PROCESS CONTROL
Metso PlantTriage evolution
Metso’ s recently upgraded its PlantTriage software to simplify real-time performance management and strengthen cybersecurity. Metso Expertune PlantTriage™, a control loop monitoring system, oversees process control loops night and day, diagnoses and prioritises opportunities for improvements, and pinpoints major economic paybacks. As a tool of the digital world, PlantTriage“ leverages Metso ' s decades of expertise in automation and control valves. It gathers process data from many different control systems, and monitors of thousands of control loops.”
Metso’ s profound understanding of smart positioners and valve position feedback systems has been incorporated into PlantTriage to meet customers ' needs for improved reliability. PlantTriage has also been tested intensively in different demanding industries, including mining.
“ PlantTriage delivers value to our customers by identifying and getting to the root causes of control system performance issues. We have started to see that valve position feedback information is becoming more available in control systems that can communicate with smart field devices. This data permits more accurate diagnostics of valve performance issues. We have introduced several new assessments and a problem solver report related to valve positioner performance,” explains Steve Obermann, Senior Product Manager, Metso.
For increased security, PlantTriage Version 13 contains several cybersecurity enhancements. JAVA-related vulnerabilities have been eliminated. Integration with Microsoft Windows Authentication allows administrators to manage network security seamlessly, according to the customer ' s in-house IT policies.
In addition, PlantTriage Enterprise Systems have been upgraded. An Enterprise System provides a single view of mining company operations; combining KPIs and results from individual plant sites to a central portal. In Version 13, PlantTriage Enterprise Systems provide alerts for conditions on loops and units in remote PlantTriage systems.
GE industrial PCs now automation equipped
Equipping small to medium sized industrial customers, such as smaller mines and quarries, with a streamlined solution to improve their data collection and analysis processes, GE has announced that its trusted industrial PCs( IPC) will now come complete with the company’ s proven supervisory control and data acquisition( SCADA)/ human machine interface( HMI) automation software preinstalled. The new, integrated SCADA Edge IPC from GE’ s Automation
Long term process partnership
Despite these advanced process monitoring and data management systems, the foundation of any process is the equipment itself and the individuals that drive innovation. MINPRO International’ s journey in the Russian market began at its Trondheim Mechanical Workshop where a great optimist in the form of the late Odd Emil Taarland was employed in the early 1980s as Manager of the Industrial Division. Kees Iestra the CEO of MINPRO International describes him as“ a man who never took no for an answer, and with tremendous humour and ability to inspire the persons around him.” Taarland realised that one of the concentrators at Apatity needed to install new equipment, which was the start of a long and successful establishment of MINPRO’ s presence in Russia. Since then MINPRO has delivered many small concentrators for the recovery of gold in many parts of Russia,( mainly in Siberia) but also flotation machines, hydrocyclone batteries, mills and other related mineral processing equipment.
In 1992, Kovdorsky GOK purchased an AKER FM-0.35 flotation machine( 35 litre cells) from MINPRO for the final cleaning of ZrO 2 concentrate and floating the remaining sulphides. This machine is still running there and no wear parts replacement has been needed since it was installed. The machine has been running 24 hours per day over a period of 25 years. During 1994- 1996 Kovdorsky also purchased Minpro’ s 5 m 3 AKER FM-5 flotation machines for the flotation of light minerals in their ZrO 2 concentrator. During 1994, Kovdorsky issued a tender for the delivery of a completely new flotation plant which should be installed in the existing building for the renovation / upgrading of 25 % of their apatite flotation plant. In the end a MINPRO competitor won the bid. However, MINPRO told IM:“ After their equipment’ s start up there were major problems with recovery and the concentrate quality and many other problems. Everybody at Kovdorsky GOK was disappointed and totally unhappy with the situation. To avoid the same story from happening again the management decided to do a full scale test comparing equipment from several mineral processing equipment suppliers. There were altogether five companies with their flotation machines that participated in the tests at the beginning of 2003.” MINPRO International delivered one complete 20 m 3 AKER FM-20 / 2 flotation machine for tests, which were carried out over a period of two years taking a very close look at all details.“ The main reasons for the tests were to find out which type of flotation machines should be installed in the remaining 75 % of the apatite flotation plant of Kovdorsky GOK and the criteria for the final decision was the total economical aspect regarding mineral processing performance, energy consumption, maintenance costs and the total costs for the investment. After the tests came to an end MINPRO International received the order for the delivery of an 800 t / h complete flotation plant handling 50 % of the total feed to their flotation plant. The test results after 24 months running the AKER FM20 / 2 we saw later on were very good.” A new flotation line with AKER FM-0.35 cells was also installed in 2006 in Kovdorsky GOK’ s pilot plant for testing and optimising different flotation applications.
MINPRO states that the energy consumption, the recovery as well as the percentage of P 2O 5 in concentrate was significantly better with the AKER flotation machine compared with all the other flotation machines.“ In addition to these facts both the labour costs for maintaining the flotation machines and last but not least the investment costs were the lowest for the AKER flotation machines.” The contract for this project was signed late August 2005 and the first two lines where put into operation in mid- June 2006. The last two flotation lines, each 400 t / h were installed during 2008-2013. MINPRO International has been responsible for all engineering, including reagent dosing systems with 52 dosing points, the instrumentation and automation. The main steel parts such as superstructures, flotation machine cell boxes, gangways and conditioning tanks were produced in Russia and in accordance to MINPRO International’ s engineering and design. The complete flotation mechanisms with bearing housings and shafts were delivered from Norway as well as the dosing system and instrumentation. Automation was carried out by a Russian company.
MINPRO International was also asked to change previously installed Finnish flotation machines with AKER flotation mechanisms at an apatite flotation plant. In total MINPRO International was asked and delivered flotation equipment for 1,600 t / h.
MINPRO International flotation line at Kovdorsky GOK
14 International Mining | JANUARY 2017