粉碎是化工生产中一种单元操作，是一种纯机械过程的操作，对于体积过大不适宜使用的固体原料或不符合要求的半成品，要进行加工使其变小，这个过程就叫粉碎，粉碎主要有两种方式：

1. 破碎，使大块物料简单地变成小块，大多数原料在应用之前都需要破碎，但有的原料则是越大越好，不能破碎，如高炉使用的焦碳，块越大越容易通风。
2. 磨碎，要将原料研磨成非常细小的颗粒，制造陶瓷用的高岭土，用于沸腾床或洗选的煤，水泥成品等，磨碎根据工艺要求有干磨和湿磨两种方法，干磨粉尘较大，湿磨不容易磨碎，需要较长的时间。

Comminution is the reduction of solid materials from one average particle size to a smaller average particle size, by crushing, grinding, cutting, vibrating, or other processes. In geology, it occurs naturally during faulting in the upper part of the Earth's crust. In industry, it is an important unit operation in mineral processing, ceramics, electronics, and other fields, accomplished with many types of mill. In dentistry, it is the result of mastication of food. In general medicine, it is one of the most traumatic forms of bone fracture.