J.A. Herbst & Associates, LLC PO Box 2568 Kealakekua, HI 96750-2568 MinOOcad@jah-net.

com

Dynamic Simulation of Size Reduction Operations from Mine-to-Mill

by J.A. Herbst and W.T. Pate

Outline
Introduction A General Flowsheet Simulator Comminution Objects Simulation Case Study Future Capabilities Conclusions

California

Mexico

Hilo Maui Hawaii Molokai Oahu Honolulu Kauai J.A. Herbst & Associates Kona
Tahiti

Australia

The Cost of Comminution Worldwide

Energy Consumed Worldwide
2.6 x 1010 US$/year = 5 billion US$/year
Energy Efficiency
100%

Wear Parts Consumed Worldwide

50%

Product Size

Typical Breakdown of Comminution Costs

Explosive Fracturing Coarse Crushing Fine Crushing Grinding 1% 2% 20% 77%

Mine-to-Mill Simulation
Real World Model Object Flowsheet Simulator

Benefits of Object Oriented Programming

A software object contains code and data which simulate the pertinent characteristics of a physical device or stream

Object Oriented

Traditional
PROGRAM MAIN CALL MINE ( ) CALL TRUCK ( ) CALL CRUSH(FEED,CRUSHPROD) CALL STORAGE ( ) CALL SCREEN(FEED,SCREENPROD) CALL MILL(FEED,MILLPROD) SUBROUTINE MINE ( ) SUBROUTINE TRUCK ( ) SUBROUTINE MILL(FEED,MILLPROD) SUBROUTINE STORAGE ( ) SUBROUTINE CRUSH(FEED,CRUSHPROD) SUBROUTINE SCREEN(FEED,SCREENPROD)

When process objects are connected by streams they are linked for computation

Conceptual Design of MinOOcad

Object Menu
Object Properties Object Display
Process Object #1 Process Object #2 Process Object #3 Process Object #N Stream Object #1 Stream Object #M

I (t )
Stream Object

Process Object

O2 (t + t )
Stream Object

O1 (t + t )

Container

Implementation of MinOOcad

Models of Flowsheet Elements

Response
SLOW
Coarse Ore Storage

INTERMEDIATE FAST

10

t/ Longest Dwell Time

Dynamic/Multi-Components
Accumulation = Input - Output + Generation
T

Screen Stream
P80

dMi,j = MIn,i,j - MOut,ij + f (Mij s) dt

AB
P

A B
Particle Size Decreasing

Comminution Objects - The Ball Mill

Computation Knowledge Manager Procedures Base Input and Output User Interface

Ball Mill Object

Feature 1 Visualization

Feature 2 Dynamic Performance Control

Feature 3 Scale-up/ Design

Feature 4 Capital/ Operating Cost

Comminution Objects
Mine Truck Storage Crushers Conveyors Screens Ball Mill - Pebble Mill SAG - AG Mills Sumps Hydrocyclones

Simulation Case Study

Mine Primary Crusher

Coarse Ore Storage

SAG MILL

Secondary Mills
Ball Mill

SAG MILL

Primary Mills

MinOOcad Flowsheet

Tool Bar and Property Page

Property Pages

Zoom on Property Page

Outputs

Spreadsheet
Date 6/14/98 18:00 6/14/98 18:02 6/14/98 18:04 6/14/98 18:06 6/14/98 18:08 6/14/98 18:10 6/14/98 18:12 6/14/98 18:14 6/14/98 18:16 6/14/98 18:18 6/14/98 18:20 6/14/98 18:22 6/14/98 18:24 6/14/98 18:26 6/14/98 18:28 6/14/98 18:30 Time, hr Feedrate Feed waterJetwater Mill rpm 0.00000 2037.9 673.3 75.0 10.01 0.03333 2010.7 672.4 75.0 10.01 0.06667 2021.5 673.0 74.9 10.01 0.10000 2051.2 673.6 74.9 10.01 0.13333 2080.9 677.6 74.9 10.01 0.16667 2059.8 690.0 74.9 10.01 0.20000 2076.0 687.8 74.9 10.01 0.23333 2096.1 682.5 74.8 10.01 0.26667 2116.2 678.1 74.8 10.01 0.30000 2112.2 679.5 74.8 10.01 0.33333 2099.1 675.8 74.8 10.01 0.36667 2095.3 675.5 74.8 10.01 0.40000 2093.0 665.2 74.7 10.01 0.43333 2090.6 665.4 74.7 10.01 0.46667 1507.2 666.8 74.7 10.01 0.50000 1663.9 684.5 74.7 10.01

Graphic

Base Case - At Steady State

Ball Mill %L=70
1.00

Fraction Passing

SAG Mill %L=12

Gyratory % L =0
0.10

Mine % L =0
Operating Data Predicted

0.01 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000

Particle Size, microns

Dynamic Situations Simulated

Increase in Powder Factor at Mine Increase in Truck Haul Time

Decrease in Stockpile Inventory

Increase in Powder Factor

1000000 1000

SAG ill S A G M Mill

M ine, Crus her and S tock pile P 80, m icrons

Mine M ine Ball M ill B all Mill

100000

Stockpile S tock pile

Crusher Crusher

100

P owder factor inc reas ed by 150% 10000 0 2 4 6 Tim e, hr 8 10 12 10

S A G and B all M ill P 80, m ic rons

Increase in Truck Haul Time

1000 B all m ill m agnetite liberation Ball Mill Magnetite Liberation 800 60 Tonnage, tph S A G Mill Tonnage SAG m ill tonnage 600 Truc k tonnage S tock pile tonnage Stockpile Tonnage Truc k haul Time Truck Haultim e 20 200 50 40 30 Haul Tim e, m in. 80 M agnetite Liberation, % 70

400

Truck Haul Time reas ed by 25% by 25% Truc k haul tim e inc Increased
0 0 2 4 6 Tim e, hr 8 10 12 14

10 0

Decrease in Stockpile Inventory

1000000 M ine 80 MinePP80 Crus her P80 Crusher P 80 400 Tonnage, m tph P 80, m ic rons S toc k pile tph Stockpile tph 10000 S A G Mill SAGm ill tph tph 500 100000

300

1000

S A Mill P80 SAGG m ill P 80 B all m ill P P80 Ball Mill 80

200

100

10 2 4 Tim e, hr 6 8

100

Downstream Impacts
1000 S A G m ill power 800 Holdup, t or Tonange, tph 4000 5000 P ower, kw 600 3000

S toc kpile tonnage 400 S A G m ill tonnage 200 S A G m ill rock tons 1000 2000

B egin stockpile inventory change 0 2 4 Tim e, hr 6 8 0

175

32

150 B all m ill m agnetite liberated P 80, m icrons 125

30 % of M agnetite Liberated

28

100

B all m ill P 80

26

75 B egin change in stoc kpile inventory 50 2 4 Tim e, hr 6 8

24

22

Future Possibilities
Operating costs calculated on a minute-to-minute basis over the entire flowsheet Enterprise-wide control system capability integrated into simulator Incorporating the impact of maintenance using realistic wear and replacement models Embedding into control system software for on-line decision making

Conclusions
Comminution comprises the most energy intensive and costly set of unit operations at a mine/mill site. Opportunities exist to improve "enterprise-wide financial performance" through understanding and exploiting dynamic/steady state interactions between comminution operations. A Windows based generic flowsheet simulator, MinOOcad, has been developed to allow dynamic simulation for any number of elements Advanced comminution models embedded in well designed software objects can provide realistic simulations off all flowsheet elements. Potential uses for MinOOcad are broad and exciting.