Crushers:
Guide to the Proper Selection and Sizing of Industrial Crushers

Crushers are machines that use impact, shear, compression or abrasion to reduce a variety of solid products to a desired particle size range.

DELUMPER® brand crusher are crushers specifically build by Franklin Miller Inc. that are versatile, high end industrial crushers designed for processing materials such as chemicals, minerals, food, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, grain, fertilizer, coal, soap and more.

DELUMPER crushers are used to reduce materials for further processing, eliminate blockages, break agglomerates down to their original particle size, and help in discharging bins and silos. They are also used to improve material flow properties and feeding of bulk and powders. The Pipeline model DELUMPER is used to enhance liquid flow, protect pumps, and enhance and expedite dissolving and mixing processes.

DELUMPER Crushers can reduce hard or soft, dry or wet, friable or sticky materials. The units are built for applications requiring precise outputs, superior fit and finish, resistance to corrosion or contamination, severe operating conditions, and applications requiring a high level of reliability.

The feed material (material being fed into the crusher) can be a solid, lump, chunk or agglomerate. Franklin Miller crushers are available in different models designed for dry, gravity or wet systems. The crushers can be either inline or open, stand-alone and conveyor-fed as part of a full system. These units can be supplied for low or high temperature environments as well as for pressurized or vacuum systems.

Material Plugging in Bins and Silos
Discharging powders and bulk solids from a bin or silo can often present a major problem resulting in lost production and high maintenance costs. Caking and even vessel failures can also result from these flow problems. The problem results when powders are conveyed into the vessel in a two-phase form. The material tends to agglomerate or build up on the vessel walls pack together.

The Solution
A common solution is the installation of a DELUMPER Crusher at the discharge. This unit attacks and breaks up the oversized solids that tend to plug the discharge. This works much like a sink disposal keeping the discharge clear of oversized lumps and chunks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crusher Selection
While crushing is governed by basic laws of physics, no single law or rule take the place of experience and testing in the selection and sizing of a suitable crusher for a given application. A number of factors go into the proper selection of a crusher for a given application including th following.

Here are some important criteria to consider in selecting a crusher:

1.   Will the crusher handle the maximum required capacity to be processed without undue strain or overload?
2.   Will the machine handle the maximum lump size of the infeed material?
3.   Will the unit's operating mechanism handle the properties of the material: i.e. friable, tough, sticky, abrasive?
4.   Is the crusher design and construction suitable for the special application requirements such as resistance to corrosion, maintenance of purity or        sanitary requirements?
5.   Will the crusher produce the output particle size required?
6.   Will the crusher produce excessive fines?
7.   Will the equipment operate with minimal noise or vibration?
8.   How will the material be fed? Conveyed, pumped or dropped by gravity?
9.   Does the crusher match the connection configuration? Dimensions, round or square?
10. Is the crusher suitable for the operating conditions and operating temperature?
11. Does the unit meet the requirement for ease of maintenance and interior access?
12. Does the crusher have seals adequate for the application?
13. Is qualified field service and customer support available from the supplier?
14. Is the machine built with high quality materials and workmanship?
15. Is the crusher configuration suitable to fit in the available space?