13-11-2012, 01:24 PM
What Is Cryogenic Grinding
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INTRODUCTION
Cryogenic grinding is a process used in various manufacturing industries and in the study of biology. Also known as freezer milling or freezer grinding, this method is used to process soft or flexible substances by lowering the material's temperature and then breaking the material into smaller particles. Using this process, substances that are too soft or flexible for grindingat room temperature can be hardened for processing.
This process utilizes liquid nitrogen, liquid argon or liquid carbon dioxide to attain the low temperatures necessary to harden the substances being worked with. These supercoolingliquids, which reach temperatures of minus-324.4 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus-198 degrees Celsius) in the case of liquid nitrogen, are capable of freezing most materials on contact. In a controlled environment, the temperature of the material being worked with can be regulated to allow even the softest of materials to be processed using cryogenic grindingequipment.
The equipment used for cryogenic processing and grinding has to be able to handle the extreme temperatures of the process. For this reason, typical cryogenic grinding equipment uses the single moving part design, thus reducing the risks of equipment failure. In this type of equipment, a solenoid is used to move the grinding media inside the vial.