Development of High Carbon High Chromium White Cast Iron with Improved Wear Resistance for Grinding Media Applications

The grinding media so developed is used for grinding clinker for cement production. The developed GM has a better wear rate than the existing products in the market.

1. Process/ Alloy has been developed for the production of high chrome high carbon cast iron with improved wear resistance.
2. Heat Treatment has been optimized to get better wear resistance.
3. Oil temperature and viscosity of the oil have been optimized to have a faster quenching rate and also to achieve distortion-free grinding media.
4. The stress-relieving practices are optimized to relieve the residual stresses generated in the quenching.
5. The process is economical and energy intrinsic. The heat generated in the quenching process is utilized for the stress-relieving process. No external or additional furnace is used for the stress-relieving process.
6. The tray used as a container of grinding media for the purpose of feeding in heat treatment furnace has been designed to achieve a homogenized temperature of optimized temperature on each grinding media in the heat treatment furnace.
7. The hardness of 66-67.8 HRC has been achieved.
8. A specific wear rate of 5.4 mm3/N-m is achieved in comparison to that of 6.7 mm3/N-m of original balls.
9. Improvement in Wear Resistance is about 25-35 % for the developed process.

This technology has a huge potential in the cement industry