Ceramic Ball in Cement Industry

Special Ceramic Media for Cement Production
Co-authors: Carlos Fernández – Zhu Hui

Company: SATAREM FRANCE
1. Preface
Despite the progress in technology for cement fabrication each ton of cement will consume
about 90Kwh electricity to be produced, how to decrease is the aim of cement producer all
over the world. Now a new kind of grinding media has been developed, that is a kind of
ceramic ball specially engineered for the cement industry.
This kind of special ceramic grinding media is from non-organic, non-metal material where
the main components is 95-98% Al2O3 with material density of 3.6-3.8g/cm3. However the
most important features are as follows:
 It has high hardness, around HRA 85-90 or in Mohs hardness it can be Grade 9, just
close to diamond.
 Abrasive performance is 266 times less than ZGMn13 or 171 times lower than high
Chrome cast metal.
This application is present in the biggest cement market in the world: China, where
companies like SATAREM have applied in more than 30 cement plants achieving great
success including:
1. Decrease mill current: as high as 15-30% reduction
2. Decrease chrome content in cement: over 50% reduction
3. Cement temperature: 10-20 oC reductions
2. Working Principle
Why ceramic grinding medium can decrease mill current and save electricity? Grinding
media has two main functions in cement mill, one is crushing, the other is grinding. When
clinker and additive, gypsum enter cement mill coarse grinding media crushes material, once
cement reaches an acceptable size it will be grinded by fine grinding media.
In the first stage, cement particle is large therefore crushing is the main function whilst in the
second stage cement particle size is very small (Blaine is more than 2000cm 2/g) grinding
becomes the main function.
In the first chamber we need grinding media has a high density so that it can impact the
cement material and make it to crushed. But in the second chamber, because cement
powder is very fine, the density of grinding media is not important any more, here what is
important its surface area. Grinding media in second chamber shall have high surface area
and be hard enough to grind cement.
So if we keep using metal ball in the first chamber while we apply ceramic ball in the second
chamber we can get the same grinding effect. But because ceramic ball has almost half of
density of metal balls the total weight of grinding media inside mill will decrease 15-30%,
1
hence mill motor current will decrease accordingly.
Fig. 1. Ceramic media applied in cement mills
On the other hand, in order to increase the abrasion resistance and hardness of metal ball
Chrome content is usually increased which could lead to Chrome pollution as this element
will enter cement during grinding procedure. While ceramic ball doesn’t need Chrome to
increase hardness its hardness is better than metal ball. We can decrease Chrome pollution
by eliminating Chrome from 2nd chamber.
3. Advantages of Ceramic Media

The advantages of special ceramic ball in cement are as follows:
1) Simplification: No need to increase equipment in process just some minor modifications
in mill internals and replacing the grinding media in second chamber. Works could be
done during maintenance monthly stoppage; neither equipment investment nor civil
works are required.
2) Highly Effective: Because density of ceramic ball is only half of metal ball, mill load can
be decreased substantially and therefore mill motor current can be decreased by 15-
30%.
3) Lower pollution: as mentioned above Chrome pollution can be reduced by this
technology.
4) Long lifetime of grinding media: Because ceramic ball has high hardness and is more
resistant to abrasion the worn of ceramic ball is much less than metal ball.
5) Better cement quality: Ceramic ball can overcome over-grinding in cement mill because
its light density. The percentage of size in 0-2 μm will decrease while 3-40 μm will
increase, as a result water in mortar can be decreased and cement performance in
general will improve.
4. Preconditions for Special Ceramic Media
2
Ceramic media for cement mills has some preconditions to work in an optimal way. These
preconditions are as follows:
a) Input Fineness. Ceramic ball will perform very well when the Blaine of cement is more
than 2000cm2/gr. Because density of ceramic ball is lighter its crushing capability is less
than steel ball. If cement Blaine is less than 2000cm 2/gr it will need more crushing
function, which is why ceramic media is more suitable on second mill chamber.
b) Feed Moisture. Cement raw materials combined moisture shall be less than 2.0%
preferably otherwise cement powder will cover the surface of ceramic ball, this
phenomena known as coating will decrease grinding capability of ceramic media.
5. Applications in Cement Industry

So far ceramic media has been applied in different cement grinding configuration ranging
from simple open circuit to complex close circuits with roller press. In all cases ceramic
media has improved circuit performance and cement quality.
a) Open circuit: Mill size Φ3.2x13m
Steel balls Ceramic balls Change

b)
Output: 50-54t/h 50-54t/h =
Mill current: 100A 80A 20%
Weigh in 3rd chamber 68tons 44tons 35%
Closed circuit: mill size Φ3.2x13m

Output: 68-70t/h 70-72t/h 3%
3
c) Two steps open circuit: mill size #2 -Φ2.2x6.5m

Output: 18-20t/h 20-22t/h 10%
Weigh in 2nd mill 30tons 17tons 43%
d) Open circuit with roller: mill size Φ3.8x13m
4
5
e) Output: 105-110t/h 100-105t/h 5%
Closed circuit with roller: mill size Φ3.8x13m

Output: 142-150t/h 137-144t/h 3%
Mill current:
6. Conclusion 221A 146A 28%
Weigh 2nd chamber 126tons 80tons 37%
Applications prove special ceramic ball is a good and modern resource for cement industry
manufacturers. It can decrease electricity consumption dramatically and can be applied in all
kind of ball milling process although some pre-conditions shall be respected in order to
assure better results. It’s quite simple to modification and can achieve good effectiveness.
Date: June 2017

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Special Ceramic Media for Cement Production

Co-authors: Carlos Fernández – Zhu Hui

Fig. 1. Ceramic media applied in cement mills

3. Advantages of Ceramic Media

4. Preconditions for Special Ceramic Media

5. Applications in Cement Industry

a) Open circuit: Mill size Φ3.2x13m

Steel balls Ceramic balls Change

Closed circuit: mill size Φ3.2x13m

Steel balls Ceramic balls Change

Steel balls Ceramic balls Change

d) Open circuit with roller: mill size Φ3.8x13m

Closed circuit with roller: mill size Φ3.8x13m

Steel balls Ceramic balls Change

Date: June 2017

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