Rounder APR

The Alpine Particle Rounder APR was specially developed for rounding natural graphite. This new process enables more efficient use of the graphite, while at the same time requiring fewer machines than before. This saves space and reduces maintenance and energy costs. For rounding natural graphite Flexible use for all common finenesses of rounded natural graphite from x50 = 10-12 µm to x50 = 20-25 µm Water-cooled Short process times Energy-efficient, as no air flow or fan is necessary PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION The Alpine Particle Rounder APR consists of a flow-optimised process chamber in which a rotor rotates. The chamber is surrounded by a water-cooled machine housing. The rotor itself is equipped with several interchangeable impact tools. The graphite is usually pre-crushed in a classifier mill before rounding. It is then filled into the process chamber in batches via the filler neck and stressed for the necessary time. The stress is caused by overlapping impact stress between graphite particles and rotor beaters and from a frictional or shear stress between the graphite particles and the graphite particles with the housing wall. Depending on the requirements, batch size, rotor speed and rounding time can be varied. Once the rounding process is complete, the graphite is discharged from the machine via a discharge opening. After the graphite has been rounded in the APR, it is dedusted in a downstream, continuously operated air classifier. This separates the fine material that is produced during rounding. For some applications it may be necessary to repeat rounding and dedusting twice or more to achieve the required product properties.