In the cement industry, limestone raw materials are usually crushed in two stages, and the crushed product has a particle size of about 20mm. In order to increase the output of the raw material mill and reduce its power consumption, the simplest and most effective method is to add a third crushing stage to reduce the particle size of the crushed product to about 8mm. However, in specific technical transformation practices, many problems such as complex process flows, difficult process layouts, and excessively long production lines have been encountered. Also, using large power electric motors for the third crushing stage significantly reduces energy-saving effects of the system.
Taking the cement industry as an example, gypsum is indispensable as a cement setting agent. The particle size of commercially purchased dihydrate gypsum (or hard gypsum) is generally 300~500mm, and the required amount is usually about 5% of the total amount of cement produced. It is uneconomical for medium and small-sized cement plants to use a two-stage crushing system specifically for gypsum. Instead, a labor-intensive way of coarse crushing using manual hammers and then fine crushing is often adopted. Additionally, the same problems can arise with certain mixed materials.