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The operating speed of the mill can be expressed in percent of the mill critical speed.

The optimal operating speed depends mainly on filling degree, grinding media size and
type of liners.

Critical speed of a tube mill is that speed of rotation at which the centrifugal power
neutralizes the force of gravity which influences the grinding balls, the grinding balls
don't fall and therefore don't perform grinding work.

To make the definition easier, critical speed is the rotational speed in rpm of the mill
relative to the speed at which centrifugal force just counters gravitation and holds the
charge against the shell during rotation.

The quantity of balls, the type and condition of the shell liners, and the mill speed
determine the power draw of the mill. Ball mills typically operate at about 75% of critical
speed and 25-35% volumetric charge loading.

The speed of rotation of the mill influences the power draft through two effects: the
value of N and the shift in the center of gravity with speed. The center of gravity first
starts to shift to the left as the speed of rotation increases but as critical speed is
reached the center of gravity moves towards the center of the mill as more and more of
the material is held against the shell throughout the cycle. Since critical speed is larger
at smaller radii the centrifuging layer gets thicker and thicker as the speed increases
until the entire charge is centrifuging and the net power draw is zero.

Theoretical critical speed of a ball mill is the speed at which the centrifugal force is
sufficiently large to cause a small particle to adhere to the shell interior for a full
revolution of the mill. The common range of mill speeds is 65% to 80% of critical,
depending on mill type, size and the application.
Critical speed of a ball mill is calculated as 54.19 divided by the square root of the
radius in feet.
Operating speed is defined as a percentage of the critical speed. It depends mainly on
filling degree, grinding media size and type of liners.

Grinding of solid particles in ball mill is effected by impact of grinding media ( balls)with
the particles to be grounded. The balls rise along with rotation of ball mill andfall from
height as gravitational force overcome the frictional force and centrifugal forceThe
centrifugal force depends upon diameter and angular speed of ball millCritical speed of
the ball mill is that speed at which gravitational force acting on ballswill be just equal to
centrifugal force. This means that at critical speed balls will not fallinstead they will
rotate with shell as integral part of shell. In this case grinding actionwill stop. The
Grinding of solid material is depedent on the velocity at which they willstrike with solid
particles. This velocity, is highest at 70 % to 75 % of critical speed andthis percentage
ratio mainly depends upon the diameter of ball mill. Smaller diameter mills rotate faster
(same % of critical speed) than larger mills.
A higher percentage of critical speed yields greater impact, as the balls tend to reach
their break point higher in the mill rather than experiencing just a rolling action.
Larger mills are often run at slightly lower percentage of critical speed because of the
more severe grinding action inherent with the larger diameter.
Although the amount of the media charge is application dependent, a good rule of
thumb to start with is 50%. A good starting point for material loading is to have enough
material in the mill to fill all of the voids and just cover the grinding media.
This video shows how increasing the rotation speed of the mill effects on grinding media
and materials

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