The influence of liner condition on cone crusher performance

Abstract The Whiten steady-state crusher model form has been used to develop a quantitative model of 7-foot cone crushers, based on sampling surveys of production machines. By incorporating liner age (wear) and liner length as variables in the regression equations for the classification parameters, it has been possible to infer the influence of these variables on the selection of particles for breakage, and thus on the product size distribution. The model suggests that an increase in the length of the (profiled) liner, other things being equal, increases the value of the classification parameter controlling the size below which all particles pass direct to product (i.e., are not crushed). This could be interpreted as an increase in the efficiency of the classification of fines in the crusher. An increase in liner age decreases the value of the classification parameter controlling the size above which all particles are selected for breakage, thus increasing the proportion of coarser particles selected for breakage. This is attributed to a lengthening of the parallel crushing zone with wear, causing an increased residence time in the crushing zone and thus exposure to a larger number of crushing actions, which would be expected to influence directly the likelihood of the breakage of coarser particles.