Crushing

Compression Crushing

Crushers that employ the forces of compression squeeze material between two surfaces, one stationary and one mobile, in order to achieve reduction. As feed material advances downward through the chamber, it is crushed between the moving piece of steel and the stationary plate. Only material that has reached the desired size passes on to the next stage in the process; whereas the larger material remains subjected to repeated pressure in the chamber until it, too, reaches the desired size. Gradation is controlled by adjusting the spacing between the stationary plate and the moving plate at their closest point.

Compression crushers can be used at the primary, secondary or tertiary stage, depending on the application. They are ideal for hard, tough and abrasive materials that are not sticky.

Types of Compression Crushers

Impact Crushing

Impact crushing reduces material by utilizing the theory of mass versus velocity in two ways. In one method, material can be broken by its collision with hammers that are fixed to a spinning rotor. The material is broken mainly by its initial impact with the hammer and then further reduced by its impact against the breaker plates. Inter-particle collisions and particle-on-particle attrition also break down the material.

The other method involves the material being thrown at high speed against a solid anvil, breaking the material along its natural fissure lines. The particle size is controlled by how fast and how far the material is thrown.

With both types of impact crushing, material that has reached the desired size falls through the chamber, while the larger pieces remain subject to further impact. Both hard rock and soft material can be reduced using impact crushing.

Types of Impact Crushers

Shear Crushing

Crushers that utilize shear forces to achieve the desired size and shape reduce material by trimming or cleaving. Material trapped between a solid plate and a rotating roll is shorn by its contact with the teeth on the roll. Oftentimes, shear crushing is combined with other crushing methods, such as compression, attrition and impact, for mineral size reduction.

Shear crushing is ideal for crushing friable material or creating a coarse product at the primary crushing stage.

Types of Shear Crushers

Attrition Crushing

Attrition crushers employ the theory of mass and velocity with a grinding action to reduce feed material. These types of crushers scrub material between two hard surfaces to achieve reduction in size and shape. Particles are reduced by their contact with other particles or by their contact with a rigid face.

Crushers that use the forces of attrition provide a high reduction ratio. They are best suited for friable, less abrasive materials.

Types of Attrition Crushers

Why McLanahan Crushing Equipment

McLanahan crushing equipment accepts feeds of large material and reduces the material to the desired product size. Because each crusher type has a limited reduction capability, sometimes several stages of crushing are needed to achieve the desired final product size. Primary crushers are important for kicking off production and initial product sizing for further processing. They receive the material directly from the blasting, drilling or dredging process. Secondary and tertiary crushers are utilized for additional refinement of the material.

Employing one or more of these basic reduction principles, McLanahan crushers achieve the desired product size and shape at maximum volume and with minimum power consumption and wear on the machine.

With any crushing application, the goal is to produce the required product sizes at the lowest cost per ton while maximizing the throughput. McLanahan’s crushing solutions allow producers to yield the sizes they need while operating their equipment at maximum design capacity.