High efficiency separation for ball mills
With over 425 units installed worldwide in the 25+years we’ve supplied the O-Sepa separator, it remains at the top of industry lists for both performance and mechanical integrity. It enables more sustainable mill operations, while lowering operating costs, bringing tangible benefits to plant operations. Meanwhile, its compact and versatile design requires minimum space for installation. And it can be applied to a variety of systems to fit any new or existing process requirement. Installation time is minimised by its bolted flanged design.
Compared to other separator designs, the O-Sepa separator offers improved separation efficiency. This means less fine material is returned to the mill. Which in turn reduces mill power consumption at a given product fineness. The superior grinding efficiency – coupled with better product size distribution – also maximises system capacity. While the precise, uniform separation achieved by the O-Sepa makes stable operation easier to achieve through simple system control. This benefits of superior efficiency and stable operation are clear: increased cement strength and lower amounts of coarse material in the final product.
The O-Sepa can be installed for both cement and non-cement applications, as a retrofit to existing grinding circuits or on new mill systems.
For retrofits, a system with dedusting cyclones on the outlet (product) end can be beneficial. In this arrangement, there is less exhaust gas – which is an advantage when it comes to obtaining environmental permits. Meanwhile, the compactness of the O-Sepa (which also requires a smaller dust collector than other separators) means that it is often easier to fit within existing plant layouts.
For new installations that want a simpler system with less equipment and fewer drives, a full vent arrangement is possible. The separator fan handles clean gas, reducing maintenance and allowing for a higher-efficiency fan design. Any recycled air is clean – which means the duct arrangement is not limited. And although the dust loading it higher, it is coarser, increasing collection efficiency. Last but not least, this arrangement provides the maximum air cooling or maximum system temperature for controlling product quality.
Whatever arrangement you choose, it’s possible to draw fresh air for classifying: the basis for superior cooling capability. This means better control of recirculating material temperatures. Which reduces the chance of ball coating and pack set problems in the silo. It’s possible to take the mill vent gases through the separator, eliminating the need for a separate dust collector and fan.
With our longstanding expertise with O-Sepa installations and operations, we understand where and how wear happens. Based on this experience, we’ve designed the O-Sepa’s wear protection specifically to address the various wear challenges in the most effective was possible.
This means ceramic tiles to line the separator inlet and exit ducts, as well as the rotor shaft, to protect against jet abrasion from dust entrained in the gas streams.
It means coating the rotor vanes with ceramic spray for the same reason. While the guide vanes are made from chromium carbide bulk-welded plate to resist the impact of oversized reject materials from the rotor.
And it means feed chutes made from abrasion-resistant plate. While the air seal and material distribution plate are made from abrasion-resistant NiHard castings. This tailoring of wear materials to the specific wear location and mechanism reduces maintenance requirements and ultimately helps further lower overall operating costs.
