A pin mill is a
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile manufacturing, Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the A ...
that
comminutes materials by the action of
pins that repeatedly move past each other. Much like a kitchen
blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...
, it breaks up substances through repeated impact.
The mill is a type of
vertical shaft impactor mill and consists of two rotating discs with pins embedded on one face. The discs are arrayed parallel to each other so that the pins of one disk face those of the other. The substance to be
homogenized is fed into the space between the disks and either one or both disks are rotated at high speeds.
Pin mills can be used on both dry substances and liquid suspensions.
Pin mills are commonly use in the manufacture of
pharmaceuticals
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
, as they can achieve particle sizes as low as a few micrometers.
However, heat generated by
friction
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding (motion), sliding against each other. There are several types of friction:
*Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative la ...
can sometimes be a concern.
A manual form of the mill is commonly used to grind
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...
to a useful consistency.
References
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Grinding mills