Effects of grinding aids on the grinding kinetics and surface morphological characterization of quartz

The kinetic parameters of a grinding process can be used to study the variations in particle size reductions and grinding efficiencies. Appropriate grinding aids usually change the surfaces of a material and the properties of the pulp, thus improving the grinding efficiency. In this paper, pure quartz samples with mixed particle sizes and single particle sizes were selected as the raw materials. The effects of different sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and citric acid (CA) dosages on the dynamic parameters k, selection function S₁ and breakage function B for quartz grinding were studied. The results showed that the STPP and CA enhanced the grinding process of the quartz. In other words, the parameter k, the selection function S₁ and the breakage function B were all increased to varying degrees. The results of SEM, BET and contact angle measurements showed that the surfaces of the quartz particles became rounder, the specific surface area and average pore size increased, and the surface hydrophilicity increased. As a result, the grindability of the quartz increased, and the grinding kinetic parameters changed. Finally, the results showed that the improvements in the quartz grindability were consistent with the influence of grinding aids on the kinetic parameter k, selection function S₁ and breakage function B_i,1.