Electrical Drives for Large Grinding Mills

CIM Bulletin, 1972

The horsepower required to drive large grinding mills has increased dramatically during the past ten years. Limitations on the amount of power which may be transmitted by a single gear and pinion have resulted in the application of multimotor drives, with consequent loadsharing problems. It has also sparked the development of some entirely new drive concepts. In addition, the severe demands made upon the electrical system during the acceleration period have required that the selection of motors and electrical system design be closely coordinated. Moreover, the installation of such large process units results in downtime being very costly. The equipment selected and the plant maintenance philosophy must therefore be such as to minimize the risk of unscheduled downtime.

Keywords: ball mill, induction motor, power factor correction, synchronous motor, torque, Gears, Grinding Mill, grinding mills, Load, Mill, Mills, Motors, Systems