Ball Mills and Agitated Media Mills

Grinding wet and dry

Ball mills and agitated media mills can grind extremely fine powders. Hosokawa Alpine mills can achieve a fineness of approx. d97 < 1 μm for both dry grinding and wet grinding.

Mills in different designs facilitate either dry or wet grinding. In wet grinding, the powder is mixed into a liquid beforehand and fed into the mill as a suspension or slurry.

Overview of our ball mills and agitated media mills

  • The classic ball mill Super Orion S.O. is suitable for dry hard crushing and achieves finenesses of under 10 µm.
  • For superfine dry grinding: The energy-efficient Pulvis combines a vertical agitator bead mill with a high-performance classifier and is also suitable for grinding hard materials. It achieves a fineness of up to d97 = 1 μm. The ATR is characterised by a compact design and high power density. It can achieve a fineness of up to approx. 80% < 2 µm. 
  • For wet grinding: The robust ANR is suitable for wet grinding of the finest calcium carbonate and other mineral flour slurries.

Applications of ball mills and agitated media mills

Ball mills have been used to produce high-quality mineral flours for many years. They are suitable for grinding medium-hard to extremely hard, brittle and fibrous materials. Specific applications include industrial minerals, metal oxides, glass, graphite, limestone, quartz, zircon sand, talc, ceramic paints, inorganic pigments, titanium dioxide, etc.

Functionality of ball mills and agitated media mills

Ball mills and agitated media mills work according to a simple principle. The balls are freely movable grinding media in a vertical or horizontal drum. The drive sets this drum, and therefore also the balls, in motion. The material to be ground is then crushed between the balls by impact and shear forces. The fineness achieved is also determined by the size of the balls: The smaller the balls, the finer a product can be ground.

The agitated media mill is a special form of ball mill, in which an agitator with stirring elements or an agitator body sets the balls in motion. Hosokawa Alpine offers a range of agitator bead mills for wet or dry grinding.

Ball mills: Keeping the ball rolling!

An important point when using ball mills is the speed. The speed must not be too low, otherwise the balls will just roll off – the product will not be ground. Excessive speeds do not have the desired result either, as centrifugal force would then hold the balls against the drum wall, also preventing the product being ground.

For you, this means that it is important to find the right speed range to grind your product to the required fineness. Our experts will be happy to advise you.

Ball mills tailored to your requirements

Our test center can perform product trials with your test material. This enables you to find the right speed range and the optimal solution for your requirements, including the required fineness. Test which of our ball mills and agitated media mills are best suited to your needs.

Rent or buy used ball mills and agitated media mills

Do you want to relieve bottlenecks in production? Do you need grinding support at short notice? Or perhaps buying a new ball mill is out of the question for you for financial reasons? Then we have two alternatives for you: On the one hand, rental machines can be a practical solution for you. On the other hand, we also stock a range of used machines. They are refurbished with original parts and can be adapted to your individual requirements. Get in touch with us!

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