Basics Size Reduction – Fine & Ultrafine Size Reduction
Size reduction has become an essential part of many different manufacturing processes. From pharmaceutical production to agricultural and even cosmetic applications, size reduction is an integral part of the production of almost every product out there.
What is Size Reduction?
Size reduction is, essentially, the breaking down of materials from a few large particles, usually to a fine powder. There are three different kinds of powders that result from a size reduction process. These kinds relate to the particle sizes within each powder. They are: coarse, medium, and fine. This webinar will discuss the size reduction of material to create fine powders. Click here to view a webinar on coarse and medium grinding.
There is really only one way to mill product so that it results in a fine powder. This is through impact milling. Hosokawa Micron sells three different types of impact mills. They are:
The Mikro ACM Air Classifying Mill
The Mikro ACM Air Classifying Mill is an air swept impact mill that uses a dynamic air classifier to grind and classify in one easy step. It is capable of grinding an large range of materials down to a D97 < 20 µm. It comes in a wide range of sizes, materials, finishes, pressure, and vacuum designs.
The Alpine AS Spiral Jet Mill
The Alpine AS Spiral Jet Mill is a jet mill designed to grind pharmaceuticals and other chemical powders down to an ultra-fine size. It can grind material down to a range of D97 < 3. It comes in variety of sizes, from smaller laboratory models, to larger production models.
The Alpine AFG Fluidized Bed Jet Mill
The Alpine AFG Fluidized Bed Jet Mill is a fluidized jet mill that makes use of an air classifier to accomplish fine grinding and classification in one easy system, similar to the Mikro ACM. However, this mill uses particle-on-particle impact to accomplish this size reduction. It is also pressure shock proof to 10 bar overpressure.