Engineering Laboratory (Saint Petersburg, Russia)

Anufriev A. S., Development Director, a@ануфриев.рф

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Lebedik E. A., Assistant Lecturer, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, ecaterinalebedik@yandex.ru

«Karelsky Okatysh» JSC (Kostomuksha, Russia)

Smirnov A. A., Deputy Head of the Concentrate and Pellets Production Department for Operations, smirn0ffaa@yandex.ru

Grinding is an integral and most energy-intensive process in ore processing. Ball mills are widely used for the purpose, which have a number of undoubted advantages and a significant drawback of extremely low efficiency. Effective ball mill control requires reliable data acquisition for the key process parameters. In terms of achieving the highest possible efficiency, it is most critical to know the mill charge ratios with grinding media and ore. In-process monitoring of the ball charge, however, is currently either not implemented or performed with very poor accuracy. This article analyzes the existing mill charge monitoring and control systems. The results obtained are used to develop a ball mill charge in-process monitoring method that takes into account the shortcomings of the existing methods. The solution developed is based on the concept of a virtual analyzer that enables the use of a mathematical model of the mill and actual data acquisition through geometric measurements of the working space inside the mill and with the use power consumption monitoring tools to establish the ball mill charge level. The mathematical model is based on ideal mixing with size reduction and classification. The results of tests using the proposed ball charge control system at a mill of «Karelsky Okatysh» JSC indicate a reduction in the measurement error from 4.1 to 1 % as compared to the current control system of the plant that is based on power consumption alone. Implementation of the system developed will improve grinding efficiency by reducing the specific ball consumption.

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