill's speed.