Abstract
Process optimization and improvement strategies applied in a crushing plant are coupled with the measurement of such improvements, and one of the indicators for improvements is the mass flow at different parts of the circuit. The estimation of the mass flow using conveyor belt power consumption allows for a cost-effective solution. The principle behind the estimation is that the power draw from a conveyor belt is dependent on the load on the conveyor, conveyor speed, geometrical design, and overall efficiency of the conveyor. Calibration of the power-based belt scale is carried out periodically to ensure the accuracy of the measurement. In practical implementation, certain conveyors are not directly accessible for calibration to the physical measurement as these conveyors have limited access or it is too costly to interrupt the ongoing production process. For addressing this limitation, a better strategy is needed to calibrate the efficiency of the power-based belt scale and maintain the reliability of such a system. This paper presents the application of an optimization method for a data collection system to calibrate and maintain accurate mass flow estimation. This includes calibration of variables such as the efficiency of the power-based belt scale. The optimization method uses an error minimization optimization formulation together with the mass balancing of the crushing plant to determine the efficiency of accessible and non-accessible conveyors. Furthermore, a correlation matrix is developed to monitor and detect deviations in the estimation for the mass flow. The methods are applied and discussed for operational data from a full-scale crushing plant.
Highlights
Accepted: 13 April 2021A crushing plant operation is a dynamic process as the performance varies over time.Monitoring and controlling such process performance are of importance for running the plant at a profitable state which needs decision-making support
The working principle of the power-based belt scale is based on equating the mechanical power required to lift the material to a certain height to the corresponding electrical power consumed by the conveyor
Day 1 data is used for calibration, where controlled data set for calibration was obtained, while Day 2 and Day 3 data is used for verification and deviation calculation
Summary
Accepted: 13 April 2021A crushing plant operation is a dynamic process as the performance varies over time.Monitoring and controlling such process performance are of importance for running the plant at a profitable state which needs decision-making support. A crushing plant operation is a dynamic process as the performance varies over time. Crushing and screening processes in an aggregates production require continuous supervision of operations for producing various aggregate products based on customer demands. This entails the development of technological solutions to provide a robust and reliable tool to the operators and plant managers which can facilitate useful and proactive decisions. The decision-making process is based on both plant operational data as well as the results from plant simulation. For such multi-layered implementation of optimization functionality, reliable underlying systems (measurement system, models, etc.)
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