Cone Mills: The Ultimate Guide

If you want to reduce particle sizes in pharmaceutical, cosmetic or food industries, then you need cone mills.

They are the most useful accessories you should have.

But, how can you choose cGMP compliant, reliable and efficient cone mill?

Today’s guide will take you through every detail you need to know about cone mills, including working principle, specification, applications to improving the efficiency of the process.

Let us get into more details about the cone mills.

What is a Cone Mill

A cone mill is a machine that is used to reduce the size of material uniformly.

It is named cone because of its shape and it can come in various diameters.

 Cone mill

It has a wider opening that allows the matter to be ground to be placed and a narrow ending for the exit of finer materials.

The cone mill operates by applying gravity or vacuum to the product matter that needs to be broken down.

Besides, the cone mill is suited for use in wet, dry or fine milling in the food, chemicals, and pharmaceutical industries.

You can also find a cone mill in consumer goods manufacturing industries where fine crushing is needed.

A cone mill is easily adaptable depending on your needs or what you want to use it on.

All you need is a change of the granulating screen.

This can help you get a cost-cutting as well as a cost-effective solution to your size reduction needs.

Conical screen mill or cone milling is the most efficient and beneficial method for size reduction in powder processing industries.

Uses of Cone Mills in Pharmaceutical Industries

By now I believe you have an idea of what a cone mill does.

 before and after material processing

Let us look at its varied uses in the pharmaceutical industry.

i. Reducing the size of the dry material in production

This is the most important function of a cone mill within the pharmaceutical industry.

Remember, this reduction makes the surface area of the material increase.

It helps in promoting faster solubility of the pharmaceutical medication.

The reduction not only helps in improving efficiency during production but also the strength of the said medication.

ii. Deagglomeration

This is a size reduction process performed by a cone mill.

It helps in breaking apart loosely adhered lumps of crystals or powders without further disintegration of the powder or the crystal particle themselves.

iii. Granulation

This is a process of forming grains from a powdery substance or solid matter to form granular matter.

Cone mills have the ability to

After granulation, the granules may either be packed when used as a dosage form or mixed with other substances prior to tablet compaction or capsule filling.

Bear in mind that granulation is divided into two, wet granulation that requires the use of a liquid in the process and dry granulation that uses no liquid.

Cone Mills, therefore, help in the production of pharmaceutical dosage forms, an important aspect in the pharmaceutical processes.

Remember, granulation is an important process in material mixing and re-granulation of tablets.

iv. Sizing wet material post granulation

This enables the material to dry faster as the surface area has been increased.

Different screens for resizing

v. Retrieve powder from unqualified tablets

After tablet compression or compaction, there might be tablets that fail to meet the required standards.

The Cone Mill, therefore, comes in handy in getting the powders for reuse in other processes.

vi. Delumping

This is the shredding of oversized materials after production.

Cone mills can be of benefit to pharmaceutical companies that want to size the tablets, capsules to the required standard sizes.

Types of Cone Mills in the Pharmaceutical Industry

One thing to note, the cone mill is easily adapted for use on different products.

Implying, as you get to do this by changing the granulating screen, it provides a cost-effective solution to your reduction needs.

 Screens for cone mills

However, with the changing trends and technology change in the pharmaceutical industries, different types of cone mills are emerging.

They are convenient, efficient and reliable for the numerous pharmaceutical needs.

Here are some of the various types of Cone Mills.

1. Tabletop Laboratory Cone Mill

This kind of mill comes with a stand or can be placed on the surface.

It comes as a self- contained portable unit useful for granulating, mixing and size reduction.

 Section of tabletop cone mill

The cone mills are made of durable, high-quality stainless steel.

Some of the notable features that a tabletop / Laboratory Cone Mill come with are:-

The design is cGMP, Current Good Manufacturing Practices Compliance.

Besides, it should be easy to move.

Also, a good one should feature high operating simplicity for easy cleaning and contact parts.

2. Under Driven Cone Mill

This cone mill is different from the previous one you just read about.

It has increased throughput with 50 % more capacity than the other conventional cone mills.

It uses centrifugal force for milling and sifting.

Underdriven cone mill

Under Driven Cone Mill comes as a flexible and adaptable design with interchangeable cone mills and rotary shifter.

3. Comminuting Cone Mill

It is designed for the wet and dry granulation of the pharmaceutical products as well as their dispersal.

The machine has the following parts: hopper, throat hopper, processing chamber, beater assembly, sieve, heavy duty motor among other parts.

4. Multi Mill

It is used for wet and dry granulation in pharmacy colleges and pharmaceutical industries.

It is useful for high speed granulating, pulverizing, mixing and size reduction through either shredding or chopping.

 Multi mills

In a Multi Cone Mill, size reduction is done by impact in the air on materials.

It is due to the blades moving at high speeds inside a cylindrical hopper.

You will find the Multi Mill to be portable as it has the cast on wheels.

The blades direction can be changed using a reversing switch for hammer operation if need be.

This type of cone mill comes with parts that are easy to dismantle thus easy cleaning of all components.

Normally, this reduces production downtime and increase productivity.

5. Oscillating Granulator

It is suited to meet the needs of dry granulation of pharmaceutical materials.

From the name, it is right to have a rough guess on the granulator to this type of cone mill.

The main part of the cone mill is oscillating – “turning around” or “revolving” to make the milling of the materials a success.

 Oscillating section of cone mill

6. Sifter cum multi Mill

This is a revolutionary sifting cum milling system that redefines traditional granule or powder sifting process.

It offers uniform sizing of dried granules and enables processing with negligible product loss.

Parts of a Cone Mill Machine

By now I am certain that you have a rough idea of a cone mill and how it operates.

In this section, this guide will give you a clear insight into the various parts that make up a cone mill.

Let’s dive in.

 Main parts of a cone mill

· A Cone Mill Hopper

Unprocessed material like crystals, powder or even tablets is placed on the product hopper.

This is can be done by use of the hand, vacuum feed or gravity feed.

Basically, this is the place where the matter to be milled is placed in the cone mills.

In some machines, the hopper is referred to as an infeed chute.

· Cone Mill Impeller

It is found in the milling chamber of the cone mill.

The rotating forces of the impeller push the unprocessed material through a stationary cone-shaped screen by centrifugal action.

· Cone Mill screen

It can also be called a conical sieve.

The granulated material pass through the screen, it is sieved through.

It allows the finer product of the original to pass through while the ungranulated matter remains behind to be worked on again or used in other processes.

· Receptacle

This is where the finished product falls in after passing through the screen.

Alternatively, the receptacle can be connected to other systems such as a Vacuum Transfer.

This allows for the automatic transfer of the materials to other processes.

· Cone blades

They are found on the Multi Mills.

The blades move at high speed to enable the material to be shredded within the multi mills.

· Granulator knife

The granulator or rotary knife helps in rotation by creating a whirling action to the material.

Then place the granules to the sieve mesh surface by centrifugal force.

Working Principle of a Cone Mill

The cone mill operates on the principle of rubbing force by cone blades and rotated within a selected cone screen to get the required size reduction.

Working principle

Normally, material to be processed enters then into the feed inlet by hand or gravity.

The material is then granulated or grounds then dropped into the conical sieve chamber.

Here, the rotary knife rotates a whirling action to the material and places the granules to the sieve mesh surface by centrifugal force.

The granules are then grinded into particles by the shearing action produced by the rotary knife, the sieve mesh and discharged through sieve apertures.

The size of particles released after sieving can be altered to suit your specifications by making adjustments on the sieve mesh.

In a Multi Cone Mill, it operates on the principle of variable force swing beaters having both knife and impact edges rotating.

Of course, within a selected screen to get the required size reduction.

Factors Affecting the efficiency of a Cone Mill

Integrating cone mill with vacuum transfer system

· Lubrication

The granulator, blades and the parts that rotate should be well oiled to prevent rust that may slow down the speed of the cone mills.

This is also to minimize friction that will be released as heat.

The heat has a way of reducing the performance of any machine.

Therefore, friction affects the efficiency of a cone mill.

· The sieve pores

They affect the granularity of the end product.

If the sieve mesh or the sieve itself isn’t the size needed, the crystals being granulated or resizing will not be fine at the end of the milling.

As you select a cone mill, ensure that the sieves are interchangeable to meet your specifications.

· Temperature

The cone mill should operate under low heat so as not to alter the products.

The heat released from the milling process should also be minimal to none.

Heat losses reduce the efficiency of a machine as much time will be used to cool off the cone mills.

Technical Specifications of a Cone Mill

The cone mill as the name suggests is cone shaped.

This allows the materials to be acted on by the blades or granulator knife.

Then, easy to move from the hopper to the sieve.

The sieves should also be of a cone-shaped and perforated with the size of particles or granules in mind.

The material of construction should be stainless steel. It is easy to clean, maintain and durable.

The inside part of the surface finish can have a mirror finish and the outer part a matt finish.

Also, the cone mill should have an electric switch.

And, if that’s not the case, an automatic connection to commence and end the milling process can work.

An in-line system allows the cone mill to work more It is best suitable to integrate the cone mill with various pieces of equipment to create a totally dust free, low heat milling process.

efficiently alongside other systems.

Technical specification of cone mill

A vacuum system, for instance, allows the dust to be collected, enabling a dust free environment.

The same vacuum can be used in materials that are to be fed in the hopper for milling.

And to maintain a low heat milling process, the temperature rise is less than 30 ⁰C.

The temperature helps in processing the material and ensures no change during the milling and after granulation.

A cone mill can have an output speed of 15 kg – 150 kg per hour for the simpler versions to 100-1000kg/hr. for the most advanced series of the cone mills.

Other special requirements:

The Cone Mill, if possible should be mobile.

This allows you the operator to change the location of the machine, to use at a place of your convenience.

The height of the machine should be adjustable.

Minimum particle size achievable is approximately 150 microns.

This is achieved by selecting the right sieve and sieve mesh.

SaintyCo, Your Trusted Cone Mills Supplier

As you have seen, SaintyCo provides reliable and perfect solutions even for the most demanding and varied needs of a Cone mill.

It is a leading company in the manufacture of size reduction machinery.

SaintyCo offers to refine and improving conical milling equipment and technology.

Furthermore, SaintyCo has machines are ideal for your pharmaceutical company and needs.

As your reliable and trusted company, it offers Cone Mills that ensure precision in the particle size reduction.

They are consistent and accurate when it comes to results, from the laboratory to production.

 SaintyCo cone mill

They are environmentally friendly due to their dust free operations.

Furthermore, they have low heat and noise emission, making the working environment safe.

The machines are cost saving; this allows a buyer to experience reduced total cost of ownership.

As you can see, cone mills are made of high-quality stainless steel, which is cGMP and CE compliance.

When looking for a supplier of cone mills, SaintyCo is your best choice.

Conclusion

Cone mills come in various sizes, from the table top laboratory devices to the full-scale high capacity machines used for large pharmaceutical processing operations.

They ensure more uniform particle size reduction is attained.

The cone mills have a lower noise pollution impact and come in various designs to suit the company’s demands.

SaintyCo offers cone mills that are created with you in mind –efficiency, speed, and good quality.

It should be less demanding when it comes to heat but most importantly suited to meet your budget.