How Does a Pin Mill Work?

What Is an Industrial Pin Mill? 

Industrial pin mills are specialized machines that can reduce particles down to fine or ultra-fine particles through precise feeding and repeated impact. Well-constructed fine grinding equipment can break down anything from spices to active pharmaceutical ingredients, allowing for properly controlled dosages and particle sizes in pharmaceutical, food processing, and chemical applications. This article will talk about how pin mills work, their design benefits, and how they support various processing and production requirements.

How an Industrial Pin Mill Operates

These machines utilize a combination of pins mounted to a stationary disc plate and pins on a second rotational rotor plate. The operators feed material through the feed inlet into the grinding chamber. As the material moves through the grinding zone, centrifugal force accelerates the material through the intermeshing shearing pins, breaking down the material into right-sized fine or ultra-fine particles. Additionally, an inverter drive allows the operator to shift for the desired cut points without needing to shut down the mill. 

Based on the material properties, operators can change the feed rate or the rotor speed of the rotating disk to achieve different particle sizes. 

Applications of Industrial Pin Mills

Industrial pin mills can be used in a range of pin mill applications, including:

• Pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can grind down active ingredients into fine and ultra-fine particles for tablet formulation.
• Food processing. Food processing centers can break down dry food ingredients like spices and sugar for resale or to produce goods.
• Chemical manufacturing. Chemical manufacturers can break down dry materials for pigments, dyes, and chemical compounds.
• Agriculture. Pin mills can be used in agricultural applications to grind down grains or livestock feed material. 

Key Factors That Influence Performance

It’s important to choose the right industrial pin mill and processes to consistently achieve the correct particle size for your application. Four key factors that can influence a mill’s long-term performance are: 

• Feed rate. While a high feed rate can overload the machine, consistency matters more in providing a uniform particle size.
• Material. Each material has a different hardness, sensitivity to high temperatures during the grinding process, moisture content, tendency to shatter, and so on. These characteristics will change how quickly your mill can process them and what settings lead to the best product quality.
• Rotor speed. Slow speeds can generate less force, leading to larger particles than fast-moving rotors that generate more force and break down particles more. However, fast-moving rotors also generate more heat.
• Pin configuration. While every industrial pin mill has a stationary disk and a rotating disk with pins, different models may have more or fewer pins, bigger or smaller pins, unique configurations and layouts, and even different fabrication materials. 

Considering these factors during the buying process can help you optimize the performance of your mill. 

Design Benefits and Limitations

While industrial pin mills are known for their accuracy and consistency, they have several other advantages in milling operations. Weigh these pros and cons to decide if a pin mill is the right fit for your application. 

Benefits

Industrial pin mills can accommodate the demands of many different materials and facilities. Some of the main benefits of industrial pin mills include the following: 

• Highly precise grinding that results in consistently fine particles
• Low heat generation that makes it well-suited for milling heat-sensitive materials
• Capable of processing a wide range of materials
• Easy access to parts requiring maintenance or cleaning

Limitations

With industrial pin mills, there are some design limitations to consider. The repeated force and impact on hard materials can wear through mill parts over time, requiring regular maintenance to maintain optimal performance. The pins can also consume a lot of energy producing ultra-fine particles, although they are relatively energy-efficient compared to other options. Lastly, while these mills work well with heat-sensitive materials, they aren’t intended for use with sticky or high-moisture or sticky materials.

CMS’s Expertise in Pin Mill Systems

As a design engineer and OEM manufacturer of industrial and environmental materials size-reduction milling systems, Classifier Milling Systems has experience dealing with processing issues across a wide range of materials and industries. We can provide specialized expertise to ensure your industrial pin mills have the right rotor configurations and power levels to deliver the necessary performance. 

To learn more about our comprehensive offerings and industries served, get in touch with us. Whether you’re in food processing, chemical manufacturing, or another sector, we can help you get the results you require!