As appeared in January 2015 PBE Copyright CSC Publishing www.powderbulk.

com

Achieving particle size reduction with a

multirow cage mill

Eric Marcotte Stedman Machine Co.

A cage mill can meet demanding size-reduction

Compared with compression mills, a cage mill produces a

specs for an enormous range of materials, including

more cubical product of consistently high quality. Even

limestone, aggregate, clay, shale, fertilizer, distillers’

after long periods of operation, the output gradation
remains consistent because of the design of the wear parts.

grains, detergent, corn, salt, coal, and more. This

The cage mill also has a lower initial cost than most other

article describes how a multirow cage mill works

types of crushing equipment and requires simple,

and discusses performance factors that can help

inexpensive maintenance.

achieve your desired particle size reduction. Components and operation

Cage mills are available in various configurations,
including single-row and multirow models. This article
focuses on the multirow cage mill, which is more versatile
and more frequently used than the single-row cage mill.

A
cage mill is a versatile machine that applies high-
speed impact forces to crush, grind, or pulverize a Multirow cage mill components. A typical multirow cage
broad array of abrasive and nonabrasive friable mill consists of a fabricated steel housing that encloses
materials — both dry and wet — to a specified fineness. two, four, or six wheel-shaped cages. Each cage includes
The mill can achieve a size-reduction ratio (the ratio of a steel plate fitted with equally spaced pins (bars) arranged
feed particle size to final product particle size) as high as in a row around the cage perimeter. Pins can be configured
40-to-1 in one processing pass. in a close, medium, or wide spacing arrangement. The
pins’ opposite ends are attached to a one-piece steel ring
(or band) for rigidity. The cage assembly consists of one,
The cage mill’s high size-reduction ratio results from its two, or three outer cages and one, two, or three

While a compression mill, such as a jaw or roll crusher,

crushing mechanism: impact rather than compression. corresponding inner cages that are fitted between the outer

slowly applies the crushing force, an impact mill, like the

cages, forming concentric rows of pins. Figure 1a shows
the two outer cages of a four-row cage mill, and Figure 1b
cage mill or vertical shaft impactor, does so suddenly and shows the two inner cages.
quickly. Since energy plus material equals size reduction,
the faster the speed of the crushing mechanism or the
material to be crushed, the greater the potential size The inner cage centers are mounted on a horizontal shaft
reduction. The cage mill puts a lot of energy into the supported by bearings and driven by a motor. The outer
material in a short amount of time, providing fast, high- cages are mounted similarly on a second shaft, supported
ratio size reduction. by bearings and driven by a motor. The motors rotate the
 Copyright CSC Publishing

shafts in opposite directions. The cage mill housing is center. As adjacent cages rotate in opposite directions,
fitted with liners to handle various operating conditions centrifugal force propels the particles from the innermost
and prevent abrasion. An intake hopper is located at the to the outermost cages. The farther away the particles
housing side and is linked to a chute that ends at the cage travel from the mill center, the higher their impact velocity
center. The cage mill doesn’t use screens or grates to as they repeatedly hit each successive cage’s pins, other
achieve desired product gradations, so material is particles, and the housing liners, and finally drop through
discharged out of the open housing bottom. the bottom outlet. Figure 2 shows a cutaway view of a cage
mill in action.
How it works. In operation, feed flows through the cage
mill’s intake hopper and chute, into the innermost cage’s The cage mill speed can range from as slow as 5,000 fpm
up to as high as 12,000 fpm, depending on the cage mill
Figure 1 size, the cage configuration diameter, and the mill design
and construction. This relationship is simple: the higher
the cages’ speed, the more energy is transferred to the
Cages for four-row mill material for size reduction, thus yielding a finer product
a. Outer cages gradation.

Steel plate

Generally, larger cage mills have lower operational

Pin cost per ton of output.

Mill size and capacity

Standard cage size diameters range from as small as 18
inches to as large as 6 feet. In general, the larger the cage
mill, the larger the feed size it will accept and the greater
its production capacity. Capacity also depends on the cage

Figure 2
Steel ring
Four-row cage mill in operation
Feed entering the Intake
b. Inner cages hopper hopper
Housing
lining

Chute

Shaft

Bearing

Inner cage

Outer cage
Particles exiting
bottom outlet
 Copyright CSC Publishing

mill’s speed, the feed’s bulk density, and the desired fertilizer, for crushing wet, sticky shale and clay in brick-
product size. Generally, larger cage mills have lower making, and for making manufactured sand for
operational cost per ton of output. construction. The four-row unit is commonly used for
pregrinding agricultural limestone and for pregrinding

Applications
coal in superfine grinding operations for transfer and
gasification processes. The six-row unit, while less
Multirow cage mills can handle heavy-duty applications commonly used, is still popular for grinding corn, malt,
involving hard, highly abrasive materials, as well as and rye for the distilling industry.
lighter-duty applications for reducing both abrasive and
nonabrasive materials. The mill also handles wet, sticky Carefully selecting and operating your cage mill will help
materials, such as clay and shale. it efficiently meet your size-reduction specs. The cage mill
supplier should test the cage mill’s performance with your

PBE
feed material and use the results to make process
adjustments to achieve the desired output.
Multirow cage mills can handle heavy-duty

For further reading

applications involving hard, highly abrasive materials,
as well as lighter-duty applications for reducing both

“Size reduction” in Powder and Bulk Engineering’s

abrasive and nonabrasive materials. Find more information on crushers in articles listed under

Archive on PBE’s website, www.powderbulk.com. (All

article index in the December 2014 issue or the Article

articles listed in the archive are available for free download

The higher the number of pin rows, the more size-reducing to registered users.)
impacts that occur, so more rows equal more pulverizing.
The two-row mill is commonly used for reducing
Eric Marcotte is inside sales manager for Stedman Machine
Co. (812-655-9715, [email protected]).
He holds a BE in mining from the University of Kentucky’s
College of Engineering in Lexington.

Stedman Machine Co.

Aurora, IN
800-262-5401
www.stedman-machine.com

A cage mill puts a lot of energy into material in a

short amount of time, providing fast, high-ratio size
reduction.