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By K. G. Black

When one's attention moves from the control of a process unit or from the control of a department of similar units, to the control of an entire plant, two things must change. One is the techniques of control, and the other, the goal or purpose of control. The goal is no longer maintaining a certain quality of product or maintaining a particular flow rate through a process unit. The goal becomes economic - how to make the most money out of the plant. The principal control techniques become those of optimizing, rather than regulating. It is quite common to discuss the control of an entire plant in terms of three levels of control l; regulation, supervision, and optimization. Regulation is the control of inputs to a process unit at desired values. This is accomplished by two or three mode analog controllers or DDC loops. The second level of control is the selection of these desired values, e.g., set-points of the regulation controllers. The third level is to make such adjustments or corrections to the supervisory calculations so as to optimize the plant profit. It is immediately evident that supervisory control and optimizing control are intimately related, and a distinct dividing line cannot always be drawn between the two. Some authors prefer to add even more levels such as adaptive control and management information systems, but we believe our point is well made without further division of the functions which are necessary for complete plant control. To accomplish the economic goal, that is, the optimizing (maximizing) of the profit of a mineral processing plant, the plant should ideally be operated as if it were a separate company, buying its raw materials on the open market and selling its products on the open market. While petrochemical plants endeavor to operate in that manner, unfortunately this is not true of a mineral processing plant. The plant manager has to accept the amount and quality of ore the mining department delivers to him, and the products (concentrates) are delivered to another department of the company for further refining. In some cases he may sell

Jan 1, 1972

By J. S. Kirkaldy

A theoretical procedure is demonstrated for calculating two-dimensional binary cellular single-valued interfaces and extended to triple-valued (remelt) shapes. The numerical calculations for the single-valued local equilibrium problem which yield unique shapes as functions of the supersaturation parameter a and the partition coefficient k are reviewed. The cell amplitude L and wavelength A scale identically as the inverse velocity to the 112 power and the aspect ratio r is a constant equal to 312, independently of a and k for a < 0.5.. For 0.5 < a < m, L, A and r decrease asymptotically to zero indicating the finite amplitude nature of the instability at a = 1 and the existence of sub-marginal states which converge to a flat interface at a- m (Glv- m). Scaling comparisons between equilibrium single-valued and triple-valued and deep-rooted non- equilibrium cells are made.

Jan 1, 1992

By A. M. McKim

6, 7.3 meter diameter autogenous mills at Wabush Mines are undergoing conversion from a radial configuration of pulp discharger to a curved design. Improved discharging efficiency has effectively lowered the pulp level in the mill. The low level operation enhances the grinding efficiency netting a 12% power reduction. Significant reductions to rate of wear has been a spin off benefit. The design incorporates features for holding the assembly solidly in place thus eliminating bolt hole damage and leakers. Preliminary work in one 11 meter mill at Hibbing Taconite did not indicate that all the same advantages were available in their process.

Jan 1, 1982

By S. Amira

The corrosion behavior of high pressure die-cast and thixocast AXJ530 magnesium alloys has been investigated in 0.05M NaC1 solution at pH 6.0 using potentiodynamic polarization tests, electrochemical noise (EN) technique, electro-chemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning reference electrode technique (SRET). The behavior of die-cast and thixocast specimens were compared using each of these techniques and the results discussed. Further tests have been carried out with die-cast AZ91D alloy to better compare and interpret the results. Experiments indicate that the thixocast specimens of AXJ530 alloy have a better corrosion resistance than those of die cast alloy in neutral solution.

Jan 1, 2006

By Pesic. Batric

A novel chitosan-pyridoxal-epichlorohydrin was synthesized and evaluated in our laboratories. The evaluation was achieved by performing kinetic and equilibrium studies of copper sorption. The parameters examined were pH, temperature, concentration of copper, particle size and selectivity of copper sorption against iron, zinc, cadmium and cobalt. It was found that pH was the most important parameter, and sorption of copper increased with pH increase in the range pH 2.5-6.0. The low activation energy of the sorption reaction, 1 1.13 kJ/mole (2.66 Kcal/mole), showed that temperature was not an important parameter. The synthesized chitosan was selective against iron, zinc, cadmium and cobalt. The selectivity with respect to last three metals was achieved by the kinetic difference of sorption, as sorption of copper was much faster than for other metals. Iron (Fe2+) does not adsorb on chitosan. The mechanism governing the sorption of copper is intraparticle diffusion. This finding was supported by the dependance of copper sorption on the square root of time, the low activation energy, and the fit of experimental data in the diffusion through the product layer equation.

Jan 1, 1994

By Kazuya Nakabo

In this article, influences of restraint and MgO content on densification of alumina-magnesia castable during heating were experimentally studied. High thermal expansion-alumina-magnesia castable specimens were surrounded by low thermal expansion-alumina-silica castables, and heated in an electric furnace. Doing so allows restrained heating of alumina-magnesia castable. According to the results of simple calculations, the restraint stresses were estimated to be between 2 to 20 MPa, so the experimental conditions were considered reasonable. As a result of the experiments, it was verified that restraint densifies alumina-magnesia castable, resulting in an increase in modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity. The densification effect of restraint became larger as the MgO content increased. The effects are attributable to an in-situ spinel forming reaction, which improves corrosion resistance.Taking the temperature distribution in the castable lining into account, large restraint stress is expected for the hot face while only a little effect is expected for back end. Thus, excessive difference in material property in the thickness direction, which is undesirable in terms of structural spalling, is a concern.Hence, the MgO content of alumina-magnesia castable should be determined carefully, taking not only corrosion resistance but also spalling resistance into consideration.

Oct 30, 2017

By S. E. Phifer

The Haile Gold Mine was the largest gold producer east of the Mississippi River prior to 1942. It is currently the only producing gold mine in the Southeastern United States. Current development involves the mining and heap leaching of some 1000 TPD. Carbon is employed as a recovery medium. Due to its clayey nature and excessive fines in the oxide ore, agglomeration using Portland cement is required prior to leaching. The ore ranges in screen size from two inches to -200 mesh. The agglomerating step combined with certain other conditions has enabled Piedmont Mining Company to achieve recoveries of 90%.

Jan 1, 1987

By Tianming Sun, Gabriella Tranell, Ragnhild E. Aune, Mark William Kennedy

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are critical for the production of many advanced materials and products. Mining and primary production of REEs are generally associated with significant environmental impacts. By recovery of REEs from secondary sources, through recycling or as a byproduct, the adverse environmental impacts may be partly avoided. In the present study apatite concentrate originating from iron ore beneficiation done by LKAB in Kiruna, Sweden, is explored as a possible source for REEs. The composition and distribution of the REEs within the concentrates are studied using ICP-MS, XRD and SEM-EDS/EPMA, as well as the melting point and heat of fusion using DTA-TGA-MS. The behavior of the material during melting has also been studied through wetting and slag saturation experiments. The overall aim of the study is to evaluate the implications for future smelting experiments aimed at concentration and recovery of the REEs.

Jan 1, 2015

By M. Z. Naghadehi, F. F. Nasategay, J. Sattarvand, R. Battulwar, E. E. Gohari

After the recent increase in catastrophic failures of tailings dams such as the Burmadinho, Brazil failure in 2019, the mining industry has actively engaged in the stabilisation of tailings dams. Most of the tailings storage facility (TSF) guidelines suggest a laborious action that can be facilitated through imaging by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Although UAVs are not unknown to most mining operations, automated rill detection through aerial image processing is a new concept. This study utilises images from sites in the U.S. and employs semantic segmentation with a UNet architecture to detect location and size of these rills. The developed model can be used as a tool for monitoring surface erosion of TSFs.

Sep 1, 2021

By M. Jorgensen, I. Markland, D. Shuck

"The McLaughlin Mine owned by Homestake Mining Company is located 70 miles northeast of San Francisco in California's coastal range. The mine began operations in February of 1985. The mill currently processes 3,000 short-ton per day of sulfide ore that has an average grade of 0.15 ounces of gold per ton, plus another 3,000 tons per day in a newly completed oxide circuit. Annual production from the mine totals over 200,000 ounces.The sulfide ore extraction process involves three basic steps, grinding, oxidation of sulfide minerals in an autoclave, and cyanide leaching for recovery of gold in a carbon-in-pulp circuit. This process, which incorporates a new technology where oxidation of sulfide minerals is conducted prior to cyanide leaching to facilitate gold recovery, was successful from start-up. However, limitation in the grinding mills initially limited sulfide tonnage throughput.This paper discusses modifications made in the grinding circuit, both mechanical and operational, to resolve it deficiency. The SAG mill, in particular, was unable to achieve design tonnage initially and proved to be most troublesome. Complications occurred due to the hardness and variability of ore being processed, short component life, and a lifter /liner arrangement that had to be tailored to the particular circumstances at McLaughlin. IntroductionHomestake Mining Company's McLaughlin Mill, located in northern California, was designed to process a refractory gold ore at a rate of 3,000 tpd to render the ore amenable to cyanidation. Seven years transpired between discovery of the near-surface ore body in 1978 and the February, 1985 plant start-up. Development of the McLaughlin mill and open pit gold mine hinged on the use of autoclave technology to achieve design recoveries."

Jan 1, 1991

By D. F. Caicedo, I. A. Brum, L. A. Betancourt

Ferricyanide ()()*is one of the most stable cyanometallic complexes present in the gold mining effluents. This cyanocomplex is hard to degrade by natural attenuation and generates a negative impact on aquatic environments. Although free cyanide (CN-) can be obtained by acidifying the solution, the CN- is lethal for all forms of life. The oxidation of ()()* in a typical photocatalitic system was evaluated with the addition of H2O2. To verify the degradation, chemical parameters, such as free cyanide, the formation of ammonia, nitrate, and total iron were analysed at the end of the process. The degradations obtained were up to 70% in a heterogeneous photocatalysis system with TiO2, and a low rate of dissociation was observed by photolysis. The best result was achieved with the H2O2 and TiO2 photocatalytic system, and the stoichiometric concentration was about 2.5 times less than the peroxide used in the real gold mining industry, reaching 83% degradation. The photocatalytic process obtained less toxic byproducts than the original synthetic ferricyanide used as mining wastewater. Keywords: Cyanide, heterogeneous photocatalysis, titanium dioxide, UV radiation, gold wastewater

Jan 1, 2020

By H. S. Duzgun, N. Demirel

Estimating productivity of a walking dragline is of paramount concern to mining engineers and mine planners. Risk based evaluation of the dragline productivity is a valuable tool to estimate the dragline’s long-term availability, to develop preventive maintenance plans and to make future projections about the dragline’s performance. This paper aims to provide mining professionals with an overview of risk assessment methodology for productivity of two walking draglines, Page 736 and Marion 7820, which have been operating in the Tunçbilek openpit coal mine of Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKI) in Turkey. The study encompasses three main stages: (i) acquiring of monthly maintenance records, operating hours, mechanical and electrical failure hours between 1998 and 2009; (ii) reliability modeling using mean time between failure data and (iii) determining hazard rate and consequences to compute risk associated with dragline productivity. The results showed that that Page 736 (15.29 m3) seemed to be more reliable and less likely to fail when compared with Marion 7820 (30.58 m3). The operating hours without failure range from 41 to 51 hours with 50% reliability.

Jan 1, 2011

By Diler Katircioglu-Bayel

This study aims to investigate the effect of combined mechanical and ultrasonic milling on the size reduction of talc. Firstly, the talc sample was wet ground in a stirred media mill for five different times (30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 min), and the optimum result was subsequently achieved with treatment by ultrasonication. The effects of amplitude (20, 35, and 50 μm), solid content (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10%), and sonication time (60, 120, and 240 min) on the sizes of the final product were investigated. The pre-milling by wet grinding caused a decrease in the grinding resistance of talc. Sequential ultrasonic treatment, which was applied to the talc sample, generated smaller particles in comparison to those acquired by stirred media milling alone. Experimental results were assessed based on the product particle size (d10, d50), reduction ratio, and specific energy consumption. Submicron particles prepared by ultrasonic treatment were perfectly stable compared to stirred media milling alone as investigated in terms of particle size. In addition, the effects of mechanical and ultrasonic milling on structural properties of talc particles were characterized by XRD analysis.

By Rodrigo Galves De Lucca

As tendências do mercado são de utilizar tubos com maior resistência e tenacidade para a temperatura de projeto. Resultados obtidos em testes de laboratório para diferentes ordens de produção e graus, a partir de testes de tração de chapas e tubos, juntamente com a quantificação microestrutural, proporcionam uma oportunidade para melhor compreender e quantificar a influência de cada fase sobre o comportamento das propriedades mecânicas do material. A presença de maiores quantidades de ferrita acicular/ferrita poligonal, em vez de ferrita poligonal/perlita, geram um aumento das propriedades mecânicas durante a formação do tubo, bem como uma forma bem definida do comportamento de tensão-deformação, o que é benéfico em aplicações de strain based design.

Aug 8, 2018

By Raphael Henrique Morais Reis

Esse artigo apresenta o desenvolvimento de um protótipo computacional para aplicação em estudos de sistemas termodinâmicos metalúrgicos, através de um sistema web, agilizando consultas as propriedades de substâncias e compostos contidos em Carvalho (1977). O projeto teve início analisando três fatores, primeiro, a importância dos softwares termodinâmicos computacionais na otimização da produção industrial, segundo, a falta de um software termodinâmico com desenvolvimento nacional, e terceiro, a restrição ao acesso a software termodinâmicos proprietários, com licenças pagas. Seu desenvolvimento seguiu a estrutura apresentada por Neto (2012), constituindo, banco de dados, software e aplicações, respectivamente. O sistema web supriu as dificuldade de instalação e interação, podendo ser acessado por quaisquer dispositivos (computadores, tablets e smartphone) conectados a internet.

Oct 30, 2017

By Everaldo da Silva

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a fragilidade a quente de dois aços inoxidáveis duplex utilizando-se ensaios de torção. Ensaios de torção isotérmicos e em resfriamento contínuo, ambos com múltiplas deformações, foram realizados em corpos de prova de aços UNS S32304 e S31803. A caracterização microestrutural foi realizada por microscopia óptica e estudos sobre o equilíbrio de fases em temperaturas elevadas foram conduzidos utilizando simulação computacional. Nos ensaios em resfriamento contínuo, foi observada maior ductilidade no aço UNS 31803. Nos ensaios isotérmicos, foi constatada diminuição da ductilidade para os dois aços com a diminuição da temperatura do ensaio nos casos em que a fração volumétrica de austenita permaneceu constante.

Aug 16, 2017

By Lucas Beirão do Valle

Este artigo visa estudar polímeros como quitosana, amido entre outros com elevada disponibilidade como agentes aglomerantes no processo de pelotização de minério de ferro e discutir sobre o impacto da sua utilização. Os polímeros foram testados preliminarmente no teste de bancada (teste em pneu), para medir qualitativamente a tendência de aglomeração. Os polímeros com melhores resultados foram testados em escala piloto, que simula o processo industrial. Nos testes preliminares, o amido gelificado apresentou os melhores resultados de resistência física de pelotas verdes e secas. Entretanto, no teste piloto o amido não foi capaz de controlar a umidade superficial. Os outros polímeros não foram considerados promissores, principalmente devido ao controle da umidade superficial.

Aug 1, 2018

By Claudio L. Schneider

Um flogopitito originário de um garimpo de exploração de esmeralda, na Bahia, está sendo estudado para utilização como fonte de potássio em técnicas de rochagem. Para este fim, é necessário cominuir a rocha até um tamanho apropriado. Estudos de cinética de dessorção e casa de vegetação estão sendo realizados com a finalidade de determinar o tamanho ideal de partícula para aplicações práticas. O custo associado à cominuição da rocha é um fator determinante na viabilidade econômica do uso da rocha como insumo na agricultura. Sendo assim, um programa de caracterização completo foi realizado para determinar rotas de britagem e moagem econômicas para esta rocha. Os resultados são apresentados de forma aplicada, com exemplos de circuitos e demanda energética.

Aug 8, 2018

By João Francisco Batista Pereira

Nos últimos anos a indústria automotiva tem evoluído de forma significativa em relação à preservação ambiental (redução da emissão de CO2) e com respeito à segurança veicular. A Usiminas, alinhada com esse direcionamento, tem realizado diversos estudos visando obter novos produtos de alta resistência mecânica que possibilitem a redução do peso dos veículos e diminuição do consumo de combustível, além do aumento da segurança. O aço TRIP, desenvolvido e recentemente comercializado pela Usiminas, é um exemplo dessa nova geração de produtos avançados, que conciliam alta resistência mecânica e alta capacidade de conformação. O trabalho apresenta as características do aço TRIP desenvolvido pela Usiminas assim como os resultados de aplicação em peças automotivas da Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Aug 16, 2017

By Marcelo Ferreira Martins, Breno Totti Maia, Sandro Luís Zahner, Leandro Martins Perreira, Paulo Roberto Ogliari Hopperdizel, Geraldo Vieira da Silva

O reator EOF foi desenvolvido no Brasil nos anos 80 com características únicas. O pré-aquecedor de sucata e a distribuição dos pontos de injeção de gases oxidantes e combustíveis conferem estas características. Um reator dinâmico e versátil capaz de adequar-se a grandes variações de carregamento de gusa e sucata, porém com equipamentos de injeção calcados ainda nos princípios da concepção da tecnologia. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar a etapa 1 de uma seqüência planejada de 3 etapas os desenvolvimentos que visam o aumento de produtividade do EOF. Nessa etapa 1 são apresentadas os ganhos relativos a modificação do número de pontos de injeção de oxigênio e a adequação desses pontos para condição supersônica de sopro.

Oct 1, 2019