Screw Crushers: Design, Operating Principle, and Applications
Two counter-rotating screws instead of hammers or jaws — how a screw crusher works and when it is chosen.
What a screw crusher is
A screw crusher breaks down material between the flights of two counter-rotating screws of variable pitch and diameter, rather than by impact as in a hammer crusher.
Operating principle
Material is fed into the gap between the two screws. The decreasing flight pitch draws material deeper into the crusher and progressively breaks it down through compression and shear between the flights, rather than through impact.
Screw crusher design
Main components: two shafts with variable-pitch helical flights, a housing (crushing chamber), a drive — typically two synchronized gear motors, and material inlet and outlet fittings.
How a screw crusher differs from hammer and jaw crushers
Crushing by compression and shear rather than impact produces less dust and lower noise. A screw crusher handles viscous, sticky, fibrous, and wet materials well — materials that tend to clog hammer crushers and stick to jaw crusher working surfaces.
Where screw crushers are used
Crushing coal, clay, lime, gypsum, and cohesive or fibrous production waste — anywhere a conventional impact crusher would clog or generate excessive dust.
Need a screw crusher sized for your material?
UK-ZTO-AN designs and manufactures screw crushers to your material characteristics and required throughput.