Repeatedly in our publications, you have got acquainted with the material how Energosteel company has conduct industrial tests of steel grinding balls by own production. Also in our articles, we have examined in detail the stages of the industrial tests.
Today we would like to summarize the work done. Statistics had taken for the period starting from 2012. Energosteel sales support department was formed that year.
During this period, our experts have conducted 98 industrial tests of grinding media. About 90% of tests have conducted at our clients’ production bases. Industrial tests have been conducted by two methods: the method of “replacement” and the method of “loading from scratch.” Once, in 2013, we planned to test our grinding balls using the “marked ball” method. Unfortunately, we could not implement this project. Drilling (“marking”) holes had not economically feasible due to the high hardness of our grinding balls. It has been necessary to use high-strength diamond-coated drills for drilling, which significantly increases the test batch cost. Also, in the grinding balls production by the cross-helical rolled round billets method, there is no possibility to “mark” produced grinding balls in contrast to the technology for casting grinding media by cast iron. The experiment has been conducted by the “substitution” method.
We will not hide, not all of our industrial tests have been successful. Each experiment had subjected to a scrupulous analysis. Objective and subjective factors had been determined, and their influence has reduced to a minimum in our further projects. According to statistics, more than 92% of customers have implemented the achieved industrial tests results in their own production processes: have started using balls in grinding as the replacement the other grinding media types, have changed the previously used grinding media diameters, have reduced the ball mills load, have changed the previously used hardness group of grinding balls, etc.
In the course of our work, we have conducted tests in all industries the steel grinding balls can be used: mining & processing enterprises (all grinding stages), cement plants, thermal power plants, factories for the aerated concrete blocks production and others. We have tested our grinding media in various mills types: ball mills, pipe mills, semi-self-grinding mills, vertical mills, etc. Energosteel steel grinding balls have been tested both in wet and dry grinding, in closed and open grinding cycles. We have conducted industrial tests not only in Ukraine and Russia but also in enterprises that are located in Poland, Serbia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
Today we can say with confidence, our specialists can provide any assistance to our partners in issues relating to grinding processes and the grinding media use. Please note, our technical specialists don’t forget about the client upon any industrial test completion. We constantly keep in touch with the clients’ technical specialists. We receive information about our grinding media work, we come up with proposals for new industrial tests. We do everything to help our clients as much as possible to ensure their production by an efficient material grinding process.