Function Drives Design

A Complete Guide to Toll Processing

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 13:21:44 GMT

Are you considering paying for toll process services? If so, you likely have questions about the benefits of toll processing, how it works and whether it is a good fit.

In this guide, we will explain the difference between contract and toll manufacturing, the advantages of working with a toll manufacturer and how to choose the right toll processing partner for your business.

What Is Toll Processing?

Toll manufacturers are a third party that takes material supplies and treats them to create a desired product. Some toll manufacturing examples include grinding, blending, coating, drying or packaging a product. Materials often treated by toll processors include carbon black , colored pigments , pharmaceuticals, food, fertilizer, recycling , spices, cannabis, grain and more.

Unlike contract manufacturing, toll manufacturers do not source the material they treat. Instead, they receive supplies from the original manufacturer and then take products to the next step as part of a larger production line. The term “toll” comes from the fee manufacturers pay for this service.

Benefits of Toll Manufacturing

There are many benefits to working with a toll processing manufacturer. Here are the top five to consider:

Cost efficiency: Partnering with a toll manufacturer can save the cost of investing in specialized machinery and laborers.
Professional experience: When you hire a toll manufacturer, you gain access to their years of experience and training.
Quality control: One of the best benefits of working with a toll manufacturer is confidence in your product quality.
Scalability: A toll manufacturer can handle a wide range of material loads, allowing you to scale up your business as it grows.
Expanded services: With their equipment and expertise, toll manufacturers equip you to offer more to your clients.

If these benefits sound exciting to you, then outsourcing toll manufacturing may be the right choice for your company.

Contract Manufacturer vs. Toll Manufacturer

Toll manufacturers are a type of contract manufacturer, or a company that provides a paid service for the manufacturing industry. However, there are key differences between contract and toll manufacturers:

Contract manufacturers source, purchase and treat materials for a manufacturing customer.
Toll manufacturers process materials sent by a manufacturing customer. They do not also source materials.

When you work with a toll manufacturer, you can expect them to provide high-quality services that improve your product. However, it is your responsibility to source and send them the product that you would like them to treat.

What Is a Tolling Agreement in Manufacturing?

A tolling agreement is another term for working with a toll processing company. These agreements include several steps:

You send raw materials to a third party, the toll processing company.
The toll manufacturer treats materials as agreed.
You pay them a toll for their work.

This kind of agreement benefits many manufacturers because it outsources specific tasks they cannot complete on their own.

The Toll Grinding Process

Working with a toll manufacturer is simple. Before you contract with a company, always research their track record. Find out how past customers have felt and why they are a good fit for your needs.

Once you have chosen the right company, follow these basic steps:

Sourcing: You supply the raw materials and production request to a toll processing company of your choice.
Contract: Before work begins, you agree on terms like pricing, deadlines and quality standards.
Manufacturing: The toll processing manufacturer treats your materials per the agreement.
Quality control: Quality checks ensure your product standards have been met.
Delivery: After work is complete, the toll processor will send the products back to you.

You can hire a toll processing company to complete a single step or many steps, depending on your product and the company's capabilities. For example, you might hire a toll manufacturer to dry materials, clean and reduce them with a wet slurry and then dry them again before delivery.

Types of Toll Grinding

There are three kinds of toll grinding, depending on the material that is being treated. They include dry, wet and cryogenic toll processing. Not every material breaks down with the same treatment, and different equipment is required for each kind of toll manufacturing.

Dry Toll Processing

This kind of treatment uses air to separate and treat materials. Dry processing is commonly used for products like minerals, metal ores, recycling and construction materials. It is also sometimes used to dry out materials during a multi-step process.

Because dry processing does not require wastewater disposal, it minimizes the environmental impact of material processing and is cost-effective. However, it does have limitations for particle size. If a material cannot be effectively separated by air, you can use wet or cryogenic toll processing to break it down.

Wet Toll Processing

As the name suggests, this type of processing uses water and other liquids to treat and refine materials. Wet toll processing is often used to treat precious metals, aggregates, industrial materials, recycled items and construction materials. Goals include washing, separating and concentrating materials.

Water is excellent for separating materials based on particle size, and it often leads to higher recovery rates of valuable materials than dry processing. However, it uses a significant amount of water. Managing the wastewater and slurries in an environmentally friendly way can be challenging and costly.

Cryogenic Toll Processing

This process uses cryogenic temperatures to make materials brittle , so they are easier to break down and separate. If materials do not respond well to dry or wet processing, they often will respond well to cryogenic processing. Materials commonly processed this way include thermoplastics, rubber, metals and pharmaceuticals.

Cryogenic toll processing creates quality products that are highly consistent. It can be used to treat many types of materials, and it works especially well for sensitive products like plastics and pharmaceuticals. However, the equipment can be costly, and it is a high-energy approach.

Choosing the Right Toll Processing Partner

Finding the right toll processing partner starts with knowing your needs. What kind of manufacturing tasks would you like to outsource? If you would like a third party to also supply your materials, it may be best to work with a contract manufacturer rather than a toll manufacturer.

Consider what kind of toll processing your material needs. Will it break down with dry, wet or cryogenic processing? Do you need the material to be dried, separated, ground or something else? You can speak with toll processing companies to determine what approach is the right fit for your product.

Before contracting with a company, always do research on their track record, expertise and quality control systems. It is not worth trusting your product to a toll processor who does not meet your standards for quality. Trustworthy toll processing manufacturers will be transparent about their pricing, capabilities and communication.

Find Toll Grinding Services at Pulva Corporation

Looking for size reduction manufacturing services? At Pulva Corporation, we have been serving the manufacturing industry since 1938. We are the leading global manufacturer of quality pulverizing equipment, and we also offer toll processing services. When you work with us, you can access the highest quality equipment, experienced employees and an excellent final product.

Our state-of-the-art equipment includes pulverizers, grinders, auxiliary equipment and replacement parts. We offer different types of grinders, including cryogenic grinders, depending on the materials you need to break down at our facility.

Your Guide to Different Types of Size Reduction Equipment

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 13:06:23 GMT

Size reduction equipment is essential to various industries, from food processing to pharmaceuticals. These machines are pivotal to breaking down solid materials into smaller particles to enable further processing.

Each type of size reduction equipment provides unique capabilities to tackle specific applications and support efficiency. This guide will discuss the different options available and how to select the right one.

What Is Particle Size Reduction Equipment?

Size reduction equipment grinds or crushes materials to reduce their size. The principle of size reduction machinery is to make solid materials into fine particles or smaller pieces, often to increase the material's surface area and improve subsequent processing steps.

For example, this process can enhance product quality, enable easier transport or organization, drive extraction or enable component separation. It is vital for many industries and applications, including food processing, mining, chemical manufacturing, recycling, pharmaceuticals and more.

Each type of size reduction machinery features a specific grinding capacity or throughput while considering factors including desired particle sizes, volume and moisture content.

Generally, these machines use the following primary mechanisms to reduce particle size:

Compression: Machines with jaw-like components can crush materials between two surfaces.
Impact: Some equipment uses rotating components to strike raw materials, shattering them into finer particles.
Shearing: Size reduction equipment can utilize rotating blades or other cutting tools to shear materials.
Attrition: Rubbing or grinding materials together can reduce particle size through force and friction.

Importance of Size Reduction Equipment

Size reduction equipment is widely used across various industries due to the advantages of leveraging small, more manageable particle sizes. Benefits of size reduction equipment include:

Improved material handling: Smaller-sized particles empower easier transport and handling, reducing the resources and energy necessary to process materials.
Faster processing times: Reduced particle sizes allow teams to shorten times in subsequent process steps. For example, extraction, heating and mixing processes can be much more efficient with finer particles.
Increased surface area: Finer particles have a larger surface area relative to volume, enhancing efficiency and reactivity in chemical processes. Smaller sizes can also lead to quicker dissolution and improved size distribution, often necessary for pharmaceutical applications.
Uniformity and consistency: Reducing particles into uniform sizes can help ensure product quality throughout manufacturing processes. Additionally, consistent particle sizes can guide predictable performance through compaction, blending and granulation.

The 4 Types of Size Reduction Equipment

There are four main types of size reduction equipment — crushers, grinders, pulverizers and mills. Below, you can learn more about each option.

1. Impact Crushers

Crushers are among the most popular size reduction equipment. The most common applications of size reduction crushers include reducing large rocks into smaller pieces, gravel or rock dust. These machines can compress or break soft and hard products like limestone, phosphate, gypsum, ore and asphalt. Specific types of crushers include:

Jaw crushers: This equipment has one stationary and one moving jaw. The moving jaw attaches to an eccentric shaft, allowing it to move up and down. Operators can adjust the jaw movement and gape to suit the material they feed into the machine and their desired output.
Cone crushers: Cone crushers are ideal for reducing the size of medium to very hard materials. This equipment is common in mining applications using copper and iron ore. Road construction teams can also use these machines to crush building materials like asphalt and concrete.

2. Industrial Grinding Machines

Grinding equipment reduces large quantities of material into smaller sizes. It differs from crushers in several ways. Grinders can create finer, more uniform particles, while crushers turn materials into more manageable pieces. Additionally, grinders are often more suitable for softer materials, such as plastics, chemicals and grains, while crushers can handle harder materials like rocks and minerals.

Grinding equipment is common for several applications, such as grinding grains, milling coal and producing powders. Common types of grinding machines include:

Ball mills: Ball mills can handle large materials. This equipment relies on rotation speed, ball size and material type to create smaller particles. Industries that commonly use this equipment include pharmaceuticals, ceramics, mining and paint manufacturing.
Pigment grinders: Pigment grinding machines make milling processes and pigment refinement possible. This equipment is common in the cosmetics, plastics, pharmaceuticals, paint and food industries where food or product colors are essential.

3. Pulverizers

A pulverizing system is often an umbrella term to describe size reduction equipment. This broad category encompasses impact mills, crushers and grinding mills. Two notable categories of pulverizers include:

Disc mills: This equipment uses two horizontal discs to grind materials. One disc is stationary, while the other rotates. As operators feed material into the machine, compression and mechanical shearing reduce particle size.
Vibratory disc mills: Vibratory disc mills can grind dry materials into fine particles and powders. These machines use high-frequency vibrations to achieve fine grinding. Some machines offer adjustable vibration frequencies to optimize grinding performance.

4. Mills

Mill machines pulverize materials in multiple ways. This equipment is beneficial for mining, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and food processing industries. Common types to note include:

Roller mills: This equipment features two or more cylindrical rollers that grind and crush materials as they rotate. Common applications for these mills include producing powdered minerals and milling grains like corn and wheat.
Cutting mills: Cutting mills are common in the food industry and for applications needing to cut soft to medium-hard materials. These machines often feature cutting plates and a high-speed rotor for size reduction.
Hammer mills: There are several types of hammer mills , including lump breakers, full circle, gravity discharge, pneumatic discharge and horizontal in-feed hammer mills. Generally, this type of equipment is suitable for food product grinding, recycling and scrapping, powder production, dissolution and energy source reduction.

Choosing the Right Equipment

While each type of pulverization equipment can reduce particle size, finding the right machine for your specific operations is crucial. Consider these factors when deciding which equipment is right for your applications:

Material type: One of your first considerations should be material type. Different machines are suitable for materials of varying toughness. Consider whether you are working with soft or hard materials to narrow your search.
Desired particle size: Particle size distribution is another important element because some equipment can make more uniform particles than others. Additionally, smaller particles are often more manageable to work with and can quicken other processes, so understand your size needs.
Production volume: Production volume is crucial because this metric will provide insights into metrics like capacity requirements and operational efficiency. Additionally, choosing equipment that scales up or down to suit your business needs is important.
Manufacturer: The equipment manufacturer should also play a part in your decision. Consulting with manufacturers like Pulva for expert advice can help you find the right machine and ensure you have the support you need to overcome challenges and optimize operational efficiency.

Find Quality Pulverizing Equipment From Pulva Corporation

For nearly 80 years, our mission at Pulva has been to provide quality equipment and services to industries needing particle size reduction. Our complete line of pulverizing milling solutions empowers businesses across industries to complete operations efficiently.

With ultramodern manufacturing equipment, knowledgeable team members and state-of-the-art facilities, you can rely on us to find lasting solutions and deliver exceptional support. Connect with a member of the Pulva team to learn more about our tailored recommendations for your business.

Dry vs. Wet Pulverization — Key Differences and Industry Applications

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 13:04:50 GMT

Wet and dry pulverization create countless products people use daily, from cold medicine to breakfast cereal. Across various industries, pulverization is crucial for achieving the correctly sized particles to form new materials. Learn more about these distinct methods to determine which suits your business operations better.

Introduction to Pulverization Methods

Wet and dry pulverization methods have distinct differences, advantages and industry-specific applications. You must understand these techniques to make informed decisions.

What Is Pulverization?

Pulverization uses a hammer mill to turn materials into fine particles. There are two primary grinding or milling methods — wet and dry. Facilities can pulverize materials such as ceramics, paints, grains, herbs, ore and medicines. The pulverization process is crucial for many industries, including construction, pharmaceuticals, mining, chemical, food processing and plastics.

Overview of Dry vs. Wet Milling

The fundamental principles, processes and outcomes of dry and wet pulverization are critical when considering which method will benefit your operations. While wet grinding uses recirculation, dry pulverization occurs in a single-pass process that forces materials to strike against machine components to break into smaller particles. Wet pulverization can take hours to achieve the desired size.

Understanding Dry Pulverizing

Though there are multiple types of hammer mills , the general pulverization process involves feeding material into the machine, which uses high-speed hammer blows to disintegrate and shatter the material. While hammer mills are popular for dry pulverization, crushers and mixer grinders are also suitable for some applications, such as reducing dense materials or preparing spice powders.

This process allows businesses to see benefits such as simplified workflows, non-contact pulverization in a closed vessel, low energy consumption, sustainability for moisture-sensitive materials and easy-to-control particle sizes. Industries that can use dry pulverizing include power generation, cosmetics, food, recycling, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Specific applications for dry pulverizing also exist in agriculture, construction and mining.

Though there are benefits to this method, there are also several disadvantages.

Heat generation: The grinding equipment and particles create friction. The resulting heat can be unsuitable for some materials, potentially leading to chemical reactions, volatile component loss or material degradation.
Aggregation: In some cases, the particles may stick together inside the machine, reducing product quality and leading to uneven particle size distribution.
Equipment wear: Because the dry pulverization process is abrasive, some materials can cause premature equipment wear, potentially leading to increased costs for maintenance, tools and machinery.
Material contamination: Some materials may attract impurities from the grinding equipment. Dry grinding also generates dust that contaminates products and the environment and can cause unhealthy working conditions.

Exploring Wet Pulverizing

Wet grinding processes rely on water and other liquids to break particles into smaller sizes in a chamber with a rotating abrasive wheel. The liquid lubricates and reduces heat.

Wet pulverization has many applications, such as herb grinding, grain milling, processing minerals and ores, food processing, liquid formulations, producing pastes, creating suspensions, dispersing pigments, extracting bioactive compounds, producing ceramic powders and dyeing or finishing textiles.

Some of this process' most significant benefits include the following.

Enhanced particle size: Wet pulverizing can achieve smaller particles than dry pulverization methods. The final product is also often more uniform than dry pulverization products, which is essential for pharmaceuticals , cosmetics and other industries.
Reduced fire hazards: The liquid within the grinding chamber is a lubricant and a coolant. This solution reduces thermal damage to materials and minimizes fire risks associated with high heat production in the dry pulverization process.
Less dust and contamination: Unlike dry pulverizing, wet methods do not create dust. This benefit can reduce product contamination and create safer and more comfortable working environments.
Increased energy efficiency: Wet grinding can be more energy-efficient in some cases because the liquid in the chamber reduces friction and improves the process. As a result, some businesses may realize higher cost savings.
Material versatility: Some materials are difficult to process in dry form. For example, fibrous or sticky materials can be challenging to pulverize with dry methods. Wet pulverization can handle these materials, offering a broader range of applications across industries.

Wet vs. Dry Grinding for Various Industries

Ultimately, dry and wet pulverization benefit several industries, and determining which method is better for your operations will depend on several aspects.

Application: A material's final application is often the most critical factor. For example, wet milling is the method to choose if you need tiny particles or more uniform products.
Size: Wet milling can pulverize particles to the nanometer range, if necessary.
Cost: You should consider long-term benefits and initial cost investments when evaluating cost. Wet pulverization is often more costly upon initial purchase but can provide more energy efficiency and experience less equipment wear over time, leading to increased future savings.

FAQs About Dry and Wet Milling

Dry and wet milling have advantages and disadvantages across various industries. To simplify your choice, we've compiled a list of common questions.

1. Is Wet Milling Better Than Dry Milling?

Though your desired outcomes will ultimately determine which method is better, wet milling can produce smaller and more uniform particles, which is often beneficial across industries.

2. What Are the Advantages of a Wet Grinder?

Advantages of wet grinding include enhanced particle size, reduced fire hazards, increased energy efficiency, material versatility and less dust and contaminant dispersal.

3. What Are the Disadvantages of Dry Milling?

The cons of dry milling include heat generation, aggregation, increased equipment wear and potential material contamination.

4. What Is the Difference Between Wet vs. Dry Pulverizing?

Wet and dry grinding differ in their processes, basic principles and outcomes. Wet grinding uses liquids and an abrasive wheel to achieve tiny particles, while dry grinding involves materials shattering under the blow of a high-speed hammer to reduce their size.

Enhance Your Pulverization Process With Pulva

Understanding the differences and applications of wet and dry pulverization methods can help you determine which process will benefit your operations more. When you need to optimize your pulverization processes for effectiveness and efficiency, choosing equipment from a reliable provider will make a lasting impact.

Pulva has an 80-year legacy in the industry, and we equip businesses with the highest-quality grinders and pulverizers tailored to meet industry needs. If you're ready to maximize your pulverization processes, contact us today to explore our comprehensive range of dry and wet pulverization equipment .

The Use and Application of Carbon Black

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 14:46:14 GMT

The many uses for carbon black in heavy machinery make it an ideal component. Carbon black contributes to durability, efficiency and safety across industries. Additionally, as a cost-effective alternative to other materials, it's even more beneficial for companies' bottom lines.

From enhancing heavy machinery performance to revolutionizing agricultural machinery, the power of carbon black is beneficial for multiple applications. Learn more about carbon black and why it is an indispensable component in the heavy industry sector.

What Does Carbon Black Do: An Introduction to Properties and Applications

Carbon black is crucial for making many products stronger and giving them a longer life. In pure form, carbon black is a black powder with fine particles. Low-value oil residue partial burning and pyrolysis produces carbon black, which is mostly composed of carbon. Although some applications for carbon black are more common than others, this component can act as an insulating or conductive agent, UV stabilizer or pigment in various coating applications.

The properties of this component determine performance. Properties of carbon black include:

Particle size: The particle size affects rubber and color properties. Small diameters have higher tinting strength and higher surface area. A higher surface area allows for greater wetness, improved weatherability, and higher conductivity and viscosity. Those in the industry often use the surface area measurement of carbon black to indicate the particle size and fineness level.
Porosity: A higher porosity allows rubber compounders to increase loading while maintaining compound-specific gravity.
Physical form: Carbon black's physical form can affect mixing and handling characteristics. Powdered components are ideal for low-shear dispersers and three-roll mills, while beaded components are ideal for ball mills, shot mills and high-energy equipment.
Structure: This property measures three-dimensional fusion that aids in forming aggregates. Structure refers to the aggregate's degree and shape of branching. Carbon blacks with high structure provide greater electrical conductivity, higher viscosity and easier dispersion. Carbon black structure ultimately determines effects.
Surface chemistry or activity: Carbon blacks with oxidized surfaces can improve performance, dispersion and wetting in some systems. For other systems, oxidation can increase electrical resistivity.

Applications for Carbon Blacks Across Industries

Carbon black is essential for a wide range of products, most of which we use every day across industries and for daily activities. You can use carbon black for applications such as:

Protecting pipes from UV radiation degradation
Providing color-enhancing pigment in ink applications
Providing color, conductivity and UV protection to plastics
Enabling better farming through retention, irrigation and UV protection
Boosting charging characteristics in various batteries to improve efficiency
Offering UV radiation degradation protection for high-performance coatings
Complying with purity requirements for consumer or industrial plastic applications
Extending efficiency and life for cables while ensuring UV resistance and insulation
Enhancing the mechanical properties of rubber goods like gaskets, belts and hoses
Improving the strength, durability and processing of tires to increase fuel economy and life span
Providing UV protection for steering wheels, armrests, gear shifts and other automotive components that contact skin

The Economic Benefits of Carbon Black for Heavy Industry

Carbon black has several economic benefits, making it a long-term solution across industries. Benefits of carbon black include:

Reinforcing building materials: Many manufacturers use carbon black, a reinforcing agent, for applications like making rubber, asphalt and concrete. Using this component reinforces material wear resistance, strength and robustness.
Providing UV protection: Carbon black is a UV absorber, making it a powerful component for protecting building components. This aids in increasing lifetimes and prevents fading, cracking and chalking.
Boosting electrical conductivity: Some building applications require electrical conductivity, such as creating conductive adhesives, electromagnetic shielding and antistatic flooring. Carbon black is a good conductor, allowing people to use it for coating and polymers for electric conductivity.
Helping to form more sustainable practices: Carbon black contributes to recycling practices and uses waste materials to decrease carbon footprints. Swapping raw materials for carbon black can further reduce carbon footprints, allowing for more sustainable practices that benefit the environment and industries trying to go green.
Offering a cost-effective solution: Compared to metals, carbon black is a cost-effective solution for applications like adding pigment. Carbon black is easy to access and has a lower production cost, making it a more budget-friendly alternative for various applications.

The Role of Carbon Black in Heavy Machinery Durability pan and reduce maintenance costs.

Carbon black's versatile properties make it valuable for a range of applications in the construction industry, including increasing heavy machinery durability. This component can increase machinery life span and reduce maintenance costs.

For example, a 2021 study highlights carbon black's anti-corrosion properties. The study showed that using carbon black could improve antioxidation capabilities to alleviate coarsening while acting as stable catalyst support.

Carbon black can also reduce UV degradation and thermal damage, creating more resistant machines and tires that can better withstand this natural process

Future Prospects: The Evolving Role of Carbon Black

Looking ahead, we can see several trends emerging surrounding carbon black. Experts expect the carbon black market to grow over the next few years, with its use in plastics driving the growth. Home textiles, automotive, apparel and agriculture applications will also likely impact carbon black's growth.

We can expect government regulations, consumer preference and technological advancements to shape trends in the carbon black industry. Refurbishing trends will likely increase across marine, automotive, industrial, aerospace and similar sectors that need high-performance coatings.

Find Expert Advice and Solutions in Carbon Black Applications

To use carbon black, manufacturers must pulverize it first. This process requires proper tools and industry knowledge to make the most out of the material. That is where our team and industry experience come in. Pulva Corporation has carbon black pulverizers and grinding machines so you can get the most out of your versatile material.

Since 1938, Pulva Corporation has provided quality equipment, services and parts to meet every customer's needs. As a family-owned business and a leading global pulverizing equipment manufacturer, we understand the importance of a reliable partner and ultramodern equipment.

Pulva Corporation has decades of experience and an extensive stock of inventory to meet your industrial needs. Our abundant inventory, comprehensive services and prompt technical support empower us to provide the resources and components you need to keep running.

Our pulverizers empower you to grind carbon black to the necessary fineness. We offer models for small and large manufacturers to meet a range of needs within your budget. Request a custom quote to see how we can help you.

Ensure Workplace Safety: Hammer Mill Operation & Maintenance

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 14:45:17 GMT

Hammer mills appear in various industries, from food processing and powder coating to plastics and fertilizers. These heavy machines are used to manufacture and process a range of bulk solid products, including foods, animal feed, ethanol and oilseeds. Regardless of the application, performance will depend on the proper operation of the mill.

Milling machines require safety measures to protect operators from injury. In this article, we will discuss the importance of hammer mill safety, potential hazards and milling machine precautions you can take when handling this crucial equipment.

Hazards of Hammer Mills

Hammer mills are powerful machines that pose safety risks when mishandled. Hazards of this heavy machinery include:

Dust generation: Hammer mills produce dust, which becomes flammable when airborne. Any time grain or other feed, meals or flours are handled or moved, these fine dust particles are at risk of igniting and exploding.
Flying debris: The high-speed rotating hammers within the hammermill can generate large amounts of debris. These can be propelled from the machine, posing a risk to operators and bystanders.
Noise: Hammer mills produce loud and continuous noise levels when operated. Prolonged exposure to this noise can cause hearing damage without proper protection.
Electrical hazards: Hammer mills can pose electrical hazards without proper operation and maintenance. These machines are typically electric-powered, making it crucial to care for the equipment properly to prevent injury and fire hazards.
Pinching or crushing injuries: The moving parts of a hammer mill, including the rotor and hammers, can cause pinching or crushing injuries when mishandled.

To prevent these hazards, it is crucial that operators follow safety protocols, undergo training, use personal protective equipment and know how to inspect and maintain the equipment according to manufacturer guidelines.

The Importance of Hammer Mill Safety

Milling machine safety is essential for the following reasons:

Protect personnel: Hammer mills contain powerful moving parts that can lead to accidents. Implementing safety measures can help you protect personnel and bystanders and reduce the risk of injuries when operating this heavy equipment.
Reduce liabilities: Accidents and injuries caused by inadequate safety measures can result in legal consequences, lawsuits and financial liabilities. Protecting your personnel can reduce the risk of legal liabilities and associated costs.
Maintain compliance: Many safety organizations set guidelines to use machines safely. Adhering to these standards ensures legal compliance to help you avoid penalties.
Protect equipment and property: Hammer mills are valuable machines. Accidents and damage can cause downtime, loss of productivity and financial losses. Enacting milling machine precautions helps reduce these risks and ensures the functionality of the equipment.

7 Hammer Mill Safety Measures

Implement the following measures to ensure hammer mill safety:

1. Proper Training

All operators and maintenance personnel should receive training on hammer mill operation before using it. Training teaches all operators how to use the equipment properly, providing instruction on potential hazards, emergency procedures and how to use personal protective equipment (PPE).

All operators should understand how the equipment works and how to maintain it. It is crucial to have training on the fire triangle and explosion pentagon to reduce the risk of accidents or injuries. The fire triangle represents the combustion process, while the explosion pentagon includes the additional factors that could cause a potential dust explosion.

2. Personal Protective Equipment

Operators should always wear PPE, including eye, hand, foot, body and other protective gear as needed. This includes wearing PPE when repairing or servicing the machine. Examples of PPE include:

Safety glasses
Face shields
Gloves
Hearing protection
Steel-toed boots
Hard hats
High-visibility clothing

In addition to wearing PPE, the above items should be regularly inspected to ensure they are in good condition and work properly to protect personnel.

3. Dust Collection

Hammer mills can produce large amounts of dust, as do other components of material handling systems, like bucket elevators. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards require control of this dust , ensuring it cannot build up on surfaces or become airborne. With a proper dust collection system, you can prevent dust-related risks associated with dust, including explosions and injuries.

Many agricultural processes use a central baghouse with capture hoods in dust-generating areas. This technique can be effective if one central system can handle all capture points. You can also use spot filters in a large facility located at many capture points. Most facilities use a combination of the two dust collection types to prevent risks more effectively.

4. Safety Guards and Interlocks

All facilities should install the appropriate safety guards and interlocks to prevent personnel from accessing moving parts while operating the machine. That way, you prevent accidental contact with the rotating parts and reduce the risk of injuries.

Further, develop and implement an effective lockout procedure to ensure the hammer mill is no longer operating and isolated from its power source before servicing or cleaning the equipment. This prevents accidental startup, protecting personnel from electrical hazards.

5. Fire and Explosion Prevention

Take precautions to prevent fires and explosions. This can include implementing ventilation systems, controlling sparks and ensuring all electrical equipment is properly grounded. Adequate ventilation ensures that dust particles can disperse properly, while spark detection systems can quickly identify any sparks to suppress fires, such as water sprays.

Additionally, prohibit open flames in the hammer mill area, including welding, smoking or other open flame devices. Prevent dust build-up in the grinding chamber, which will prevent heat from creating a source of ignition.

6. Emergency Response Plan

Develop an emergency response plan to address fires, explosions, accidents and other emergencies. The plan can include communication protocols, evacuation procedures and how to distinguish fires. You can also outline procedures for dealing with accidents and injuries. Regularly review your emergency response plan with all personnel.

7. Regular Inspection and Maintenance

One of the most crucial steps to ensure safety during hammer milling is regular inspection and maintenance. Professionals can perform these tasks with expertise and experience, protecting personnel and property from harm. Experts will inspect your material handling equipment to ensure bearings are not running hot, there are no unusual sounds occurring and nothing is blocking the inlet.

During routine maintenance, professionals can replace hammer mill parts that wear down over time, including screens and hammers. This can prevent downtime and lower energy efficiency — saving you time and money in the long run. They can also make essential repairs, ensuring the machine is in good working condition to avoid malfunctions, accidents and injuries.

Trust Pulva for Your Hammer Mill Service Needs

Hammer mills are heavy-duty machinery crucial for size-reduction processes in many industries. As a result, they must be operated safely and serviced regularly to reduce the risk of injuries and ensure optimal performance. Pulva's equipment experts can help by providing expert industry knowledge , equipment solutions and services for numerous operations.

With over 80 years of experience delivering quality services to our clients, we can help you with everything from milling machine safety equipment to replacement components. Request a quote from us today to get started.

Hammer Mill Maintenance Guide

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 11:10:08 GMT

Hammer mills are used in various manufacturing processes to grind products into different feeds, such as those used for pets and livestock, or for grinding or processing seeds into oils, among other applications. Regardless of what a hammer mill is used for, it must be adequately maintained. Proper sizing and operation can help reduce maintenance costs and requirements, but maintenance is still required to maximize the efficiency of your hammer mill.

In our hammer mill maintenance guide, you will learn more about upkeep for these machines, including what regular and long-term maintenance tasks are required to keep your hammer mill in the best condition possible.

Performing routine hammer mill maintenance is easier than repairing extensive damage due to insufficient care. Hammer mills undergo a lot of wear and tear during grinding, so regular maintenance is essential to reduce the risk of component damage or unexpected breakdowns. Routine maintenance and inspections ensure that your hammer mill components are in the best condition to provide a long service life.

Anyone performing hammer mill maintenance should know how to care for and replace the essential components. You can ensure your business keeps up with machine care routines by creating a list of maintenance tasks and a schedule for employees to follow. Making a list of tasks ensures that hammer mill maintenance is not forgotten, minimizing the risk of unexpected and costly downtime.

If you are using a hammer mill for your operations, you must keep up with regular component inspections and replacements. Any moving or rotating components should be regularly inspected since they will wear faster than stationary parts and can affect overall performance.

You can prevent downtime by having different components on hand in case they need replacements. Some of the components you should keep include:

Hammers
Hammer rods
Screens
Bar grates
Wear plates
Bearings

Since you are working with moving parts, you will also want to stay on top of lubrication. Lubricating moving components will help reduce premature wear and tear and lower replacement frequency. You should also check airflow to ensure ground materials do not sit in the mill for prolonged periods.

On top of component inspections and replacements, you will also need to keep up with long-term maintenance items such as the following:

Flow Directors

Flow directors help ensure that materials are guided into the path of the hammers. Circulating materials can cause abrasions to the back side of the flow directors, which will cause them to wear down and eventually require replacement. Generally, flow directors need to be changed once every 18 to 48 months, depending on your exact applications and frequency of use, to prevent catastrophic failures.

Bearings

Bearings need maintenance to ensure they can continue to provide reliable service. While lubrication is critical for many bearings, hammer mill bearings have the potential to become over-lubricated. You should check your bearings once every six to 12 months to clean out old grease and prevent over-lubrication. The new bearings should only be packed up to half full with new grease and monitored carefully for the following 12 hours.

Screen Carriages

Screen carriages can experience wear and impact, causing the component to lose its form. Worn screen carriages can become problematic, especially in hammer mills used for grinding pet food or involved in aquaculture feed applications. You will want to inspect the screen carriages regularly to check for signs of wear and tear. If a screen carriage has become damaged over time, you should replace the screens to help maintain the machine's performance and reduce the risk of leaks.

Wear Liners

Wear liners in the interior of the hammer mill help create an effective seal, but they are also prone to abrasion and damage as the hammer mill operates. Though they are the longest-lasting option, even wear liners made from abrasion-resistant steel can be prone to damage after some time. You will want to keep an eye on the wear liners inside your hammer mill and replace them when you notice signs of damage that could affect the seal.

Motor Coupling

The motor coupling becomes stressed and flexed whenever you start the machine. A misaligned motor coupling can also cause the hammer mill to vibrate, resulting in unexpected damage. You should check the motor coupling and its alignment at least once every six to 12 months to ensure the elements are sound and the mounting and coupling bolts are fastened tightly.

You will need to complete frequent inspections and preventive maintenance to extend the life of your hammer mill parts and reduce the risk of unexpected downtime. Components will become worn over time, and failing to replace them in time can result in costly damage to your equipment.

Having components on hand is essential to ensuring you can replace them as needed. Use the following information to determine when you need to inspect and replace different components for your hammer mill.

Hammers

Hammer mill hammers can either be two-way or four-way reversible. The hammer type will indicate how many rotations the part is capable of before it needs to be replaced. Eventually, the cutting edge of the hammer will become rounded, affecting the machine's efficiency. Hammer mill hammers should be replaced when the cutting edges become rounded.

Hammer Rods

Hammer rods are directly involved with the hammers and should be inspected anytime you need to replace or rotate the hammers. With use, hammer rods can become grooved, impacting your machine's overall performance. When you inspect the hammers and hammer rods, look for any signs of grooving and replace the component when necessary.

Screens and Bar Grates

Screen or bar grates help you achieve the desired particle size for your manufacturing process. If your screens or bar grates are not working correctly, it could lead to undesirable particle sizes. You should inspect and replace these parts if the perforations have become elongated or rounded.

Wear Plates

Wear plates are used to prevent damage in hammer mills that process abrasive or hard materials, extending the life of the equipment. When examining the wear plates, be sure to check their thickness to determine if they are thinning, which would indicate that they need to be replaced. You can check for early signs of this issue by looking at bolts, which will develop extra space between them and the component if the wear plates are thinning.

Bearings

Your hammer mill's bearings help carry the motor's load but will eventually wear out over time. Generally, you want to replace the bearings in pairs, but you may need to replace more if the damage is significant. When you conduct your inspection, you will want to check your bearings for signs of excessive heat, vibrations, spinning or squeaking. These signs indicate that the bearing needs to be replaced.

Hammer mills are essential to size-reduction processes across different industries and must be maintained to reduce the risk of costly downtime. Pulva's team of size-reduction equipment experts can help by providing industry knowledge, quality equipment solutions , and services and parts .

We have over 80 years of experience delivering quality to our clients. Our team can help you with everything from fabrication capabilities to replacement components, regardless of what you need. Request a quote from us today to get started!

Understanding Hammer Mill Operation | Pulva

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 18:34:25 GMT

Hammer mills are essential pieces of equipment in many different industries. Also called pulverizer mills, hammer mills are size-reduction machines that grind or crush various materials for industrial applications. They can process materials continuously or in batches and are used to grind everything from pharmaceutical powders, spices and cosmetics to rocks, minerals and recycling waste.

Understanding the working principle of hammer mills can help you choose the best equipment for your application. Learn more about the history of hammer mills, what hammer milling is and how you can benefit from custom machines built for your specific use case.

People have used hammer mills for more than thousands of years. The earliest known record of one comes from the ancient Roman Republic in the palace of Mithradates VI Eupator, ruler of Pontus. This early form was a cog-and-axis water mill predominantly used to crush corn. Running water made mills more powerful and allowed people to crush hard materials with less effort.

Water mills then spread across civilizations and slowly evolved into the equipment industries use today. The water mill was eventually improved and adapted to mining purposes, particularly for crushing ore to release valuable metals and minerals.

The Industrial Revolution brought significant hammer mill construction changes. The steam-powered hammer mill was even more powerful than water-powered mills, which increased production and paved the way for new applications and manufacturing processes.

As hammer mills became more common, many different industries began using them in their production processes. Modern hammer mills offer improved efficiency, energy savings, productivity and workplace safety.

Almost all materials break down under impact. Imagine hitting a piece of chalk with a standard hammer. Hammer mills work using the same principle, except more hammers hit materials faster and with more force. A hammer mill supplies repeated impacts to crush or pulverize various materials — like ceramic, paper, glass, biomass, cement and some chemicals — in industrial settings.

Hammer mills come in various types and sizes , but there are a few essential parts of a hammer mill all models have:

Feed chute : The process starts with the feed chute, which feeds particles into the machine. Most hammer mills have gravity-fed chutes, but some have feed screws to provide more control over how much material goes into the grinding chamber.
Spinning drum : Inside the grinding chamber, multiple hammers are attached to a drum that spins. As the drum spins, the particles are crushed by repeated impacts with the hammers, walls and other particles.
Sifting screen : A screen at the bottom of the grinding chamber sifts through the pulverized particles. Pieces that are small enough get through, while larger particles keep going through the hammers.
Discharge chute : Particles that are the chosen size or smaller exit the machine through the discharge chute. Hard, heavy materials generally discharge using gravity, but lighter or less dense materials often require pneumatic suction.

Though all hammer mills have similar parts, differences in the hammers, shaft speed and screen size can change the finished particle size. You also want to consider a mill's capacity when looking at various design options.

Hammers are available in several shapes and sizes. They are typically made of hardened steel and are rectangular, though they are also available with knife or impact edges. How large the hammers are and how many of them are on the drum affect the final material size. The material size and type also affect the ideal hammer. For example, hammer mills called lump breakers feature a fixed comb rather than swinging hammers. This type is for removing clumps in materials that have already been crushed into a powder and would not be suitable for large, hard materials like coal.

How fast the drum rotates around the shaft also affects the finished particle size since faster speeds increase the impact force the hammers have on the material.

The screen determines how large particles can be to exit the grinding chamber. For example, circle screens are best used with lightweight components like sawdust, grass and spices and are not suitable for sticky materials. Other types of screens include rasping screens and striated screens.

Generally, larger or more hammers, a faster speed and a smaller screen create a finer product, while smaller or fewer hammers, a slower speed and a larger screen create a coarser product. You can adjust these and other components individually as needed to produce your desired particle size.

Hammer mill capacity depends mostly on the raw material. A product like flour might move quickly through a lump-breaking hammer mill, so a smaller capacity may suffice. A harder, larger product like gravel might require larger equipment to produce the same volume of final material since it would move through the machinery more slowly. The type of hammers and the number of hammers in the grinding chamber can also affect mill capacity.

Hammer mills have a relatively simple working principle, which means they can easily be modified or built to exact specifications. Designing a custom hammer mill built specifically for your applications comes with several benefits:

Time and energy savings : A custom hammer mill can crush or grind materials more efficiently than standard equipment, saving your company time and energy.
Cost savings : Investing in a custom hammer mill can also save money over time compared to the cost of using toll grinding services to have materials crushed by a third party.
Continuous operation : A well-designed hammer mill system can run continuously, so you do not need to wait to receive crushed materials. Continuous operation can increase output and improve productivity.
Easy maintenance : Removeable door covers and accessible parts make cleaning and repairing custom hammer mills simple and easy.

When you work with Pulva Corporation to provide your custom hammer mill, you get additional benefits. Pulva hammer mills offer the following advantages :

Wet milling options
Zero dust enclosures
Cryogenic grinding options
Various capacity and power options
Gravity feed and feed screw options

Since 1938, Pulva Corporation has provided high-quality equipment and services to customers worldwide. We specialize in hammer mills and replacement parts , offering equipment sales, technical support, rebuild and repair services and grinding services .

Pulva is a family-owned company and a leading manufacturer of pulverizing equipment. Whether you are looking to purchase a hammer mill or need toll grinding services, our experienced team members can deliver a custom solution tailored to your size reduction needs. Our state-of-the-art facilities and commitment to developing new products mean you have access to the best modern pulverizing equipment. Contact us to get a quote for custom hammer mill equipment or grinding services today!

Benefits of Cryogenic Grinding

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 21:55:05 GMT

Cryogenic grinding has become popular across multiple industries due to the myriad of benefits the process offers. Cryogenic feeders help you grind sensitive materials, achieve uniform particle distribution and increase production rate without compromising product quality. Below, learn what cryogenic grinding is and its step-by-step process to help you understand how it works and how you can apply it.

Cryogenic grinding is the process of chilling or cooling materials and reducing them to smaller particles before formulating or mixing them. In other words, the material is cooled and embrittled using extremely cold nitrogen and then crushed, resulting in fine particles with the same product quality as the original.

The cryogenic grinding process has many names, including freezer milling, freezer grinding, cold grinding and cryogenic milling (cryomilling). Cryogenics is one of three toll grinding techniques — dry and wet grinding being the other two. Cryogenic grinding is unique because it is reserved for situations where the materials cannot be reduced by dry or wet milling. The addition of liquid nitrogen simplifies the grinding process, making it easier to reduce the materials.

For example, grinding thermoplastics at ambient temperatures poses significant challenges because they soften, clog screens and adhere in lumpy masses. Similarly, friction makes crystalline materials melt when ground without cooling. Chilling them helps you grind them efficiently into refined grains and enhances their applications.

Cryogenic grinding also enables accurate particle size distribution (PSD), which is vital to manufacturers across various industries. Here are three examples:

Regulatory compliance : Manufacturers rely on PSD measurements to determine compliance with regulations and industry standards. For example, the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines note when to consider particle sizes.
Production improvement : Analyzing particle size distribution can uncover ways to improve the production process. The reason is PSD can affect the new product's safety, efficacy, shelf life and manufacturability.
Contamination status : Manufacturers often assess PSD to determine whether the product is free from contaminants. It also helps you identify the possible sources of the contamination without compromising product quality, therefore improving quality control.

You can use cryogenic grinding for the following:

Reducing material temperature : Materials below their glass transition temperatures are broadly friable to some degree. Cryogenic grinding helps reduce the material temperature below the glass transition temperature — the point at which a polymer transforms from a glassy, brittle state at low temperatures to a rubbery, elastic form at high temperatures.
Assisting in hazardous decomposition : The process is used in temperature control, which helps prevent hazardous decomposition in the mill's high-energy environment.
Preventing overheating : Materials that are hard to mill generate heat during the milling process. For materials to be friable, they must stay below their softening points or melt temperatures. Freezer grinding keeps material and mill from overheating.
Helping avoid degradation : Cryomilling assists in oxygen exclusion and prevents the milled materials from degrading when new surfaces are formed.

Cryogenic grinding is one of the finest methods of material reduction. So, how do cryogenic feeders work? Here is a step-by-step explanation:

The material is cleaned and fed into the hopper.
The material exits the hopper and enters the vibratory feeder , which is inclined towards the helical screw conveyor's entry point. This step helps you control the speed rate.
Liquid nitrogen is released from the storage container and sprayed into the cooling screw conveyor and onto the material at -320 degrees Fahrenheit.
The liquid nitrogen absorbs the required heat from the feed material and vaporizes.
The cold nitrogen gas continuously cools the material and embrittles it as it seeks thermal equilibrium.
Additional liquid nitrogen may be injected into the grinder to remove heat. A temperature controller and thermocouple are used to monitor and control the temperature within the conveyor.

The benefits of cryogenic size reduction are numerous:

Prevents caking : Cryogenic feeds safeguard temperature-sensitive materials against thermal deterioration. This process eliminates the risk of product caking in the mill.
Creates ultra-fine particular grinding : Compared to traditional milling methods, cryomilling produces finer ground particles. With a particle size of 10 micrometers or smaller, cryomilling improves polymers' particle flow and dispersion potential for processed polymers and foodstuffs in liquid.
Helps grind sensitive materials : Some materials are temperature-sensitive and challenging to hone. Liquid nitrogen cooling eases the process and improves grinding efficiency.
Increases production rate : Cryogenic milling optimizes the particle size and makes them easier to process. This reduces production times and ensures maximum output by increasing the particle yield.
Offers uniform particle distribution : Cryomilling generates ultra-fine particles within narrow distribution ranges. With the customizable sieving system, you can evenly categorize materials to ensure maximum yield, stability and improved product performance.
Preserves product quality : A primary advantage of using cryogenic grinding is it reduces the product size to the required measures without affecting the quality. This is important across various industries, especially food and aquatic products. The process prevents thermal degradation throughout, thereby retaining the needed standard.
Improves safety : Cryogenic grinding makes the grinding process safer. The feeders create an inert environment that protects against oxidation and fire, improving operational safety.
Eliminates thermal degradation : Cryogenic grinding helps you handle the temperature management challenges associated with industrial grinding. The cryogenic process embrittles the materials, allowing them to fracture instead of bending, melting or deforming. This process makes the method attractive to manufacturers across industries.

Cryogenic grinding is applied in multiple industries, including the following:

Food processing : Manufacturers within the food processing industry rely on cold grinding to optimize operations by reducing raw materials and products into particulate form. Cryogenic feeders are perfect for cooling down sugary and fatty food items with high-temperature sensitivity, such as cheese, dried fruits and oily spices, while maintaining the flavor.
Manufacturing : Carbon black is a crucial product in manufacturing plastics, rubbers, pigments and coatings. With cryogenic feeders, you can pulverize carbon black without thermal degradation.
Steel grinding : The grinding process generates excessive heat at high speed and feeds rate, drastically raising the temperature at cutting zones. Providing liquid nitrogen to the grinding spot allows you to overcome this challenge.
Recycling : Recycling is one of the most crucial industries today, and cryogenic grinding plays a vital role in the process. Cryogenic feed attachments are efficient for crushing recyclable materials such as bottles, glass, tires, leather and plastics and preparing them for reuse.
Pharmaceuticals : Pulverizing powders for pharmaceuticals is a straightforward and efficient way to improve pharmacological properties. Cryogenic milling also prevents temperature-sensitive material from thermal degradation and preservers its efficacy.

Some other typical applications are:

Waxes
Adhesives
Rubber
Thermoplastics and thermosets
Plastics
Resin
Composites
Biological samples
Coatings
Explosives

Cryogenic grinding offers numerous grinding solutions. The cryogenic grinding process helps you achieve ultra-fine particular grinding, increases production rates and eliminates thermal degradation while maintaining product quality. Investing in high-quality cryogenic grinding equipment also offers added benefits, streamlining your operations and increasing your return on investment.

Pulva Corporation is a leading provider of quality size reduction equipment that helps customers with their size reduction needs. With over 80 years of experience in the industry, we understand your needs and are ready to partner with you. Contact us today to learn more about our products and services and how we can help you achieve a personalized solution.

Hammer Mill Types Explained | Pulva Corporation

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:46:55 GMT

Hammermills

There are many reasons to utilize size reduction equipment like a hammer mill. You can use this equipment on a wide variety of materials, such as concrete, coal, wood, shale, limestone, brick and plastic. Depending on the needs of your industry, you can select a hammer mill that presses bulk materials into the preferred state , from coarse to very fine.

If you are seeking size reduction equipment, you should understand what a hammer mill is, how it works, what the different types of hammer mills are, how a variety of industries use hammer mill pulverizers and the benefits of using a hammer mill.

A hammer mill, also known as a pulverizer , is designed to mill, grind and crush material. These mills have been in use for much of human history and function by using hammer blows at high speed to grind material. The material is shattered and disintegrated by the internal hammer. The hammer mill is used for processing materials in a wide range of industries, including:

Food
Mining
Cosmetics
Recycling
Chemicals
Agriculture
Construction
Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical
Power generation

A Hammer mill is a crusher that can be considered as a primary, secondary or tertiary type hammer mill. This availability allows for a wide range of uses. The final size of the product depends on a few factors of the hammer mill's design, such as:

The rotor speed
The hammer configuration
The grinding plate's setting
The material being crushed
The size and number of hammers
The size of the feeding mechanism
The size of the perforated screens' openings

A hammer mill contains a cylindrical steel drum. Inside this drum, hammers are mounted on a vertical or horizontal shaft. The hammers inside this drum rotate around their axis. The material is fed into the drum, and when the drum rotates, the hammers strike the material.

After the material is ground and shredded, it passes through the chosen screens inside the drum. Hammer mills that do not contain screens instead use air to separate small and large particles from the ground material. Depending on the application, the power capacity and size of a hammer mill vary.

There are a few kinds of hammer mills. The following are some of the hammer mill styles you can choose from:

1. Lump Breakers

By functionality and design, a lump breaker hammer mill is quite different from other types of hammer mills. The parts of a hammer mill differ, as lump breakers do not have any swinging hammers. Instead, they have a fixed hammer structure, referred to as a comb. Rather than reducing particle size, this mill is used to smoothen paste or powder. To get the desired particle size, the particles are passed through the comb. You can use this hammer mill for dry chemicals, sugar and cement.

2. Full Circle Screen

A full circle hammer mill features a rotating screen to improve particle evacuation. This hammer mill can be used to reduce the size of lightweight components that do not require any initial grinding, such as grasses, grain, sawdust, corn and spices. Sticky materials cannot be hammered by this mill because the material could stick to the screen.

3. Gravity Discharge

This type of hammer mill contains a rectangular steel chamber with swinging hammers that are mounted on a shaft. The shaft rotates at a high speed and the hammering aids in particle size reduction. Additionally, particle-on-particle contact can also cause size reduction or contact in the grinding chamber with the breaker plate. The discharge from this hammer mill is then subjected to gravity.

You can use this mill to crush:

Coal
Glass
Resin
Brass
Metals
Porcelain
Ceramics
Dry chemicals

4. Horizontal In-Feed

A horizontal in-feed hammer mill is designed in a way that allows the material to be inserted from the side rather than the top. In function, this type of hammer mill is aggressive and used to grind heavy particles. This mill features pallet grinders and trim scrap grinders to conduct hardcore industrial grinding.

You can use this mill to grind:

Trim scrap
Pallet scrap
Whole pallets
Truss plant scrap

5. Pneumatic Discharge

Despite the thin hammers and chamber walls, the hammering function in a pneumatic discharge mill is similar to a gravity discharge hammer mill. The difference is that this type of hammer mill also contains a plate dashboard for size reduction. The air evacuation process assists the discharge to enhance the output.

A pneumatic discharge hammer mill is used for lighter materials like:

Biomass
Paper
Greenwood
Bone meal
Wood chips

Hammer mills have numerous uses. While use varies depending on the type of hammer mill used and the industry, common hammer mill applications include:

Food product grinding: One common application of hammer mills is food product grinding. You can use this hammer mill to grind several varieties of legumes, such as groundnuts, soya nutshells and beans. A hammer mill that has low hammer blows can remove hard nutshells.
Dissolution: A hammer mill can be used for quick dissolution in the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries. During the process, small particles can dissolve more quickly for fast formulation.
Energy source reduction: Use hammer mills to reduce fuel sources like biofuels, biomass, corn, coal and wood.
Powder production: Several types of hammer mills can be used for powder production in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In a hammer mill, the required ingredients are crushed to form an intermediate grade of powder and precise grain size.
Material size reduction: Hammer mills can also be used to reduce material size, such as medicinal grains. These grains need to be packaged in a capsule in a precise quantity.
Recycling and scrapping: Additionally, a hammer mill can be used for recycling and scrapping purposes, especially in the mechanical and automobile industries. Irreparable automobile parts can be crushed and hammered before being sent for melting. This molten material can then be used for recycling and new production.

At Pulva , we have been in business since 1938, so we have the experience to offer top-grade customized pulverizer solutions and feasibility testing. With our solutions, we can help you increase production and minimize downtime. To meet your size reduction needs, we provide quality services, parts and equipment.

We attribute our growth and enduring success to our new product introductions, skilled employees, state-of-the-art facilities, inventory of parts, prompt technical support and rebuild and repair services. Our manufacturing plant and offices are located in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, and we serve customers worldwide.

Why Particle Size Distribution is Important for Pharmaceuticals

Wed, 13 Apr 2022 21:24:33 GMT

PSD, or particle size distribution is important to determine as it affects drug efficacy, safety and manufacturability. Fortunately, having the right tools at your disposal makes achieving the correct particle size distribution quick and straightforward.

In the pharmaceutical industry, particle size distribution (PSD) is a measurement that describes the variation of particles in a drug according to their size. The importance of particle size in pharmaceutical development is evident through the various assessment paraments, for which PSD is the most significant. Measurement of PSD typically takes place with sieve analysis, laser diffraction, dynamic image analysis or dynamic light scattering.

The particles in a pharmaceutical product sometimes differ in measurement due to their shapes. For particles that are nearly perfectly spherical, their measurements use their diameter. Other ovoid or irregularly shaped particles might have both length and width measurements. While taking horizontal and vertical measurements provides the greatest accuracy, doing so is a more complex process than simply determining a diameter. Therefore, most measurements assume each particle is a sphere and report an approximate diameter only.

The particle diameters in pharmaceutical products typically form a bell curve distribution, where the x-axis records the particle size, and the y-axis records the frequency of occurrence. Most particle sizes fall in the middle of the diameter range, with only a few particles much larger or smaller.

The pharmaceutical industry uses three D-values to calculate the particle size distribution curve:

D50: This value indicates the median particle size. 50% of the particle sizes fall below this value, and 50% fall above it.
D10: 10% of the particles in the distribution are smaller than this value.
D90: 90% of the particles in the distribution are smaller than this value.

The more closely grouped the three D-values are, the narrower the distribution curve will be. In general, a tight distribution curve is best because it means particle sizes are more uniform, though optimal distribution may vary for different drugs.

So why is particle size analysis and distribution so important so important in pharmaceutics? PSD can affect porosity and surface area. These properties, in turn, affect a new product's manufacturability, efficacy, quality, bioavailability and shelf life, making the importance of particle size distribution crucial for drug performance and ease of manufacturing. Off-spec particle sizes can impede production, lower yields and reduce profits, making accurate PSD milling crucial for pharmaceuticals.

The drug development process generally includes multiple phases of testing and experimentation that reveal the effects of various particle sizes. This data then informs the target PSD specifications for future manufacturing, and marks the importance of particle size determination. Achieving the correct PSD in this way helps ensure consistency and quality.

Some characteristics can make PSD an important factor in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) absorption rates. The wrong particle size measurement can, for example, mean a drug's API does not reach the right part of the body at the correct rate and concentration.

It is particularly critical to ensure the correct particle size in inhaled drugs. If the particles are too large, they will lodge in the throat and enter the bloodstream through there. If the particles are too small, the patient will likely exhale them before the drug reaches the correct part of the lungs, negating the therapeutic effect.

Reducing particle size can also eliminate the need to take a drug with food . In drugs with adequate permeability but low solubility, larger particles can make prolonged contact with the membranes in the gastrointestinal system and irritate the stomach. Smaller particles' smaller surface area makes them less likely to irritate the stomach. In addition to being safer and more efficient, these drugs often lead to greater patient compliance and higher dose tolerances.

Not all drugs require particle size specifications. A particle size specification is usually only necessary if the particle size analysis of the drug in question is vital for its performance or manufacturability . While a highly soluble high-dose drug may not receive a particle size specification, a poorly soluble or low-dose drug likely will.

One common example of how particle size affects drug performance involves flowability, or how the particles move in relation to each other and their container. Very small particle size is associated with decreased flowability. Reduced flow in pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing can cause quality issues such as variations in tablet weight and uniformity.

Particle size also affects compressibility, which determines how well a tablet will hold together. Because larger particles tend to compress better than very fine particles, determining particle sizes and ensuring consistent particle sizes are two vital steps to pharmaceuticals manufacturing.

Problems with compression rates can cause quality control issues like capping and lamination. Capping occurs when the upper part of the tablet separates from the rest as the tablet comes out of the press, while lamination involves the main body of the tablet splitting into horizontal layers.

Labs can use a basic mortar and pestle for grinding drugs to the correct particle size. While these tools are economical, widely available and easy to use, the process is not guaranteed to produce uniform particle sizes. It also produces heat, which can be detrimental to the pharmaceutical product.

The best pharmaceutical PSD methods involve using the proper grinding and milling techniques. Here are a few of the options:

Conical milling : One of the most common milling techniques in the pharmaceutical industry, conical milling uses a cone-shaped mill to grind particles gently without producing excessive dust or heat. It produces uniform particle size and has a high capacity, so milling can proceed quickly. Conical milling is useful for tailoring particle shape and size, as well as for attaining tight PSDs.

Pulverizing : Also known as hammer milling or turbo milling, pulverizing is often helpful in demanding scenarios, such as when APIs are difficult to mill, broken tablets require reforming, or products require remilling to meet specifications. Pulverizers can operate at exceptionally high speeds and produce high volumes of product per hour. Like conical mills, pulverizers have a relatively small footprint, so they are ideal in facilities where space is at a premium.

Micronization : Micronization uses fluid jet energy mills to reduce pharmaceutical particles to micron-sized particles . This process is useful when a smaller diameter is necessary. It is ideal in many applications because it minimizes the risk of contamination and produces no heat. However, micronization only works on limited drug classes.

Cryogenic grinding : A facility might use cryogenic grinding to preserve drugs' quality and effectiveness, keeping temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical materials from thermally degrading. Cryogenic grinding is also useful for grinding materials on which traditional wet or dry grinding is ineffective.

When your company needs to ensure correct particle size distribution measurement for the pharmaceutical industry, make Pulva your trusted partner.

With our in-depth pharmaceutical industry expertise and over 80 years of experience with size reduction technology, we can help you achieve the specific particle sizes you need for efficacy and safety in your products.

We offer an extensive selection of equipment available for laboratory testing and large-scale processing — including pulverizers and cryogenic feeders — as well as toll grinding services for pilot plant production and feasibility studies. We also provide toll grinding to a specific figure if you would rather have our experts perform the work.

Learn More About Partnering with Pulva for Cost Reduction

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 17:30:37 GMT

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Partnering for Cost Reduction

Late in 2017 Pulva Corporation was requested to attend a customer initiated “Grinder Improvement Meeting”. During the meeting the customer presented Pulva engineering and sales with data from component break in periods and component life cycle. At the time component life was 19 continuous days of operation. The component life cycle was determined by particle size output from the grinder. Once particle size grew to an unacceptable oversize condition all major grinder contact parts were changed regardless of wear amount. The customer emphasized that multiple shutdowns per planned running cycle was not favorable and that it proved more cost effective for scheduled outages at predetermined times. At that time 450 hours of operation (19 days) was the set bench mark.

Pulva immediately recognized 2 potential issues. One with the lid liner while the other was with the screen. Screen modifications were trialed first. The break in period for the grinder definitely stabilized with the screen modifications. Next lid liners were trialed and a smooth liner was determined to potentially yield longer life. After multiple individual trials (screen and lid liner) it was determined that the results were promising enough to trial both components together. The cumulative trial resulted in 29 days (700 hours) of continuous operation!

Using prior project success the customer suggested a change in materials used for construction. Once again Pulva manufactured test screens and lid liners from the advanced material suggested by the customer. Currently it has been determined that the life cycle has improved to over 41 days (1000 hours).

The customer reports: “we have achieved a first: over 1000 hours of operation at near maximum rates.

This is a great accomplishment, and it is the gold standard right now”.

Dialogue continues into 2021. New potential cost savings issues are being discussed. The focus has been extending the time between shutdowns. It will likely change to shortening the amount of time to execute a changeover.

Contact Pulva today with your component issues. Put our team to work for your bottom line!

Changing Style and Material of Lid Liner Gained over 200% Life of Part

Pulva Keeps You Running in Uncertain Times

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 22:15:56 GMT

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Maintenance Issue: Purchasing the Correct Bearing

The heart of every hammer mill is the rotating assembly or rotor. Often spinning at 21,000 feet per minute, the rotor requires periodic maintenance. A crucial item in rotor maintenance is the bearings. When replacing bearings it is extremely critical that you directly replace a bearing’s class of fit and material of construction. Bearing suppliers have been known to substitute steel cage bearings for the Pulva recommended brass caged bearings. Even though steel caged bearings technically fit the application, Pulva customers have seen them fail in just a few hours.

If you aren’t sure what bearing your hammer mill rotor requires, click here for a quote . You might be surprised at how competitive Pulva’s bearing prices are.

Here’s a quick cross reference guide for Pulva bearing part numbers:

Stainless Steel Bearing Housing for Hammer Mills - Pulva

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 14:06:51 GMT

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A customer recently approached Pulva Corporation about cleaning and sanitizing issues they were having on their cosmetic manufacturing hammer mill. They were experiencing significant down time while carrying out cleaning tasks. Several areas were discussed and it was decided that the bearing housings would be addressed first. The cleaning agent contained ingredients that removed paint and rusted traditional bearing housing materials like cast iron. The cast housings also had an irregular surface that made wipe downs time consuming.

A 316 stainless bearing housing was requested and Pulva delivered a modular designed billet (made from solid material rather than a traditional casting) 316 stainless bearing housing. The housings were designed with smooth and accessible surfaces. Surface cleaning time was reduced and cosmetic manufacturing time increased because of the smoothness of the housings. The housings can be applied in food and pharmaceutical industries as well.

Pulva is currently planning the next project and asks for customer input. What are your hammer mill cleaning issues? In what areas do you experience downtime due to inaccessible or hard to clean surfaces?

Rotor assemblies

Gearbox and drive assemblies

Main body housing

Main cover housing with deflector liner

Mill support frame

Others

email: sales@pulva.com

Please feel free to provide your input on the next cleaning and sanitizing project. Currently Pulva is focusing on the Model B hammer mill and #2 micro pulverizer. Other models will be addressed as requested.

Cryogenic Toll Grinding Services - Pulva

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 21:35:32 GMT

Size Reduction Solutions for small batch and hard to grind products.

In some cases cryogenic grinding allows customers to grind materials that aren’t normally able to be ground. Some examples of these materials are rubber, plastics, oily spices among others. Cryogenic grinding requires not only an equipment investment, but also an infrastructure investment for a liquid nitrogen source. Often times the investment is too much for a startup or a company developing a new product. In cases like these look to the Pulva lab for your cryogenic grinding needs. Pulva has cryogenically ground products in batches from 5 pounds to 10,000 pounds. Please contact sales@pulva.com for your cryogenic equipment or grinding needs.

Replace the "Blender"

brad@pulvacorp.com (Brad ) — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 12:15:27 GMT

Use of a Pulva-sizer to produce required product.

A common item found in small scale food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic powder manufacturing is a kitchen blender. Often times customers tell us about how many blenders they ruin a year trying to “produce” a product. One such customer recently replaced their army of blenders with a Model A Pulvasizer. After testing here at the Pulva laboratory a hammer mill was specified and ordered. After witnessing the results of the test, the customer was anxious to retire the blenders. A rental Model A Pulvasizer was provided and used until the new hammer mill was delivered. The customer was able to produce 100’s of pounds of product per hour with just 2 passes through the hammer mill instead of just pounds per hour and dozens of passes through the blenders. The efficient grinding of the customer’s powder through the hammer mill allowed them to expand production and fulfill the demands of their rapidly growing nutraceutical market.