Ball Mill Application and Design

Ball Mills by Paul O. Abbe

Ball mills are used the size reducing or milling of hard materials such as minerals, glass, advanced ceramics, metal oxides, solar cell and semiconductor materials, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals materials down to 1 micron or less. The residence time in ball mills is long enough that all particles get consistent treatment, which also provides a narrow particle size distribution. Ball mills are simple in design, consisting of horizontal slow rotating vessels half filled with grinding media of ¼” to 1.5”. The particles to be milled are trapped between the grinding media or balls and are reduced in size by the actions of impact and attrition.

Ball mills have the advantage of being self-contained so operators are not exposed to the product being milled. Ball mills cab be used equally well for wet or dry grinding. In the case of wet grinding the particles are also dispersed in the liquid medium. For temperature sensitive products, ball mills can be fully jacketed to maintain temperatures of the product. Ball mills scale up well and in fact improve in performed with increasing size. Ball mills are available in sizes from laboratory scale (also called milling jars) of 0.1 usg to large 5,000 gallon mills.

Ball mills are available in various contact materials to accommodate contamination and wear requirements. These materials include AR 400, high-chrome abrasion resistant steel, natural rubber lining, polyurethane lining, and high alumina ceramic brick (i.e., aluminum oxide) lined mills.


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Click to request a ball mill quote online or call 630-350-3012 to speak with an expert at Paul O. Abbe® to help you determine which design and size ball mill would be best for your process.


See our Size Reduction Options

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Steel Ball Mills

Benefits of Tumble Milling: 1. HIGH EFFICIENCY – Due to the relatively slow rotational speed but large mass of media, more of the energy goes into millin
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Ceramic Lined Ball Mills

Benefits of Tumble Milling: HIGH EFFICIENCY – Due to the relatively slow rotational speed but large mass of media, more of the energy goes into milling and less wasted as heat.
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Slice Mill™

Slice Mills™ are identical to the Ball Mills and Ceramic Lined Mills in diameter and design The only difference is that they are as little as 12” in length. Since mill diameter dictates performance and mill length only affects capacity, Slice Mills™ are used to develop or test formulations with little concern for scal
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Polyurethane Lined Mills

Our polyurethane mills utilize a proprietary casting method using a fabricated steel mold placed in the mill cylinder creating a 1” void on all sides. Deaerated polyurethane is poured in the space between the mold and cylinder
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Jar Rolling Mills

ABBE Jar Rolling Mills are designed to support and rotate our steel and ceramic jars individually or several at a time. The smallest bench top model, can handle 1 or 2 jars. The largest jar roller can have as many as four levels or tiers and from two to five rolls per tier. A "League of their Own" - These are not hobby shop tumblers or light weight rollers found in laboratory supply catalogs. ABBE Jar Rolling Mills are heavy
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Milling Jars

There are almost as many types and sizes of Abbe Milling Jars as there are applications. Abbe Jars are available in a wide range of sizes and materials. Milling jars are small scale version of the ball mills and are typically used in the laboratory or small scale producti
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