Understand what a stone crusher is?
A crusher, also known as a stone crusher, is a crushing machine used in the processing of metal and non-metallic ores that can crush the mined raw ore into small particles by squeezing and bending.
A stone crusher requires external force to break stones. It uses mechanical energy to break stones, concrete or other building materials into blocks of a specific particle size, from very hard ore raw materials to soft mineral particles. Stone crushers are widely used in mining, roads, railways, smelting, building materials, water conservancy and chemical industries.
12 types of stone crusher
There are many types of stone crushers, including common jaw crushers and impact crushers. The application range, advantages and disadvantages of each type of stone crusher are very different. By understanding the principles, applications, advantages and disadvantages of each stone crusher, we can choose the most suitable crushing machinery for production.
12 common stone crushers
| 1. Jaw crusher | 2. Cone crusher |
| 3. Impact crusher | 4. Hammer crusher |
| 5. Roller crusher | 6. VSI Crusher |
| 7. Vertical shaft impact crusher | 8. Mobile crusher |
| 9. Vibrating feeder | 10. Double roll crusher |
| 11. Compound crusher | 12. Ring hammer crusher |
1. Jaw Crusher
| Introduction | Jaw crusher uses the extrusion and bending effect of two jaw plates on the material, and crushes the material through the periodic extrusion of the movable jaw and the static jaw, similar to the bite of a crocodile. Coarse or medium crushing of various hardness materials. Suitable for many departments such as mining, smelting, building materials, roads, railways, water conservancy and chemical industries, crushing various materials with a compressive strength not exceeding 320 MPa. |
| Application | coarse and medium crushing, suitable for mining and construction waste treatment. |
| Applicable stone types | hard rock (such as granite, quartz stone), large blocks. |
| Advantages | simple structure, low cost, easy maintenance. |
| Disadvantages | low crushing efficiency and uneven particle size. |
2. Cone Crusher
| Introduction | Cone crusher uses a rotating eccentric shaft and a fixed cone and a moving cone for lamination crushing. The ore block is between the inner and outer cones. The outer cone is fixed and the inner cone swings eccentrically to crush or break the ore block sandwiched between them. |
| Application | Medium and fine crushing of various ores and rocks, used in the production of metal mines and sand and gravel aggregates. |
| Applicable stone types | medium to hard rocks (such as iron ore and limestone). |
| Advantages | large crushing ratio, high efficiency, low energy consumption, uniform product particle size, light wear, less dust, high efficiency, high degree of automation, and good finished product particles. |
| Disadvantages | complex structure, expensive price, and complex maintenance. |
3. Impact Crusher
| Introduction | The high-speed rotating rotor throws the material to the impact plate for repeated impact crushing. |
| Application | Medium and fine crushing of medium hardness materials, such as sand and gravel production lines. |
| Applicable stone types | limestone, dolomite, coal, calcium carbide, quartz, gypsum, etc. |
| Advantages | Large crushing ratio, good particle shape of discharged materials, fewer edges and corners of finished products, uniform particle shape, high output, and adjustable discharge particle size. |
| Disadvantages | Plate hammer is easy to wear, serious dust, not suitable for hard rock. |
4. Hammer Crusher
| Introduction | Hammer crusher uses the high-speed impact of hammer head to perform medium and fine crushing of materials, combined with screen plate to control particle size. |
| Application | Used for fine crushing of medium hardness and brittle materials, such as coal, gypsum, salt, limestone, shale. |
| Applicable stone types | medium hardness and brittle materials. |
| Advantages | simple structure, large crushing ratio, less over-crushed materials, low energy consumption. |
| Disadvantages | hammer head wears quickly and needs to be replaced frequently. |
5. Roller Crusher
| Introduction | In the roll crusher, two relatively rotating rollers are sandwiched between two oppositely rotating rollers, which are mainly subjected to continuous material crushing, but also have a grinding effect, and the toothed roller surface also has a splitting effect. |
| Application | Fine crushing and ultra-fine crushing, such as chemical and metallurgical industries. |
| Applicable stone types | Suitable for medium and fine crushing of medium-hard and brittle materials. Coal, coke, slag, shale, loose limestone, etc. |
| Advantages | simple structure, low noise, strong overload protection. |
| Disadvantages | low production capacity, not suitable for hard rock. |
6. VSI Crusher
| Introduction | The impact sand making machine uses the working principle of stone hitting stone. The material is projected onto the wear-resistant material around the rotor, and is crushed by mutual collision and friction under the action of the high-speed rotating rotor. |
| Application | Sand making and shaping, used for construction sand and high-iron aggregate. |
| Applicable stone types | Suitable for crushing materials with different hardness, such as river pebbles, quartz sand, tailings, etc. |
| Advantages | Good finished sand particle shape and high efficiency. |
| Disadvantages | High energy consumption and easy wear of the rotor. |
7. Vertical Shaft Impact Crusher
| Introduction | In the vertical shaft impact crusher, the material falls vertically and is crushed by the high-speed impact of the rotor. |
| Application | high-end sand making, such as concrete aggregate. |
| Applicable stone types | medium and fine particles with low hardness. |
| Advantages | automatic control, stable quality of finished products. |
| Disadvantages | complex structure and high maintenance cost. |
8. Mobile Crusher
| Introduction | Mobile crusher installs crushing equipment on a mobile chassis, integrates jaw crusher, cone crusher and other equipment, and can be easily moved to different work locations for crushing operations. |
| Application | open-pit mines, construction waste treatment, suitable for crushing operations that require frequent movement of work locations. |
| Applicable stone types | a variety of materials, strong adaptability. |
| Advantages | strong mobility, flexible movement, and site cost saving. |
| Disadvantages | high price, need to be disassembled during transportation. |
9. Vibrating Feeder
| Introduction | The vibrating feeder uses a vibrator to make the material enter the crusher at a uniform speed. |
| Application | auxiliary equipment, uniform material distribution, and improved crushing efficiency. |
| Applicable stone types | all materials in the pre-treatment stage. |
| Advantages | stable feeding and reduced equipment idling. |
| Disadvantages | single function and dependence on other equipment. |
10. Double Roll Crusher
| Introduction | Double roll crusher uses two rolls to squeeze and shear the material. |
| Application | fine crushing of soft rock or fibrous materials, such as coal and feed. |
| Applicable stone types | low hardness, fibrous materials. |
| Advantages | no screen bars, not easy to clog. |
| Disadvantages | low production capacity, not suitable for hard materials. |
11. Compound Crusher
| Introduction | In a compound crusher, materials are added from the top, fall into the crushing chamber, hit by the high-speed rotating hammer, and quickly thrown to the impact plate. After the impact, they rebound to the hammer plate and are hit again. Such high-frequency hitting and counterattacks gradually crush the materials from large to small.
Smaller materials fall into the lower crushing chamber and are hit by the high-speed rotating dense hammers, repeating the upper crushing process. At the same time, shear stress is applied to part of the materials between the hammer and the impact plate teeth to perform milling and accelerate the fine crushing of the materials. The hammer drives the materials to flow, and a great grinding effect is generated between them, so that the materials are further crushed until they are crushed into the required particle size. |
| Application | Widely used in the medium and fine crushing of high-hardness and extra-hard materials such as various ores, cement, refractory materials, bauxite clinker, corundum, glass raw materials, etc. |
| Applicable stone types | shale, glass, ceramics, bluestone, metal ores and other hard materials. |
| Advantages | simple and reasonable structure, low operating cost. High crushing rate and energy saving. It has fine crushing and coarse grinding functions. |
| Disadvantages | The hammer is easy to wear. |
12. Ring Hammer Crusher
| Introduction | The main working part of the Ring Hammer Crusher is the rotor with a ring hammer. The rotor consists of a ring hammer shaft and a ring hammer. The motor drives the rotor to rotate at high speed in the crushing chamber. The material to be crushed is transported from the upper feed port to the machine, and is crushed by the impact of the high-speed rotating hammer, and the collision, extrusion and grinding of the materials. |
| Application | In the building materials, metallurgy, chemical industry, and thermal power generation industries, it is mainly used to crush coal, coal gangue, sandstone, shale, limestone, gypsum and other minerals. It can also be used to crush fiber structure, elasticity and toughness of broken wood, paper or crush asbestos cement waste to recover asbestos fiber, etc. |
| Applicable stone types | coal, coal gangue, sandstone, shale, limestone, gypsum and other minerals, as well as fiber structure, elasticity and toughness of broken wood, paper, etc. |
| Advantages | large feed port, high crushing chamber, suitable for materials with high hardness and large block size, and less stone powder in the product. The material is suspended in the air, and the power consumption of crushing is small. The new hammer head has a strong impact force. |
| Disadvantages | single function and high wear rate. |
How to choose a stone crusher?
Choosing a suitable stone crusher requires comprehensive consideration of multiple factors to ensure that the equipment performance, efficiency and cost meet actual needs. We have analyzed seven aspects for you to help you choose the most suitable stone crusher.
7 Looks – Help you choose the most suitable stone crusher
1 Look : Material properties
The hardness of the material determines the equipment selection.
• Hard rock (such as granite, quartz) → jaw crusher, cone crusher.
• Medium hardness (limestone, dolomite) → impact crusher.
• Brittle materials (coal, gypsum) → hammer crusher.
• Brittleness/toughness: Brittle materials are suitable for impact crushing (impact type), and tough materials require lamination crushing (cone type).
• Moisture content: High water content or sticky materials are prone to clogging, and anti-clogging design (such as jaw crusher) is required.
2 Look :processing volume (capacity requirements)
• Output requirements:
• Large-scale production (such as sand and gravel aggregate plant) → cone crusher, impact crusher or mobile combination.
• Small scale or laboratory → jaw crusher or small hammer crusher.
• Continuous operation requirements: cone crusher and impact crusher are suitable for long-term high-load operation.
3 Look.:Product particle size requirements
Target particle size:
• Coarse crushing (>300mm) → jaw crusher.
• Medium and fine crushing (30-100mm) → cone crusher, impact crusher.
• Fine crushing/sand making (<10mm) → impact sand making machine (VSI).
Particle shape requirements:
• Angular → jaw crusher.
• Round and smooth → impact or impact crusher.
4 Look :Energy consumption and operating costs
• Energy consumption:
• High-energy consumption equipment (such as impact sand making machine) needs to evaluate the long-term electricity cost.
• Low-energy consumption equipment (such as roller crusher) is suitable for soft rock.
• Maintenance cost:
• Replacement frequency of vulnerable parts such as hammer and liner (such as impact crusher has high maintenance cost).
• Automatic lubrication system or wear-resistant material can reduce the difficulty of maintenance.
5 Look at:Site and installation conditions
Space limitation:
• Mobile crusher is suitable for narrow site or open-air operation.
• Fixed equipment needs to reserve enough installation space (such as cone crusher supporting production line).
6 Look at: Automation level
Intelligent requirements:
• Cone crusher supports automatic adjustment of discharge port, suitable for precise control.
• Mobile equipment needs to integrate control system (such as PLC) to adapt to dynamic operation.
• Manual intervention: Jaw crusher is simple to operate and suitable for unattended scenes.
7 Look:Initial investment and budget
Equipment price:
• Jaw crushers are low-cost and suitable for projects with limited budgets.
• Cone crushers and impact sand making machines are expensive, but have significant long-term benefits.
• Life cycle cost:
• Includes comprehensive costs such as energy consumption, maintenance, and replacement of consumables (e.g., hammer crushers require frequent replacement of hammers, which has high hidden costs).
By systematically analyzing the above 7 key selection factors, selection errors can be avoided and the equipment can be ensured to operate efficiently, economically and stably.