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Scale up of tower mill performance using

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SCALE-UP OF TOWER MILL PERFORMANCE USING MODELLING

AND SIMULATION
Aleksandar Jankovic and Stephen Morrell
Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, Isles Rd, Indooroopilly Qld, 4068,
Australia

Abstract
In the last decade tower mills have become increasingly common equipment in the Minerals
Processing industry. However, to date there has been only a limited amount of work published
regarding tower mill modelling and scale-up. This paper presents the results from research carried out
in order to understand the physical behaviour of the tower mill and how it is related to particle size
reduction. From this research models were developed to describe the media motion patterns and
velocities inside the mill. The acting forces were identified and related to mill design and operational
conditions, as well as position inside the mill. A model to calculate mill power was developed based
on media velocities and acting forces. Fine particle breakage patterns were studied using a novel
device designed to mimic breakage under conditions similar to those in tower mills. A methodology
was developed to calculate the rate at which media collide which was related to the rate of particle
breakage in the tower mill. Using these approaches a model was developed which was use to scale up
laboratory tower mill results to pilot scale. The product size distributions simulated were in good
agreement with the experimental data. It is believed that full size mills can be successfully simulated
using this methodology.
Keywords: tower mill, verti-mill, modelling, simulation, scale-up

Introduction
The tower mill and its variant (verti-mill) have become increasingly used in the
mineral processing industry for regrinding, fine grinding and other applications. They
have been found to be very reliable and energy efficient (Jankovic, 1999) and their
application is likely to increase in the future. However, to date there has been only
one paper published on the subject of scale-up and mill selection (Menacho & Reyes,
1989). In this paper the authors used the simplified kinetic grinding model for tower
mill performance analysis. Scale-up was done in terms of the apparent specific
breakage function. For the + 53m particle size the following correlation was found
between the apparent specific breakage function and power consumption:
If the testwork in the lab mill (3 kW) is taken as a starting point, scale-up factors of
1.32 and 1.72 are applied to describe pilot KW-20 (15 kW) and industrial KW-400
(300 kW) tower mill behavior, respectively.
The authors mentioned that to verify the appropriateness of the proposed scale -up
procedure more experimentation was needed, especially large mill trials. However,

no comments were made on why larger units seem to be more efficient. The scale up
relationship was an empirical one and it was probably material dependent. Media size
effects observed in the test work were not included in the scale-up relationship.
The work presented in this paper introduces a new developed procedure for scale-up
based on tower mill modeling and simulation which takes into account most of the
design and operating variables which influence mill performance.
Tower mill model development
The tower mill is a grinding device where particles are broken at so called breakage
sites which are created between grinding media as they move relative to one another.
To set the grinding media in motion, resistance forces acting between the media
themselves and mill parts have to be overcome by applying power through a rotating
stirrer (screw). The power draw of the mill depends on the magnitude of these forces
and the media velocity. At the same time, particle breakage inside the mill depends
on the forces acting on particles and the rate at which breakage sites are generated,
the latter being a function of the relative media velocity. Therefore both the mill
power draw and the particle size reduction process depend directly on the level of
acting forces and media velocity. This forms the basis of a model developed to
simulate and scale-up tower mill performance.
Grinding media motion

Mill axis
Vertical motion

r3

r1
r2

Media
Radius r

r1 < r2 < r3

Rotation

a.

1 > 2 > 3
b.

Figure 1 a: Media motion pattern proposed for tower mills; b: rings of media.

From the available literature (Cooker and Nedderman, 1987; Reichert et al, 1978) and
observations conducted using a transparent glass mill (Duffy & Morell, 1997), it was
concluded that the movement of media in tower mills can be described by two basic
motions: rotation around the mill axis and vertical motion (See Figure 1). It was
observed that the media motion in the radial direction is not significant and therefore
was not taken into account.

Acting forces
The principal forces acting on the media inside a tower mill are gravitational (media
weight), centrifugal and friction force, as the product of the gravitational and
centrifugal forces and friction coefficient.
To describe the pressure distribution with respect to ball bed height Janssenss
expression (Brown and Richards, 1970) for slow moving granular beds was modified
(Jankovic, 1999):

(D D 2 ) * b
4*K*
*h)]
* [1 - exp( 4*K*
D D2
ph = K * pv

(1)

pv =

K=
where: ph, pv
b

K
h
l
D, D2
B
f1, f2
s
0

( s / 0 ) f 2
1 exp( f1 * l 3 )

(2)

- horizontal and vertical media pressure respectively (kPa),

- bulk density of the solids media (kg/m3),
- friction coefficient between the solids and wall
- ratio between ph and pv.
- vertical distance from the top of the charge (m)
- number of media between the screw tip and mill wall
- mill and screw diameter respectively (m)
- media size (m)
- fitted constants
- screw angular velocity (rad/s)
- the lowest screw angular velocity tested (4.3 rad/s)

The relationship (1) indicates that the pressure reaches a maximum and becomes
constant once the bed depth reaches a certain value (Figure 2). It was found that the
pressure constant in this equation was a function of the ratio between media size and
the magnitude of the gap between the stirrer tip and the tower mill wall (equation 2).
This has particular implications for scale-up as lab and pilot mills are typically small
with ratios very different to full scale units.

pv

b *h - hydrostatic head

(D-D2) * b
4* *K

h
Figure 2: Vertical pressure changing from hydrostatic to independence of the head.

Power model
A mill power model was developed by considering the sum of media velocities and
associated forces. The model was calibrated using lab and pilot data than applied to
successfully predict the power draw of full scale units (Figure 3).
1.E+06

industrial mill - prediction

pilot mill - fit
laboratory mill - fit

cal net power (W)

1.E+05

1.E+04

1.E+03

Av Err=7.3 %
Err SD= 4.4 %

1.E+02

1.E+01

1.E+00
1.E+00

1.E+01

1.E+02

1.E+03

1.E+04

1.E+05

1.E+06

exp net power (W)

Figure 3: Plots of the model predictions versus fitted pilot and laboratory mill data and predictions for
the full size mill - mills were operated with media and water

Model to Determine the Rate of Generation of Breakage Sites

The breakage rate of a given particle size is represented by the frequency with which
the particles are broken. It depends on the equipment characteristics (design, size,
speed etc.), material properties (size, shape), as well as operational conditions
(throughput, % solids). The equipment characteristics dictate the frequency or rate at
which sites where breakage may occur are generated. The amount of the particles
broken in one single breakage event is proportional to the volume of particles stressed
during the breakage event, i.e. the active grinding volume (Schnert, 1991). Hence
the rate of particle breakage is directly proportional to the rate at which breakage
events (sites) are generated and the active grinding volume at the breakage site. If
those two components can be determined, the breakage rate can be modeled and
predicted with a greater degree of accuracy and confidence.
In a tower mill, the breakage sites are generated between the media in the annular
region due to the media velocity difference. Breakage sites are also generated on the
screw surface, due to media sliding. A model has been using these concepts and
linked to the particle breakage rate using the following equation:
2

SBR RBSG * B

where: SBR = specific rate of breakage

RBSG = rate of breakage sites generation
B
= media size

(3)

Fine Particle Breakage Characterisation

Single particle breakage tests are often used to study breakage properties of materials
(Schnert, 1979; Whiten, 1987). However, from a practical point of view, single
particle breakage using existing impact type designs is not viable for particles smaller
than 1 mm. Therefore a piece of apparatus called the Grinding Table was
developed to study breakage under controlled conditions in an environment similar to
that found in stirred mills (Jankovic, 1998). In the Grinding Table (see Figure 4) a
single ring of balls is caused to move at a constant speed over a hardened surface. A
force is applied to the balls perpendicular to their motion. Ore particles are fed into
the device such that they move across the path of balls and hence may be broken as
the balls pass over them. Some particles, however, will not be broken but will pass
through the gaps between the balls and out of the device. The product from the
Grinding Table will therefore contain a combination of unbroken and broken
particles. The size distribution of the latter particles provides the breakage
distribution (appearance) function.
GRINDING TABLE
Slurry feed

Guide

Pressure/
cover plate,
free to move
vertically but
must not rotate

Doughnut-shaped
weight
Steel ball

Slurry discharge

Rotating table
Shaft
Colector tray

Figure 4: Schematic of the Grinding Table

Tower mill scale-up

To scale-up grinding results from laboratory to pilot scale a procedure was developed
using a population balance particle size reduction model (Morrell et al 1993). In this
procedure the breakage rate function is dependent upon the RBSG, and a ore

dependent breakage distribution function which is determined from the Grinding

Table.
Experimental Data
The procedure was used to scale up breakage rates from the laboratory mill to predict
the product size distribution obtained in pilot mill tests. Predicted and observed pilot
mill experimental product size distributions were then compared in terms of P80, P50,
and P20 size (Figure 5). The average relative error for P80, P50, P20 using the method
was 8.23% whilst the standard deviation was 5.9%.
100

RBSG method
Avr err=8.23%
SD err=5.9%
scale-up
size (m)
10

P80
P50
P20
1
1

10

100

Experimental size (m)

Figure 5: Experimental versus scaled-up (RBSG method) pilot tower mill product sizes

Conclusion

A procedure for tower mill performance scale-up has been developed using a
modelling and simulation approach. In order to describe the tower mill as a grinding
machine, several models were developed: media motion, force distribution, power
and rate of breakage sites generation model. The size reduction modelling was carried
out using a population balance model and perfect mixing behavior. A novel method
for the fine particle breakage characterization was used to determine the breakage
distribution function.
The media motion model describes media velocity at any point inside the mill and is
used for tower mill power modeling as well as to calculate the rate at which breakage
sites are generated i.e. collision frequency. The rate of breakage sites generation is
directly linked to the particle breakage rate and used as the principal scale-up
parameter.

The tower mill power model was developed using data from laboratory and pilot
scale units and was able to predict full-scale mill power with great accuracy.
The scale-up procedure was applied to predict pilot mill performance at different
operating conditions using one set of data from a laboratory mill test. Close
agreement with experimental results in terms of particle size distribution were
obtained, which gives the confidence that developed procedure could be used for the
full scale mills scale-up based on laboratory mill test data.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the sponsors of the AMIRA P336A research project
for their financial support.

References
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