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Effect of ball size distribution on milling rate

Article in Minerals Engineering December 2009
DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2009.07.008

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Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

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

Effect of ball size distribution on milling rate

Franois M. Katubilwa *, Michael H. Moys
School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, 2050, Private Bag X3, Johannesburg, South Africa

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 20 October 2008
Accepted 18 July 2009
Available online 13 August 2009
Keywords:
Grinding
Particle size
Ball size
Ball size distribution
Selection function

a b s t r a c t
This paper focuses on the determination of the selection function parameters a, a, l, and K together with
the exponent factors g and n describing the effect of ball size on milling rate for a South African coal.
A series of batch grinding tests were carried out using three media single sizes, i.e. 30.6, 38.8, and
49.2 mm. Then two ball mixtures were successively considered. The original manufacturers recommended ball mixture was used to investigate the effect of ball size distribution on the selection function
whereas the equilibrium ball mixture was used to validate the model.
Results show that with the six parameters abovementioned, the charge mixture is fully characterized
with about 5% deviation. Interestingly, the estimated parameters can be used in the simulator model
allowing one to nd the optimal ball charge distribution for a set of operational constraints.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The choice of media charge composition that optimizes ball
milling circuits has had signicant nancial implications. This
problem has been industrially addressed using a trial-and-error
approach coupled with experience. Mill performance and ball size
distribution are so intimately related that it is crucial to better
understand their interrelation. This then orientate process engineers in choosing the optimal ball charge mixture.
For the rst time, Concha et al. (1992) proposed a remarkable
algorithm that can be used to optimize the ball charge composition
under dened operating constraints. To be successfully performed,
the algorithm needs some parameters to be determined from batch
laboratory tests. These tests are used to characterize the grinding
properties of the material under study. The amount of laboratory
work required to fully characterize the mineral matter is considerable. Tests are lengthy, tedious, and physically-challenging. Additionally, batch tests are carried out on several narrow particle
size classes using single ball sizes. To have an estimate of the overall effect of a mixture of balls in the mill, one must also perform a
series of tests on a well dened ball size distribution. In this case,
the data obtained will be valid only for the considered ball mixture.
On top of that, the ball charge distribution should be similar to that
used in the industrial mill to get useful results.
Typically, at least three single ball sizes are needed to unambiguously model the effect of ball diameter on milling rate. Then, a
mix of balls can also be tested to mimic for example a real ball size
distribution of an industrial plant. This set of information is then

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 (0) 11 717 7511; fax: +27 11 171 7591.
E-mail address: mk.francois@yahoo.com (F.M. Katubilwa).
0892-6875/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2009.07.008

Open Rubric

incorporated in the simulation model to obtain the optimum

charge composition.
In order to implement this, two factors are considered: they relate the ball diameter, respectively to the particle size corresponding to the maximum grinding rate and the grinding rate constant.
They are studied for a typical South African coal. The inuence of
ball size distribution on milling rate is then investigated. And nally, the ball size distribution model is validated and discussed.

2. Theoretical background
The theory on milling is so well described in the literature that
only some aspects of the subject are reviewed here.

2.1. Selection function

It is generally accepted that the rate of disappearance of particles being ground in a mill is proportional to the amount of particles present. This assumption known as the rst-order breakage
law, results in a similarity between milling and chemical reactions.
For a single size feed material, the kinetic description of the
grinding process is given by

dwi
Si  wi t
dt

where Si is the rate of disappearance of particles and is called the

selection function; wi is the mass fraction present in the size interval i after grinding time t; and i is an integer dening the different
size intervals, the largest being 1.

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F.M. Katubilwa, M.H. Moys / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

In order to dene the variation of the selection function with

the particle size, the following empirical model is used (Austin
et al., 1984):

Si ai xai

1
1 xli K

Table 1
Laboratory operating conditions.
Mill dimensions

Diameter length

540 mm (inside liners) 200 mm

Liner conguration

Number
Shape

12
Trapezoidal
20 mm height
50 mm base width
45 face angle

Test conditions

Ball lling, J
Powder lling, U
Mill speed

20%
75%
75% of critical speed

where xi is the upper size of the particle size interval i under consideration; ai and l are parameters which are mainly function of the
mill conditions and a and K on the other hand are parameters
which are function of the material.
2.2. Effect of ball size
Austin et al. (1984) have showed that the selection function varies with ball size for the same material. A more general description
of the effect of ball size on the selection function parameters would
be as follows
n

a a=d

l l  dg

where a and l are proportionality constants; n and g are constant

exponent factors; d is the ball diameter.
Another important factor is the particle size at which the selection function is maximum for a given ball diameter. This size is given by (Austin et al., 1984)

xm l 

 a 1=K
;
Ka

on condition that K > a.

In addition to this, it should be noted from Eq. (5) that xm is directly proportional to l considering the fact that K and a are constants for the same material. For this reason, it makes no difference
to use xm in lieu of l in the analysis and write the following

xm K  d

where K is a proportionality constant that is material-dependent.

The latter equation is a generalization of the empirical law used
in the denition of the competent ball size for a given particle size
(Austin et al., 1976).
2.3. Effect of ball size distribution
Austin et al. (1976) assumed independent behaviour of balls so
that the overall selection function due to the full load can be considered as the result of the contribution of individual balls. Consequently, the mean value of S for the ball load, say Si , is given by

Si

m
X

Si;k mk

k1

where mk is the weight fraction of balls of size k and Si,k represents

the selection function for particle class i due to balls in the discrete
size class k.
3. Experimental
3.1. Laboratory mill conguration
Experiments were carried out using the Wits pilot mill. This mill
is tted with twelve equally spaced trapezoidal lifters and is driven
by a 2.5 kW variable speed motor mounted on a mill rig.
Table 1 gives some specications of the mill and the operating
conditions as dened for the experiments. A photograph of the laboratory mill is also presented in Fig. 1. For a full description of the

Fig. 1. Snapshot of the laboratory mill.

mill, readers are referred to a more detailed paper on the matter

(Liddell and Moys, 1988).

3.2. Single size media

In order to carry out the necessary laboratory tests, three different ball classes as narrow as possible needed to be prepared. To do
this, media were collected at Tutuka Power Station, in South Africa.
Then, balls were individually weighed and their mass recorded.
After data analysis, balls within predened mass intervals were selected to constitute the population of interest. With the ball density (7.62 g/cm3) and the mass ranges dened, ball sizes could
nally be determined. Specically, three sizes were retained:
30.6 mm, 38.8 mm, and 49.2 mm.
As far as the ball mixtures are concerned, two mixes were
considered:
1. The rst mixture was constituted of the same number of balls
the six ball size intervals considered. For the purpose of comparison, this charge has been called Equilibrium Ball Size Distribution EQM-BSD.
2. The second mixture, on the other hand, is constituted of the
same mass of balls in the six ball classes. It is here referred to
as Original Equipment Manufacturer recommended Ball Size
Distribution OEM-BSD.
Equal numbers of balls in each size class generally occurs when
the ball wear rate is constant, size class intervals are equally
spaced and a xed top-up size of ball is fed to the mill. OEM-BSD

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F.M. Katubilwa, M.H. Moys / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

on the contrary is recommended by the Manufacturer of the ball

mills operating at Tutuka Power Station.
These two ball mixes are used to predict and validate the ball
size distribution model so as to be able to describe any other
charge. The mono-sized ball data helps develop a ball size effect
model.
Table 2 presents the two ball size distributions as considered for
the tests. In each case the mass of the load was calculated to be
41.2 kg for an average bed porosity of 0.4 (Austin et al., 1984).

3.3. Feed material

An industrial survey was initiated in order to collect enough
coal material from the power station for laboratory purposes. The
weight of the necessary amount of material (powder) per test to
be used was calculated to be 2.507 kg for a specic density of
1.57 g/cm3. Then, several mono-size feed materials were prepared
for a complete series of grinding tests.
Eight single sized feed coal samples were prepared for the EQMBSD tests and seven samples were considered for the OEM-BSD. As
for the tests with single ball sizes 4, 4, and 3 feed sizes were constituted, respectively for tests using 49.2, 38.8, and 30.6 mm balls.

3.4. Batch tests

Broadly speaking, batch grinding tests are performed using the
procedure known as the one-size-fraction method (Austin et al.,
1984).
In our experimental work, three grinding times are considered:
00.5; 0.51; 12 min. First, a blank sieving test was done on the
prepared feed material. After that, the coal sample was milled for
30 s, then, analyzed. A full particle size distribution was done on
the product. The material was then recombined for batch grinding
for an extra 30 s, followed by size analysis. The process was nally
repeated for 60 more seconds. As for ner materials (less than
1700 lm) samples were milled for a total time of 4 min, i.e. a
fourth period 24 min was added for the full test.

4. Results
4.1. Parameter estimation method
The experimental size distributions of the products at times 0
0.5124 min were used to get an estimate of the selection function. A non-linear regression technique was applied to process the
raw data. Basically, this technique aims at nding the best combination of tting parameters of a model by minimizing the square of
the relative differences between the experimental values Pexpt(t)
and the predicted ones Pmodel(t). And here the model referred to
is the rst-order breakage law. With this in mind, the objective
function was ultimately dened as follows

SSE

2
R 
X
Pexpt t  Pmodel t
r1

Pexpt t

where R is the number of runs considered to carry out a full batch

test on a given particle size x. If the full test is done for, say 0, 0.5,
1, and 2 min successively, R = 4, Pexpt(t) retained experimental mass
fraction on the top size screen x at grinding time t, Pmodel(t) predicted mass fraction retained on size screen x after grinding the single-sized coal material of initial size x for a total grinding time t.
The same basic principle was applied for coal breakage characterization. The number of parameters was reduced to three, i.e. a, a
and l. Parameter K was xed as 3 (Austin et al., 1984) since our
experiments did not provide sufcient information to allow accurate determination of K. Parameter a was assumed to be equal
to a single value for all three ball size classes following Austin
et al. (1984). The value of a found was 0.81.
Values of a and l for the three ball sizes are presented in Table 3.
Lastly, the tting technique was used to optimize the two exponent parameter factors describing the effect of ball size, i.e. n and g.
4.2. Determination of coal breakage rates
Selection function values were determined using the non-linear
regression technique described in Section 4.1. This data was plotted as illustrated in Fig. 2 where the percent mass fraction is plotted against grinding time on a log-linear scale. In this case, data
relative to a mono-sized coal material (2360 + 1700 lm) for the
three media sizes are compared. It is observed that the results follow the rst order grinding hypothesis for normal breakage. For
the few cases in which abnormal breakage occurs, the material
was assumed to be constituted of two fractions: a fast-breaking
fraction and a slow-breaking one (Austin et al., 1977). This allowed
one to reasonably determine the effective average selection function values as dened by Austin et al. (1984).
Next, different values of breakage rate as obtained from batch
tests were compiled. Using again the same non-linear technique,
the breakage parameters a and l were searched for a = 0.81 and
K = 3. Parameters providing best ts (Table 3) were then substituted in Eq. (1) to plot Fig. 3. This gure presents three graphs corresponding, respectively to 30.5838.8049.20 mm balls. It can be
seen from Table 3 that a-values decrease with increasing ball
diameters and peak values of the graphs increase and consistently
shift towards coarser particle sizes for bigger balls (Fig. 3). This
observation conrms the expected behaviour (Austin et al., 1976).
Then, a parameter search was performed on n (Eq. (3)). The value found was 1.07 0.1 which conrms the value of 1 proposed by
Austin et al. (1984).
Finally the same technique was applied, this time on g (Eq. (4)).
By contrast, g was found to be 2.08 0.1.
The point to make here is that the value of g found has been
proposed by Kelsall et al. (1967), then conrmed by Austin et al.
(1976). Recently, many values are being proposed, and it is still unclear what might be the reason for these diverging ndings (Yildirim et al., 1999; Kotake et al., 2004; Austin et al., 2006).

Table 2
Ball mixtures used for experiment.
Ball classes (mm)

50.044.0
44.037.5
37.531.5
31.526.5
26.522.4
22.419.0

EQM-BSD

OEM-BSD

Mass fraction (%)

Ball number

Mass fraction (%)

Ball number

40.0
25.8
15.8
9.3
5.6
3.4

40
40
38
38
40
40

16.6
16.7
16.6
16.7
16.7
16.7

17
27
37
70
126
224

1286

F.M. Katubilwa, M.H. Moys / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

Table 3
Selection function parameters.
Ball size (mm)

30.6 1.3
38.8 0.5
49.2 0.5

0.62
0.48
0.39

11.50
19.27
31.09

0.81
0.81
0.81

3
3
3

Mass fraction retained [%]

100

10
49.20 mm balls
38.80 mm balls
30.58 mm balls

1
0

was optimized. The value was found to be 1.96 which is comparable to the one found in Section 4.2.
To fully predict the performance of the ball mix, Eq. (9) was nally used. Given the ball distribution (Table 2), 38.80 mm breakage parameters (Table 3) and n = 1 and g = 2 (rounded off), Si for
the OEM-BSD was calculated.
Fig. 4 shows a comparison of the laboratory results and the prediction of OEM-BSD for the following exponent factors: g = 2 and
n = 1.
Here again, the questioned value of g turns out to be in agreement with the xed value of approximately 2 since an average
deviation of not much than 5% in the predictions is found especially in the normal breakage region.
In order to validate such results, the same procedure was performed on the EQM-BSD with the same initial values applied in
Eq. (9), that is, ball size distribution as given in Table 2 for the
EQM-BSD, 38.80 mm breakage parameters (Table 3) and n = 1
and g = 2 (rounded off). The results of the ndings are depicted
in Fig. 5 where predictions are compared to measured rates of
breakage.
Fig. 5 shows how good predictions are relatively to experimental results. As it can be seen, the results compare well and on average the discrepancies recorded are in the order of 510%.

Grinding time [min]

Fig. 2. Selection functions as obtained for three media diameters grinding monosized coal materials. In this case (2360 + 1700 lm).

4.4. Inuence of ball size distribution on milling rates

Milling rates were investigated for the two charge mixes. Then,
the measured rates were compared to the predicted ones. At this
point in time, it was also envisaged to compare the two distributions to understand what their respective behaviours could mean
for actual grinding in the coal plant.
The OEM-BSD considers the same mass of balls in the different
ball size classes. Such a distribution therefore implies higher ball
numbers for smaller ball sizes (Fig. 6). This increases the total surface area of the load; and thereby, an increase in the rate of production of ne particles is to be expected. On the other hand, the low
number of bigger balls would limit the competence of the OEM
load in breaking larger particles. By contrast, the EQM-BSD is expected to exhibit more competence for coarser particles than for ner ones.
As mentioned above, Fig. 7 appears to be in line with the expectations. By the same token, OEM-BSD is efcient up to about 7 mm
coal size, then is overtaken by EQM-BSD at coarser coal sizes. Shift
from EQM-BSD to OEM-BSD at coal sizes below 7 mm brings an increase in the milling rate of 20% on average, whereas doing it the
other way round for sizes greater than 7 mm improves the milling
rate by about 45%.

Fig. 3. Effect of ball diameter on the selection function.

4.3. Prediction of the ball size distribution effect

To validate the values of a and l found in the previous section,
an attempt to predict milling performance on the OEM-BSD was
initiated. To do this, 38.80 mm ball was the starting point, i.e.
a0 = 0.48 and l0 = 19.27.
With reference to Eqs. (2)(4), and (7), the following equation
was derived

Si a0 xai 

n
X
k1

mk d0 =dk n
h
iK
i
1 l dx=d
g
0

where a0 and l0 are the tted values from laboratory result tests. In
this work a0 and l0 obtained using d0 = 38.80 mm balls are used.
The reason for this choice is that this diameter of ball covers at
the same time the normal and abnormal breakage regions.
Fixing n = 1 (Austin et al., 1984, 2006) because it is reported to
satisfactorily reect to the effect of ball diameter on a (Eq. (3)), g

Fig. 4. Comparison of the predicted and measured selection on OEM-BSD.

F.M. Katubilwa, M.H. Moys / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

1287

5. Discussion

Fig. 5. EQM-BSD graph as predicted with Eq. (10).

250
EQM-BSD
OEM-BSD

Ball number [-]

200

150

100

50

0
50.0 - 44.0

44.0 - 37.5

37.5 - 31.5

31.5 - 26.5

26.5 - 22.4

22.4 - 19.0

Ball size intervals [mm]

Fig. 6. EQM and OEM ball number size distributions used.

It is widely accepted that particles break in ball mills following

the rst-order breakage law. Tests on numerous materials have
proved this to work satisfactorily well. And coal used in this work
is another illustration that conrms the grinding kinetic law
(Fig. 2). To a great extent, the rst-order breakage law holds true.
But in some cases, especially in the abnormal region, a non-linear
behaviour was observed. The two-fraction model was then used to
describe this behaviour (Austin et al., 1982). The proposed model
allowed to get a fair estimate of the average rate of breakage with
about 20% deviation.
The effect of ball size on milling rate was then investigated. The
dependency of a-values on ball diameter d was found to be best described using Eq. (3) in which n = 1 as presented in the literature
(Austin et al., 1984). On the contrary, the value of g is found to
be 2.
Kelsall et al. (1967) proposed g = 2 based on experiments done
on quartz material. They reported in fact that this exponent was
used for decades as an empirical way of choosing the ball diameter
(see Eq. (6)). Austin et al. (1984) also found a value of 2 based on
experiment they did on coal.
Yildirim et al. (1999) in their particular case found that g = 1
simulated reasonably well a dry grinding circuit of quartz. Austin
et al. (2006) substituted 1.2 for g on an iron ore.
In this paper, a value of 2 was found for coal. To support this
nding, n = 1 and g = 2 were used to predict the selection function
for the EQM-BSD and the OEM-BSD. The results compared very
well with a deviation of approximately 5%.
What is more, Kotake et al. (2004) were able to show that g is
relatively larger for synthesized silica glass than for other materials
they used. On average, they reported values between 0.89 and 1.42.
The most important point is: they believed that these discrepancies could be a result of inherent properties of the materials used
such as density, Mohs hardness, Vickers hardness, Youngs modulus, and Poissons ratio. This suggests that the exponent factor g is
clearly not a predened constant parameter. It might primarily depend on the material used. For this reason, it is justiable to optimize it depending on the laboratory conditions.
Ultimately, no straightforward reason can be given to elucidate
the variation in g-values reported. But it seems to us that this
exponent factor is material-dependent. To verify this assumption,
it is envisaged for future work to carry out several tests on different
types of coal and on different materials under similar milling conditions. Such a detailed and systematic investigation will aim at
establishing whether the exponent factor g depends strongly on
the physical properties of the feed material used.

6. Conclusions
Fig. 7. Modelled kinetics of the ball size distributions.

In fact, EQM-BSD encourages breakage by impact whereas

OEM-BSD induces more breakage by abrasion and attrition. That
is why, it was found as expected that on the one hand the selection
function graph corresponding to the EQM-BSD lies below the OEMBSD one at lower particle sizes; and on the other hand, it increases
continuously and becomes higher for coarser sizes.
On an industrial point of view, a ball size distribution close to
OEM-BSD or promoting breakage by abrasion and attrition in order
to get more nes in the product would be the way to go. But at the
same time the feed should be free of coarser particles that are unlikely to be broken efciently.

The breakage rate parameters of a South African coal have been

estimated. And the effect of ball size and ball size distribution is
demonstrated.
Eq. (6) which gives an estimate of the overall value of breakage
rate for a ball mixture in the mill accurately describes the ball size
distribution effect especially in the normal breakage region. Added
to this, Eq. (9) encompasses at the same time ball size and ball size
distribution effects for parameter search and thereby consolidates
the data processing involved in the breakage characterization of
materials.
In the nal analysis, it is noted in particular that n (the factor
which relates a to d) proves to a great extent to be 1. The factor
g (the factor which relates l to d), on the other hand, is ostensibly
material dependent. Fixing a priori the value of g is therefore

1288

F.M. Katubilwa, M.H. Moys / Minerals Engineering 22 (2009) 12831288

inadequate. It should rather be deduced from tests on at least two

ball sizes which are substantially different, e.g. 30 and 50 mm.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Eskom for supporting this work
and allowing the publication of the present paper.
M.D. Mokhathi, member of Prof. Moys Wits Mineral Processing
Research Group, is also gratefully acknowledged for his help in the
laboratory.
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