Uma revisão dos princípios de funcionamento e métodos de dimensionamento de moinhos de bolas

Abstract

Comminution is one of the most important stages of the mineral processing, since the breakage of particles makes possible: - the attainment of a product with the market particle size specifications; - the preparation of the material to the next stages of mineral processing; - the liberation of the mineral of interest for posterior concentration. Grinding operation, due to its high energy cost, has been the target of intensive studies and developments in order to optimize the process, increasing its efficiency, and consequently reducing their operational, implantation and maintenance costs. Among the types of tumbling mills most used nowadays in mineral processing plants, the ball mills stands out. Thus it is extremely important the knowledge of the constructional and operational characteristics, as well as the methods of sizing a tumbling mill, for the right selection of the equipment to be used at the mineral processing plant.