Different Types of Crushing Equipment for Lab Applications

A range of crushing equipment is available for laboratories conducting scientific experiments and research. Lab applications often require the reduction of materials into smaller sizes for various purposes such as sample preparation, analysis, and experimentation. Different types of crushing equipment are available to cater to these specific needs, each with its own unique features and advantages.

Lab crushing equipment plays a pivotal role in sample preparation for scientific analysis, and by employing effective crushing techniques, researchers can obtain accurate and consistent results. Crushing equipment enables the reduction of bulky materials into smaller particles, facilitating easier handling and processing. Additionally, the choice of appropriate crushing equipment is crucial in maintaining the integrity and quality of samples, ensuring that they are representative of the original material being studied.

In this blog post, we look at the different types of crushing equipment commonly used in laboratory settings.

Different Types of Crushing Equipment

There are three main types of crushers, which are primary, secondary, and tertiary, and each has its own applications. Let’s take a look in more detail.

Primary Crusher

A primary crusher is used in the first stages of size reduction. It is capable of handling large sample sizes and producing a relatively coarse output. Primary crushers are commonly used in mining and quarrying operations.

Secondary Crusher

As the name suggests, secondary crushers follow the primary crushers and are used to further reduce the size of the material. They are designed to handle medium-sized materials and produce a finer output compared to primary crushers.

Tertiary Crusher

Tertiary crushers are employed when further reduction in size is required. They excel at producing a well-graded product with a narrow size distribution. Tertiary crushers are commonly used in the final stages of crushing for aggregate production and mineral processing.

Specific Types of Crushers

Within the three groups above, there are specific types of crushers. The most common types are cone, jaw, and roll crushers, but others available include mortars, toggle crushers and vertical shaft impactors. 

Cone Crushers

Cone crushers are widely used in lab settings for their ability to crush materials through a squeezing action. They operate by compressing the material between a mantle and a concave surface. Cone crushers are suitable for secondary and tertiary crushing stages, providing efficient reduction of materials.

Jaw Crushers

Jaw crushers are mostly used as primary crushers and are renowned for their mechanical grinding mechanism. These rapidly crush laboratory materials into the desired sizes and fineness. These crushers allow researchers to process hard materials in extremely small sizes, making them invaluable in a variety of lab applications.

Roll Crushers

Roll crushers make use of two counter-rotating rolls to crush materials. They are particularly useful for reducing brittle materials with a tendency to fracture. Roll crushers are suitable for applications where a uniform final product size is needed and are also commonly used as secondary crushers.

XRF Scientific and Our Products

At XRF Scientific, we understand the importance of reliable and efficient crushing equipment in lab applications. Our Orbis range consists of dual-action fine crushers designed by experts with decades of experience in sample preparation. The Orbis crushers feature large dual-action jaws that enable samples to be reduced by up to 55 times their original size. The flagship model, OM100, is specifically designed for drill core samples, achieving a reduction down to 2mm in a single pass.

To learn more about the different crushing equipment available, contact XRF Scientific today.