FABRICATION OF LOW COST BALL MILL FOR COTTAGE CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Ceramic materials often occur in rock-like form needing processing to render them to useable forms. Nigeria has an abundance of these materials which have not been adequately explored and exploited. This inability has reflected in the quantity and quality of ceramic articles produced locally and the near extinction of small and medium scale ceramic enterprises. A readily identified reason for this state of affairs is the lack of processing equipment chief among which is the ball mill. Due to the prohibitive cost of foreign ball mills, this study focuses on the fabrication of a low-cost ball mill, with careful consideration for the effectiveness of motion and power transmission from the electric motor to the metal container. Other factors of note were the prevention of water leakage at the charging outlet of the metal container and the appropriate ball mill operating speed. Porcelain tiles procured locally were used in lining the metal drum. The effectiveness of the fabricated ball mill was determined using material charges of quartz and feldspar prospected from Gbegbinlawo, Abeokuta North local government area of Ogun State. Ball milling on batch samples of the materials was done at a time period of two (2) to six (6) hours with the processed materials treated to a particle size analysis using sieves of sizes, 20, 40, 70, 140 and 270 to determine the particle size distribution or spread described on a multiple bar chart. It was observed from the descriptive analysis that the milled materials became finer with increased spread of materials within the super fine range (140 – 270) as they were milled for longer time periods. The fabricated ball mill reduced particle sizes from the feed size of 2000μm (2mm) to less than 53μm (0.053mm). This study has assisted in revealing the quality of local content in the fabrication of a ball mill and provided a basis for improving the processing of the abundant local ceramic materials by cottage and small scale industries.