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Vertical fine grinding mills

Optimise metal recovery with vertical fine grinding solutions from FLS

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Key benefits of vertical fine grinding mills

  • Cost efficient and increased sustainability

    Our vertical fine grinding mills offer lower capital expenditures by providing components that are factory tested and pre-assembled for rapid on-site erection. This results in a significantly shorter lead time compared to competitors. Additionally, simple containerised shipping further reduces logistics costs and ensures fast, efficient transportation. These features make the equipment cost-effective and easy to deploy, which is particularly beneficial for projects with tight budgets or time constraints.

  • Optimised design for reduced footprint and easy maintenance

    Not only does the vertical mill have a reduced footprint compared to horizontal mills of the same size, but the compact design is optimised to eliminate back-pressure problems and remove the risk of bearing seal leakage. With no need for seals or filters within the mill chamber, maintenance costs and downtime are reduced. This design also avoids the need for complex internal separators, as slurry discharge happens naturally by overflow through a polyurethane screen at atmospheric pressure.

  • Performance flexibility and global support

    The high-torque drive allows the use of various grinding media, catering to a wide range of densities, while the variable speed drive ensures the mill can adjust to different process conditions, enhancing performance flexibility. The vertical design also eliminates cavitation issues within the grinding zone at high speeds. Meanwhile, our global service network ensures continuous, reliable support wherever the mill is deployed.

FLS Tower Mill (FTM)

The FLS Tower Mill (FTM) reduces energy and media consumption in hard ore applications while minimising water usage in secondary and tertiary grinding of minerals. The major design features of the tower mill are (1) a central agitator screw, the only moving machine component in contact with the slurry and steel media, and (2) the vertical grinding chamber which minimizes overgrinding of the product This arrangement reduces energy consumption in fine grinding of minerals by 25% to 50% when compared to traditional horizontal ball mills for the same feed and product size.

Maximum efficiency and superior circuit performance

  • Bottom feed arrangement provides maximum grinding efficiency
  • Robust component design and proven wear materials provide higher operational availability
  • Intelligent operations management software maximises circuit performance
  • Direct-on-Line, Variable Speed Drive, or Liquid Resistor Starter are coupled with premium efficiency motors to provide optimal operation and reliability
  • Material breakage is done by attrition, not by impact
  • Simple, modular component structure allows rapid installation
  • The double helix screw provides efficient energy transfer to the spherical steel media. This guarantees size reduction of feed material suspended in slurry before exiting the FTM at the upper discharge launderer.
Models

Compare vertical fine grinding mills

Tower mill
VXPmill
Applications
fine and ultra fine-grinding at low speeds, lower throughput. Particularly suitable for softer materials or longer residence times.
fine and ultra-fine grinding at higher speeds, higher throughput.
Energy efficiency
energy-efficient in low-to-medium-energy fine grinding applications.
greater efficiency for applications that require more aggressive grinding, e.g. harder materials or high-throughput applications.
Maintenance
simple design means fewer wear parts and less maintenance.
high speed design may require more regular maintenance, but robust construction ensures it can handle demanding operations.
Add-ons
Milling wear parts, LoadIQ, Advanced process control
Milling wear parts, LoadIQ, Advanced process control

Maintenance & Service of vertical fine grinding mills

Digital tools like our Asset Health & Insights services enable enhanced predictive maintenance through condition monitoring and expert support. In addition, the unique design of the VXPmill allows operators to quickly flush and drain the media out of the mill into a holding tank in preparation for disc maintenance. After the flushing cycle is completed, a valve is simply opened at the bottom of the mill and the ceramic beads drain into a temporary media storage tank. This is not only a safe solution, but the rapid maintenance process allows you to increase both time savings and machine availability.

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Frequently asked questions

FAQs for vertical fine grinding mills

Vertical mills such as the FLS Tower Mill or the VXPmill and ball mills are commonly used for fine grinding in industries like mining, cement, and chemical processing. These mills reduce material into finer particles, making them ideal for applications where fine to ultra-fine grinding is required, such as in regrinding of ore in mining or producing fine powders.

There are many different types of vertical mills, but for fine grinding we recommend wither Tower Mills – slow-speed vertical mills used for fine and ultra-fine grinding with low energy consumption – or the high-speed, high-throughput alternative, VXPmills.

In a vertical fine grinding mill, material is fed from the top and ground by the action of grinding media, such as steel or ceramic balls. The grinding media is agitated by either a slow-speed rotating agitator (as in the Tower Mill) or a high-speed impeller (as in the VXPmill). The ground material is reduced by impact, attrition, and friction between the media and the particles. Gravity helps carry the material through the mill as it is ground down, and finer particles are discharged while the larger ones remain in the chamber for further grinding. The vertical design also optimises space usage and allows for energy-efficient operation.