U.S. patent number 3,565,348 [Application Number 04/694,648] was granted by the patent office on 1971-02-23 for fluid-energy mill and process.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Cities Service Company. Invention is credited to Claude Vernon Myers, Robert Haines Havard, Theodore Dickerson.
United States Patent |
3,565,348 |
|
February 23, 1971 |
FLUID-ENERGY MILL AND PROCESS
Abstract
The kinetic energy of high-velocity jets of a gaseous fluid is
employed to violently agitate and swirl solid particles. A gaseous
fluid is introduced into the mill as plural jets, having supersonic
velocity, which are directed at an angle around a circular section
of the grinding chamber. Particulated solid is entrained within the
jets to form a fluid mass which is swirled within the circular
section of the chamber to effect attrition of the particles. The
particles are attrited to smaller size by violent impact and shear
resulting from rapidly moving particles striking one another while
also striking stationary grinding surfaces within the chamber of
the mill. Subsequently, the attrited particles are separated from
the gaseous fluid and collected as product. The invention is
especially suitable for grinding colloidal pigments in order to
reduce agglomerates of the pigment particles to more discrete
particles.
Inventors: |
Theodore Dickerson (Monroe,
LA), Robert Haines Havard (Monroe, LA), Claude Vernon
Myers (Franklin, LA) |
Assignee: |
Cities Service Company
(N/A)
|
Family
ID: |
24789717 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/694,648 |
Filed: |
December 29, 1967 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
241/5;
241/39 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B02C
19/061 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B02C
19/06 (20060101); B02c 019/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;241/1,5,39,40 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Robert C. Riordon
Assistant Examiner: Donald G. Kelly
Attorney, Agent or Firm: William G. Pulliam J. Richard
Geaman
Claims
We claim:
1. A fluid-energy process for grinding particles of frangible solid
materials comprising: a. feeding a stream of said particles into an
elongated circular grinding chamber; and b. injecting a gaseous
fluid at supersonic velocity into the grinding chamber essentially
tangentially with respect to the axis thereof, thus forming an
agitated mixture of solid particles and gaseous fluid in which
attritioning of the solid particles occurs, said mixture advancing
axially through the chamber as an annular mass while spiraling
around the axis thereof, the constituents of said annular,
spiraling mass being maintained away from the axis of the chamber
and confined within the peripheral region of said chamber into
which the gaseous fluid is injected tangentially, the solid
particles of the annular, spiraling mass remaining essentially
unclassified during attrition of said solid particles therein, and
forcefully propelling said particles against the wall of the
grinding chamber by said injection of the gaseous fluid and thus
grinding said particles by violent impact with said wall and by
attritive impact between the particles.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the gaseous fluid is projected
into the elongated circular grinding chamber as a plurality of jets
from injection points spaced around the circumferential periphery
of the chamber.
3. The process of claim 2 in which the mixture of solid particles
and gaseous fluid is removed from the grinding chamber without
intermediate fractionation of the constituents of said mixture.
4. The process of claim 2 in which the annular, spiraling mass is
constricted to a substantially smaller cross-sectional dimension
after attrition of the solid particles therein.
5. The process of claim 4 in which the mass is constricted
gradually and progressively as the mass advances axially through
the grinding chamber.
6. The process of claim 2 in which the annular, spiraling mass is
formed within an annular section of the grinding chamber.
7. The process of claim 6 in which the annular, spiraling mass is
formed to the inside diameter of at least about one-half the
outside diameter thereof.
8. The process of claim 4 in which the spiraling flow of said
annular mass is disrupted during the constriction thereof and the
flow pattern of said mass is converted to predominately linear flow
prior to discharge of the mass from the grinding chamber.
9. The process of claim 2 in which the solid particles are fed into
the grinding chamber in the form of powder.
10. The process of claim 2 in which the solid particles are fed
into the grinding chamber in the form of granules.
11. The process of claim 2 in which the solid particles are fed
into the grinding chamber in the form of friable pellets formed
from finely powdered solids.
12. The process of claim 2 in which the particulate solid material
is distributed substantially uniformly axially into the region of
the grinding chamber in which said jets of gaseous fluid are
injected tangentially.
13. The process of claim 2 in which the solid particles are
essentially colloidal pigment particles.
14. The process of claim 13 in which the colloidal pigment
particles are carbon black.
15. The process of claim 2 in which said gaseous fluid is
predominately air.
16. The process of claim 2 in which the solid particles are carbon
black particles and the rotational velocity of said annular,
spiraling mass is at least 475 feet per second.
17. The process of Claim 16 in which the gaseous fluid is
predominately air, the proportion of said jetted gaseous fluid and
carbon black which are fed to said grinding chamber is within the
range of about 50 SCF to about 80 SCF of fluid per pound of carbon
black and the rotational velocity of said annular, spiraling mass
is within the range of about 475 feet per second and about 625 feet
per second.
18. A fluid energy grinder comprising; a. an elongated energy
grinder chamber having a circular cross section bounded by a
peripheral wall; b. an inlet opening for feeding particulate solids
into said circular section of the grinding chamber; c. a plurality
of jet nozzles spaced around the periphery of said grinding chamber
for the injection of a gaseous fluid into said circular section of
the grinding chamber at supersonic velocity, the jet nozzles being
positioned so as to direct said gaseous fluid essentially
tangentially with respect to the peripheral wall of said circular
section of the grinding chamber and also to direct said fluid
essentially transversally with respect to the axis of said circular
section said nozzles being positioned to forcefully propel said
particulate solids against said wall of the grinding chamber by
said injection of the gaseous fluid and thus grind said particulate
solids by violent impact with the wall and by attritive impact
between the particles; and d. discharge means for recovering a
particulate solid and gaseous fluid mixture from the grinding
chamber.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 in which said discharge means
comprises a discharge outlet having a significantly smaller
diameter than said circular section of the chamber into which the
gaseous fluid is injected.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the discharge outlet is
located coaxially with respect to said circular section of the
chamber into which the gaseous fluid is injected tangentially.
21. The apparatus of claim 19 in which the surface of the grinding
chamber tapers gradually and progressively inward to surround said
discharge outlet.
22. The apparatus of claim 18 and including an impervious core
member positioned within said circular section of the grinding
chamber into which the jets of gaseous fluid are injected, said
core having a circular cross section of significantly smaller
outside diameter than the inside diameter of said circular section,
said core being in coaxial relationship with said circular section
and coextensive therewith.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the inlet opening for
feeding particulate solid into the grinding chamber is oriented
coaxially with respect to the grinding chamber.
24. The apparatus of claim 22 in which the inlet opening is located
on the axial center line of the grinding chamber and the impervious
core includes a dome that is axially displaced downstream from said
opening and is adapted to distribute a flow of solid particles
radially uniformly as they flow out of said inlet opening and into
the circular section of the grinding chamber into which the jets of
gaseous fluid is injected and said chamber discharge outlet means
is located downstream with respect to said circular section of the
chamber.
25. The apparatus of claim 22 in which said circular section of the
grinding chamber is essentially a cylindrical section and said core
has an essentially cylindrical outer surface which is coextensive
with the inner wall surface of said cylindrical section.
26. The apparatus of claim 21 including one or more axially
extending vanes which are affixed to the inside wall of the
grinding chamber proximal to said discharge outlet.
Description
This invention relates to size reduction of finely divided solids
by means of fluid-energy grinding of the particles. More
particularly, it relates to fluid-energy milling of essentially dry
particles of a colloidal pigment to reduce agglomerates thereof to
more discrete particles.
Fluid-energy grinding processes are known in which jets of a
gaseous fluid, e.g. air, are injected at supersonic velocity into a
circular grinding section of a milling chamber. The jets are
directed to intersect a hypothetical tangent circle that is of
significantly smaller diameter than the circumferential periphery
of the grinding section of the chamber. Solid particles of the
material to be ground are fed into the grinding section for
entrainment within the jets of gaseous fluid. The velocity of the
gaseous jets is imposed upon the solid particles causing them to
swirl about the axis of the chamber so as to grind themselves by
violent impact with one another.
In such processes, circular grinding chambers of sufficient
diameter and cross-sectional area to permit considerable velocity
gradient across the spiraling mass of gaseous fluid and entrained
solid particles are employed since such operations involve size
classification of particles during the grinding thereof. The coarse
particles migrate to the circumferential periphery of the grinding
chamber while the finer particles migrate toward the center of the
spiral. By employing an axially positioned discharged outlet, the
fine particles are removed from the milling chamber once they have
migrated to the center of the spiral, while the coarser particles
remain toward the outer edge of the spiral until they have been
reduced to a size which permits their migration to the center of
the chamber. By directing jets of gaseous fluid toward a
hypothetical circle which is significantly smaller in diameter than
the internal circumferential periphery of the grinding chamber, but
larger than the diameter of the axial discharge outlet, the
classifying operation is facilitated since the solid particles are
not forcefully directed toward either the outer or inner regions of
the spiral; i.e., the jets are only employed for imparting a
spiraling motion to the mass of particles without impeding their
autoclassification by centrifugal force. The object of this
centrifugal classification of the particles is to prevent
overgrinding of fine particles while permitting coarse particles to
remain in the grinding chamber until they are reduced to fine
particles. Thus, particles can be attrited to a relatively uniform
size with reduced tendency for overgrinding of fine particles and
undergrinding of coarse particles. This feature is particularly
important when the particulate solid material is subject to
progressive reduction in particle size as the attrition continues
and when important physical characteristics of the material are
strongly dependent upon its ultimate particle size, e.g. titanium
dioxide pigments are attrited to reduce their grit content, but
suffer a loss in whitening power if the pigment particles are
overground.
It should be pointed out, however, that it is not important to
prevent overgrinding of some solid materials. The ultimate particle
size of certain colloidal pigments, e.g. fine carbon blacks, is not
reduced to any significant extent even by severe grinding
processes. It may be necessary, however, to subject friable
aggregates or agglomerates of such pigment particles to severe
attrition for disrupting of combined particles into more discrete
particles. In such cases, classification of finer particles toward
the central axis of the chamber for prompt removal from the mill
will serve no useful purpose. If classification of the pigment
particles were deliberately avoided, the kinetic energy of the jets
of gaseous fluid could be more effectively utilized for grinding of
the aggregated or agglomerated particles. Accordingly, the grinding
operation could be carried out with greater speed and with less
expenditure of the gaseous fluid that supplies the kinetic grinding
energy.
It is an object of this invention to provide improved fluid-energy
grinding process and apparatus whereby classification of particles
during the grinding thereof is essentially avoided.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved
fluid-energy grinding process and apparatus that results in more
efficient grinding of particulate solids.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved
fluid-energy grinding process and apparatus for reduction of
friable aggregates or agglomerates of colloidal pigment particles
in order to produce more discrete particles of the pigment.
These and other objects and advantages are obtained by means of the
invention as hereinafter described, the novel features of which are
set forth in appended claims.
In the present invention, plural jets of a gaseous fluid e.g. air,
are injected into a circular grinding chamber a supersonic
velocity, the projection paths of the jets being directed
tangentially with respect to the outer circumferential periphery of
the chamber and essentially transversally with respect to the axis
thereof. The particulate solid material is fed into the chamber and
mixed with the jets of gaseous fluid to form an annular mass which
advances axially through the chamber while spiraling around the
axis thereof. The constituents of this annular, spiraling mass are
maintained away from the axis of the chamber and are confined
within the outer region thereof into which the jets of gaseous
fluid are injected tangentially. The solid particles within the
annular spiraling mass thus remain essentially unclassified during
the attritioning operation. It has been discovered that friable
aggregates, e.g. pellets or agglomerates, of the material can be
more quickly and effectively reduced to discrete particles than
when a milling process involving classification of the particles is
employed.
The annular, spiraling mass of particles and gaseous fluid is
confined toward the internal surface of the circular wall of the
grinding chamber by extreme centrifugal force resulting from the
supersonic tangential injection of the jets of gaseous fluid. In
other words, the centrifugal force exerted upon each of the
particles in the grinding section of the chamber may be so great as
to prevent migration of even the finest particles toward the
central axis of the mill. In most instances, however,
classification of the particles can be more reliably avoided by
employing a grinding chamber having a structurally bounded, annular
cross section so that migration of the smallest particles toward
the axis of the grinding section of the chamber is prevented by an
impervious, circular barrier that surrounds the axis of the
grinding section.
FIG. 1 is a sketch in vertical section of an apparatus of the
present invention; and
FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross section of the apparatus of FIG. 1
along line 2-2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1, a grinding chamber, represented at 1, is enclosed by a
steel casing 2. The grinding chamber has three sections: a dome
section 1a into which solid particles are fed through a coaxial
inlet 3, a generally cylindrical section 1b in which jets of
gaseous fluid and a flowing stream of solid particles are combined
to form an annular, spiraling mass and wherein attritioning of the
particles occurs, and a converging frustoconical section 1c wherein
the spiraling annular mass is constricted and then passed out of
the chamber through a coaxial discharge outlet 4. Jets of a gaseous
fluid are fed into the section 1b at supersonic velocity through
nozzles 5. As shown in the drawings, an impervious core member 6 is
positioned centrally within the circular section 1b. The core
member has an essentially circular cross section of significantly
smaller diameter than section 1b, is coaxial with respect to that
section, and has a surface 6a which is coextensive with wall
section 2a to create an annular space 1b.sup.1 within the grinding
chamber. The core member is rigidly suspended within the grinding
chamber by means of struts 7.
In operation, a continuous flowing stream of solid particles is fed
into the grinding chamber through inlet 3. The stream of flowing
particles impinges upon dome 8 of the core member 6. The particles
then flow outwardly over the surface of the dome and are
distributed essentially uniformly radially into the annular space
1b.sup.1 where they become mixed with supersonic jets of gaseous
fluid introduced into the chamber through the nozzles 5. The
projection paths of nozzles, represented by the broken lines 5 a,
are directed essentially tangentially with respect to the internal
surface of the casing 2 which surrounds the annular space 1b.sup.1
and essentially transversely with respect to the axis of section 1
b of the grinding chamber. The spiral of gaseous fluid and solid
particles formed in annular space 1b.sup.1 rotates at very high
velocity, and the particles are attrited by impacting against one
another and by striking the casing wall 2 a surrounding the annular
space. As the operation proceeds, the annular, spiraling mass
advances axially toward the discharge outlet and is gradually and
progressively constricted within the frustoconical section 1c,
prior to discharge from the outlet 4, without immediate
fractionation of the ground particles and gaseous fluid.
It should be pointed out that in the apparatus of FIG. 1
attritioning of the particles occurs essentially within the annular
space 1b.sup.1. Grinding of the particles is effected at least in
part by the forceful propulsion thereof against the inner surface
of the essentially cylindrical section of wall 2 a which surround
the annular section 1b.sup.1 of the grinding chamber. It will also
be appreciated that attritive impact between particles is
considerably enhanced by the fact that they are not permitted to
disperse across the full diameter of the chamber during grinding
since they are crowded together for intimate contact with one
another within annular space 1 b.sup.1, and are thus maintained
away from the axis of the grinding section of the chamber by the
core member 6. Accordingly, any fine particles which tend to
migrate toward the axis of the chamber is in section 1 b are
instead maintained within the violently turbulent region which
exists in the annular space 1b.sup.1 by means of the essentially
cylindrical surface 6 a of the core member which runs coextensively
with the wall section 2a of the grinding chamber.
It will thus become apparent that the essence of the invention is
formation of an annular, spiraling mass of solid particles and
gaseous fluid wherein the particles are ground in an unclassified
state while being confined to the outer wall of the annular section
of the grinding chamber while the mass is violently agitated and
caused to swirl by tangential injection of the gaseous fluid at
supersonic velocity. After attrition of the particles is completed,
the annular, spiraling mass may conveniently be constricted to a
smaller cross-sectional area as, for example, by means of the
convergent frustoconical section as shown in the drawing or by
means of a flat orifice plate. This feature serves primarily to
reduce the diameter of the off-take conduit from the grinding
chamber when the mill is relatively large. When smaller diameter
mills are employed, no reduction in the cross section of the mill
chamber is necessarily required. Furthermore, the ground particles
may be at least partially fractionated from the gaseous chamber
before discharge from the grinding chamber, but from the standpoint
of compactness and simplicity of design, the chamber may be
provided with only one discharge outlet for removal of solids and
gas without any intermediate fractionation thereof. Accordingly,
the gas-solids mixture may be passed to an external separator and
collector, e.g. a cyclone, bag filter or a combination thereof, for
fractionation of the mixture after removal from the grinding
chamber.
Any suitable means may be employed for feeding a stream of solid
particles into the grinding chamber. The particles, may for
instance, be premixed with the gaseous fluid which is injected
tangentially into the chamber for formation of the annular and
spiral therein or it may be introduced separately and axially as
shown in the drawings. In FIG. 1, an eductor, generally represented
at 9, may be employed for propelling the solid particles into the
chamber. Thus, a jet of gaseous fluid is blasted from nozzle 10
into the throat 11 of the eductor so that the solid particles are
aspirated from a feed conduit 12 and propelled into the chamber
through inlet 3. However, a series of axially extending vanes 13
may be installed proximal to the discharge outlet of the chamber to
disrupt the annular spiraling flow of the gas-solids mass and thus
convert the flow to a more linear pattern. When this is done, the
resistance to axial flow of the mass through the grinding chamber
may be relieved to the extent that a negative pressure is created
at the solids inlet of the chamber. The mill can thus be made
self-feeding with respect to the solid particles.
The invention may be utilized for the grinding of any suitable
frangible solid particles which are subject to size reduction of
the ultimate particles by means of the fluid-energy principle, e.g.
ores, coal, clay, cement, sandstone or the like. It may also be
used to particular advantage for grinding colloidal pigments such
as carbon black in order to reduce friable aggregates or
agglomerates of the particles to more discrete particles. The
particles may be fed to the grinding chamber as free flowing
granules or a powder. Fine particles which have been formed into
macroscopic pellets may also be used as the feed provided the
pellets are sufficiently friable for rapid redispersion of the
particles by means of the grid grinding action of the invention.
Thus, powders of very fine colloidal pigment particles may be
treated in the grinding chamber for reduction of agglomerates of
the particles to more discrete particles, and where preferable and
practical, the powder may be previously pelletized since both
pellets and agglomerates may be reduced to unusually discrete
particulation.
The gaseous fluid which is injected supersonically and tangentially
into the grinding chamber may be any gas or vapor which is not
detrimentally reactive with the solid being ground. The choice
thereof will otherwise be influenced by availability and cost.
Thus, air or steam may frequently be used to particular advantage
since they are most economical and readily available in a highly
compressed state. Other gaseous fluids may also be employed where
preferable and practical. Furthermore, a chemical treating agent
may be introduced into the grinding chamber along with the gaseous
fluid and the solid particles when it is desirable to combine the
particles with a gas or vapor for further improving the properties
of the material being ground. The chemical agent may, therefore, be
combined with the solid particles by reaction, absorption or
adsorption while the particles are being ground within the milling
chamber. The type of chemical treating agent which is employed in
such cases will, of course, depend upon the material being ground
and the nature of the property alteration sought, but it will be
readily apparent that a large variety of treating agents such as
oxidants, surfactants and the like may be added to the milling
chamber in order to achieve high efficacious contact between the
treating agent and the solid particles.
The proportion of gaseous fluid to solid particles which are fed
into the mill and the minimum rotational velocity necessary to
effect grinding within the milling chamber cannot be stated in
general terms since the essential dynamic conditions vary within
such factors as changes in the type of materials fed to the mill,
the desired end result, the design and size of the mill, and to
some extent the severity of grinding that is required to achieve a
particular fineness level in the finished product.
When the grinding chamber is provided with an impervious core
member as shown in FIG. 1, the diameter of the core member should
be sufficiently large to significantly reduce the unobstructed
cross-sectional area of the chamber. Advantageously the outside
diameter of the impervious core member, at the grinding section of
the mill chamber, will be at least about one-half the diameter of
the grinding section.
Since grinding of the solid particles is effected to a considerable
extent by violent impact of the particles with the section of the
grinding chamber wall which surrounds the annular space 1b, the
inside surface of the wall section 2a should be abrasion resistant,
e.g. provided with a coating or liner of extremely hard material.
The remainder of the mill can be fabricated entirely from easily
workable and readily available materials such as mild steel or
stainless steel.
The injector nozzles 5 need not have any special internal
configuration such as tapered inlet and outlet bores which
intercommunicate through a cylindrical neck. A straight cylindrical
bore throughout the length of the nozzle is satisfactory in the
present invention for conveying the gaseous grinding fluid into the
milling chamber at supersonic velocity, but as previously
indicated, the projection paths of the nozzles should be directed
to intersect the inside surface of the grinding chamber wall
essentially tangentially, i.e. the angle of intersection should not
vary from tangential by more than about 10.degree. and preferably
no more than 5.degree. or less. In addition, the projection paths
of the nozzles should be directed essentially transversally with
respect to the axis of the milling chamber, i.e. no more than
.+-.45.degree. from perpendicular with respect to the axis and
preferably no more than .+-.20.degree. or less.
When employing the invention for the grinding of carbon blacks in
order to reduce friable agglomerates of the particles into more
discrete particles, it has been found that a mill constructed
substantially in accordance with FIG. 1 will perform best with air
when injected at a velocity within the range of about mach 2 to
mach 3, the proportion of air to carbon black which is fed
tangentially into the grinding chamber is within the range of about
50 to 80 SCF (cubic feet measured at standard conditions) per pound
of black which is fed to the chamber, and the rotational velocity
of the annular spiraling mass within the grinding section of the
chamber is within the range of about 475 to about 625 feet per
second.
As has been previously pointed out, the present invention may be
used to particular advantage in the fluid energy grinding of
pigments such as carbon black since classification of the particles
during grinding --as occurs in prior mills --is deliberately
avoided and the kinetic energy of the gaseous grinding fluid is,
therefore, much more efficiently utilized for attrition of the
agglomerates. More specifically, carbon blacks having a 20--
30percent by weight content of agglomerates in excess of about 1
micron diameter can be treated to reduce the content of
agglomerates above about 1 micron diameter to less than 10 percent
by weight.
In carrying out the following experiments, a fluid energy mill
constructed essentially in accordance with FIG. 1 was employed. The
internal diameter of the grinding section 1b was 13 inches and the
outside diameter of the cylindrical surface 6a of the core member
was 85/8 inches. The length of cylindrical surface 6a was 4 inches
and the overall length of the grinding chamber was 185/8 inches.
The inlet 3 had a diameter of 2 inches and the outlet 4 had a
diameter of 6 inches. The grinding chamber was provided with four
vanes 13, as shown, each measuring 1/4 .times. 2 .times. 6 inches.
Eight nozzles were equispaced around the circumference of the
grinding chamber, each having a straight bore of 1/2 inches
diameter .times. 3 inches length. The projection path of each
nozzle was tangential with respect to the internal surface 2a of
section 1b of the grinding chamber and transversal with respect to
the axis of that section. No eductor 9 was employed for feeding the
carbon black into the mill, since it fed itself by aspiration
through inlet 3.
In the first example, two commercial grades of carbon black were
attrited in the fluid-energy mill of the present invention and two
prior-art mills constructed and operated generally in accordance
with processes described in reference to FIG. 8-51 (Process A) and
FIG. 8-52 (Process B) in Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook,
Fourth Edition. The carbon blacks which were employed in the
example are marketed under the proprietary trade names Raven 40 and
Peerless 155, the former being a medium-flow, low-structure furnace
black and the latter a long-flow, low-structure furnace black. Both
blacks were ground into each mill, using compressed air as the
grinding fluid, to effect a specific degree of grinding as
indicated by the dispersing characteristics of the attrited
products in an ink vehicle. Operating conditions and results are
shown in Table I. ##SPC1##
In order to obtain the Comparative Dispersion Rating of a black,
the following tests are run in accordance with well known PC and
NPIRI Production Grindometer procedures: 1. PC Microns 2. Sand
25.0--10. Microns 3. Sand 10.0-- 0 Microns 4. Scratches 4(in
microns) 5. Scratches 10 (in microns) The Comparative Dispersion
Rating is then determined by means of the following formula: CDR
No. percent = 250 - (the sum of the numerical values obtained is
tests 1,2, 3, 4, and 5, above) .times. 0.4. Higher CDR numbers are
associated with better dispersion; hence, any improvement in the
dispersability of a black in indicated by an increase in its CDR
value.
In obtaining CDR values shown in Table I, each black was milled for
one pass at 22 percent loading in Litho 3 vehicle on a 4 inch,
three-roll laboratory mill set at 350 p.s.i. In commercial
practice, an ink mix is subjected to multiple passes on a
three-roll mill to achieve an optimum dispersion level.
Multiple-pass mixing tends to negate any differences in dispersion
which can be determined from the aforementioned tests, and it is,
therefore, more meaningful to determine the test values after one
pass when the purpose of the tests is to compare the grinding
efficiency to one fluid-energy milling method against another. It
will be appreciated, however, than when higher CDR values are
obtained on the first pass, less total milling of the mix is
required to achieve the specific level of dispersion required in
the finished ink compound.
As can be seen from Table I, the Raven 40 carbon black was attrited
to equivalent dispersion levels by all three grinding methods, but
it is especially significant that the black could be ground at a
much higher rate with the present invention while feeding the mill
a substantially lower proportion of air to carbon black. The same
type of results were obtained with the Peerless 155 black, and even
though an insufficient ratio of air to black was used with Process
B to obtain an equivalent level of dispersion as with Process A and
the present process, it may be assumed that use of a lower ratio
would not have provided equivalent dispersion, since in all trial
cases with both Processes A and B, progressive reduction in the
air-to-black ratio resulted in proportional reduction of the CDR
values of the attrited black.
In another example, the present invention was employed for grinding
Peerless 155 carbon black which had been converted into pellets by
a dry pelletizing process, intending to demonstrate that the
pellets could be efficiently reduced back to a powder while at the
same time reducing agglomerates, which existed in the original
powder, to more discrete particles. Using the mill previously
described, the pellets were fed to the grinding chamber at the rate
of 1,200 lbs. per hour while air was introduced at the rate of
1,600 SCFM. The resultant milled product is shown in Table II
compared to an attrited Peerless 155 carbon black which had been
fed to the mill as a powder rather than pellets. The same feed rate
of black and air was employed with both powder and pellets.
##SPC2## Note: Both samples 22percent loading in Litho 3, one pass
on three-roll mill.
Thus, as can be seen from Table II, equivalent dispersion was
obtained for the Peerless 155 black, when milled in accordance with
the present invention, whether fed to the mill in the form of dry
pellets or powder. Additional tests showed that these two milled
products also had equivalent ABC color value and wetting time.
These are most unexpected results in view of the fact that it was
necessary in the milling process to reduce the pellets
(macroscopic, i.e. 35 to 60mesh, U.S. Standard) back to powder
before the agglomerates (microscopic, i.e. 1 to 20Microns) could be
reduced to a more discrete particulation which assured excellent
dispersibility in an ink compound.
It will be understood that various changes and modifications in the
details and arrangement of parts and materials, which have been
herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of
the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the
principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended
claims.
* * * * *