THE FINE GRINDING OF CORNCOBS TO USE AS A WATER ABSORPTION MATERIAL

Corncobs wastes are considered to be one of the most environmental problems in Egypt. Grinding corncobs is the first step to solve this problem in order to be used as raw materials in several industries. Fine grinding of corncobs using a laboratory grinding mill (FML-100) was evaluated to use ground corncobs as an absorption material. The experiments were done by studying factors affecting machine performance (feed rate, grinding time and moisture content) on Fines degree, Machine productivity, Energy consumption, Water absorption, Compressibility Index, Hausner ratio, Surface area, Size reduction ratio, Grinding effectiveness and Bulk density of ground corncobs. Results showed that the maximum productivity was 12 kg/h at a grinding time of 0.5 min, moisture content of 8% and feeding weight of 100 gm. The minimum energy consumption was 0.13 (kWh/kg) at the maximum productivity conditions. The highest water absorption for corncobs was 549.3% at particle size between 1 and 0.5 mm, so it can be used as a high absorption material. The best operating condition was at the maximum productivity and the minimum energy consumption at grinding time of 0.5 min, moisture content of 8% and feeding weight100 gm.