TOPICS:

 Introduction - Isca
 Definition of Unit Operation, Objectives, Advantages/Disadvantages - Isca
 Equipment/Parts Used for Unit Operation - Jose
 Process Flow Diagram, Mechanism - Davey
 Laws governing the Unit Operation - Carla
 Applications of Unit Operation - Andrei
 Recent Developments about the Unit Operation - Iaine
 Outro – Iaine

INTRODUCTION
Size reduction involves a range of processes aimed at breaking down materials into smaller, more
manageable sizes. Whether it's in pharmaceuticals, food production, or materials processing,
understanding and effectively reporting on size reduction operations are critical for optimizing efficiency and
ensuring product quality.

Today, we will explore the key aspects of size reduction, starting with a clear definition of size reduction and
its various methods. We'll delve into the history and objectives that guide size reduction processes,
understanding why industries invest time and resources into these operations. Additionally, we'll explore the
advantages that size reduction brings to the table, as well as the challenges and considerations that come
with it.

Without further ado, let's embark on the discussion about size reduction, exploring the nuances that make it
a crucial aspect of industrial processes.

HISTORY
From grains to stones and from wood to ore, humans have been using tools to break down the size
of various materials since the Early Stone Age. Primitive size reduction equipment used by our
prehistoric ancestors were little more than stones used to pulverize plants for food or medicine and
shaped to cut material like skins for clothing or shelter. These tools became more complex over
time, becoming mills that ground grain and hammers for shaping ore. Modern equipment for
reducing material size has become even more complex and mechanized.

Today, mechanized size reduction equipment cuts, mills, pulverizes, slices, and otherwise reduces
the material into smaller portions in production facilities worldwide. The key to reducing material is
energy, an important element in all particle size reduction processes. Equipment that can apply this
energy to the material is the basis of many modern industries, so understanding the fundamentals
of size reduction is necessary for those tasked with their operation and oversight.

The Discovery of Size Reduction techniques traces back to the primitive age when humans used
stones for powdering charcoal and ochre to paint themselves, bruising flowers and leaves for cave
paintings, decorating pottery etc. Several size reduction technologies like using stone grinders for
flour milling, pounding of ayurvedic herbs, and medicines, powdering of spices & sugar for various
cuisines have been used by our ancestors for many years. With gradual development & boom in
economies, there has been an ever-growing demand for producing fine powders for various
industries and consumer applications. This has led to a great demand for size-reduction
equipment.

However, the comminution of material is dictated by several factors, including physical properties
of the material, shear and impact forces imparted by the comminution system, and the size
opening of the screen, to name a few. Since every material is unique in its characteristics, the
method of its comminution must also be unique.

SIZE REDUCTION
The term size reduction is applied to all the ways in which particles of solids are cut or broken into
smaller pieces. Throughout the process industries solids are reduced by different methods for
different purposes. Chunks of crude ore are crushed to workable size: synthetic chemicals are
ground into powder; sheets of plastic are cut into tiny cubes or diamonds. Commercial products
must often meet stringent specifications regarding the size and sometimes the shape of the
particles they contain. Reducing the particle size also increases the reactivity of solids; it permits
separation of unwanted ingredients by mechanical methods; it reduces the bulk of fibrous materials
for easier handling and for waste disposal.

Solids may be broken in many ways, but only four of them are commonly used in size-reduction
machines: (1) compression, (2) impact, (3) attrition, or rubbing, and (4) cutting. A nutcracker, a
hammer, a file, and a pair of shears exemplify these four types of action. Sometimes size reduction
results from the attrition of a particle by one or more other particles or from intense shear in the
supporting fluid. In general, compression is used for coarse reduction of hard solids, to give
relatively few fines; impact gives coarse, medium, or fine products; attrition yields very fine
products from soft, nonabrasive materials. Cutting gives a definite particle size and sometimes a
definite shape, with few or no fines.
Source: McCabe, Smith & Harriot (1993) from Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering (3rd Edition)

Size reduction is a process of reducing large unit masses into small unit masses like the coarse or
fine particles. Size reduction is also known as comminution or diminution or pulverization.
Generally, this process is done by two methods:
Precipitation method: - In this method, the substance is firstly dissolved in an appropriate solvent
and then after it is finely precipitated by the addition of another solvent. Both the solvents are
miscible but the substance remains insoluble in the 2nd This method is suitable for the production
of raw materials and bulk drugs. Inorganic chemicals such as CaCO3 and MgCO3 are also
prepared by this method.
Mechanical method: - In this method, the substance is applied with mechanical force using grinding
equipment like ball mill, hammer mill, cutter mill etc. Generally, milling, or dry grinding is done to
produce tablets and capsules. Wet grinding is used to produce suspensions, emulsions, and
ointments. This method is used either to produce raw materials and is used during the
manufacturing cycle of dosage forms.

OBJECTIVES OF SIZE REDUCTION

In the materiel process industries size reduction or commination is useful carried out in order to-
01. Increases the surface area because in most reactions involving solid particles the rate of
reaction is directional to the ratio area with the second phase.
02. A materiel into very small particles in ordered to separate the valuable substance among the
two constituents.
03. Pharmaceutical capsules, insufflation & suppositories & ointments require smaller particle size.
04. To allow the rapid penetration of solvent in crude drugs to extract phytochemicals.
05. In case suspensions, fine particles size is important because it reduce the rate of
sedimentation.
06. To improve the handling characteristics, to mixed solid particle more ultimately.

PARTICLE SIZE IN THE INDUSTRY

Material processing to reduce particle size is used in the manufacturing many goods.
Manufacturing processes in numerous industries utilize some form of particle size reduction.
Equipment for breaking down raw material is indispensable for producing a myriad of products in
multiple industries and for various reasons. Size reduction manipulates their properties, allowing
end products made from them to be more efficiently produced, along with making them safer and
better for end users.

The pharmaceutical industry uses size-reduction equipment to grind medicines into powder form
for capsules. The agricultural industry utilizes milling machines to reduce grain, while the food and
beverage industry process raw agricultural material with industrial reduction machinery to produce
packaged foods and fruit juice. In the construction industry, stone crushers and other size-reduction
equipment pulverize, loosen, and otherwise reduce minerals in the production of cement or other
building materials.
Other materials and applications that require size reduction during production include:
 Breaking down hazardous waste
 Crushing junked vehicles
 Plastics recycling
 Recycling scrap metal
 Shredding electronic scrap
 Other industrial applications include breaking down coal for power generation or grinding
herbs and spices to be packaged for the consumer market.
 ADVANTAGES OF SIZE REDUCTION
 Content uniformity– Mixing turn out to be effective only when the ingredients are small and
of uniform size. As the particle is of small size, the no of particles per unit dose is large.
And greater the no. of particles, mixing becomes more efficient. This criterion is particularly
more important for the formulations that contain low dose drugs.
 Uniform flow– If the size of particle is small, the flow of powder into dies during the
compression of tablets is effective.
 Effective extraction of drugs– Penetration of solvent into tissue or cells of organic origin
becomes rapid when the particle size is smaller.
 Effective drying– If the size of granules is small, then the drying of granular mass becomes
rapid.
 Improved physical stability– In suspensions and emulsions, the rate of sedimentation
decreases if the particles are of small and uniform size.
 Improvised rate of dissolution– When the surface area is larger, than the dissolution of a
substance increases. Thus, size reduction facilitates in increasing the surface area.
 Improved absorption rate– Smaller the particle, the faster is the absorption is the
absorption because the dissolution is also enhanced.

DISADVANTAGES OF SIZE REDUCTION

 Drug degradation– Decomposition of drug can occur due to the excessive heat production
during milling. Another reason is increased surface area also contributes in drug
decomposition.
 Poor mixing– Generally, very fine particles are subjected to strong cohesive forces hence
aggregation of particles takes place. But this aggregation inhibits the efficient blending of
different ingredients.

EQUIPMENTS USED FOR UNIT OPERATION

Size-reduction equipment is divided into crushers, grinders, ultrafine grinders, and cutting machines.
Crushers do the heavy work of breaking large pieces of solid material into small lumps. A primary crusher
operates on run-of-mine material, accepting anything that comes from the mine face and breaking it into
150- to 250-mm (6- to 10-in.) lumps. A secondary crusher reduces these lumps to particles perhaps 6 mm
(0.24-in.) in size. Grinders reduce crushed feed to powder. The product from an intermediate grinder might
pass a 40-mesh screen; most of the product from a fine grinder would pass a 200-mesh screen with a 74-
pm opening. An ultra fine grinder accepts feed particles no larger than 6 mm (tin.); the product size is
typically 1 to 50 pm. Cutters give particles of definite size and shape, 2 to 10 mm in length.
Jaw Crushers
Equipment for coarse reduction of large amounts of solids consists of slow-speed machines called
crushers. Several types are in common use. In the first type, a jaw crusher, the material is fed between two
heavy jaws or flat plates.
Dodge Crusher
One jaw is fixed and the other reciprocating and movable on a pivot point at the bottom. The jaw swings
back and forth, pivoting at the bottom of the V. The material is gradually worked down into a narrower
space, being crushed as it moves.
Blake Crusher
The Blake crusher is more commonly used, and the pivot point is at the top of the movable jaw. The
reduction ratios average about 8:1 in the Blake crusher. Jaw crushers are used mainly for primary crushing
of hard materials and are usually followed by other types of crushers.
Gyratory Crushers
The gyratory crusher has taken over to a large extent in the field of large hard-ore and mineral crushing
applications. Basically it is like a mortar-and-pestle crusher. The movable crushing head is shaped like an
inverted truncated cone and is inside a truncated cone casing. The crushing head rotates eccentri-cally and
the material being crushed is trapped between the outer fixed cone and the inner gyrating cone.
Smooth-Roll Crushers
Two heavy smooth-faced metal rolls turning on parallel horizontal axes are the working elements of the
smooth-roll crusher illustrated in Fig. 29.4. Particles of feed caught between the rolls are broken in
compression and drop out below. The rolls turn toward each other at the same speed. They have relatively
narrow faces and are large in diameter so that they can "nip" moderately large lumps. Typical rolls are 600
mm (24 in.) in diameter with a 300-mm (12-in.) face to 2000 mm (78 in.) in diameter with a 914-mm (36-in.)
face. Roll speeds range from 50 to 300 rjsmin. Smooth-roll crushers are secondary crushers, with feeds 12
to 75 mm (! to 3 in.) in size and products 12 mm (!in.) to about 1 mm.
Toothed-Roll Crushers
In many roll crushers the roll faces carry corruga- tions, breaker bars, or teeth. Such crushers may contain
two rolls, as in smooth-roll crushers, or only one roll working against a stationary curved breaker plate. A
single-roll toothed crusher is shown in Fig. 29.5. Machines known as disintegrators contain two corrugated
rolls turning at different speeds, which tear the feed apart, or a small high-speed roll with transverse
breaker bars on its face turning toward a large slow-speed smooth roll. Some crushing rolls for coarse
feeds carry heavy pyramidal teeth. Other designs utilize a large number of thin-toothed disks that saw
through slabs or sheets of material. Toothed-roll crushers are much more versatile than smooth-roll
crushers, within the limitation that they cannot handle very hard solids. They operate by compression,
impact, and shear, not by compression alone, as do smooth-roll machines. They are not limited by the
problem of nip inherent with smooth rolls and can therefore reduce much larger particles. Some heavy-duty
toothed double-roll crushers are used for the primary reduction of coal and similar materials. The particle
size of the feed to these machines may be as great as 500 mm (20 in.); their capacity ranges up to 500
tons/h.

GRINDERS (intermediate and fine)

The term grinder describes a variety of size-reduction machines for intermediate duty. The product from a
crusher is often fed to a grinder, in which it is reduced to powder. The chief types of commercial grinders
described in this section are hammer mills and impactors, rolling-compression machines, attrition mills, and
tumbling mills.
Hammer Mill Grinders and Impactors
Hammer mill devices are used to reduce intermediate-sized material to small sizes or powder. Often the
product from jaw and gyratory crushers is the feed to the hammer mill. In the hammer mill a high-speed
rotor turns inside a cylindrical casing. Sets of hammers are attached to pivot points at the outside of the
rotor. The feed enters the top of the casing and the particles are broken as they fall through the cylinder.
The material is broken by the impact of the hammers and pulverized into powder between the hammers
and casing. The powder then passes through a grate or screen at the discharge end.
Rolling Compression Machine
In this kind of mill the solid particles are caught and crushed between a rolling member and the face of a
ring or casing. The most common types are rolling-ring pulverizers, bowl mills, and roller mills. In the roller
mill illustrated, vertical cylindrical rollers press outward with great force against a stationary anvil ring or bull
ring. They are driven at moderate speeds in a circular path. Plows lift the solid lumps from the floor of the
mill and direct them between the ring and the rolls, where the reduction takes place. Product is swept out of
the mill by a stream of air to a classifier separator, from which oversize particles are returned to the mill for
further reduction. In a bowl mill and some roller mills the bowl or ring is driven; the rollers rotate on
stationary axes, which may be vertical or horizontal. Mills of this kind find most application in the reduction
of limestone, cement clinker, and coal. They pulverize up to 50 tons/h. When classification is used, the
product may be as fine as 99 percent through a 200-mesh screen.
Revolving Grinding Mills
For intermediate and fine reduction of materials, revolving grinding mills are often used. In such mills a
cylindrical or conical shell rotating on a horizontal axis is charged with a grinding medium such as steel,
flint, or porcelain balls, or with steel rods. The size reduction is affected by the tumbling of the balls or rods
on the material between them. In the revolving mill the grinding elements are carried up the side of the shell
and fall on the particles underneath. These mills may operate wet or dry.
Attrition Mills
In an attrition mill particles of soft solids are rubbed between the grooved flat faces of rotating circular disks.
The axis of the disks is usually horizontal, sometimes vertical. In a single-runner mill one disk is stationary
and one rotates; in a double-runner machine both disks are driven at high speed in opposite directions.
Feed enters through an opening in the hub of one of the disks; it passes outward through the narrow gap
between. the disks and discharges from the periphery into a stationary casing. The width of the gap, within
limits, is adjustable. At least one grinding plate is spring mounted so that the disks can separate if
unbreakable material gets into the mill. Mills with different patterns of grooves, corrugations, or teeth on the
disks perform a variety of operations, including grinding, cracking, granulating, and shredding, and even
some operations not related to size reduction at all, such as blending and feather curling.
Tumbling Mills
A typical tumbling mill is a cylindrical shell slowly turning about a horizontal axis and filled to about half its
volume with a solid grinding medium that forms a tumbling mill. The shell is usually steel, lined with high-
carbon steel plate, porcelain, silica rock, or rubber. The grinding medium is metal rods in a rod mill, lengths
of chain or balls of metal, rubber, or wood in a ball mill, flint pebbles or porcelain or zirconia spheres in a
pebble mill. For intermediate and fine reduction of abrasive materials tumbling mills are unequaled.
ULTRAFINE GRINDERS
Many commercial powders must contain particles averaging 1 to 20 pm in size, with substantially all
particles passing a standard 325-mesh screen that has openings 44 pm wide. Mills that reduce solids to
such fine particles are called ultrafine grinders. Ultrafine grinding of dry powder is done by grinders, such as
high-speed hammer mills, provided with internal or external classification, and by fluid-energy or jet mills.
Ultrafine wet grinding is done in agitated mills.
Classifying Hammer Mills
A hammer mill with internal classification is the Mikro-Atomizer illustrated in Fig. 29.11. A set of swing
hammers is held between two rotor disks, much as in a conventional hammer mill. In addition to the
hammers the rotor shaft carries two fans, which draw air through the mill in the direction shown in the figure
and discharge into ducts leading to collectors for the product. On the rotor disks are short radial vanes for
separating oversize particles from those of acceptable size. In the grinding chamber the particles of solid
are given a high rotational velocity. Coarse particles are concentrated along the wall of the chamber
because of centrifugal force acting on them. The airstream carries finer particles inward from the grinding
zone toward the shaft in the direction AB. The separator vanes tend to throw particles outward in the
direction BA. Whether or not a given particle passes between the separator vanes and out to the discharge
depends on which force predominates-the drag exerted by the air or the centrifugal force exerted by the
vanes. Acceptably fine particles are carried through; particles that are too large are thrown back for further
reduction in the grinding chamber. The maximum particle size of the product is varied by changing the rotor
speed or the size and number of the separator vanes. Mills of this kind reduce 1 or 2 ton/h to an average
particle size of 1 to 20 μm, with an energy requirement of about 40 kWh/metric ton (50 hp-h/ton).
Fluid Energy Mills
In these mills the particles are suspended in a high- velocity gas stream. In some designs the gas flows in a
circular or elliptical path; in others there are jets that oppose one another or vigorously agitate a fluidized
bed. Some reduction occurs when the particles strike or rub against the walls of the confining chamber, but
most of the reduction is believed to be caused by interparticle attrition. Internal classification keeps the
larger particles in the mill until they are reduced to the desired size. Feed enters near the bottom of the loop
through a venturi injector. Classification of the ground particles takes place at the upper bend of the loop.
As the gas stream flows around this bend at high speed, the coarser particles are thrown outward against
the outer wall while the fines congregate at the inner wall. A discharge opening in the inner wall at this point
leads to a cyclone separator and a bag collector for the product. The classification is aided by the complex
pattern of swirl generated in the gas stream at the bend in the loop of pipe. 2 Fluid-energy mills can accept
feed particles as large as 12 mm (!in.) but are more effective when the feed particles are no larger than
100-mesh. They reduce up to 1 ton/h of non-sticky solid to particles averaging i to 10 I'm in diameter, using
1 to 4 kg of steam or 6 to 9 kg of air per kilogram of product. Loop mills can process up to 6000 kg/h.
Agitated Mills
For some ultrafine grinding operations, small batch non- rotary mills containing a solid grinding medium are
available. The medium consists of hard solid elements such as balls, pellets, or sand grains. These mills
are vertical vessels 4 to 1200 L (1 to 300 gal) in capacity, filled with liquid in which the grinding medium is
suspended. In some designs the charge is agitated with a multiarmed impeller; in others, used especially
for grinding hard materials (such as silica or titanium dioxide), a reciprocating central column "vibrates" the
vessel contents at about 20 Hz. A concentrated feed slurry is admitted at the top, and product (with some
liquid) is withdrawn through a screen at the bottom. Agitated mills are especially useful in producing
particles 1 f-Lm in size or finer.
Colloid Mills
In a colloid mill, intense fluid shear in a high-velocity stream is used to disperse particles or liquid droplets
to form a stable suspension or emulsion. The final size of the particles or droplets is usually less than 5 f-
Lm. Often there is little actual size reduction in the mill; the principal action is the disruption of lightly
bonded clusters or agglomerates. Syrups, milk, purees, ointments, paints, and greases are typical products
processed in this way. Chemical additives are often useful for stabilizing the dispersion. In most colloid mills
the feed liquid is pumped between closely spaced surfaces one of which is moving relative to the other at
speeds of 50 mjs or more. The liquid passes through the narrow spaces between the disk-shaped rotor and
the casing. The clearances are adjustable down to 25 f-Lm. Often cooling is required to remove the heat
generated. The capacities of colloid mills are relatively low, ranging from 2 or 3 L(min (30 to 50 gal/h) for
small mills up to 440 L/min (7000 gal(h) for the largest units.

CUTTING MACHINES
In some size-reduction problems the feed stocks are too tenacious or too resilient to be broken by
compression, impact, or attrition. In other problems the feed must be reduced to particles of fixed
dimensions. These requirements are met by devices that cut, chop, or tear the feed into a product with the
desired characteristics. The sawtoothed crushers mentioned above do much of their work in this way. True
cutting machines include rotary knife cutters and granulators. These devices find application in a variety of
processes but are especially well adapted to size- reduction problems in the manufacture of rubber and
plastics. They are finding important applications in recycling paper and plastic materials.
Knife Cutters
A rotary knife cutter, as shown in Fig. 29.14, contains a horizontal rotor turning at 200 to 900 r/min in a
cylindrical chamber. On the rotor are 2 to 12 flying knives with edges of tempered steel or stellite passing
with close clearance over 1 to 7 stationary bed knives. Feed particles entering the chamber from above are
cut several hundred times per minute and emerge at the bottom through a screen with 5- to 8-mm
openings. Sometimes the flying knives are parallel with the bed knives; sometimes, depending on the
properties of the feed, they cut at an angle. Rotary cutters and granulators are similar in design. A
granulator yields more or less irregular pieces; a cutter may yield cubes, thin squares, or diamonds.