PROCESS CONTROL
He added that the Emerson technology stack and the range of flagship product lines is second to none , plus the fact that it makes these available globally through a vast and wellestablished network . “ Our brands are very well known in mining , from Clarkson slurry valves to Rosemount sensors and transmitters , Micro Motion flow meters , Fisher valves , actuators & regulators and DeltaV advanced industrial automation solutions . Most mineral processing plants worldwide will use at least some of these solutions from Emerson .”
Are there any particular Emerson solutions that he would single out as being differentiators ? “ Isolation valves have a big role to play – we have been supplying them for over 50 years and I lead the Clarkson Knife Gate Strategic Business Unit , which lies within the isolation valves portfolio . Their use starts right at the front end of the plant , or even before that if the material is being brought in via hydrotransport of slurry where the pipelines will have isolation valves . In the plant , as soon as you get to the comminution circuit , the valves are there , and then all the way through to the back end and the tailings circuit . Some of them are factored into the initial plant design , generally developed together with an engineering company – others are factored in together with equipment OEMs which might use them as part of cyclone clusters , or separation circuits like banks of flotation cells or thickeners . Our valves see use in the entire plant front to back .”
Emerson also offers Fisher™ FIELDVUE™ digital valve controllers , which are microprocessor-based devices mounted right on the valve that can control the flow , adjust the position of the valve based on the flow rating and also send a lot of data back into the DCS . Plus , it tells you right at the source about any issues that need addressing . “ There are a lot of smarts now moving down to the field level in mining today for a number of reasons . Plus a lot of what is being achieved in mining today has filtered down from the oil & gas and chemical industries , where it ’ s been proven in use for decades .”
Emerson has a very deep knowledge across different types of mining operations and applications – Gordon says their focus is on helping customers reduce downtime , lower beneficiation costs , and of course keeping operations and the personnel that work there safe . “ Gone are the days when mineral processing plants were just about mechanical equipment and black boxes – today sensors and the data extracted from them are absolutely central to success as it helps operations maximise uptime and perfect predictive maintenance . Customers today take all that data and use it to be much more efficient in how they operate the plant . In addition , the more mining
companies can utilise the latest smart digital technologies to automate plant processes , the more they can reduce the number of people having to travel to work at remote sites , which provides both cost and safety advantages . Plus the same plant operators can now make good and informed decisions remotely from remote operating centres .”
Emerson has already gone to market on multiple occasions for major mineral processing projects together with AspenTech , offering a comprehensive solution from field instruments right up to the DCS and cloud-based monitoring . “ Our global project pursuit teams work very closely together on bringing the customer a complete automation solutions offering – from
the ground to the cloud – and a united front . This reduces risk for the customer and ensures they have access to the latest technology .”
From an overall project point of view , Project Certainty is Emerson ’ s ‘ transformational approach ’ to enabling top quartile performance in capital projects , including in mining , by digitally transforming the project through modern project management strategies , innovative engineering practices and digital technologies . According to Emerson , this project execution approach delivers solutions that eliminate costs , reduce complexity , and accommodate change to improve capital efficiency and deliver more reliable project schedules .
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JANUARY 2025 | International Mining 67