HPGR Roll Surface Design Approach

Frank Peter van der Meer

WEIR Minerals Netherlands
 HPGR Operating Cost Division

Wear parts replacement is the largest operating cost item after

energy consumption.

For larger units

it can account for
20-25 % of initial
HPGR CAPEX
depending on local
energy cost.

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 HPGR Operating Cost Indication

Wear parts replacement

cost per year
ranges from about
250,000 to 1,300,000 USD
depending on HPGR size.

Cost per ton consequently

ranges from about
0.08 to 0.03 USD/t.

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 HPGR Tyre Surface Wear
HPGR roll surface (”tyre”) cost presents a very significant
component of the operational budget.
The wear of an HPGR tyre is result of, amongst others:
- Abrasive wear from ore during compression
- Abrasive wear from due to material slippage and extrusion
- Oxidative wear from chemical decomposition of ore
components and moisture
- Passage of oversize material
- Passage of tramp material

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 Surface Design Considerations

HPGR roll surface design mostly follows a sequence of data collection

and considerations such as:

- Measurement of ore abrasiveness and hardness

- Observations from (pilot) testing; e.g. embedding of autogenous
coating, material slippage
- Assessment of impact of effective HPGR feed size distribution
- Anticipation of operating parameters (pressure, speed, moisture)
- Considering effects of HPGR size (roll width, edge effect)
- Required required roll service life
- Capital/operating cost effectiveness
- Other factors (e.g. tramp control, feed chute design, coating creep)

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 Autogenous Wear Coating
Embedding of a competent ore layer in-between studs on the
surface occurs as result of compression and breakage of ore,
generally in presence of moisture, fines and/or clayey material.
This is a major factor in
roll surface wear protection.

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 Other Factors: Feed Chute Design

Wear can be considered an effect of various mechanisms

The pressure in the

operating gap can be
considered as mechanism
to compressive abrasion.

The material column

on the rolls may act as
brake shoe. This
contributes to abrasive
wear in this region.

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 Other Factors: Segregation
Particle size segregation
of feed from preceding
conveyors and feed chutes
will affect surface wear.

An uneven wear will

generate similar
operation inefficiencies
as e.g. bath-tub wear.

The ability to wedge rolls

Assists in minimizing this effect.

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 Other Factors:
Tramp Material & Oversize Rock
Tramp metal and oversize rock protection is
essential for preventing tyre surface damage

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 Other Factors:
Material Surface Movement
Depending on particle size, moisture level and material consistency,
(fine) ores may show movement or creep over the roll surface, in-
between the studs, or enhance corrosion. Together with
autogenous coating strengthening, project specific designs of
surface and stud qualities are required and being developed.

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 Ore Abrasiveness
WEIR Abrasion Wear Rate Measurement
Standard ore testing for abrasiveness upon compressive shear
is carried out by WEIR in abrasion wheel equipment.
Based on ASTM G 65.
Delivers a WWRI
(WEIR Wear Rate Index).
This is correlated with
operating experience.
WWRI is proportional to
anticipated wear rate,
inversely proportional to
expected wear life.

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 Ore Abrasiveness
Miller Wear Rate Measurement
Fine ore (pellet feed)testing for abrasiveness can be carried out
Using the Miller test.
Based on ASTM G 75, this delivers values for slurry abrasivity (Miller
number) and a Slurry Abrasion Response of materials (SAR Number).

The method also

delivers an
indication for
corrosion effect.

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 Basic Wear Life Indication
The wear rate measurement provides a basic wear life indication,
(“BWL””) from correlation
with operating experience.

WWRI or Miller / SAR

are proportional to
anticipated wear rate
and inversely to
the basis wear life.

BWL = BWLreference x WWRIreference / WWRI sample

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 HPGR Circuit Options
Different circuit configurations are applied in practice.
These result in different effective HPGR feed size distributions .

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 Effective Feed Size Distributions
Different effective HPGR feed particle size distributions generate
different abrasion environments:

A truncated feed with

a steep PSD and a much
interparticle space
will show
a more aggressive wear
than a PPR feed with
a high fines content and
full interparticle space
filling.

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 Roll Service Life Prediction
A general relationship can be developed for roll service life prediction
starting from the Basic Wear Life (“BWL”, from correlating
abrasiveness with operating plant experience).

Predicted service life = BWL x adjustment factors for:

R. Rotational speed P. Peripheral speed
S. Specific pressure M. Moisture
O. Oversize material U. Undersize material
L. Length of studs Q. Quality of studs
A. Autogenous coating quality D. Anticipated operation disruptions

Predicted wear life = BWL x 𝐹𝑅 . 𝐹𝑃. FS . FM . FO . FU . FL . FQ. FA . FD

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 Roll Surface Wear Progression
Roll surface wear in operation progresses with wear dominated by
the hard metal stud, and shielding of the base metal surface by the
autogenous coating.

Assume a starting surface design with 45 mm long studs with tops

5 mm above surface:

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 Roll Surface Wear Progression
During operation an
autogenous wear coating
is formed.
For example 8 mm.

This autogenous coating

stabilizes during the
balanced wear period.
The roll base steel then
wears in pace with the
studs wear.

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 Roll Surface Wear Progression

Towards the end of the service life, stud length is reduced to about stud
diameter.
The surface will be more sensitive to damage from tramp material and
local pressure peaks.

Roll patch with lost studs at end of life

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 Wear Profile Monitoring
The surface wear is not uniform over roll width.
Differences in
local pressure and
material transport
lead to different wear.
Resulting in a convex or
concave (“bath-tub”) effect.
For concave the lateral wear
is less and the center area
wears to a deeper valley.
As a consequence
roll surfaces are
not parallel anymore.
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 Worn Roll Surface Consequences
Consequences of wear patterns like the concave effect include:
- lower achievable operating pressure due to larger local
operating gap,
- less grinding from lower local pressure,
- less flexibility in roll movement due to lower or higher edges.

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 Studs Distribution over Roll Width
Roll surface profiles can be prevented by a dedicated stud quality
distribution over roll width. This can be designed based on:
- measured ore parameters
(hardness, abrasiveness, moisture, particle size distributions,
autogenous wear coating)
- envisaged operating
conditions
(pressure, roll speed)
- design roll dimensions
(width, length, stud pattern)
- expected edge effects
(extrusion, bypass)
Number of studs per each roll: Up to 30,000

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 Roll Surface End of Life
Towards the end of the service life, the tyre will start to lose its
functional surface.
Local studs may be lost. Larger patches of unprotected roll surface
will wear out.

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 Roll Monitoring
and End-of-Life Prediction
Roll surface wear monitoring is essential for maintaining optimum
performance and timely maintenance. A structural recording of
roll wear and performance over the wear life is essential for
further optimization of roll surface design for the next roll sets.

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 Tyre Life Prediction
and Specification

DEFINITION OF WEAR LIFE and END OF LIFE CONDITION

End of life definition is to be agreed on the basis of, amongst

others:

- experienced downtime for maintenance

- production loss from lower throughput
- product coarsening from a wider operating gap
- number of studs lost
- inability to maintain pressure due to roll profile effect
- etcetera.

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 Roll Service Life Progression
Improvements in roll surface design lead to prolonged wear life.

This relies on a close performance monitoring and cooperation

between supplier and plant.
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 Optmizing Roll Surface Design

- first set of rolls will be supplied

at anticipated best design
as supported by testing and scale-up
- next sets will be supplied with optimized design based on
joint observation / monitoring by supplier and client
over the wear life of the preceding rolls
- supply of replacement rolls is possible without studs;
a modified stud quality and distribution can be inserted
shortly before exchange

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 Resumé of Roll Wear Factors
Abrasiveness determination
Studs hardness and quality
Autogenous coating
Tramp metal and oversize rock
Correlation with existing operations
Moisture in ore and recycle streams
Function of roll speed, pressure, size
distribution of feed, stud length/quality Stud hardness distribution across roll
and other parameters width
Agreement on end-of-life conditions
Steady operation
Flanges or not
Feed size segregation
Systematic monitoring of roll wear
Material slip and coating creep
R&D for subsequent rolls

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 Roll Wear Life Development;
Concluding Remarks

Especially for HPGR rolls & tyres, where life does exceed one
year of operation, and where lead times for replacement
parts can be significant, R&D for optimizing wear design is a
long lasting process. This may take several rounds of supply
before optimization is reached for metallurgy, maintenance
and cost effectiveness.
A cooperative effort by supplier and client through systematic
observation, monitoring and development over the wear life
of the rolls and wear parts is of essence.

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 THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION

GRACIAS POR
SU ATENCIÓN
Animations by:
Saskia Freeke
Info@sasj.nl
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