Assembly Line

Crushing and grinding

Jaws, rollers or tumbling steel balls break a solid into smaller pieces. Smaller pieces have more surface, so they melt, dissolve and react faster.

92 lines that use it

Acetaminophen 6 stations · 5 raw sources Almond milk 6 stations · 2 raw sources Alumina 6 stations · 4 raw sources Asphalt road 6 stations · 2 raw sources Bauxite 5 stations Black tea 7 stations · 1 raw source Blackboard chalk 6 stations · 9 raw sources Borax 5 stations Brick 7 stations · 2 raw sources Canned meat 9 stations · 23 raw sources Carnauba palm wax 3 stations Cellulose acetate 6 stations · 8 raw sources Cement 7 stations · 3 raw sources Chili pepper 5 stations Chocolate 8 stations · 7 raw sources Chromite 4 stations Cocoa butter 6 stations · 1 raw source Cocoa powder 7 stations · 1 raw source Coconut milk 6 stations · 22 raw sources Copper 6 stations · 4 raw sources Copper ore 4 stations Corn flakes 8 stations · 19 raw sources Corn starch 6 stations · 2 raw sources Dolomite 3 stations Ethanol 6 stations · 6 raw sources Feldspar 5 stations Flour 7 stations · 9 raw sources Fluorspar 3 stations Gold 6 stations · 7 raw sources Gravel and crushed stone 3 stations Gypsum 3 stations Hard cider 7 stations · 20 raw sources Hazelnuts 4 stations Hot dog 7 stations · 7 raw sources Hot sauce 7 stations · 15 raw sources Instant coffee 7 stations · 2 raw sources Iron ore 4 stations Jam 6 stations · 10 raw sources Lead 6 stations · 6 raw sources Lead ore 4 stations Limestone 3 stations Linen 6 stations · 2 raw sources Lithium carbonate 8 stations · 12 raw sources Manganese 6 stations · 7 raw sources Manganese ore 5 stations MDF 7 stations · 8 raw sources Mercury 5 stations · 2 raw sources Metallurgical silicon 8 stations · 3 raw sources Mezcal 6 stations · 12 raw sources Mica 3 stations Mustard 6 stations · 15 raw sources Natural graphite 4 stations Neodymium magnet 8 stations · 6 raw sources Nickel 5 stations · 4 raw sources Nickel ore 5 stations Nori 6 stations · 1 raw source Oat milk 8 stations · 9 raw sources Olive oil 6 stations · 1 raw source Palm oil 8 stations · 2 raw sources Pasta 7 stations · 2 raw sources Phosphoric acid 5 stations · 6 raw sources Plaster of Paris 5 stations · 1 raw source Platinum ore 4 stations Polysilicon 5 stations · 8 raw sources Popping candy 6 stations · 6 raw sources Potash 3 stations Printer toner 7 stations · 9 raw sources Quartz 5 stations Quicklime 6 stations · 2 raw sources Rayon 6 stations · 7 raw sources Rock salt 3 stations Rough diamond 3 stations Salami 6 stations · 8 raw sources Sausage casing 8 stations · 4 raw sources Semolina 6 stations · 2 raw sources Silicone 6 stations · 9 raw sources Silver ore 4 stations Soy milk 6 stations · 2 raw sources Steel scrap 5 stations · 3 raw sources Superabsorbent polymer 6 stations · 5 raw sources Tequila 7 stations · 13 raw sources Tin 5 stations · 2 raw sources Tofu 7 stations · 3 raw sources Toothpaste 7 stations · 20 raw sources Trichlorosilane 5 stations · 8 raw sources Trona 4 stations Tungsten 6 stations · 3 raw sources Tungsten ore 4 stations Vegetable oil 7 stations · 6 raw sources Wine 8 stations · 21 raw sources Wood pellets 5 stations · 1 raw source Zinc ore 4 stations

What it looks like on the line

  • Wood pelletsHammer it uniform. A hammer mill breaks the material into a uniform, dough-like mass. Even size makes the press work smoothly.
  • Rough diamondCrush the kimberlite. Rock is broken down carefully to free the diamonds without cracking them. Weathered kimberlite, the yellow ground, is easy to break apart.
  • Vegetable oilClean and crack the seeds. Soybeans or rapeseed are cleaned of stalks and dirt, then cracked and rolled into thin flakes. Flaking breaks open the oil cells and gives the extractor far more surface to work on.
  • Steel scrapShred the mixed items. Cars and appliances mix steel with plastic, copper, aluminum and brass. A shredder breaks them into small pieces so the metals can be separated mechanically instead of by hand.
  • Palm oilCrack out the kernels. Nuts recovered from the press cake are cracked and the kernels separated. They go on to make a separate kernel oil.
  • Iron oreCrush and screen. Lower-grade ore is broken in stages, first coarse crushing and then fine grinding. Magnetite-bearing rock has to be milled to a very small particle size before the iron grains let go of the quartz around them.
  • Cocoa powderPulverize the cake. The press cake is broken up and ground into a fine powder. Cocoa powder may keep a fat content of around 12 percent.
  • RayonShred and age the crumb. The pressed sheets are shredded into a fluffy white crumb. The crumb sits for a time so the long cellulose chains shorten to the right length.
  • FluorsparCrush the vein rock. Ore is crushed to free the fluorspar from lead ore, quartz and calcite. The Mohs hardness scale defines fluorite as 4.
  • BrickGrind it with water. The clay is ground and blended with water in a pugmill. For extruded bricks the mix is 10–15% water if stiff, or 20–25% if soft.
  • LinenCrush the woody core. In scutching, the retted stalks are crushed between metal rollers so the woody part breaks away from the fibers. Seeds, shives and tow are set aside for other uses.
  • CementGrind and blend the mix. The rock is ground to a fine powder and blended to a precise chemical recipe. Hot exhaust from the kiln is typically used to dry the raw materials in the mill.