Achieve optimal ball milling processes with GrindControl
The GrindControl system continuously measures and records the pressure and temperature inside the grinding jar. This gives users clear insight into the milling process and ensures reliable, reproducible conditions. By monitoring these key variables, sample preparation becomes more efficient, temperature sensitive materials are protected, and stable conditions for colloidal or long term grinding are maintained.
GrindControl also supports demanding applications such as mechanical alloying and mechanochemical synthesis by enabling precise process control.
GrindControl is available for the Mixer Mills MM 500 nano/control, the High Energy Ball Mill Emax, and planetary ball mills. It consists of a hardware measurement unit and analysis software.
Monitoring temperature and pressure during grinding is essential for both research and quality control.
It helps to improve:
Quality: Temperature strongly influences material properties. Monitoring ensures consistent sample quality.
Efficiency: Temperature and pressure significantly influence the grinding outcomes of many materials, as well as the results of mechanochemical processes. Real-time monitoring enables precise control of operating conditions.
Safety: High temperatures and pressures can pose risks. Monitoring keeps the process within safe limits.
Mechanochemical insights / Error detection: Sudden changes in temperature or pressure may indicate chemical reactions or process deviations. Continuous monitoring enables early detection, better understanding of mechanochemical processes, and quick troubleshooting.
The GrindControl system is available for the Planetary Ball Mills, the Mixer mills MM500 nano/control, and Emax. It includes hardware for pressure and temperature measurement plus analysis software.
The GrindControl software is a small and intuitive program, that can be easily installed on the computer. The software records and stores the transmitted data of pressure and temperature. The data is monitored in real time during a measurement and can be exported in .pdf or .csv format after the measurement.
More software features:
Monitoring pressure and temperature provides valuable insight into what happens inside the grinding jar. GrindControl is widely used to investigate material syntheses such as mechanical alloying and other mechanochemical reactions.
A mechanochemical synthesis was performed in an MM 500 nano using a 125 ml stainless steel jar with GrindControl. The reactants and 32 × 10 mm balls were milled at 20 Hz under air.
After about 20 seconds of milling, an ignition event occurred, leading to a pressure increase to approx. 730 mbar and a temperature rise. GrindControl captured the ignition point precisely – the key parameter for this self-propagating mechanochemical synthesis reaction (MSR). [7]
When processing temperature sensitive materials (e.g., APIs, vitamins, volatile compounds), it is crucial to avoid for example exceeding 30 °C. GrindControl ensures safe homogenization without thermal degradation.
In wet grinding, long grinding times and high energy input cause significant heat and with temperature often pressure builds up, especially when solvents like alcohols are used. Monitoring both parameters, temperature and pressure increases safety and simplifies the optimal setting of grinding breaks.
When ball mills are used to convert chemical processes, specific temperature or pressure conditions are required to achieve the desired properties of the end product. Pressure and temperature measurements can be used to study the conditions under which specific reactions take place.
Temperature-controlled sample preparation of tablets
Monitoring of temperature and pressure in wet grinding processes
Temperature monitoring of mechanochemical reactions
To find the best solution for your sample preparation task, visit our application database.
A Bluetooth transmitter integrated into electronic unit of the lid sends pressure and temperature data to the PC using a secure industrial protocol. A protective filter prevents contamination of the pressure sensor. The GrindControl software records all data in real time and stores them in a consecutive list. Measurements can be exported as .csv for further processing.
| Applications | pressure and temperature measuring for Planetary Ball Mills, Emax and Mixer Mills MM 500 nano/control |
| Field of application | agriculture, biology, chemistry / plastics, construction materials, engineering / electronics, environment / recycling, food, geology / metallurgy, glass / ceramics, material synthesis, medicine / pharmaceuticals |
| Measurement ranges | gas pressure: 0 - 500 kPa (5 bar) temperature: -20°C - +100 °C |
| Grinding chamber volume | 125 ml (MM); 50 ml & 500 ml (PM) |
| Dry grinding | yes |
| Wet grinding | yes |
| Cryogenic grinding | yes min. -20 °C |
| Type of grinding jars | Screw-Lock (MM) and EasyFit jars (PM) |
| Material of grinding tools | hardened stainless steel, zirconium oxide |
| Grinding jar sizes | 125 ml (MM); 50 -500 ml (PM) |
| Transmission frequency | 5 /s |
| Interface | |
| Electrical supply data | battery (up to 90 h operation time) |
| Accessories | opening aid, cleaning tools, o-ring, PC-software (PC not included), filter, (lid insert not included) |
| Net weight | lid with sensor unit 360 g (MM) 1780 g / 1140 g(PM) |
| Standards | CE |
| Technical requirements | PC with Windows 11 and Bluetooth 5.0 or higher |
| Software | live monitoring of measurement data, full measurement protocol, storable templates, list of performed measurements, data export in .pdf and .csv |
Content may be subject to modifications or corrections
[8] Reaction scheme and performance of the experiments: Dr. Matej Balaz, Institute of Geotechnics, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS).
