A useful technique for metallurgical mass balances — Applications in grinding

Abstract

The simple yet powerful steady state data analysis algorithm and software described herein have proven most useful in industrial grinding circuit studies at ANAMAX. Examples are drawn from that work. A process configuration can include up to 50 process streams connecting up to 30 pieces of equipment. “Steady state” plant data (e.g., solids, water, slurry flow rates, percent solids; sieve analyses) are collected where feasible, input, analyzed for consistency and, if the process is “overdefined”, adjusted in a least squares sense to achieve overall mass balance as well as mass balance within each size fraction. The combined sampling and analysis errors are assumed random with a weighting factor based upon whether the specific data point is believed to be “fair”, “good” or “excellent”. Extension of the technique to overall plant material balances is straightforward.