(216b) A Detailed Study of the Energy Utilisation in a Drop-Weight Tester

Energy efficiency in comminution continues to be a prime concern as energy costs continue to escalate. Comminution is the largest consumer of energy in the mineral processing industry and that makes the quest for efficiency imperative. In that light, particle breakage has attracted attention over the years resulting in the invention of the drop-weight test machine among other important machines to measure the energy required to break a particle. However, accounting for the energy expenditure applied to the particle is still a challenge. Therefore, tests were conducted to study the breakage of silica sand under impact breakage, and account for energy dissipation in the form of heat using an infrared thermometer. Results show that energy expenditure during particle breakage can be determined from heat dissipation measured from the temperature changes. These findings provide important insights regarding energy usage during particle breakage and enable better control of the comminution process.