By Aveka Inc
First, the particles were put through the jet milling process to break them down to near the target size. Jet milling, in the simplest terms, is the process by which particles are accelerated via high velocity air streams, powered in this case by a turbulent 3-jet system. Confined inside the machine, the particles collide into one another, causing breakage and improved separation. The integral classifier within the jet mill controls the size that particles must reach before they can leave the mill. Those that are small enough exit the mill as jet milled product, and those that are too large are sent back to the mill bed for further size reduction. Jet milling was the ideal choice for milling our customer's polymer, since it uses room-temperature air and introduces no significant heat sources throughout the process. Heating up thermoplastics only makes them softer and more pliable when we instead need them to stay cool and friable in order to be easily broken down to the required size. Further, jet milling has the high energy input necessary for rapid milling of these tough polymer particles.
