Breakage Characteristics of Heat-Treated Limestone Determined via Kinetic Modeling

In recent years, heat treatment has attracted attention as a means to improve the color sorting technology with the aim of improving the quality of low-grade limestone. The crucial stage in this technique is to evaluate the breakage characteristics of the sample materials after color sorting. In this study, the breakage characteristics of samples showing color differences after heat treatment and of the original raw material were investigated using a laboratory ball mill. The grinding was characterized using the population balance model. Specific rates of breakage and the primary breakage distribution were experimentally determined by first-order kinetic plots and the BII method. The breakage parameters were also back-calculated by employing a simplex method. Grinding of the three materials indicated first-order kinetics, and the experimental results were well described by the model with parameters obtained by back-calculating.