The effects of various surface-active agents on the breakage of calcite in a laboratory porcelain mill

A study has been made of grinding of calcite in a laboratory size porcelain mill as dry, wet and wet grinding with chemicals using standard S and B test technique. The dry, wet and wet grinding with chemicals were performed for the fresh feeds of 30×40 mesh (−600+425 μm calcite samples The surface active agents used for the grinding tests were aimed to contribute the Rehbinder effect during the milling. The grinding of calcite with and without chemicals gave both first order and non-first order breakage after 16 minutes of grinding. The specific rates of breakages (S₁) values obtained were in the range of 0.26 and 0.35 min⁻¹. The highest S_i value obtained was 0.35 min⁻¹ when using sodium dodecyl sulphate emphasizing the Rehbinder effect more pronounced among the other chemicals used, while the dry grinding gave 0.26 min⁻¹. The primary breakage distribution function (B_i,j) values remained almost the same for the grindings studied.