HEAVY ENGINEERING & WEAR PARTS
While the digital tool has not yet been installed on an industrial mill , it is scheduled for a trial run in July . This follows extensive testing at Magotteaux ’ s pilot plant facilities in South Africa .
Molycop has also made in-roads into the realtime condition monitoring milling space , having acquired the MILL Trakka business in November . MILL Trakka is , Molycop says , an industry innovator in sensor design and development and has a been a key partner in the development of Molycop ’ s mill optimisation products . Its wireless sensors have been successfully deployed on the mill shell and integrated into Molycop ’ s SAG ball product , delivering real-time performance data from inside grinding mills .
Paul Shelley , Vice President of Innovation for Molycop , said : “ Molycop is proud to continue the partnership with MILL Trakka Founder , Ian Hamilton , and his team to further develop data capture solutions and extend Molycop ’ s circuit analysis capability and delivery of productivity outcomes to its customers .”
It is real-time monitoring of chute and hopper liners that Hitachi-owned Bradken has in its sights with its SmartLiner ® system .
Using SmartLiner with Bradken Insite ® live analytics and reporting , operations will be able to accurately plan maintenance and reduce downtime needed for manual inspections of stockpile bins and inaccessible liners , according to the company .
Once installed , SmartLiner improves safety by removing the need for operators to perform manual inspections of hazardous chutes and hoppers .
Bradken Global Product Manager of Fixed Plant , Damian Glowinski , said the new wireless solution has been an evolution of product development and trialling of chute monitoring devices for more than 10 years .
“ Our focus for the new SmartLiner wireless solution was to increase reliability and lower implementation costs , which we have successfully achieved ,” Glowinski said . “ With a 12-month trial of the new wireless solution already complete , we ’ re confident of the safety and maintenance efficiencies produced by the new SmartLiner and Bradken Insite solution .”
Super SAG balls
Modelling and real-life process plant results have allowed ME Elecmetal to expand the use of its ME Super SAG ® grinding balls across the mineral processing space .
It was the application of this grinding media at a copper plant in Africa that resulted in lower energy consumption , higher throughput , and longer operating time .
This project was part of the company ’ s VAES ( Value-Added Engineering Services ) program , an
The application of ME Elecmetal ’ s Super SAG grinding balls at an African copper process plant enabled the operator to lower its energy consumption , increase throughput , and benefit from longer operating time
after-market offering that helps customers optimise processes , extend the lifespan of wear parts , reduce operational risks and increase profitability .
The company explained : “ In 2017 , an African copper process plant with a large-diameter SAG mill experienced severe difficulties with maintaining consistent operation and throughput rate of the mill . Internal inspection of the SAG mill revealed that the discharge liner grate slots were severely blocked with broken and deformed grinding balls .”
It was 125 mm steel grinding balls supplied from South Africa that were causing the problem , with the root cause of the blockage being broken and deformed balls , according to the company .
The next step to alleviating the problem was the trial of an alternate media supplier .
The ME Elecmetal Super SAG grinding ball was selected for the trial . This product is used extensively in other large SAG mills globally , particularly in Chile ’ s massive process plants , according to ME Elecmetal .
“ Superior quality and performance is achieved through the use of pure raw steel from a single source , vacuum degassing , magnetic stirring , significant soft and rolling reduction , consistent forging , and precise heat treatment – and this has been observed and measured at many applications ,” the company said . “ The
main objective of the steel grinding ball with a SAG mill is to create rock breakage and maintain sphericity during its lifecycle within the mill .”
The Grinding Media Application Engineering Team developed a media trial plan which was accepted by the Plant Management Team in Africa . Key performance indicators were then set and agreed on such as increased throughput rate ( 0.5 % increase ), decreased specific energy consumption ( 10 % decrease ), decreased ball consumption rate ( 25 % decrease ), decreased ( or eliminated ) discharge grate blockage percentage , and decreased ( or eliminated ) grinding ball breakage .
The trial commenced in late 2017 and continued for about a year . During this time , very close monitoring of operational data , along with several site visits to observe the performance of the SAG mill and media , were performed .
“ The test provided solid and consistent evidence that the performance of ME Elecmetal 125 mm Super SAG grinding media met or exceeded expectations ,” ME Elecmetal claimed .
“ In particular , measuring media performance in three different ways ( energy consumption , throughput rate and operating time ) demonstrated a positive step change with no indication of any change in ore characteristics ,” the company said .
With the minimisation of ball breakage – the aim of the trial was less than 1 % of the total balls – site management was confident in further increasing SAG steel load to achieve a throughput rate of circa-3,500 t / h . This represented a significant increase in production revenue for the copper operation , ME Elecmetal said . At the same time , SAG mill scats were now being considered for use as ball mill media with the purchase of a sorting mechanism .
In addition , the site can consider increasing the slot size in some grates to allow more spherical media to exit the mill .
Engineering expansion
Renowned for its expertise in designing and delivering large girth gears for grinding mills and mill shells in concert with major OEMs , Australia-based Hofmann Engineering is , once again , expanding its presence in major mining markets .
The company branched out into the Americas in 2012 with the start-up of its Chile
60 International Mining | JUNE 2021