Milling Equipment for the Paint Industry

Bradley’s milling and classification equipment play a key role in pre-grinding minerals used in paint manufacturing prior to further micronizing in a jet mill or wet mill.  In this case, sizes such as 99.99% passing 44 microns in a Bradley mill are considered semi-fine.  Higher efficiencies achieved in pre-grinding of minerals for paint manufacturing have proven to significantly reduce energy consumption required for ultrafine grinding in the jet or wet mill which lowers overall manufacturing costs.

Minerals such as barite, titanium dioxide, and other metal oxides are commonly milled in a Bradley mill for paint manufacturing applications.  For example, raw titanium ore starts as a black mineral that is ground and mixed with acid until converted into titanium dioxide (TiO2) for use as a white pigment in many paints.  The raw TiO2 is too lumpy and sticky for wet milling, therefore Bradley mills are used for de-agglomeration of the TiO2 powder prior to wet milling.  Another example is the inclusion of barite powder to paint which increases its density and sound absorption qualities.  Because of its high specific gravity/density, barite must be pulverized to semi-fine sizes for the succeeding wet milling stage to function properly.