Optimisation of ball milling parameters for refinement of waste jute fibres to nano/ micro scale in dry conditions

Abstract

In present study, optimization of four operating parameters of high energy planetary ball mill (i.e. milling time, milling speed, ball to material ratio and ball size) on dry grinding of jute fibre waste was performed. A three-level Box-Behnken design combining a response surface methodology was employed to study the response in terms of particle size and % sticking of material to mill. Analysis of variance of milling parameters showed coefficient of determination of 0.927 and 0.903 for particle size and material sticking respectively. The model equations were subsequently optimized using the canonical analysis with the help of SYSTAT software to minimize the particle size and material sticking. The optimum conditions were found 12 mm for ball size, 47 min for milling time, 9 for ball to material ratio and 870 rpm for milling speed. © 2013 The Textile Machinery Society of Japan.