A quantitative study between HPGR and cone crusher aided ball mill grinding: mathematical modeling by evaluating the possible microfracture effect produced by HPGR technology and cone crusher

High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) have been used in the mining industry for decades. However, there are limited quantifications of the particle properties after comminution. Furthermore, the influence of microcracks in grinding provided by this technology has not been extensively quantified. In the recent work, there were two comminution paths tested: 1 (Jaw crusher + cone crusher + ball mill) and 2 (Jaw crusher + HPGR + ball mill). The possible weakening effect aiding ball mill grinding due to microcracks of HPGR path was shown via specific energy, fines generation and breakage rate measurements. To achieve a quantification about the impact of microcracks and the high rate of reduction rate of HPGR technology, first the product was reconstructed using Rosin Rammler's Weibull double formula and the similar particle size distribution was obtained by a conventional cone crusher. By this way the feed size distribution to the grinding stage remained constant regardless of the type of crushing process (HPGR or cone crusher). The results showed that the microfractures generated by the HPGR technology influence the specific energy consumption, fines generation and breakage rates. Ball mill after HPGR consumed 12.46 kWh/t of specific energy, however ball mill after cone crusher consumed 14.36 kWh/t of specific energy. The experimental methodology proposed in this paper maintains a consistent feed size range (-1500 to +41.31 µm) to show that the size reduction observed in the sample undergoing HPGR grinding is not the primary factor contributing to reduced energy consumption and increased fines generation. Instead, it is predominantly associated with the microfractures generated through the compression in HPGR technology; the energy reduction (optimization) of a grinding path is shown in the study.