Ball mill: A major player in pharmaceutical production

Ball Mill In Pharmaceutics :

The Ball mill operates on the principle of impact and attrition. In this, Impact occurs between fast moving balls and the powder material while the attrition mode comes in action when the hollow cylinder rotates on its longitudinal axis. All is occurs at low speed and the balls roll over each other.

Ball Mill is grinder equipment used in the pharmacy to reduce the particle size of active and excipient materials.

Pharmaceutical Ball Mill is a type of grinder used to grind & blend materials, while manufacturing various dosages forms. The size reduction is done by impact as the balls drop from near the top of the shell. Ball mills are used primarily for single-stage fine grinding, regrinding, and as the second stage in two-stage grinding circuits. According to the need ball mill can be either for wet or dry designs.

Uses Of Ball Mill -

• Ball mill is used for the milling of pigments and insecticides for industrial purposes.
• Stainless steel balls are preferred for the production of ophthalmic and parental products.
• Ball milling has been shown effective for the production of amorphous materials.

Advantages -

• The capacity and fitness can be adjusted by adjusting the diameter of the ball.
• It is suitable for both wet dry grinding.
• It is Suitable for both batch and continuous operation.
• Easy to maintain and manage.

Disadvantages -

• Slow process.
• Difficult to clean the machine.
• Not suitable for sticky products.
• Heavy equipment so very high one time capital investment.
• Not suitable for sensitive and flammable substances.

Ball Mill Machine :

Ball mills Machines are commonly used for crushing and grinding materials into an extremely fine form. The ball mill contains a hollow cylindrical shell that rotates about its axis. This cylinder is filled with balls that are made of stainless steel or rubber to the material contained in it.

A ball mill is a type of grinder used in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, ceramics, and selective laser sintering to grind or blend materials. It operates on the idea of impact and attrition: as the balls fall from close to the top of the shell, size reduction is accomplished by impact.

Uses Of Ball Mill Machine -

Ball mill is the key equipment for grinding after the crushing process, which is widely used in the manufacture industries, such as cement, silicate, new building material, refractory material, fertilizer, ferrous metal, nonferrous metal and glass ceramics and can be used for the dry and wet grinding for all kinds of ores and other grind-able materials.

Advantages -

• It can be used for continuous operation.
• It produces very fine powder.
• It is suitable for both wet and dry grinding.

Disadvantages -

• Bulky size.
• Lower Capacity.

Laboratory Ball mill :

Ball mills is an engineering device used to grind metal, rock, & other materials into fine powder. It consists of a horizontal axle, a rating shaft & a vertical sifter screen. The horizontal axle is connected to power sources & holds the body of the mill.

Laboratory Ball Mill is primarily designed for grinding pigments. The material is ground at a specific speed by using a specific quantity of grinding media (steel balls) for a specific period. The equipment is used for making the ground cement samples in the laboratory. Apart from the cement industry, it is also used in the paint, plastic, granite and tile industries. The equipment is provided with a revolution counter for recording the revolutions.

Advantages -

• Cost of installation is low.
• Cost of power required is low.
• Suitable for batch as well as continuous operation.

Disadvantages -

• A ball mill is slow & costly way to produce certain materials.
• It is very noisy machine.
• Soft, fibrous material cannot be milled by ball mill.