A New Approach to the Calculation of Bond Work Index with Mixed Grinding Media

Grinding media influence the energy consumption and efficiency of the grinding process during the calculation of the Bond Work index (BWi), a well-known method for selecting comminution equipment, evaluating milling efficiency, and calculating required milling power. Traditional grinding tests often choose steel balls as the grinding media, but ceramic balls are used widely currently with their high efficiency in grinding. This study aims to calculate the Bond Work index with steel and ceramic balls and explore the equation for the BWi of mixed grinding media (steel and ceramic balls). This paper also proposes a conversion equation of BWi between the mixed grinding media (steel and ceramic balls) and conventional media (steel balls). The results combined the advantages of ceramic and steel balls to improve the grinding capacity and reduce energy consumption.