Porous Polymeric Basket Wall for Media Mill Throughput

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional basket media mills face challenges in containing very small grinding media while maintaining efficient volumetric flow, leading to reduced throughput and increased processing time for finer dispersions, as the proportion of open area in metallic containment walls decreases with smaller media sizes.

Innovation Solution

The use of porous synthetic polymeric materials for the containment walls with pore sizes smaller than the media, providing an open area of at least 15% of the overall area, allowing for increased volumetric flow and effective grinding and dispersion of fine and ultra-fine solids, while maintaining the media within the basket.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If metallic containment walls with smaller openings are used to contain very small grinding media, then media containment is improved, but the proportion of open area decreases leading to reduced throughput

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemedia containmentVSAvoidthroughput

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies porous materials by replacing traditional metallic grids with porous synthetic polymeric materials that have uniformly distributed pores. These porous materials maintain effective media containment through pore sizes smaller than the grinding media while preserving high open area ratios (at least 15%) to ensure adequate feedstock throughput. The porous structure allows the containment wall to simultaneously achieve both media confinement and fluid flow requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs composite materials by using synthetic polymeric materials with engineered porous structures. These composite materials combine the containment capability of solid structures with the flow-permeability of porous architectures, creating a containment wall that integrates both media retention and feedstock flow functions without compromising either aspect.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

2Manufacturing precision

If smaller grinding media are used to achieve finer dispersions, then dispersion quality is improved, but it becomes increasingly difficult to confine the media within the basket

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedispersion qualityVSAvoidmedia containment

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses porous synthetic polymeric materials with precisely controlled pore sizes that are smaller than the grinding media being contained. This porous structure provides effective confinement for very small media (enabling finer dispersions) while maintaining structural integrity and media retention, solving the containment difficulty associated with smaller media sizes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

3Reliability

If the open area proportion in containment walls is decreased to contain smaller media, then media containment is improved, but volumetric flow of feedstock decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemedia containmentVSAvoidvolumetric flow

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies porous materials that provide a dual-function structure: the porous architecture maintains high open area ratios (at least 15% of overall area) to allow adequate feedstock volumetric flow, while the pore sizes are engineered to be smaller than the grinding media to ensure effective containment. This resolves the contradiction between containment effectiveness and flow capacity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #31Porous materials

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This solution enables faster processing of feedstock with increased precision and reduced dwell time, improved media containment, and extended service life, while preventing contamination and abrasion, facilitating the dispersion of very fine and ultra-fine solids with enhanced energy transfer.

Implementation Method 1

the containment wall is constructed of a porous synthetic polymeric material having porous openings each of a pore size less than the predetermined size of the media for confining the media within the bed in the basket as feedstock is passed through the porous openings in the containment wall

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectPorosity: Porosity

Data Source

PatentUS7828234B1Basket media mill with porous containment wall and method

Publication Date: 2010.11.09 HOCKMEYER EQUIPMENT CORP

AI summary

The containment wall of a basket media mill is constructed of a porous synthetic polymeric material having porous openings each of a pore size less than the predetermined size of the media for confining the media within the bed in the basket as feedstock is passed through the porous openings in the containment wall. The containment wall extends over an overall area and the porous openings provide an open area through which the feedstock flows as the feedstock passes through the containment wall, and the open area is at least about fifteen percent of the overall area of the containment wall for enabling a concomitant increased volumetric flow of feedstock through the containment wall. A substantially flat sheet of porous synthetic polymeric material having porous openings is formed into a cylindrical configuration to establish a cylindrical containment wall with porous openings each increasing in pore size from the interior of the cylindrical wall toward the exterior of the cylindrical wall.