HIGH PROFILE
Real time reagents
Paul Moore talked with Solvay Special Projects and Business Development Director , Jean-Paul Garnier about SmartFloat™ , a first-of-its-kind digital reagent platform based on AI that can react to incoming ore changes
Mining chemistry major Solvay is continuing its digital journey with SmartFloat™ , a first-of-its-kind digital system based on artificial intelligence ( AI ) that enhances base metal flotation by improving operational efficiency , metallurgical results and sustainability . SmartFloat provides another tool for flotation operations to implement improvements , just as SmartExtract ® has done for solvent extraction since its launch in 2019 .
Building on Solvay ’ s proprietary Flotation Matrix 100™ approach , SmartFloat uses live flotation data to recommend the best suitable reagent formulation and dosage in real time , based on incoming ore properties and operational parameters . SmartFloat enables operators to respond faster to changes in ore composition , helping avoid loss of valuable metals and save energy , while reducing reagent consumption and cost . Moreover , the system can be tailored to specific customer process needs . It is intended as a perfect complement to the Solvay Cube , a stateof-the-art dosing system that enables more precise blending and dosing control of reagent building-block chemicals .
To get more insight into the development of the new digital system plus its potential to transform flotation operations , IM Editorial Director Paul Moore talked with Solvay Special Projects and Business Development Director , Jean-Paul Garnier .
Q You recently launched Solvay Cube and have just released SmartFloat – can you outline the role that each system plays in a mining customer flotation plant ?
A The differentiation is that Solvay Cube is the reagent delivery and pumping system itself , using multiple tubes to do the blending . SmartFloat if you like is the “ brain ” that calculates what the pumps need to deliver . SmartFloat takes online sensor data that is measuring ore characteristics , and uses algorithms to process that information and qualify the incoming ore types into different groups that we call clusters – to each cluster it then selects an appropriate reagent solution which has been predetermined from laboratory work – so it is still relying on prior knowledge of what reagent will work best . It replaces the human element of deciding which reagent to use .
Solvay Special Projects and Business Development Director , Jean-Paul Garnier
SmartFloat uses live flotation data to recommend the best suitable reagent formulation and dosage in real time
Q What is the advantage of using this approach versus relying on a human operator in terms of efficiency ? A The main advantage of SmartFloat is that it makes reagent decisions in real time or as close to real time as you can get . Today in flotation plants , operators are looking at the results coming out in the plant tailings and making reagent decisions based on that – but by that time the nature of the ore feed may already be changing again so it may not be the right formulation that they are selecting . What is coming in and the source of the variation may have already altered . And we are not talking about a few minutes of delay – they are looking at the whole residence time of the ore through the concentrator , so you can be looking at hours . Finally as they are looking at tailings results and not the ore feed , they are not necessarily reacting in a systematic way . Instead of looking at what is coming out , we are looking at what is coming in . Think of it as driving by looking in your rear view mirror – with SmartFloat we are now looking forward .
Q Can you give an example to illustrate the difference between the two approaches ? A Lets assume you have a copper-gold mine that starts to have a higher gold content in the incoming feed – they see in the tailings they are losing some gold so start to increase the gold collector reagent – but it could be that by the time that happens the higher gold grades are no longer present so the increased collector will start recovering pyrite instead .
Q Has the system been proven so far at lab or
20 International Mining | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022