Simoloyer® CM100s:: Semi-continuous mechanical alloying on a production scale using cycle operation -: Part II

The production of large quantities of powders for industrial applications, e.g., in paints or soldering materials, especially Cu and Ag particles with a special geometry (flakes) are of high interest. Based on milling experiments resolved by the High Energy (ball) Mill, the Simoloyer CM01-1/2l, with a grinding unit capacity of 0.5 l for laboratory purpose, a new grinding device, the Simoloyer CM100s1 (capacity 100 liters), has been developed under the same principle. The new device is suitable for a semi-continuous production of mechanically alloyed and mechanically deformed powders (1-3), which is described in part I of this work. Part II focuses on testing and industrial application of the processing equipment as well as on principles regarding productivity. The testing regarding semicontinuous operation using depression has been performed and is discussed in the present paper. The production capability has been determined at 10 kg per 3 minutes. The challenge of the semi-continuous procedure is to get access to this batch-result without additional serving-times. From the present point of view, the route using compression has the highest potential which will be considered in part III of this work. The main processing parameters will lead to a continuous capability of about 4 tons of flake-powder per day (10 hours), which relates to a time-saving factor of approximately 1000 compared to conventional ball-milling and stamping technique. The determination of the energy consumption (energy balance) by use of the special control-software will also be discussed.