The selection of limestone crusher is mainly dependent on characteristics of lime
stone availability which differs widely. Since the Limestone is a base material and
has different properties regarding hardness, abrasiveness and stickiness, the proper
selection of crusher becomes very important factor. The limestone being very hard
causes severe abrasive wear. Several important points should be considered in
advance for proper selection of Limestone crusher listed as below.
- Physical properties of Lime stone such as moisture content, Hardness, abrasiveness
and stickiness. - Type of Application whether Primary or secondary crushing
- Type of Raw milling equipment selected like Ball mill, Roller Press, Vertical roller
mill. - Feed size and Output size
- Achievable operating capacity
Based on the above a selection criterion for different crusher types is decided. The
type of crusher could be Hammer crusher, Impact crusher, Jaw crusher, Roll crusher
and cone crusher.
A brief description of above selection criteria is as below.
2.1 Physical Properties
- Hardness: - This property is directly related to compressive strength or Mohs
Hardness of the material, hence this should be determined first and a point
load test is to be carried out beforehand. - Abrasiveness: - This property has to be determined by its silica, free silica and
free quartz content. The abrasion index is to be found out which is as important
a s stickiness of material. - Stickiness: - This property has to be determined by its moisture content and
clay content.
2.2 Type of Application Primary or Secondary
Requirement of primary or secondary crusher is decided mainly on the input size
and required output size of the limestone. If only single step crushing is required
down to size of 0-80 mm from 1200 or 1500 mm input size, a higher crushing ratio
primary crusher can be selected. It is always preferred to have minimum possible
Crushing steps so that initial investment, maintenance cost and erection time is
minimized. Accordingly, with this view one step crushing is achievable by hammer
crusher or impact crusher, as these are fast running machine having high kinetic
energy and strong impact forces with high crushing ratios. However, the kinetic
energy is considerably higher in case of Impact crushers when compare to
hammer crushers.