Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The effects of grinding aids on modelling of air classification of cement

Nurettin Alper Toprak , Okay Altun, Ahmet Hakan Benzer
Hacettepe University, Mining Engineering Department, 06800 Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

h i g h l i g h t s

This study investigated the effects of grinding aids on air classification performance.

Dosage rate and the type of grinding aids had effects on air classification performance.

Grinding aid based classification model was developed.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Until so far, several studies have been performed on grinding aids which have discussed the influences.
Received 18 October 2016 However, the evaluations were all based on closed circuited grinding operations where the milling and
Received in revised form 8 September 2017 the classification operations were integrated and had effect with each other. The novelty of this paper
Accepted 17 November 2017
comes from its comprehensive test works with only on air classifier and development of grinding aid-
specific model structure that has not been performed. Within the scope, laboratory scale air classifier
was utilized and triethanolamine (TEA), triisopropanolamine (TIPA), and diethylenglycol (DEG) were
Keywords:
mixed with cement at various dosage rates. The experimental tests were performed at different wheel
Air classifier
Grinding aid
speed and air flow rates then the performance of the air classification was evaluated by plotting the
Classification Tromp curves. As a result, the limited change was observed for cut size and sharpness parameters how-
Comminution ever, bypass and fish hook parameters changed significantly. Among the grinding aids tested, TIPA type
Cement aid was found to be more effective on both bypass and fish hook parameters. Finally, the air classifier was
Modelling modelled by using Whitens equation and the relations between dosage rate, type and model parameters
were investigated. The results concluded that different types of grinding aids had varied influences and
the model structures needed to be developed accordingly.
2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Cement is a highly-consumed construction material and has an
energy intense process where the total specific energy consump-
tion is reported as between 110 and 120 kW h per ton of product.
Within the whole process grinding operation accounts for about
30% of the total energy consumption [1] in which the ball mills
and air classifiers are employed conventionally. Within the pro-
cess, the aim is to achieve the desired product specifications i.e.,
specific surface area, mean particle size etc., which are all have
effects on the strength values. The cement grinding operation is
performed in dry environment hence the agglomeration tendency
of the fine powders is the major problem, which could be overcome
by the introduction of the grinding aids [2]. Up to now, ethylene
glycol, propylene glycol, triethanolamine, oleic acid, and aminoac-
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: natoprak@hacettepe.edu.tr (N.A. Toprak).
etates have been used as raw materials of the grinding aids found
in the cement grinding applications [3].
The mechanisms of the grinding aids have been explained by
several of the researchers. Rehbinder and Kalinkovskaya [4]
pointed out that the adsorption of the additives reduced the cohe-
sive forces hence bonding of the molecules improved. Klimpel and
Manfroy [5] concluded that adsorption of the grinding aids affected
the magnitude of the bonding forces at the point where fracture
initiates. Westwood and Stoloff [6] suggested that the adsorbed
molecules could pin dislocations near the surface that was thus
rendered more brittle. Locher and Seebach [7] stated that the use
of chemical additives did not affect the breakage characteristics
of the particles, however they pointed out that Van der Waals
forces between the particles decreased that enabled more efficient
breakage action. Additionally, as a result of the reduced Van der
Waals forces the bulk material became more fluidized that directly
affected the retention time in the grinding operations [8]. Weibel
and Mishra [9] conducted experimental studies as well as com-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.11.088
0950-0618/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573 565

puter simulations to reveal the physical and chemical mechanisms
of the grinding aids used in the cement operations. They stated
that molecular and material properties had effects on grinding
with grinding aids and emphasized the importance of understand-
ing the effects and interactions between them. They concluded that
it was possible to optimize the grinding performance and other
properties such as flowability, early/late strength development
and the workability of cement mortar and concrete.
When a conventional cement grinding circuit is considered, two
units come forward that are the ball mills and the air classifiers. In
ball milling, numerous researches have been undertaken to inves-
tigate the influences of the grinding aids. Sverak et al. [10] studied
on different types of grinding aids and discussed the effects on the
milling operations. They concluded that each type of the grinding
aid had varied effects on the grinding results. Sohoni et al. [11] dis-
cussed the results of batch grinding tests where different types of
grinding aids were used in grinding of cement clinker, limestone
and quartz. They observed that the use of grinding aid reduced
coatings on the mill shell, in particular when grinding of limestone
and clinker, and provided a steady operation since the agglomera-
tion tendency was reduced. Similarly, Oksuzoglu and Ucurum [12]
performed batch grinding tests for various types of grinding aids
and at different dosage rates. They proved that the use of grinding
aids improved the grinding performance of the mill. Gokcen et al.
[13], Altun et al. [14] studied the effects of grinding aids on the per-
formance of the stirred media mills. They stated that the use of
grinding aids improved the grinding results meaning that the
specific energy consumption of the grinding operation reduced.
Basically, the improvements in the milling performances was
attributed to the reduced amount of coatings while Bond work
index of the material was said to be constant [15]. Assaad [16]
studied on glycol based grinding aid at 2 different dosage rates
to relate the grinding results of laboratory and real scale cement
milling operation. It was concluded that specific energy consump-
tion decreased with the introduction of grinding aids. In addition to
the specific energy consumption, cement properties were also
investigated. It was found out that cement properties had altered
due to the change in the shape of the size distribution curve.
Assaad [17] investigated how the performance of the grinding
aid used in cement grinding varied with the temperature. It was
concluded that increase in the level of temperature altered the per-
formance of the additive used since the strength of cement
decreased significantly.
In contrast to the grinding operation, in the literature, the stud-
ies investigating the impacts on the air classification are limited
hence this study aims to fulfil the needs in that field. The novelties
of this paper come from its extended test works with different
types of grinding aids by utilizing laboratory scale air classifier.
Briefly, the influences of different types of grinding aids were
revealed and grinding aid-specific model structures were devel-
oped hence the predicting capabilities of the simulations could
be improved that have not been performed so far. The novelties
can be summarized as;
utilized and different operating conditions i.e., varied rotor speed,
dosage rate and air flow rate, were adjusted. Then the performance
of the classifier was evaluated by plotting the efficiency curves.
Afterwards, the model structure of the air classifier was developed
and the parameters of each type of aid were calculated to discuss
the differences between them. It should be emphasized that the
developed model structure is valid for the cement and air classifier
specified in the following sections.
Such a study is thought to be beneficial for both cement and
chemical manufacturers to understand what kind of differences
are observed depending on the type of the grinding aid. In the
end, by choosing proper type of grinding aid, the processes can
be optimized in terms of specific energy consumption and the cost
per ton of cement.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Description of the experimental apparatus
The experimental tests were undertaken with Alpine 100 MZR
Classifier (Fig. 1). The operational range of the classifier is reported
as between 2 and 80 mm and feed rate is between 2 and 6 kg based
on the density of the material. During the operation, target size of
the product is adjusted by changing the wheel speed and the air
flow rate, which range between 1000 and 15,000 rpm, 5 and 50
m3/h respectively.
Fig. 2 illustrates the cross-sectional views of the classification
chamber, rotor structure and the influencing forces in the classifi-
cation. The classifier has a rotor/wheel structure with zigzag shape
and there exist channels that radially arranged (Fig. 2b).
During the classification, the particles entering the classification
zone are under the influence of drag, centrifugal and gravity forces
thus either subject to the coarse or the fine stream (Fig. 2c). The
drag force is imparted by air, which flows through the outside of
the rotor to the inside and leaves the chamber by taking the fine
particles with it. Coarse material that is flung by the centrifugal

The influences of different types of grinding aids on cement

classification were discussed independent of the grinding
operation.

The effects of dosage rate fed directly from the separator feed
were able to be discussed.

The grinding aid-specific model structure for the classifier was
developed.

The developed model structures are to be utilized in the simu-
lation software and the predictions can be more accurate.

Within the scope, 3 types of aids named as, DEG (diethylene

glycol), TEA (triethanolamine), TIPA (triisopropanolamine) were Fig. 1. Alpine 100 MZR air classifier.
566 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573

Fig. 2. Cross sectional view of the classification chamber (a), wheel or rotor structure (b), and the influencing forces in the classification (c).

force is taken from one point on the circumference of the housing Table 1
and collected for weighing. Chemical assay of the cement tested in the air classifier.

The air classifier used in this study is specified as high efficiency Element %
classifier (HEC) since the rotary cage performs the final classifica- CaO 66.10
tion and the cyclone mounted outside of the main body separates SiO2 16.23
the air and the particles. In order to provide a better understanding Al2O3 3.85
of the classification performance of Alpine MZR, the performance Fe2O3 3.32
MgO 0.90
of it was compared with the HECs operated in cement applications
SO3 2.92
(CEM I 42.5R) and is illustrated in Fig. 3. K2O 0.78
The reduced Tromp curves depicted in Fig. 3 implies that the Na2O 0.37
performances of Alpine MZR classifier and Sepax type HEC in real Loss of ignition 5.53
scale cement operation are close to each other [18]. However, it
should be emphasized that the performances of the classifiers vary
depending on the change in the operating conditions [18,19].
Therefore the comparison illustrated in Fig. 3 is valid for the oper- feed rate were constant that enabled investigating the effects of
ating conditions adjusted for the classifiers. the grinding aids individually.
This study discussed the influences of 3 types of aids, which
were DEG (diethylene glycol), TEA (triethanolamine), TIPA (triiso-
2.2. Experimental studies propanolamine) on air classification. All of the chemicals were in
the form of the liquid. The experimental program included the test
The material used in the study was prepared by utilizing the studies for with and without grinding aid cases where the air flow
laboratory scale Bond ball mill. Clinker (95%) and gypsum (5%) rates were adjusted to 10 m3/h and 30 m3/h in the meantime the
were mixed then milled for about an hour, which did not include wheel speeds were 3000, 4000 and 5000 rpm. The grinding aids
any grinding aids. The chemical assay of the cement is given in were tested at different dosage rates, which were 500, 1000 and
Table 1. Following the milling of the material, 100 g of representa- 3000 g/t.
tive samples were prepared for each of the test work and then Following the test works, the samples were collected from the
heated up to 75 C in an oven. After the grinding aid is added to vessels of coarse and fine streams, which were initially weighed
the heated cement at the specified dose, it was mixed with a spat- then subjected to size determination works. The particle size mea-
ula for 30 s and immediately fed to the air classifier. Throughout surements were undertaken via laser diffractometry method (Sym-
the studies, both the particle size distribution of the feed and the patec) and the whole distribution down to 1.8 lm was determined.

Fig. 4. Measured particle size distribution curves around classifier at 3000 rpm; 10
Fig. 3. Tromp curves of Alpine MZR and HECs in one of the cement operations. m3/h air flow.
 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573
The principle of this technique is based on the variation in the light
scattering of the particles when they pass through a laser source.
Fig. 4 illustrates the measured size distribution curves around
the classifier for the cases with/without grinding aid conditions.
The results of the entire measurements were used in calculating
the parameters related to the performance curve and then devel-
oping correlations with the operating conditions of the classifier
that are discussed in the following sections.
2.3. Mass balancing and performance evaluation of an air classifier
The performance of an air classifier is evaluated by plotting
Tromp or actual efficiency curves. In order to plot the curve, flow
rates and size distributions should be calculated [20]. For this pur-
pose, the measured size distributions together with the weight of
the samples are inputted into a software and mass balancing stud-
ies are performed. Within the study, JK-SimMet mass balance mod-
ule, in which the algorithm based on a Quasi-Newton approach is
included, was used and then flow rates with the size distributions
of the streams were calculated. The success of the calculations was
evaluated by comparing the measured and calculated passing per-
centages (Fig. 5).
As can be seen from Fig. 5, the measured and calculated size dis-
tributions are close to each other indicating that the sampling and
the mass balancing studies were performed with the least sum of
errors. Therefore, the data set is available to be used for further
assessments.
Following the mass balancing studies, the probability of the size
fractions reporting to both coarse and fine streams were calculated
and plotted against the geometrical mean of the size fractions. A
typical Tromp curve is illustrated in Fig. 6. As indicated, the x-
axis denotes to the particle size and y-axis denotes to the probabil-
ity for being separated as fines and coarse. This curve has several
parameters for comparing and commenting on the performance
of the air classifiers, which are; bypass, cut size and the shape of
the curve (sharpness of separation, fish hook behaviour).
Bypass is the fraction that the feed particles are not classified
and subject directly to the underflow stream. The minimum value
of the actual efficiency curve represents this fraction. The literature
reports that bypass mainly changes with the dust loading of the
classifier that is the function of the amount of processed material
and the air used in the classification [18]. As the dust loading of
the classifier increases, the amount of bypass fraction also
increases since higher number of particles are processed and the
efficiency of the forces affecting the classification reduces.
Cut size, d50, is the size that the particles have equal probability
of being subjected to either coarse or fine stream. In air classifiers,
mainly two parameters have effects on the cut size, which are
100
Calculated Cumulave Passing %
80
60
40
20
0
0 20 40 60 80
Measured Cumulave Passing %
Fig. 5. Measured and calculated cumulative passing values.
567
Fig. 6. Actual and ideal efficiency curves of an air classifier.
wheel speed and air flow rate. During the classification, the finer
particles mainly pass thorough the holes of the wheel and when
the speed of wheel increases the probability of particles getting
inside the fines cone reduces due to the high number of impacts.
Therefore, the wheel speed and the cut size are inversely propor-
tional. Another important parameter is the air flow rate. It is
known that the air flow rate in separators affects primarily the drag
force. With the increased air flow rate, coarser particles are
reported to the fines cone meaning that the cut size and the air
flow rate are directly proportional [2124].
The shape of the tromp curve should also be evaluated for bet-
ter understanding of the classification operation. For this purpose,
normalized or reduced efficiency curves [25] are plotted to observe
the changes in the shape of the curve that is an indicator of how
the air classification is performed. From the curve, the sharpness
of classification and fish hook behaviours can both be observed
[26,27]. In the literature, the fish hook was attributed to the
agglomeration tendency of fine powders and the sharpness param-
eter was found to be correlating with the operating conditions [18].
3. Results and discussion
Within the scope of the study, grinding aid based model struc-
ture for air classifier was developed. The modelling studies based
on the efficiency curve approach where the parameters defining
the curve were correlated with the operating conditions of the
classifier. Numerous researchers studied on defining the efficiency
curve however; Altun [20] investigated the prediction capabilities
of them and found out that the approach developed by Whiten [26]
had the least sum of errors. From this point of view, this study
focused on Whitens approach of which the equation is presented
in Eq. (1)
0
 1
1 b  b  d50c
d
 expa  1
Eoa C@
 A 1
exp a  b  d50c
d
expa  2
where, Eoa: The actual efficiency to overflow; C: Fraction subjected
to real classification; (100-bypass); b: Parameter that controls the
initial rise of the curve in fine sizes (fish-hook); b: Parameter that
preserves the definition of d50c; d = d50c when E = (1/2)C; d: Size;
d50c: Corrected cut size; a: Sharpness of separation.
100
From now on, the influences of the type of grinding aids on
model parameters given in Eq. (1) are to be presented. In this con-
text, bypass (100-C), corrected cut size, sharpness of separation (a)
and fish hook parameters (b) were taken into consideration.
568 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573

Fig. 7. The variation of corrected cut size and d50c parameter with grinding aid dosage.

3.1. d50c parameter

Within the scope of the study, the corrected cut size parameter
given in Eq. (1) was taken into consideration. The corrected cut size
is determined from the corrected efficiency curve, which is pro-
duced from the actual efficiency curve where the bypass portion
is subtracted from each of the size fraction [26,27].
It has been reported in the literature that the corrected cut size
varied with the operating parameters of the classifier i.e., wheel
speed, air flow rate [18,20,22,23]. In this study, the influences of
another parameter that is the grinding aid and its dosage rate were
investigated. In Fig. 7a, the variation of the corrected cut size with
the operating conditions as well as the type and dosage rate of the
grinding aids is illustrated. As can be understood, air flow rate and
wheel speed has effects on d50c. The outcomes of this study is in
agreement with the literature that also reported that cut size is
Fig. 9. Effects of operating conditions on reduced efficiency curves of the classifier.
directly proportional to the air flow rate and inversely proportional
to the wheel speed. It is also seen from Fig. 7a that, corrected cut
size is not influenced by the variation of the type and dosage rate
of the grinding aids. Fig. 7b depicts the variation of d50c with the
dosage rate. As seen, the value of d50c is almost constant even if the
dosage rate was changed to 3000 g/t.
As a summary of the evaluations, it is understood that grinding
aid and its dosage rate has no influence on d50c, consequently
model structure was developed based on wheel speed and air flow
rate. The proposed model structure is illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10. Reduced efficiency curves of the classifier for various grinding aid dosages.

3.2. a parameter

As illustrated in Fig. 6, in an ideal classification (the sharpest),

Fig. 8. The variation of d50c parameter with operating conditions.
all the particles below the cut size are subjected to fines stream
and vice versa. However, the actual cases do not exhibit such beha-
viour and their efficiencies are evaluated based on how close they
are to the ideal curves. The a parameter in Whitens approach rep-
resents the sharpness parameter and it was reported that the ideal
case had the sharpness value of 10 [26].
 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573
Fig. 11. The variation of a parameter with operating conditions.
Within the context of the study, the reduced efficiency curves of
the classification operation were plotted and are depicted in Fig. 9.
As can be seen, for the cases without grinding aid, various operat-
ing conditions were adjusted and each of them exhibited different
behaviour. As the air classifier had two major operating parame-
Fig. 12. The variation of b parameter with grinding aid type and dosage.
569
ters, wheel speed and air flow rate, the influences of them on the
classification were evaluated. As can be understood, the highest
sharpness value of 6.36 was obtained at 3000 rpm and 30 m3/h
of air flow rate on the other hand the least value of sharpness
(2.65) was calculated for 5000 rpm and 10 m3/h of air flow rate.
It is also seen from the plots that; operating conditions have effects
on sharpness of classification. For the same wheel speed, increas-
ing the air flow rate from 10 m3/h to 30 m3/h, improved the sharp-
ness value as well. As an average, the sharpness was calculated as
3.29 for 10 m3/h which was 5.52. for 30 m3/h. The influence of the
wheel speed was also considered within the scope. At 10 m3/h,
varying the wheel speed from 3000 rpm to 5000 rpm reduced a
parameter from 4.01 to 2.65. On the other hand, at 30 m3/h it is
observed that from 3000 rpm to 5000 rpm, a parameter decreased
from 6.36 to 5. This behaviour of the classifier can be attributed to
the change in the movement of the particles inside the classifica-
tion zone. As the air flow rate increases, the material concentration
is reduced in the classification zone hence the sharper classifica-
tion is achieved. In addition, increasing the wheel speed, increases
the probability of the collisions between the particles and with the
rotor structure therefore sharpness decreases. Similar conclusions
were drawn by Altun and Benzer [18]. As a conclusion of the eval-
570 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573

uations, sharpness value was found to be directly proportional to the air flow or reducing the wheel speed reduces the tendency of
the air flow rate and inversely proportional to the wheel speed. the agglomeration and b parameter decreases. The grinding aid-
Following the initial evaluations, the variation of the sharpness based model structure of b parameter is depicted in Fig. 13. Since,
parameter with the type and dosage rate of the grinding aid was each of the grinding aids has varied influences, the developed
investigated (Fig. 10). Within the test works, the dosage rate was equations also varied and summarized in Eq. (2).
changed between 500 g/t and 3000 g/t and TIPA, DEG, TEA types
were studied. As can be understood, the shape of the efficiency b1 1=D=1000  0:36 T  exp0:36  expA3  W 2  1000
curve is not influenced even if the type and dosage rate of the 2
grinding aid vary.
As a summary, it was understood that the main influencing b: Model parameter; D: Grinding aid dosage (g/t); T: A variable
parameters on the shape of the curve were air flow rate and wheel depending on grinding aid type; A: Air flow rate (m3/h); W: Wheel
speed where the effects of grinding aid types and their dosage rates speed (rpm).
were not significant. For this reason, during the modelling studies, It should be emphasized that T values in Eq. (2) are found to be
a parameter was assumed to be constant for both with and with- grinding aid-specific and were calculated as 0.097, 0.079 and 0.085
out grinding aid conditions. The model for the a parameter is illus- for TEA, DEG and TIPA types respectively.
trated in Fig. 11.
3.4. C parameter
3.3. b parameter
As indicated in Eq. (1), C parameter of Whitens approach equals
The test works performed within the scope of this study indi- to 100-bypass, which means that the parameters affecting the
cated that both the use of grinding aid and the adjusted operating bypass also have influence on C parameter. In this study, air flow
conditions of the air classifier had effects on b parameter. Fig. 12 rate was the only parameter affecting the dust loading, since all
depicts the variation of b parameter with the type and dosage rate
of the grinding aid. As can be understood, all of the grinding aids
showed similar relationships and the most effective type of the
grinding aid was found to be as TEA that was followed by TIPA
and DEG types. The influences of the grinding aids were more pro-
nounced specifically at less wheel speed and 3000 g/t of dosage
rate. For the conditions of 3000 rpm, 10 m3/h air flow rate and
3000 g/t of dosage, the b parameter varied from 0.37 to 0.67 for
DEG and TEA types respectively. On the other hand, for the condi-
tions of 5000 rpm, 30 m3/h air flow rate and 3000 g/t of dosage, b
parameter varied from 0.19 to 0.22 meaning that there is almost
no influence of the grinding aids.
During the modelling of the b parameter, the operating condi-
tions together with the influence of the grinding aids were consid-
ered. From the test results, it was concluded that either increasing Fig. 14. Decrease of bypass due to the air flow rate when grinding aids are not used.

Fig. 13. The variation of b parameter with operating conditions.

 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573
of the test works were carried out at the same feed rate. Test
results implied that air flow rate and bypass parameters were
inversely proportional to each other (Fig. 14). It can be attributed
to the decrease in the dust loading of the classifier feed. Similar
conclusions were drawn by Onuma and Ito [19], 1994, Benzer
et al., 2001 [23] and Altun and Benzer, 2014 [18].
Fig. 14 summarizes the test results of each type of grinding aid.
As can be seen, C parameter is influenced significantly by the
change in the dosage rate, specifically at less air flow rates (10
m3/h). The most significant decrease in bypass was 67% when
using TIPA type at 3000 g/t and at 10 m3/h of air flow rate and
3000 rpm of wheel speed. In case the air flow increased to 30
m3/h, the bypass value was almost constant even if the dosage rate
was changed from 0 to 3000 g/t. It can be concluded that at higher
air flow rates (at 30 m3/h) the influences of the grinding aids on the
bypass values are very limited. Consequently, it is understood that,
there can be a certain rate of air flow that the use of grinding aids is
not beneficial anymore.
Another conclusion is on the optimal dosage rate of the grinding
aids, which was determined as 1000 g/t where no more reduction
in bypass was observed. Having an optimal point of dosage can be
Fig. 15. The variation of C parameter with grinding aid type and dosage.
571
attributed to change in the particles surfaces that were proposed
by Deckers and Stettner [28]. They reported that excessive use of
grinding aids could lead to the formation of capillary forces
between the molecular layers of the surfaces that could trigger
the agglomeration. Having agglomerated particles in the feed of
the classifier can contribute obtaining higher amount of bypass
fraction since they behave as a cluster. Fig. 15 depicts the variation
of C parameter with the type and dosage rate of the grinding aid.
When the performances of the grinding aids were compared
DEG type was found to be having the highest bypass (the least
value of C) where TIPA lead to having the least value of bypass.
As a conclusion, TIPA type aid is said to be more beneficial regard-
ing to its influences on the bypass parameter. The differences in
their performances could be attributed to the boiling points which
are 335.4, 306, and 245 C for TEA, TIPA, and DEG respectively. As
TEA and TIPA close to each other DEG that has the lowest boiling
point has the least performance. However, a detailed study should
be undertaken to validate such comments. The tests at higher tem-
perature levels are required that will be studied in the future.
As a result of the calculations, the model structure proposed for
the C parameter is depicted in Fig.16 and in Eq. (3). As can be seen,
572 N.A. Toprak et al. / Construction and Building Materials 160 (2018) 564573
Fig. 16. The model structure of C parameter.
the operating conditions, the type as well as the dosage rates of the
grinding aids were taken into considerations.
0:31D0:10:08
C T  A1:24  W 0:51
C: Model parameter; D: Grinding aid dosage (g/t); T: A variable
depending on grinding aid type; A: Air flow rate (m3/h); W: Wheel
speed (rpm).
The calculations showed that T values were grinding aid specific
and determined as 0.94, 0.90 and 0.96 for TEA, DEG and TIPA types,
respectively.
4. Conclusions
When the closed circuited grinding operations are considered, it
is difficult to evaluate the influences of the grinding aids on the
milling and the classification actions individually, due to the
dynamics of the whole system. Briefly, with the addition of grind-
ing aid, the circulating load and dust loading of the classifier
decreases and the performance varies. Since there is an integrated
effect, it is difficult to provide a clear understanding whether the
grinding aid improved the classification operation or the milling
operation. Another point is, in a closed circuited grinding opera-
tion, the grinding aids are fed from the fresh feed stream not from
the classifier feed. Therefore, the actual grinding aid dosage of the
separator feed stream may not be the same as that of the fresh feed
and this must be considered as well.
Within the study series of test works were performed. The
results implied that the classification performance varied depend-
ing on the type and the dosage rate of the grinding aids. The per-
formance of the classification was evaluated with the modelling
studies where Whitens approach was used. Briefly, sharpness of
separation (a), corrected cut size (d50c), fish hook (b) and C param-
eters were taken into consideration. The evaluations on the sharp-
ness and the corrected cut size parameters showed that they were
not influenced by the type and the dosage rate of the grinding aids
therefore it could be said to be constant. However, they were both
affected by the operating conditions of the classifier i.e., air flow
rate and wheel speed. On the other hand, fish hook and C parame-
ters were found to be influenced by the type and dosage rates. This
3 can be attributed to the modification of the particles surfaces.
Among the TIPA, DEG and TEA type aids, TIPA was found to be
the most performance enhancer of the classification operation
since the bypass and the fish hook decreased. When the dosage
rate of the grinding aids was considered, 1000 g/t was determined
as the optimal point where the excessive use lead to decreased
performance.
As a result of the studies, the grinding aid-specific model struc-
ture for a given classifier and cement type was developed and the
variations in the types and dosage rates of them were investigated.
The corrected cut size and sharpness of separation parameters
were found to be independent of the use of grinding aid. On the
other hand, the fish hook and C parameters changed significantly
hence the model equations were developed and presented in the
paper. Such a study is thought to be beneficial for both cement
and chemical manufacturers to understand what kind of differ-
ences are observed depending on the type of the grinding aid used.
In the end, by choosing proper type of grinding aid, the processes
can be optimized in terms of specific energy consumption and
the cost per ton of cement. In the future studies, the outcomes of
this study are to be compared with the industrial scale operations.
In case of having similar trends as obtained in the laboratory scale
air classifier, both grinding aid and cement manufacturers can test
or develop different types of grinding aids in the laboratory envi-
ronment hence the quality and the production losses can be mini-
mized. The future studies are also to be focussed on conducting the
tests at higher temperature levels to observe whether the perfor-
mance varies.
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