Since the Stone Age, particle size reduction methods have been used to simplify material processing through attrition, compression, crushing, cutting, impact, or shearing. Modern processes still rely on these principles but with a better understanding of the physics involved. This knowledge has led to automated machinery and process control systems, improving accuracy and consistency. Particle reduction enhances efficiency and product quality in various industries. Despite technological advancements, material processing machinery continues to evolve, with companies like Prater Industries leading the way.
Key Developments in Particle Size Reduction
Modern particle size reduction equipment relies on engineering and mathematical principles from the 19th-century industrial revolution. These principles guide manufacturers in choosing machinery to optimize processes and enhance efficiency.
Equipment manufacturers like Prater improve particle size reduction by adjusting where materials enter the grinding chamber and modifying grinding speed, shape, or mechanisms. Changing screen area and aperture size also affect processing, and pneumatic mills cool products during processing.
Good system design is crucial for applications reliant on specific particle sizes, optimizing material flow, and preventing dead zones. Consistency and waste reduction are key goals. Engineers, operators, and researchers must continually adapt equipment for improved efficiency across various applications.
Advancements in Particle Processing and Energy-Efficient Technologies
Advancements in technology have significantly impacted the fields of material processing and particle size reduction. Maintaining temperatures below -112°F (-80°C) in cryogenic preservation has led to progress in nanoscale material processing. Techniques like laser diffraction analysis and dynamic light scattering are widely used to determine particle size distributions in suspensions, aiding the sizing of biological cells, nanoparticles, and polymers.
Modern milling technologies, such as ultrafine grinding using stirred mills, have revolutionized the efficiency of reducing materials to ultrafine particle sizes. Initially developed in the late 1920s, stirred mills reached speeds by the early 1990s that enabled nanoscale milling. Today, they can quickly process multiple tons of material to achieve submicron particle sizes, making them invaluable for manufacturing powdered clays, coal, and metals.
High-energy ball milling, a late 20th-century innovation, uses high speeds and heavy media to grind particles to less than 100 nanometers, producing nanocrystalline metals and powdered alloys. This method scales up production efficiently and produces metal particles ranging from 4 to 26 nanometers.
Recent advancements have significantly enhanced energy efficiency. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software enable quicker and more accurate development of energy-efficient designs. These innovations, alongside optimally designed impellers and variable-speed drives (VFDs), reduce energy use without compromising performance.
Furthermore, machine learning, IIoT, big data, and AI make material handling operations more sustainable. IIoT devices collect large datasets, which are stored and analyzed using data analytics software. Machine learning algorithms enable predictive maintenance strategies, optimizing performance and enhancing energy efficiency. This proactive approach helps manufacturers detect and address equipment issues, reducing downtime and improving productivity.
Prater Innovation in Particle Size Reduction Equipment
Although innovation has been etched into Prater’s DNA, we don’t yet mass-produce machines for specialty applications that reduce materials into the nanoscale range of particle size. Reduction equipment made by Prater is designed for more mainstream purposes, though our engineers keep abreast of any developments in particle size reduction technologies. For example, in Prater’s testing facilities, we can measure down to a 100 nanometer particle size. Reduction machinery can also be customized to ensure optimal efficiency for any application.
Prater’s innovative particle size reduction equipment includes:
- Air classifying mills: With optional sanitary design features available to enable easy cleaning and prevent contamination for food and pharmaceutical processing applications, Prater’s air classifying mills can achieve ultrafine particle size reduction and seamlessly integrate into continuously operating automated material handling systems.
- Full-screen hammer mills: Prater's full-screen hammer mills can process more throughput without the need for additional power and are built to work around the clock within continuous, automated processing systems.
- Lump breakers: This basic lump breaker design showcases its reliability, with innovations that include a direct coupled drive, dual counter-rotating shafts and outboard bearings.
- Mega Mill hammer mills: Designed to run efficiently and smoothly, Prater’s Mega Mill hammer mills are built to operate continuously in automated systems while requiring less power and maintenance.
- M-series fine grinders: With optional sanitary design features, our company can incorporate advanced technologies into our particle size reduction equipment for specific applications, as Prater engineers did for soy flake grinding with the M-series fine grinder.
- Rotormills: Designed for continuous fine milling applications, the rotormill’s design allows it to handle heat-sensitive materials without the need for cryogenics in the process, while the internal grinding components have an option to be made from advanced materials to make them abrasive resistant.
Additionally, Prater partners with Sterling Systems and Controls to integrate our products into automated manufacturing systems, enabling us to utilize their innovative preventive maintenance scheduling software. Advanced materials like ceramics and tungsten carbide increase the lifespans of Prater’s abrasion-resistant rotary airlocks for particle size reduction systems and machinery that need to handle abrasive materials. To learn more about our company’s many particle size reduction equipment innovations, we invite you to contact the material handling experts at Prater today.
