Camphor Powder Grinding Machine

Because camphor is a crystalline substance with high volatility, low melting point, low brittleness, and easy adhesion, it tends to melt and stick to the inner wall of equipment due to frictional heat during conventional grinding, resulting in low efficiency and even equipment blockage. A camphor powder grinding machine is specialized equipment made specifically to address the unique challenges of grinding camphor. The camphor powder grinding machine, in contrast to a general-purpose herb grinder, black pepper grinder, or dry fruit powder grinder machine, is made to address these problems with unique cooling, anti-adhesion, and airtightness features.

The majority of these machines are constructed of stainless steel to satisfy the hygienic and safety standards of the chemical and medical sectors. They range in size and kind from tiny laboratory grinders to giant industrial versions like 500KG grinders. To maximize grinding efficiency and product quality, they may also be used in conjunction with devices such an air-cooled crusher, dust collector grinder, and charger.

Dry Mechanical Grinding: ACM Grinder (Airflow Classification Impact Mill)

As a member of the mechanical ultrafine grinder family, this is one of the most often utilized pieces of industrial equipment for processing camphor powder. It performs better than a standard hammer mill and turbo grinder while processing camphor, and it is especially adept at handling materials with “small specific gravity and large specific volume” like camphor.

1. Working Principle

The machinery uses negative pressure suction feeding, and the air flow brings materials into the grinding zone. Materials are crushed by forceful impact, shearing, and contact between the gear ring stator and the high-speed revolving rotor (hammer head). A strong motor powers this high-speed spin, and some sizable industrial versions additionally have a charger to provide a steady power source for extended continuous use.

After being crushed, the materials rise to the built-in classification zone with the air flow. By adjusting the rotating speed of the classification wheel, the qualified powder that meets the fineness requirement can be separated, while the unqualified coarse powder is thrown back to the grinding zone for further grinding until it meets the standard. This classification principle is similar to that of an airflow pulverizer and vibrating pulverizer, ensuring uniform fineness of the finished camphor powder.

2. Core Technical Features

Built-in Classification Mechanism: This is the core advantage of this type of equipment. It can precisely adjust the product fineness (usually adjustable between tens of microns to hundreds of microns) and effectively avoid “over-grinding”, ensuring concentrated particle size of the finished product. This is a feature that ordinary small grinder machine and cutting type grinder do not have.

Energy Efficiency: Compared with airflow pulverizers processing the same fineness, the energy consumption can be saved by 40-50%, making it more energy-efficient than other high-speed grinding equipment such as Ultrafine Grinder and Vacuum Mill. This is an important advantage for large-scale industrial production, especially for models like 200KG grinder and 500KG Grinder that need to operate continuously.

Output and Fineness Example: Taking a small equipment (such as ACM-420B) for processing camphor powder as an example, when the raw material particle size is 140 microns, the crushed product particle size d90 can reach about 31 microns (d50 about 13 microns), with an output of about 80 kg per hour. Larger models have higher output, which can be comparable to 200KG grinder and even 500KG Grinder, and most of them have CE Certificate grinder qualification, meeting international industrial standards.

3. System Composition

This often includes an entire set of equipment, such as an electric control cabinet, bag filter, fan, cyclone separator, and grinding host. The entire system runs in a closed negative pressure condition, which is safe for the environment and satisfies strict manufacturing standards because there is no dust leakage. In order to efficiently collect camphor powder dust and prevent material waste and environmental pollution, the bag filter is comparable to a dust grinder and dust collector grinder.

The closed design also prevents the volatilization of camphor during the grinding process, ensuring the yield of finished products. In addition, some systems are also equipped with an Air cooled crusher or water cooling system to further control the temperature of the grinding chamber and prevent camphor from melting due to heat.

Traditional and Auxiliary Process: Wet Grinding (Liquid-Added Grinding Method)

This is a time-honored and effective traditional method, especially suitable for small-batch production in laboratories or occasions with extremely high fineness requirements. It is different from Dry Grinder and is more targeted at materials that are easy to adhere like camphor.

1. Principle and Operation

For materials that are easy to adhere during dry grinding, such as camphor and borneol, the traditional method is to adopt the “liquid-added grinding method”. That is, a small amount of volatile liquid (such as ethanol or ether) is added during the grinding process. These liquids can penetrate into the cracks of drug particles, reduce the attraction between molecules, thereby reducing the cohesion of materials and making them easier to grind.

At the same time, these volatile liquids can absorb the heat generated during grinding, preventing materials from melting due to heat. This grinding method is similar to the processing principle of some Medicine and herb grinder, which pays more attention to protecting the properties of materials while ensuring fineness.

2. Applicable Scenarios

This method is often used in traditional Chinese medicine preparations to process camphor, borneol, menthol, etc. It can obtain extremely fine powder, but its efficiency is relatively low, making it more suitable for small-batch processing. It is usually used with a small Electric Grinder or small universal grinder in laboratories, which is easy to operate and clean.

ACM grinders and other dry grinding equipment cannot attain the extremely high fineness required for processing camphor powder, therefore it may also be utilized as an auxiliary technique for industrial production. To process mixed materials including camphor, it may also be used in conjunction with devices like a dry ginger grinding machine and a licorice grinding machine.

Other Specialized Equipment Types

Along with the two primary categories of equipment mentioned above, there are also certain specialist machines for grinding camphor powder that are made specifically for the properties of camphor and are used extensively in particular industries like medicine and the chemical industry.

1. Vibrating Pulverizer

A vibrating pulverizer is a device that crushes materials through impact, friction, and shearing of grinding media (such as rods and balls) under high-frequency vibration. It is a type of universal grinder that can also be used to process other materials such as mushroom, seeds, and bean besides camphor.

Applicability: For camphor powder, some vibrating pulverizers (such as borneol and camphor vibrating powder grinders) are also applicable, especially emphasizing that they can be used for traditional Chinese medicine cell wall breaking to obtain ultra-fine powder. This is very important for the application of camphor in the Medicine field.

Features: It has high fineness (up to micron level or even submicron level), can be equipped with cooling or heating systems as needed, and can work in a fully sealed state. The cooling system is similar to that of a cryogenic grinding machine, which can effectively control the temperature of the grinding chamber and prevent camphor from melting. The sealed design also prevents camphor volatilization and dust leakage, similar to the dust collector grinder.

2. Combined Crushing Device (Cutting + Rolling + Airflow)

Improved approaches have been presented in recent years by several patented technologies to address the issue of camphor’s facile deposition and adherence. For instance, a camphor powder crushing machine integrates the benefits of high-speed rolling machinery with cutting type grinders by combining a cutting mechanism, rolling rollers, and a pulse air supply mechanism.
Design Concept: In addition to revolving cutting blades for crushing, the apparatus also has rolling rollers that work in tandem with auxiliary rolling rollers to roll and crush. The most important feature is that it uses a pulse air supply system to sporadically pump air into the apparatus.

The purpose is to blow up the larger particles deposited at the bottom again and blow away the materials adhering to the rollers to prevent caking, thereby improving crushing efficiency and yield. This design is also applicable to other easy-adhesion materials such as Seasam, Peanut, and sugar, and can be used in conjunction with equipment such as a coarse crusher for preliminary processing.

Summary and Selection Suggestions

In conclusion, the following three factors should be the main focus when selecting a camphor powder grinding machine. These factors differ from selecting standard grinding equipment like an industrial weed grinder, a cannabis grinder, or a cassava grinding machine, and they should be more focused on the properties of camphor.

1. Clarify Production Scale and Fineness Requirements

Industrial Large-Scale Production: ACM series grinders (airflow classification impact mills) are the first choice. They have high efficiency, adjustable fineness, relatively low energy consumption, and the negative pressure system is environmentally friendly and dust-free. They are the mainstream equipment for processing camphor in the current chemical and pharmaceutical fields. For large-scale production, models such as 200KG grinder and 500KG Grinder are recommended, which have high output and stable performance, and most of them have CE Certificate grinder qualification.

Small-Batch, Laboratory or Extremely High Fineness Requirements: You can consider a vibrating pulverizer or the traditional wet liquid-added grinding method. The vibrating pulverizer can obtain finer powder (even reaching the cell wall breaking level), which is suitable for the Medicine field; while the liquid-added grinding method is suitable for processing a very small amount of easy-adhesion materials, and can be used with a small grinder machine or Electric Grinder.

2. Must Pay Attention to Cooling and Anti-Adhesion

No matter which type of equipment you choose, the cooling system (such as water cooling or air cooling) is crucial. Camphor has a low melting point, and the heat generated during the grinding process must be effectively taken away, otherwise, the materials will melt and stick to the machine, which not only affects production but may even damage the equipment. This is similar to the cooling requirement of a dry ginger grinding machine and licorice grinding machine when processing heat-sensitive materials.

At the same time, attention should be paid to whether the equipment has special designs to prevent material adhesion and deposition (such as pulse backblowing, wall scraping devices, etc.), which can effectively improve production efficiency and product yield. Some advanced models also integrate the functions of Air cooled crusher and dust collector grinder to achieve cooling and dust removal at the same time.

3. Prefer High-Quality Materials and Airtightness

Because camphor is frequently used in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries, stainless steel should ideally be used for equipment parts that come into contact with materials in order to maintain hygienic conditions and prevent contamination. This is comparable to the material requirements for food-grade equipment that must adhere to stringent hygienic standards, such as coffee grinders, rice grinders, and meat grinders.

At the same time, the entire grinding system should have good airtightness. This is not only a safety requirement to prevent dust explosion but also a necessary measure to prevent material volatilization and loss and ensure yield. Some equipment also adopts the design of a Vacuum Mill to further improve airtightness and grinding effect. In addition, equipment used in industrial production should also pay attention to compatibility with other equipment such as a charger and electric control system to ensure stable operation.

In order to prolong the equipment’s service life and guarantee the stability of product quality, it is also essential to pay attention to proper operation techniques, routine equipment maintenance and cleaning, and prompt replacement of vulnerable parts when using the camphor powder grinding machine. Selecting the appropriate specialized grinding machine is essential to increasing production efficiency and product quality, whether processing camphor powder for the chemical sector, medical profession, or another.