The vertically arranged Hosokawa ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill is a specialist ball mill designed for the efficient wet grinding of highly concentrated minerals, including super-fine calcium carbonate slurries and suspensions. Its design features and mode of operation mean it can effortlessly process very high-quality powder of exceptionally high fineness and whiteness so is perfect for applications such as papermaking, rubber glove and paint manufacture.
The mill’s design offers a number of advantages, such as continual operation mode and low maintenance requirements, minimising downtime and increasing efficiency, while the cooling function helps to optimise the quality of the powder. The low grinding requirement also makes the ANR-CL particularly energy efficient and cost effective. Conveniently, the mill is available in a range of seven models of varying powers, dimensions and fineness capabilities. Its clever design means that scale-up to larger capacity production levels is a very straightforward process. The ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill can be supplied as a standalone product but can also be integrated into a complex turnkey processing solution, if required
ANR Agitated Media Mill
The mill design ensures low maintenance, continuous system operation with no expensive downtime periods. The flow pattern through the vertically configured ANR is from bottom to top, whereby the feed material is ground to the required end fineness with the aid of ceramic grinding beads (zirconium silicate or zirconium oxide).
The agitator elements and the grinding chamber wall are made of wear-resistant hardened materials and efficient cooling of the mill stator removes the heat generated during grinding. Mill geometry permits trouble free scale-up to high production-scale capacities and the product line includes small pilot machines of 45 kW as well as production scale mills up to the MW range. The unit delivers low energy grinding at minimal wear rates with high mill service life.
Hosokawa’s ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill – for wet grinding, drying and coating of highly concentrated mineral suspensions, such as ground calcium carbonate (GCC) – is currently available in a range of seven sizes, from pilot-scale to the largest full-size production model, which requires an installation height of almost thirteen metres and is just over two metres wide.
This specialist mill is just one of a range of wet and dry grinding mills available from Hosokawa Micron. The ANR-CL’s sister product, the compact ATR Vertical Agitated Media Mill, is perfect for dry grinding mineral powders to superfine consistencies for use in fillers and glazing products, as well as non-mineral hard materials and product coatings. The extremely energy-efficient PULVIS is a vertical dry agitated media mill integrated with a dynamic classifier for ultrafine, contamination-free, size reduction of ceramic material and glass down to d97 <1µm. For energy-efficient, superfine dry comminution of hard materials, we recommend the iconic Super Orion SO horizontal ball mill range, offering d97 < 10µm and fineness down to d50 = 0.8µm when used in collaboration with a Hosokawa ultrafine classifier.
For further information or advice about the best agitated media mill or ball mill for your requirements, please contact our expert technical sales team.
The Hosokawa ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill is used for the wet grinding of highly concentrated limestone slurries and suspensions (GCC) where a steep particle size distribution is required, producing powders of superior fineness and whiteness. The specialised ball mill is used extensively in the manufacture of premium and coated papers, where a consistent calcium carbonate particle size and colour are critical for the fillers and pigments needed to meet the increasingly sophisticated quality demands of the paper industry.
Robust, high-performance mill for wet grinding
Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC) is derived from limestone deposits – mainly formed from seashells and the skeletons and waste of marine animals in shallow seas up to 500 million years ago – and has a Moh’s rating of 3 to 4.
In the specialised high-end paper manufacturing sector, fine (70% < 2µm) and ultrafine (90% < 2µm) GCC powder is used as a natural filler ingredient, popular for qualities such as high brightness and its low impurity levels. GCC can also help to strengthen the paper and speed up the drying process, reducing costs and increasing energy efficiency.
The Hosokawa ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill is a specialist (wet grinding) ball mill designed for agitating highly concentrated mineral slurries, such as limestone.
The mill works in a similar way to Hosokawa’s other ranges of ball mill, where a series of balls inside the ANR-CL’s grinding chamber process the mineral material. The main difference between the wet and dry methods of processing is the ANR-CL utilises a rotor-driven agitator (or agitator body) with stirring elements to move the balls inside the drum, which in turn grind the mineral material. The smaller the balls, the finer the ground material can be.
Rather than the raw material being introduced into the mill in a dry format for grinding, the mineral material is first mixed with liquids (normally water and a liquefier) to create a highly concentrated suspension or slurry that can be ‘wet ground’ by agitation to an ultrafine consistency at low speed.
The ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill is configured to work on a vertical axis, processing material from the bottom to the top. The pre-mixed mineral suspension or slurry is continually fed into the mill via a screw pump connected from a supply bin and is ground to the desired fineness using ceramic grinding balls and a process of agitation. To ensure optimal performance and equipment longevity, the grinding components and chamber are manufactured from hardened material to make them more wear resistant.
The mill efficiently grinds the homogenised suspension or slurry at low speed while cooling the mill stator, which has the twin advantages of ensuring the milling process is both energy-efficient and causes minimal wear to the equipment, which in turn prolongs the working life of the ANR-CL.
In addition, the rotor components are moved by a four-motor drive system with a common gear wheel. Conveniently, the ANR-CL can operate if only three motors are working, so in the unlikely event of a motor failure, the mill can still function while a spare motor is obtained.
The ceramic balls are separated from the processed suspension using a combined dynamic and mechanical classification method at the head of the mill, from where the material continues for further processing (in the case of a calcium carbonate material such as GCC, this could involve a drying process using a piece of equipment such as a Drymeister DMR-H) or an Atritor Cell Mill, which offers dual processing of both drying and also coating suspensions and has an integrated classifier.
The sturdy ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill from Hosokawa can be used individually for ultrafine wet grinding purposes. However, it is more commonly a component of a process solution and can easily be integrated into an existing process system or a bespoke new turnkey system, including third-party processing equipment or additional Hosokawa Micron Group products, such as the multi-purpose Drymeister DMR-H for drying the processed material, large-volume storage tanks and fully automatic control systems, if required. Alternatively, the powerful Atritor Cell Mill is a perfect complement to the ANR-CL, providing efficient, specialist drying and coating functions that are ideal for mineral suspensions, including GCC. An integrated classifier offers efficient top cut control of the mineral suspension.
Satellite Process Systems
The ANR-CL Agitated Media Mill is an adaptable piece of equipment that can be used efficiently by paper mills to meet the requirements of a particular paper production process. Located on-site at the paper mill, the ANR-CL can be used flexibly for on-the-spot preparation of coating pigments and fillers.
There are wide-ranging advantages to paper mills autonomously processing their own mineral powder suspensions for paper production, rather than sourcing them from a third-party supplier, including no constraints on delivery times, fulfilment issues or additional costs; slurry can be routed directly to the paper mill without drying; optimal quality from ‘freshly processed’ material with no concerns about re-agglomeration or needing to use preservatives; cheaper raw materials, such as liquefiers and additives; the ability to create bespoke ‘recipes; increased agility to quickly overcome market changes and the capability to conduct advanced R&D testing to be ahead of the curve on market trends.
Our highly experienced laboratory, engineering and product teams enjoy collaborating with customers from a wide range of industry sectors and are adept at creating bespoke, highly complex process systems that are robust, cost-effective and provide consistent high performance over many years.
Process systems for raw mineral material suppliers, as well as universal satellite systems or standalone ANR-CL Agitated Media Mills for paper mills, are available from Hosokawa Micron. Complex high-performance process solutions can be designed, engineered, manufactured and commissioned by us to meet specific customer requirements, with a full range of lifecycle support in place to help manage and maintain the high performance of the equipment throughout its service.
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