customers` needs performance

Transcription

Serving the minerals industries through mineral processing,
material handling & customer services
May 2014
Developing solutions for
customers' needs
Commissioning success
at Toromocho
Improving thickener
performance
2
Highlights – May 2014
HIGHLIGHTS
CONTENTS
Letter from the division presidents
www.flsmidth.com/ehighlights
gives you more details and
additional features
3
18
CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS
Improving thickener performance
14
at Toromocho
18
Controlling the final product
with sampling
22
Associate Editors:
Andrew Cuthbert
Matt Payne
Kenyon Sharp
Layout: Amelia Hawkes
© 2014 FLSmidth A/S. All rights reserved.
Reproduction permitted quoting
"FLSmidth Highlights Minerals" as source.
4
NEW ORDERS
Orders update
Managing Editor: Amelia Hawkes
4
All product names used herein are
trademarks of their respective owners.
Editorial office:
34
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SERVICE IN ACTION
Advancing service in South Africa
6
On-site service for screen media
8
FLSmidth to the rescue:
excellence in aftermarket support
10
INNOVATION
Developing solutions
for customers' needs
26
Dry sintering of nepheline — a new,
more energy efficient technology
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FLSmidth USA Inc.
7158 S. FLSmidth Dr.
Midvale, UT 84047, USA
Tel: +1 801 871 7000
Email: [email protected]
To download a digital pdf of highlights
minerals magazine, please visit
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12
INCREASING EFFICIENCY
6S efficiency initiative at FLSmidth's
Dawson Metallurgical Laboratory
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FEATURES
FLSmidth in coal
23
On the job
29
64 level Koepe winder
refurbishment
30
Packing & dispatching technology
for the minerals industries
32
Front cover: FLSmidth's new Rolling
Frame design shown on a Ludowici
screen for quick changeout. Read more
on page 26.
Focusing on our
customers
Peter Flanagan – president,
Mineral Processing Division
Carsten Lund – President,
Material Handling Division
Bjarne Moltke Hansen – President,
Customer Services Division
FLSmidth continues to prove our
commitment to our customers through our
understanding, and more importantly, our
strategic response to the cyclical nature of
mining and how it drives both challenges
and opportunity for our customers who
have turned their current focus to cost and
capital efficiency. While greenfield
investments have slowed down for most
mining companies, we are launching new
technologies and solutions to improve the
productivity and return on investment
through mid-size projects, service offerings
and plant modifications aimed at increasing
capacity and improving production
efficiency.
Becoming the customers' preferred
aftermarket partner is achieved by FLSmidth
through a unique combination of key
products, systems knowledge and service
solutions. Often, our customers do not just
request a product. Instead, they may ask:
“How can you help me improve my gold
recovery rate?” The answer lies in
combining systems and product
competencies. On page 14 you will read
about how FLSmidth saved a customer
money and increased their gold recovery
rates by retrofitting the customer's
thickener with a new feed system,
incorporating E-DUC® feed dilution
technology and our latest revolutionary
thickener innovation — the E-Volute™
feedwell, which in turn stabilized the
function of other equipment in the plant
to increase plant availability.
FLSmidth has the most complete flowsheet
in the business, adding significant value to
those customers who are increasingly
looking for one-source suppliers with
extended-scope capabilities. Our product
knowledge helps us to optimize each
solution we provide our customers, not just
for each part of the process, but by
Letter from the
division presidents
understanding how one process
improvement will continue to add
efficiency as it moves on to the next.
FLSmidth is continuously developing our
product portfolio to meet the changing
demands of the market. We are pleased to
see our speed-to-market increase through
collaborations within our R&D, sales and
engineering teams, who work closely with
our global customers to turn real-time
knowledge into the products that serve the
industry — today and tomorrow. This spirit
of innovation is shown in the creation of
the new rolling frame for screens,
which eliminates the need to stop the mill
to carry out basic screen maintenance and
is detailed on page 26.
Nothing is more important than safety at
FLSmidth, so much so that we added it to
the famous Toyota workplace organization
term "5S" (Sort, Store, Shine, Standardize
and Sustain), making it a 6S focus
(explained in detail on page 12) in our
Dawson Metallurgical Laboratories article.
You will see examples of "Service in Action"
throughout this publication, but in
particular beginning on page 10, with an
example of excellence in aftermarket
support when a customer's plant was hit
by lightning and FLSmidth worked through
the night to remotely fix the issue and bring
the customer's PLC unit back online to get
their secondary crusher running again.
We hope that you enjoy this edition of
Highlights Minerals, and as always, feel
free to contact us to see how we can help
you boost your plant performance and
design solutions to suit your specific
needs.
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4
NEW orders
Below are just a few of the recent orders received by FLSmidth.
Customer: Qatar Primary Materials Co.
Site: Gabbro Terminal in Mesaieed Port
Location: Doha, Qatar
Mineral: Gabbro and Ballast
signed contract: November 2013
Project Scope: Large high capacity
conveying system, a complete
integrated instrumentation and control
system, complete stockyard equipment
including six stackers and all electrical
equipment and an advanced stockyard
and truck management system
Customer: Magnetation, Inc.
Site: Plant 4
Location: Grand Rapids, MN, USA
Mineral: Iron Ore
signed contract: November 2013
Project Scope: Qty (1) 17’-0” x
32’-0” Fuller-Traylor™ ball mill & Qty (1)
15’-0” x 29’-0” Fuller-Traylor™ ball mill
Customer: Rainy River Resources Ltd.
Site: Rainy River Gold
Location: Ontario, Canada
Mineral: Gold
signed contract: March 2014
Project Scope: Qty (1) 36’-0” x
20’-0” Fuller-Traylor™ SAG mill and
Qty (1) 26’-0” x 40’-6” Fuller-Traylor™
ball mill
nEW
oRDERS
Customer: Doosan Heavy Industries
and Construction Co.
Site: Shin-Boryeong # 1, 2 FGD
Location: Korea
Mineral: Coal fired power station
signed contract: January 2014
Project Scope: Qty (2) FT Series Wet
Ball Mill with Krebs® cyclones in closed
circuit
Customer: Southern Company
Site: Plant Bowen owned by
Georgia Power
Location: Georgia, USA
Mineral: Coal fired power station
Project Scope: Qty (1) FT Series Wet
Ball Mill with Krebs® cyclones in closed
circuit
Customer: Samancor Chrome
Site: Doornbosch
Location: South Africa
Mineral: Chrome Ore
signed contract: December 2013
Project Scope: Qty (1) RC2020
Customer: Gold Fields Ltd.
Site: Abosso
Location: Ghana
Mineral: Gold
Project Scope: Qty (1) Single Deck
Horizontal Vibrating Screen
5
Customer: Glencore Xstrata
Site: Mopani Copper Mines
Location: Zambia
Mineral: Copper
signed contract: December 2013
Project Scope: Qty (1) 5m E-CAT®
and Qty (1) Shriver® filter press
Customer: Vallex
Site: Kashen
Location: Armenia
Mineral: Copper
Project Scope: Qty (7) WEMCO® 50
m3 flotation cells and smaller
Dorr-Oliver® cells
Customer: Qinghai Coal
Site: Qinghai Coal
Location: China
Mineral: Coal
Project Scope: Qty (12) WEMCO®
50 m3 flotation cells
Site: Antapaccay
Location: Peru
Mineral: Copper
Project Scope: Qty (2) Dorr-Oliver®
300 m3 flotation cells
Site: Bell Mine
Location: Canada
Mineral: Copper/Gold
signed contract: February 2014
Project Scope: Qty (1) 41 m
Clarifier with bolted tank and
erection
Customer: Magnetation, Inc.
Location: USA
Mineral: Iron
Project Scope: Qty (1) 150’, Qty (1)
90’, and Qty (2) 60’ Thickeners
Customer: Volcan
Site: Rumichaca
Location: Peru
Mineral: Polymetalic
Project Scope: Qty (1) 19 m Deep
Cone® paste thickener
nEW
oRDERS
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CONTACT Stephan Kruger
[email protected]
Advancing
service in South Africa
Being where our customers need us and ready to serve their needs are on
the top of FLSmidth's priority list. The new Supercenter in Delmas, South
Africa exemplifies this initiative by providing not only spare parts, but also
rebuild and repair services, manufacturing, trial assembly and factory
acceptance testing close to our customers' operations.
Continuing our drive to get closer to our customers, FLSmidth has
opened six large service centers (called Supercenters) in Santiago
and Antofagasta, Chile; Perth, Australia; Arequipa, Peru; Delmas,
Service in
action
South Africa; and Tucson, United States. The establishment of an
additional Supercenter is planned for the South Gobi Desert area
of Mongolia in the near future.
The Delmas, South Africa Supercenter
began operations in June 2013, and has
already established itself as a star player in
our vast service network. The
establishment of this state-of-the-art
facility in South Africa demonstrates the
intent and long-term vision of FLSmidth as
a partner of choice to its customers.
The South African team has filled its
workshop with a diverse range of projects.
Whilst a primary activity of Supercenters is
the rebuild and repair of FLSmidth
equipment, the value proposition of the
Delmas Supercenter also includes
manufacturing, trial assembly and factory
acceptance testing. The integrated sales
effort of the South African organization is
paying dividends for both FLSmidth and
our customers with the booking of nearly
100 customer services projects, 60 of
which are currently active. Examples of
projects successfully executed include
equipment used in liquid-solid separation,
crushing, milling, screening/feeding and
material handling, among other things.
FLSmidth places considerable emphasis on
safety. Best practice systems and processes
were implemented from day one at the
Delmas facility. The zero lost time injury
record to date, which includes the
construction project, demonstrates the
united responsibility towards health, safety
and environment. The next step in the
process is to attain OSHAS 18001 and ISO
14001:2004 certification. This falls in line
with the national and global strategy of
keeping safety a top priority.
Corporate social investment remains a
focus for FLSmidth in South Africa. Several
investment projects have being identified
and are currently being assessed for
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implementation in the local community.
The Delmas Supercenter has also actively
contributed to the community through a
directed employment strategy. FLSmidth
has made commitments to the local
government, where possible, to employ
local residents that have the required skills
and qualifications. To complement this
focus, we continuously search for
opportunities to train and enhance the skill
of the local workforce.
The establishment of the Delmas
Supercenter enhances FLSmidth’s ability to
offer the industry and its customers a One
Source solution.
The investment brings value to our
customers by:
• Limiting the number of parties involved,
thus reducing the total cost of projects
• Minimizing lead times
• Rebuilds, done in a facility which is ISO
9001:2008 accredited to OEM
engineering and quality specifications
Service in
action
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CONTACT David Sibley
[email protected]
On-site service for
screen media
FLSmidth began a screen media service contract
on December 1, 2013, with a full-time crew on
site to perform daily maintenance duties on all
screen media, as well as cyclone inspections at
the Khumani Iron Ore Mine in South Africa.
Service in
action
In 2012, FLSmidth acquired the
internationally recognised Meshcape brand
to offer screen media products, including
woven wire screens, wedge wire, wire
conveyor belts, perforated material and
polyurethane screens.
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During the past 14 years, FLSmidth’s screen
media team has been actively involved
with the Assmang Group regarding screen
media development and supplies for the
Khumani Iron Ore Mine (formerly known
as the Bruce, King and Mokaning (“BKM”)
Project, which is situated approximately 30
km south of the town of Kathu in the
Northern Cape Province of South Africa
and approximately 65 km north of the
Beeshoek Mine.)
Over this period, FLSmidth has added
value by introducing innovative screening
media and imparting knowledge to
improve throughput and up-time, and to
reduce cost per tonne.
Based on positive results after years of
extensive on-site testing in various
applications against competitors, Assmang
has standardized on the MESHCAPE™
range of screen media at Khumani,
Beeshoek and Black Rock (Manganese)
process plants, and FLSmidth has become
the largest supplier of all screen media for
these plants. In addition to this, the Bolted
Pin System (BPS), which is a modular panel
system with polyurethane screening
surface, has proven the most successful
and efficient fixing system for modular
screen media in the iron ore and
manganese industries.
In 2013, driven by Etienne Mulder,
Assmang Khumani – Superintendent
Production Process, envisaged an
opportunity to increase revenue and
reduce plant operational costs through
proper maintenance of screening media.
FLSmidth was invited to take part in the
tender process for a screen media and
cyclone maintenance service at the
beginning of September 2013, and on
September 23, 2013, the adjudication of
the service enquiry voted in favor of
FLSmidth.
ideal solution for screening media. FLSmidth
experts on hand in cooperation with on-site
operations help to maintain this standard of
excellence and carry it on into the future.
Service contracts like this are available not
only to the South African market but also
around all parts of the world.
The screen media service contract was
implemented by Peter Janse van Rensburg
and commenced on December 1, 2013,
with a full-time crew on site to perform
daily maintenance duties on all screen
media and to conduct cyclone inspections.
The implementation of FLSmidth’s
screen media service contract has
brought many improvements to the
plant operations, including:
The on-site crew consists of seven panel
installers who are supervised and
managed by Wynand van Wyk, who is
also responsible for monthly meetings
and daily feedback to relevant mine
personnel with regard to operations,
changes and suggestions to improve
process performance.
FLSmidth’s screen media solutions and
service have proven once again to be the
• Reduction in production delays
due to panel failures
• Reduction in call-outs
• Improved screening efficiencies,
resulting in an improvement in
overall plant efficiency and
reduced cost per tonne
• Day-to-day interface with mine
management and the team on
the plant proper
• Formal monthly meetings
involving reports on performance,
replacement of screen media and
reasons for replacements
• Optimal usage of screening
media whereby wear and
metallurgical parameters dictate
replacement and not distortion
and mechanical failure (e.g.
dishing of screen media)
• Continuous product development
• Ongoing solving of
existing problems
• Increased screen availability
Service in
action
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CONTACT Steve Cackett
[email protected]
FLSmidth to the rescue:
excellence in aftermarket support
Last December, a core group of FLSmidth employees responded to a
potentially detrimental failure at a mine site in Papua New Guinea. Their
actions exemplify FLSmidth’s devotion to customers — anytime, anywhere.
Global collaboration
Coordination of FLSmidth employees
located in Pinkenba, the Perth Supercenter,
Chennai, and Denmark resulted in a
speedy solution. Hidden Valley was
impacted only a few hours and significant
financial losses were mitigated. The critical
importance of coordinating global
solutions, remote access to mine sites and
aftermarket support packages, including
PlantLine agreements on every project, was
underscored in this situation.
Hidden Valley's Raptor® 900 cone
crusher that went down in a
lightning strike
The incident
An incident was reported to FLSmidth’s
800FLSmidth Global Customer Support
Center via the Supercenter in Perth, WA,
Australia, requesting help with a problem
at Hidden Valley, Papua New Guinea
(PNG). The control interface panel for the
local Raptor® 900 cone crusher had been
damaged by a lightning strike, and when
they put in the spare HMI the system
wouldn’t start. This led to a possible
downtime of more than one day.
Service in
action
Resolution
Despite a slow Internet connection at the
mine site, the 800FLSmidth team was
immediately able to begin troubleshooting
the problem to find a resolution. Through
a remote connection to the site, FLSmidth
employees were able to identify the issue.
Four hours after the incident was reported,
the issue was resolved. The technical issue
was solved in a collaborative effort
between several FLSmidth support centers,
which demonstrates the unique capabilities
of FLSmidth’s global expert support team
that is available 24/7.
Brent Hill, FLSmidth Customer Services
Regional Manager – PNG, who works in
the Pinkenba, Australia office, has
developed a close working relationship
with Hidden Valley. He and Murray Kent,
FLSmidth Customer Service Sales Manager
– South-East Asia, were in contact with
Hidden Valley throughout the whole
process, even with the nine-hour time
difference.
“Our relationship with Hidden Valley has
become a lot closer in the past 12 months
due to our large selection of capital and
consumable products that we have to
offer, from the very large to very small,"
Mr. Hill said. "Hidden Valley values us as a
partner in business. We are just not selling
them gear. It’s more than that. They are
asking us for process advice in flotation
recovery or wear products, and they are
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"just a word of appreciation for
the effort and time spent last
night to restore the new HMI and
to get the secondary crusher
running again."
Hidden Valley’s Stan Bierschenk, EGM –
Engineering & Asset Management, OLC & Crusher Manager
800FLSmidth Global customer support center
mentioning how good we are to fellow
general managers within the PNG mining
community.”
The best feedback comes directly from
Hidden Valley’s Stan Bierschenk, EGM
– Engineering & Asset Management, OLC
& Crusher Manager. “Gents, just a word of
appreciation for the effort and time spent
last night to restore the new HMI and to
get the secondary crusher running again.”
Intelligent Collaboration Environment Room PlantLine monitoring Facility
Conclusion
Hidden Valley is currently considering a
PlantLine™ agreement, which would
guarantee fast support in case of future
incidents requiring FLSmidth's assistance.
PlantLine is a new service program that
gives clients the option of letting FLSmidth
assume more responsibility for maintaining
automation systems and remotely
monitoring installed equipment solutions.
PlantLine Critical is an additional layer of
The Site
The Hidden Valley mine site is located in the remote highlands
(2,600 m ASL) of the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
The Morobe Mining Joint Venture is, as the name suggests, a
joint venture between Harmony Gold (SA) and Newcrest Mining
in Australia. Expected annual mine production is +250,000 oz of
gold and 4 M oz of silver. This open-pit mine, consisting of two
pits located 5 km apart, is expected to have a 14-year mine life
based on current reserves. Initial construction started in 2007,
with the first gold pour being achieved in June 2009. Mine ore is
delivered to the crusher stations via haul truck and then carried to
support that includes live support by
calling the 800FLSmidth team. PlantLine
Critical is the first line of defense against
costly system downtime via a combination
of remote and on-site services. The
unexpected equipment failure at Hidden
Valley is exactly why FLSmidth offers
aftermarket support like PlantLine
agreements.
a processing plant or stockpile area via conventional trough or
pipe conveyors.
FLSmidth supplied an impressive list of equipment to the Hidden
Valley Mine: six (6) WEMCO® 225 flotation cells, one (1) Raptor
900 cone crusher, one (1) 4.5 km overland pipe conveyor and
two (2) LUDOWICI® VE screens (SAG and carbon recovery).
Several pieces of equipment use FLSmidth PLC (programmable
logic controller) and HMI (human machine interface) equipment.
Service in
action
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CONTACT Kallen Konen
[email protected]
6S efficiency initiative
at FLSmidth's Dawson Metallurgical Laboratory
5S, developed in Japan and made famous
by Toyota, is a workplace organization
program designed to better enhance
efficiency and effectiveness by employing
the principals of Sort, Store, Shine,
Standardize and Sustain.
FLSmidth's Minerals Testing Center began
implementing lean programs, such as 5S,
to maximize customer value in 2011
throughout the Solid Liquid Separations
Laboratory, while the Ore Characterization
and Process Mineralogy Laboratory was
already built on a similar foundation.
FLSmidth’s Dawson Metallurgical
Laboratories (DML) began following the
basic 5S principles in August 2013 and has
expanded with a sixth S, for Safety, to
better suit the laboratory environment and
corporate goals. The ultimate objective is
for the 6S program to foster high
productivity from all the lab's employees in
regard to project preparation and
execution, as well as clean-up tasks. This is
to be accomplished by identifying,
standardizing and maintaining all tools,
instruments and equipment within the
facility. The 6S program will subsequently
minimize the potential for contamination
and enhance safe practices in the
workplace.
Lab employees have spent over 1,000
hours dedicated to 6S activities to reach a
goal of sustainability in making these
practices into enduring changes. As of this
date, the 6S program is not fully
sustainable within DML; however, all
Increasing
Efficiency
DML Wet Lab Before 6S
DML Wet Lab After 6S
efforts are pushing to reach that vital stage and encourage a 6S
culture to grow within the department. Maintenance schedules,
training events and regular audits currently occur as building
blocks to reach the fifth S. Once sustainable, management
estimates that 15 minutes of 6S activity per employee per day will
be needed to maintain and progress the labs under the 6S
ideologies.
Based on the current figures, 6S efficiency improvements can save
an average of 30 minutes per day per employee, thus allowing the
labs an additional 210 hours per month to devote to customer
needs. Improvements and efficiencies to date have included:
• Elimination of lab tour clean-up events (previously costing a
maximum of US$21,000 per event)
• Improvement of flotation testing preparation work flow
(reducing from 1 hour to about 20 minutes per day)
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• Improvement of safety and work flow in various areas, such as
the batch mill grinding bay
Employee and managerial support have been critical during the
initial implementation of 6S in the Dawson Metallurgical
Laboratories. This needed support has also been the greatest
challenge because the historic laboratory culture can be resistant
to change. The 6S system is designed to always progress as new
habits and continuous improvement efforts are applied. As with
any lean program, the success depends on the cooperation of
each individual within the lab. Without total synergy, the project
would be a failure. Our employees will soon adhere to 6S
principals naturally as part of every task, every day to create a
successful and sustainable efficiency program.
Lab employees discussing 6S actions in the Grinding Bay during the first 6S event in late August 2013
Comminution Lab Before 6S
Comminution Lab After 6S
Increasing
Efficiency
14
CONTACT David Williams
[email protected]
Improving thickener
performance
Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd Ravenswood
Operation, in Queensland, Australia,
continually strives to increase their overall gold
production by improving mining and
processing efficiencies. FLSmidth was
approached by Carpentaria Gold to conduct a
review performance of their 22 mØ tailings
thickener with a focus on optimization and
modernization options to improve gold, water
and cyanide recovery. FLSmidth designed a new
feed system incorporating E-DUC® feed dilution
thickener innovation — the E-Volute™ feedwell.
cUSTOMIZED
sOLUTIONS
The customer
Carpentaria Gold Pty Ltd Ravenswood
Operation is located approximately 95 km
southwest of Townsville in northeast
Queensland. The processing plant
processes 1.5 million tons per annum of
high-grade underground ore using singlestage crushing, SAG (semi-autogenous
grinding) and ball milling, and carbon-inleach processing with a gravity circuit for
recovery of free gold. In 2013, the
Ravenswood Operation produced 141,846
ounces of gold. Ongoing improvement
initiatives have been successful in
increasing overall plant recovery — in 2013
gold recovery was 94.9%. This highly
optimized plant continues to emphasize
continuous improvement. Despite the
already excellent recovery rates, the plant
still sought to further increase gold
recovery and target operational
improvement projects aimed at reducing
cyanide consumption and minimizing raw
water requirements.
Improvement opportunities
Gravity gold recovery
Gravity gold is recovered with a Knelson®
concentrator early in the process, which
accounts for approximately 60% of the
overall gold recovery at Carpentaria Gold.
Slurry is pumped into the Knelson
concentrator cone. The concentrator cone
contains a series of concentric rings that
collect the gold as it spins at a high speed
to create centrifugal force. Water is
pumped into the rings through capillaries
(narrow hollow tubes) to fluidize the bed,
which optimizes the separation of
particulate gold from the slurry.
Clean process water is essential to
maximizing gravity gold recovery from the
Knelson concentrator. If there are solids
present in the process water, the capillaries
become blocked, which increases the
water pressure and reduces gold recovery.
The concentrator then needs to be shut
down frequently and taken offline for time
consuming and costly maintenance to
unblock the capillaries, which impacts gold
recovery and raises maintenance costs.
Raw water usage and cyanide recovery
Operation of slurry thickeners is generally a
compromise between clean overflow
water and underflow density. Either the
22 m tailings thickener will achieve a high
underflow density, which enables
maximum water and cyanide recovery, or it
operates to improve overflow water clarity
and enables a positive impact on gravity
gold recovery.
The second option is achieved primarily
through reducing mud bed levels and
increasing flocculant dose. However, the
consequence of this approach is inevitably
lower underflow density, reduced water
recovery and therefore increased raw
water usage, lower cyanide recovery and
excessive flocculant usage.
Alternate solutions considered
New thickener
A new thickener with higher side wall
height and a longer mud residence time
would enable cleaner overflow water with
higher underflow density. This would
enable improved gravity gold recovery
and maximum water and cyanide
recovery. This option would involve a
significant capital expense.
15
Upgrade the existing thickener
The lowest cost option would be to
upgrade the feed system of the tailings
thickener to enable high underflow density
(aiding water and cyanide recovery) and
the production of clean overflow water for
optimum gravity gold recovery.
Final solution
The original feed system on the tailings
thickener installed in 2000 was based on a
higher feed rate using the technology of
the day. The feed system was corroded
and in need of replacement. After years of
being fed leach tailings, it had reached the
end of its serviceable life. This presented
an excellent opportunity for Carpentaria
Gold to investigate modern alternatives.
FLSmidth designed a new feed system
incorporating E-DUC® feed dilution
thickener innovation — the E-Volute™
feedwell.
E-Volute™ feedwell technology
The E-Volute™ feedwell is the result of
years of laboratory, CFD (computational
fluid dynamics) and pilot scale
development work. It is designed to
maximize the critical parameters of “best
practice” feedwell performance, and
incorporates all the benefits of both
closed and open bottom feedwells, >>
Feedwell design prior to upgrade
Process water filtration plant
This option would enable the thickener to
achieve maximum underflow density,
water and cyanide recovery, and remove
the solids from the dirty overflow in a
filtration plant. Again, this option would
involve a significant capital expense.
Installed E-Volute™ feedwell Upgrade design
cUSTOMIZED
sOLUTIONS
16
maintaining all the positive attributes of
both designs without the drawbacks.
These include:
Larger aggregate growth
with less flocculant
E-DUC feed dilution and flocculation prior
to the feedwell allows for excellent mixing
conditions for contact of flocculant. This,
followed by the low turbulence and
further flocculation in the E-Volute
feedwell, provides the optimal
environment for flocculation and
aggregate growth, minimizing flocculant
and increasing settling rates.
Maximizing aggregate size with minimal
flocculant allows for improved
compaction in the mud bed, improved
rheology and increased underflow density.
A full-width entry E-Volute shelf increases
residence time and reduces short circuiting.
The unique full-shelf width entry of the
E-Volute feedwell allows for maximum
residence time within the feedwell,
increasing mixing and aggregate growth
as well as reducing unagglomerated fines
and unabsorbed flocculant.
The involute shape of the E-Volute
feedwell promotes even distribution of
agglomerated solids into the thickener.
This minimizes the risk of point loading
the raking mechanism and maximizes the
cUSTOMIZED
sOLUTIONS
CFD image showing fluid vectors exiting the E-Volute™ feedwell
settling capacity of the thickener, all while
reducing internal dilution within the
feedwell, which negates any benefits of
closed-bottom feedwells.
that can occur in closed bottom
feedwells. The reduced shear-induced
breakage increases settling rates,
improves clarity and maximizes density.
Low shear exit improves
settling rate and clarity
The open exit of the E-Volute feedwell
provides a large surface area for
aggregate throughput. This large surface
area reduces velocities and turbulence as
the slurry exits the feedwell, reducing
shear and minimizing aggregate breakage
Installation
FLSmidth and Carpentaria Gold
collaborated at the start of the project to
establish measurable performance criteria
to determine qualitative and quantitative
benefits of the upgrade.
17
The criteria included:
• Overflow water clarity
• Knelson concentrator feed water
pressure
• Knelson concentrator scheduled
maintenance intervals
• Flocculant consumption
• Underflow density
• Cyanide recovery
• Raw water usage
• Scale inhibitor usage
Baseline qualitative and quantitative
performance was measured for a period of
time prior to the feedwell upgrade.
Naturally, the performance was remeasured after the installation period.
The E-Volute feedwell upgrade was
designed specifically for retrofitting onto
the existing structure. FLSmidth engineers
designed the new feedwell for easy
installation, utilizing a segmented shell and
clamps for attachment and leaving minimal
work to be done on site. This allowed for
the installation to occur without having to
lift the bridge and mechanism. The
removal of the old feedwell and installation
of the E-Volute™ feedwell took only two
shifts to complete on site.
Results
The upgrade to the E-Volute feedwell on
the 22 mØ tailings thickener at
Carpentaria Gold completed in October
2013 brought about immediate
improvements in thickener operation.
Process data from the site PI and laboratory
data from grab samples have shown:
• The Knelson concentrator process
water feed pressure stabilized,
indicative of negligible capillary fouling
— the result was the security of fullplant availability ensuring gravity
recovery of gold as well as a reduction
in maintenance costs
• Visibly significantly improved thickener
overflow clarity
• Significantly improved solids settling rate,
leading to a 40% reduction in flocculant
• Reduced pumping costs for tailings
dam water reclamation
• Improved settling coupled with the
reduction in overflow solids allowed for
increased mud bed growth and
underflow density
• Reduced raw water intake
• Increased recovery of cyanide that
would have been lost to tailings
• Lower solids in the process water
allowed for a ~35% reduction in scale
inhibitor chemical
David Williams, FLSmidth General Manager
Customer Service – Australia & Southeast
Asia, commented that this successful
upgrade was only accomplished through
the skill and expertise of the local FLSmidth
customer service team, which included
Clint Faulks, Dane Smith and Richard
Jenner with Global Product Manager, Fred
Schoenbrunn, to name a few.
(Top) Carpentaria Gold tailings thickener
before feedwell upgrade
(Bottom) Carpentaria Gold tailings
thickener after feedwell upgrade
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18
at Toromocho
Through a multi-year process, FLSmidth has
now successfully delivered numerous pieces of
equipment to the Toromocho Mine located in
the peaks of the Andes Mountains. Among the
engineering feats accomplished are some of
the largest mills in the world, as well as a
seemingly impossible overland conveyor
system.
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CONTACT Brad Tensen
[email protected]
19
It has been a several-year process, but commissioning of the
Toromocho Copper Mine in Peru is now considered complete. The
commissioning is being deemed a success for the FLSmidth
supplied equipment. This is a great accomplishment for several
different divisions because FLSmidth provided numerous pieces of
equipment at Toromocho. This equipment includes four in-plant
conveyors, a three-conveyor overland circuit, two belt feeders,
two steel ball handling conveyors, two ball mills, one SAG mill,
one primary crusher and two pebble crushers, as well as
Pneumapress® filters in the hydromet area of the process plant.
The Toromocho mine is located in the peaks of the Andes
Mountains about 140 km from the capital city of Lima. The
elevation of the process plant is approximately 4,550 meters
above sea level, and the highest point of the overland conveyor
is just slightly less than 5,000 meters. This extreme elevation,
severe terrain and adverse weather made engineering and
construction a difficult task.
Largest mills in the world
The mills are the largest ever engineered and constructed in the
world. The SAG mill is a 40-foot-diameter mill with a
28-Megawatt ABB wraparound motor that is designed for 5,250
MTPH of throughput. While there are other 40-foot SAG mills
currently installed around the world, the motor power and
throughput on the Toromocho SAG mill are the largest in the
world. The two ball mills are 28 feet in diameter each with
Fully assembled mill shell being lifted onto cradle
22-Megawatt ABB wraparound motors. They are each designed
for 1,575 MTPH of throughput. The shell diameter, motor power
and throughput of these ball mills are all the largest in the world.
Severe rain and lightning storms, which occur nearly every day
on site, as well as periodic snow and ice storms, caused
numerous delays throughout the construction of the mine. To
help make up time in the schedule, it was decided to assemble
the 470-metric tonne ball mill shells on the ground and then lift
them into their cradles on the foundations. According to
FLSmidth Field Service Engineer Troy Matter, who was on site
during the construction of the mills, this is thought to be the
first time an entire mill shell of this size has ever been hoisted
into place as one piece. >>
28-foot diameter ball mills each with 22-Megawatt ABB wrap around motors
cUSTOMIZED
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20
View of the overland conveyor from the head
area looking toward the tail
Nearly impossible overland conveyor
The overland conveyor is thought to be one of the most complex
conveyors ever created. The goal of the overland conveyor was to
create a single flight conveyor to take 10,000 tons per hour of
copper ore from the primary crusher area to the stockpile at the
process plant, a distance of about 5.2 kilometers. This sounds
fairly routine for an overland conveyor, but when this is coupled
with difficult terrain of the area and the elevation, it became a
very challenging task. The loading point of the conveyor is located
at 4,700 meters above sea level. From there the conveyor climbs
250 meters very quickly to 4,950 meters at the peak and then
drops 333 meters back to 4,617 meters at the head of the
conveyor. In addition to the severe uphill and downhill portions of
the conveyor, the terrain demanded several vertical and horizontal
curves. Seven vertical curves, three horizontal curves and two
compound curves were needed to transport the copper ore from
the crusher area to the stockpile.
There are several benefits to engineering with a single flight
versus multiple flights, including significantly less transfer area
maintenance as fewer transfers are needed, and significantly less
drive maintenance as fewer drives and drive stations are needed.
While designing a single flight conveyor had several benefits, it
also presented its fair share of challenges. One of the largest
problems was developing a control system that could handle the
large swing of power from full demanded to full regenerative.
cUSTOMIZED
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When loading the conveyor up the first hill, 9 MW of power are
demanded. When unloading the conveyor, as low as 4 MW of
regenerative power are required to keep the belt from running
down the hill. In addition to the large power swings, another
design hurdle was controlling belt tension for the multiple curves
to prevent material spillage, as well as damage to idlers and the
belt. This was solved by placing the drive station near the highest
point of the conveyor and using a tripper booster drive. The drive
system can pull the material up the first hill while holding back
the load as it drops down the other side of the mountain. Also,
an active take-up winch near the head was installed with a load
cell and its own independent control system. The location of the
take-up allowed for active tension control at the lowest tension
point of the system. The choice of a winch for the take-up
mechanism was determined through dynamic analysis. The winch
allows the take-up pulley to be locked during an uncontrolled
stop (emergency or power failure) creating a dampening effect for
the belt tension wave associated with the uncontrolled stop.
Two other design issues that needed to be addressed were the
potential for bearing skidding in the reducers and belt installation.
First, many reducer companies become concerned with bearing
skidding when the expected running power of the conveyor will
be 25% or less of installed power. When fully loaded, the overland
conveyor is expected to run at approximately 7% of its installed
power. Most traditional reducer manufacturers wanted to stay
away from this conveyor for that reason. FLSmidth was able to
21
count on Dodge and their controlled start
transmission (CST) product line to solve
this problem. The CST incorporates a
planetary gearbox with a clutch and input
shaft brake which can completely eliminate
the bearing skidding issue. With drives that
can be disengaged and the motor rotation
stopped, it allows the mine site to run the
conveyor with less than the four installed
drives when the conveyor is operating at a
full steady state tonnage.
Second, the belt installation required
careful consideration. It was decided that
the belt installation would start at one of
the highest points on the conveyor and
gravity would be used to feed the belt
onto the conveyor. Special belt clamping
stations were designed along the length of
the conveyor to help this process.
View of the process plant from the head of the overland conveyor
A special note of thanks is given to the
construction team that installed and
aligned the overland conveyor. From the
first run of the conveyor, the belt aligned
well throughout all the curves. This would
not have been possible without a properly
and accurately installed system.
The Toromocho Mine was a great project
for the FLSmidth team. All indications
point to success for the company.
Designing a conveyor such as the
Toromocho overland, as well as installing
the three largest mills in the world with
rave reviews from Jacobs Engineering, the
engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) management team,
shows that the FLSmidth team is capable
of handling just about any mineral
processing or material handling need.
head of the Overland Conveyor
cUSTOMIZED
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22
Controlling the
final product
CONTACT Vicente Esparza González
[email protected]
with sampling
Using EMPV (effective management
process variability) statistic software, the
data from the chemical analyses and
physical determinations of the samples
were processed. The calculations showed
that the average copper percentages of
the final product was between 28.4%
and 28.2%.
The ability to control and track ore grades
is crucial to the client for product
traceability and international sales
departures. By using this new dual
sampling system, FLSmidth was able to
more accurately calculate the metallurgic
balance of the final product for the Andina
Division, both on site and at the port.
The Andina Division is the second most
important copper producer for the
Codelco Chile corporation. One of the
main challenges for the plant is to
effectively control the final copper product
from the concentrates collected in the
plant’s filter and warehouse.
To overcome the challenges of conveyor
speed, space conditions, final product
transport and reduced distances, FLSmidth
worked in conjunction with the Andina
Division to design a revolutionary dual
sampling system (DSS) .
The project was centered on replacing the
current materials transport system with an
automated system that would allow the
plant to quantify the weight and grade of
the concentrate before being dispatched
to the port of Ventanas. Copper is the
primary product of the Andina Division.
The highest margin of error for calculations
cUSTOMIZED
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with the new system was 1% for 9-ton
maximum weight containers with less than
50-second fill times. Weighing tables were
linked to the equipment’s control center to
ensure that the maximum weight of each
container was not exceeded.
A weight meter was installed for each
conveyor belt based upon its load
capacities. The dual sampling system was
then attached, enabling a single system to
operate the sampling automatically when
one of the two conveyor belts was running.
In the test phases of the new system,
samples were taken by the dual cutter
approximately every 60 seconds. That
meant that for every 720 metric tonnes
the equipment would take eight samples
according to the 930 MT/h flow. With
eight samples per lot, the margin of error
was reduced to 0.18%
Primary cutter
23
CONTACT David Woodruff
[email protected]
FLSmidth in
coal
Stacker/Reclaimer for stockyard
storage and homogenization
As developing
countries continue to
grow, coal remains the
largest mineral
industry in the world.
FLSmidth offers the
whole flowsheet of
equipment and
solutions to handle
and process coal
operations.
The coal industry
Coal is the largest mineral sector of the
global mining industry in terms of the
amount of rock mined and processed, and
subsequent product value. Indeed, the
volume of coal and rock processed in the
coal industry amounts to more than the
rest of the world’s mining industry
combined. At present, over 40% of the
world’s electrical power and over 25% of
its primary energy is derived from coal. In
the developing world, over 80% of power
is generated from coal. Despite the
continued environmental concern over the
use of coal as a fuel for power generation,
the overwhelming majority of the world’s
population is still dependant to some
degree upon coal as an energy source.
At present, the substitution of renewable
energy sources (like natural gas and
nuclear power) for coal in Western cultures
is far outweighed by the increased use of
coal in developing nations like China and
India. The demand for coal is built in these
nations by the increasing need to generate
vast amounts of electrical power for
industrialization and growth of the middle
classes, which consume larger amounts of
electricity. Burning coal is still the cheapest
way to generate electricity. Consequently,
coal output is predicted to rise to roughly
10 billion tonnes per annum by 2020 from
the current level of around 8 billion tonnes
per annum in 2013.
Despite the media reports of the decline of
the coal industry, particularly in western
Europe and the USA, it will remain one of
the world’s largest primary mineral
industries for many years to come. Experts
are continually striving to capture CO2 from
coal combustion, and if successful, coal will
continue to hold its position as the
dominant global energy source for the
world’s needs for the next 100 years.
FLSmidth’s coal flowsheet
FLSmidth has a unique offering within the
coal industry as the only supplier with a
complete portfolio of the equipment
needed in the coal flowsheet. Our
equipment moves coal from the mining
process—whether underground or on the
surface—transports it over long distances;
crushes, homogenizes and processes it to
remove impurities; and then blends and
dispatches it to road, rail or sea for
transport. In addition, we provide the
equipment that can then unload those
trucks, trains and ships.
Since the recent acquisitions of Ludowici
and Decanter Machine, coal has become
the third most important market for
FLSmidth, after cement and copper. >>
fEATURES
24
Servicing the coal industry makes up
approximately 20% of our total business at
present, and this percentage is rising.
Ludowici Screen
The product offerings for coal are shared
by our Material Handling (MH) and Mineral
Processing (MP) divisions. Within MH, our
products start in the mine at the coal face.
In underground mines, our Buffalo™ range
of feeder breakers collect the coal, which
has been cut by mining machines, and
reduce it in size to allow for it to be
transported by conveyor to the base of the
shaft. Here the coal is elevated to the
surface using a vertical conveyance system
that is driven by a winding engine
mounted on a large head-frame at the
surface. The skips that carry the coal and
rocks to the surface, and the cages that
transport workers to and from the mine,
are designed and manufactured by both
our Canadian and South African offices.
South Africa also designs and supplies the
high-powered winding engines that lift the
skips and cages.
VEcor® Mine Hoist
Many of the large, new coal mines are
open pit mines on the surface rather than
underground. Unlike underground mines,
this type of mine involves removing many
millions of tonnes of barren rock (called
overburden) before the coal seams can be
accessed. This means that vast tonnages of
fEATURES
In-Pit Crushing and
Conveying System
rock and coal need to be moved, crushed,
stored and often conveyed over long
distances in the process.
Conservatively, at least 5 tonnes of waste
rock/overburden are removed for every
tonne of usable coal that is produced.
Hence, the sum of total coal and rock
removed in 2013 is around 48 billion
tonnes. To put this in perspective, at a bulk
density of around 1,200 kg/m3, the volume
of the total tonnes removed (40 billion m3)
is the equivalent of the land mass of the
country of Denmark (around 40 billion m2),
to a depth of approximately 1 m, each year.
In modern opencast mines, in-pit crushing
and conveying (IPCC) systems are
increasingly being used to move the rock
and coal instead of the traditional truck and
shovel methods. FLSmidth is a leading
supplier of coal mine IPCC systems, which
comprise products such as apron feeders,
FLSmidth ABON® mineral sizers, long
overland conveyors, mobile conveyors,
mobile stackers and Buffalo™ feeder
breakers. We recently completed a 12,000
TPH system for a large Indonesian customer
in Kalimantan using this equipment.
Once the overburden is removed, the coal
can be accessed and is transported by
conveyor from the mine to the processing
facilities. Sometimes the processing out-
loading systems for the coal are located
many kilometers from the mine. FLSmidth’s
specialized overland conveying systems are
able to follow the topography of the area
with curves and bends to transport the
coal efficiently over the long distances.
Overland Conveyor
Prior to processing, the coal is stored and
homogenized using stacking and
reclaiming machines designed by
FLSmidth’s office in Wadgassen, Germany.
Before the coal can be used, inherent
impurities and barren rock that have been
mined with the product are removed in a
coal preparation plant. FLSmidth's Mineral
Processing division has all the products
required to size and process the coal to
remove impurities and barren rock.
The separation process generally utilizes
the differences in specific gravity of the
carbon minerals and waste, or differing
properties of the minerals’ surface
chemistry to separate the raw coal into
clean coal and waste material.
to design complete plants around this
step of coal preparation.
Dense media separation plant
Ludowici® centrifuges
Almost all coal separation processes use
water and consequently require a great
deal of dewatering equipment as well.
The combined technologies of Ludowici,
Krebs, Dorr-Oliver, EIMCO and Decanter
Machine cover the complete coal
preparation process from screening,
classification, flotation, centrifuging and
thickening through filtration dewatering.
Due to the breadth of FLSmidth's product
offerings in coal processing, we are able
FLSmidth offers a unique solution to the
dewatering and disposal of fine tailings as
a conveyable and stackable solid, rather
than the traditional method of a liquid
slurry into a tailings dam, and we are
further able to contribute to reduce the
environmental impact of mining. In
addition to the environmental gains, the
solution can also avoid expensive (and
sometimes damaging) sourcing and
pumping of water great distances, in
order to maintain production. FLSmidth is
the only company with both in-house
dewatering and material handling
technology capable of offering a
complete solution.
25
FLSmidth continues to move forward and
progress in bringing automation expertise
to the coal industry, particularly in the areas
of stockpile management and sampling.
In addition to this impressive product
portfolio from our MH and MP divisions,
we are active in supporting the coal
industry with customer services and parts.
FLSmidth customers receive more than just
reliable and high-quality capital equipment.
Customers can feel confident that their
investment in FLSmidth equipment is
backed by world-class aftermarket support
that is customized to each customer’s level
of need and expectation. Our global
network of support personnel, coupled
with our local customer service teams gives
assurance that when you need us, we will
be there with the right expertise, the right
tools and the right spare parts to keep
your equipment running smoothly and
properly. FLSmidth also offers operation
and maintenance (O&M) contracts in the
coal industry to support and maintain the
excellence of our customers’ operations.
fEATURES
26
CONTACT Cristobal Brant
[email protected]
Developing solutions for
customers' needs
FLSmidth Rolling Frame showing movement
of screen on track for change-out
In response to the needs of our customers,
FLSmidth has developed a hydraulic rolling
frame assembly to reduce screen change-out
time in typical roll-in/roll-out screen installations.
This design allows a complete screen changeout to be carried out in less than 60 minutes.
Innovation
When screens are used in SAG mill
applications, the quick change-out process
of the FLSmidth rolling frame eliminates
the need to stop the mill to carry out basic
screen maintenance. Considering that the
down-time cost for a SAG mill is usually
more than US$140,000/hour and that a
typical screen replacement could take up
to 24 hours, the use of the hydraulic
screen rolling frame represents a significant
cost saving and provides an increase in
plant availability.
27
“Having witnessed how complex and laborintensive it can be to replace a whole screen
on site, the Hydraulic Screen Rolling Frame
revolutionizes this process by eliminating
the need for large, expensive cranes, long
shutdowns and large crews to do a screen
replacement. An entire change-out can be
safely completed in less than an hour with
a single-man operation.”
Cristobal Brant, FLSmidth Product Specialist – Screens.
“SAG mill circuits are very capital cost
intensive, and production/uptime is key to
achieving a reasonable payback period on
investment," said Eddie McKerr, FLSmdith
Global Product Director – Screens. "A
number of our clients have challenged us
to find a solution to lengthy shutdown
periods and loss of production, which can
run into hundreds of thousands of dollars
per hour. Streamlining the screen changeout process as we have done here adds
significant value to the client in real
money terms.
the solutions to our customers’ needs
through investment in product
development.
“The design was challenging, and a
number of innovations have been
incorporated in the final solution to ensure
the customer is provided with a complete
turnkey system," said Tony Elliott,
Engineering Manager – FLSmidth Australia.
"The design focuses on being safe and
easy to operate compared to more
traditional methods. Features like the
remote control pendant, fail-safe controls
and incorporated maintenance platforms
will make the hydraulic rolling frame a
desirable product for sites looking for safe
sustainable solutions that will greatly
improve plant efficiency through the
reduction in plant down time.”
The design
Each rolling frame contains its own
programmable logic controller (PLC) and
hydraulic unit that allows the screen and
frame assembly to disconnect from the
supporting pedestals, lift up and drive out
of the operating position along a twin >>
"This is a perfect example of how our
team has delivered a genuine solution by
listening to our customers.”
Development
The rolling frame was entirely designed
and engineered in FLSmidth’s global
screens technology center in Australia. The
project was founded by FLSmidth’s R&D
program and used advanced finite element
analysis and modeling tools to provide a
robust and reliable design. Extensive inhouse testing ensured that a successful
solution was provided for the customer.
The main principles in designing the rolling
frame were to increase safety of the
change-out operation, minimize downtime
and create a “one-man operator” solution.
The end design is an example of FLSmidth’s
continued focus on innovation and finding
Driving mechanism and locking pedestal installed directly on the twin parallel rail
Innovation
28
Wireless remote that controls the
change-out process from a safe distance
parallel rail arrangement into a
maintenance area prepared for servicing
the screen. The standby screen is then
driven into the operation position, and the
plant can continue with normal production.
This entire change-out process is controlled
by a user-friendly wireless remote control.
The operation can be done at a safe
distance from the moving equipment and
without direct human interaction.
Each pedestal is equipped with an
automated locking mechanism to ensure
the frame is secured to the supporting
structure. This is particularly beneficial in
installations subject to seismic reactions.
Both the drive arrangement and spray bar
assembly are mounted directly to the
rolling frame. Two flexible hoses with
Camlock couplings provide the water
supply for the spray bars, and the simple
disconnection of these is the only direct
interaction required with the machine to
complete the change-out process. No
tools, mechanical works or cable
disconnections are necessary. The screen
is ready to drive out at all times.
Interlocks and sequential logic
programmed into the PLC allow safe
Innovation
Rolling frame installed on pedestals
operation of the rolling frame. A collision
detection device ensures the screens
cannot run into each other, and
additional positioning sensors ensure the
machine is at the correct location for
maintenance or operation.
For added safety, lights and audible
signals are used to indicate normal
operation and malfunction alarms.
“Having witnessed how complex and
labor-intensive it can be to replace a whole
screen on site, the hydraulic screen rolling
frame revolutionizes this process by
eliminating the need for large, expensive
cranes, long shutdowns and large crews to
do a screen replacement," said Cristobal
Brant, FLSmidth Product Specialist –
Screens. "An entire change-out can be
safely completed in less than an hour with
a single-man operation.”
On the job
29
CONTACT Charlie Tilton
[email protected]
USA
No project
too
big
Handling large construction projects is no
simple task. Whether installing new
equipment, transporting massive parts
long distances, clearing areas while being
environmentally conscious, or raising a
building while fighting the elements,
there are a multitude of aspects to take
into consideration.
This is why it’s crucial to have an
experienced professional on the job to
oversee complex construction projects
and ensure that everything is done to the
customer’s satisfaction, and to meet
demanding quality standards. Charlie
Tilton, who was first brought on to help
with the installation of FLSmidth’s
SuperCell™ project at Rio Tinto’s Bingham
Kennecott Copper Concentrator about six
years ago, is such a man.
Charlie came to FLSmidth with
phenomenal experience. He’s a military
veteran and was decorated in his young
life with two Purple Heart medals for
being wounded in the line of duty. He
survived his jeep being blown up by a
land mine and, although he escaped with
his life, he suffered permanent hearing
loss in one ear and lasting damage to the
other. This didn’t deter his dedication to
his colleagues or country. He has
continued to serve and contribute
through military deployments and in the
way he lives his life—both at home and at
work. His efforts have earned him not
only medals, but also respect and love
from those who have come to know him.
Before coming to work for FLSmidth,
Charlie supervised many projects that
crossed paths with land management and
environmental agencies—ranging from
city and state to federal entities—always
looking at how he could best help the
company meet regulations while reducing
environmental impact. These projects
include running large transport pipes
under rivers, drilling water wells, building
power stations and shelters for
equipment, moving water and electrical
lines to make way for new developments,
and installing some of the world’s largest
mining equipment on several sites within
the United States.
His supervisor, Ian Gordon, raves about
Charlie’s abilities and work ethic. “His
skills at on-site work make me look like a
genius for hiring him,” Mr. Gordon said.
“As a very wise man once said: ‘To be a
good manager and succeed, you need to
surround yourself with good people.’ And
Charlie is definitely one of them.”
Charlie has had several construction
management successes during his time at
FLSmidth.
• Charlie helped with the previously
mentioned SuperCell project, as well
as an HPGR installation and R&D testing project at the Kennecott Copper
mine in Utah.
• He assisted with the first construction
phase of FLSmidth’s new Salt Lake City
headquarters for its Mineral Processing
division, which was constructed on a
Superfund clean-up site.
• He has been involved in flotation pilot
cell testing and helped to assemble
portions of FLSmidth’s state-of-the-art
Minerals Testing & Research Center.
• He was also an instrumental member
of FLSmidth’s team that installed the
exciting new 600 m3 SuperCell
flotation project at the Robinson
Nevada Mining plant in Ely, Nevada,
USA. This SuperCell™ tank and
mechanism constitute the largest
flotation machine in the world.
When he is able to take some time away
from the complex construction projects,
which often keep him on site for weeks at
a time, Charlie enjoys restoring steam
engines, riding and fixing motorcycles,
sailing on his 22-foot sailboat and
spending time with his grandchildren.
People like Charlie make a difference in
the way a project comes together. By
prioritizing safety and quality, Charlie
ensures that the customer has complete
trust and satisfaction in FLSmidth’s
offerings.
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30
CONTACT Wesley-Mark Jonsson
[email protected]
64 level Koepe winder
refurbishment
AngloGold Ashanti's TauTona operation offered FLSmidth the opportunity
to refurbish and install a Koepe winder at the 64 level of the mine shaft.
This was a unique opportunity as this project entailed the complete
manufacture of a new Koepe winder, which was booked through our
Material Handling division and executed by our Customer Services division.
fEATURES
The project began on July 30, 2012 and kicked off with a bang as
the timing was tight and the pressure was on. FLSmidth’s first
objective was to establish what was currently on site in order to aid
the design process. This included the majority of the team going
on site to take measurements and inspect the bearings required.
Once the engineering design was completed, the race was on to
place the relevant orders to the most suitable suppliers for the
manufacture of the goods. The contracts and procurement
departments worked well on this, and there was overall agreement
that the main focus points for all the products would be quality,
time and cost—the three pillars of project management.
Once the orders were placed, the expediting team began to
emphasize the urgency of the completion of these orders without
compromising quality. The result of this fast-paced and efficient
teamwork resulted in all the items being delivered to site by the
end of December (except the winder drum and shaft, which were
scheduled to be completed by the end of February).
As with most projects, things did not go as planned and the shaft
that was being manufactured was damaged significantly. The unit
had been completed, but when the factory lifted a larger shaft
and moved it over ours, the larger shaft fell. This incident seemed
catastrophic, as it happened a week before the shaft was
scheduled to be air-freighted to South Africa and with only a
month before the delivery to the mine.
The shaft was scrapped due to the damage, which dramatically
impacted the entire project as everything would grind to a sudden
halt until the shaft could be delivered to South Africa which
would take about three months of manufacture and two weeks
to be delivered to a supplier in South Africa.
The project manager had a difficult phone call to make to discuss
the situation with the mining engineer, but this project had
31
another unexpected twist. The mine decided to postpone the
installation phase and to reschedule the installation during the
December 2013 maintenance break.
This news came at a great time, and the scrapped shaft delay had
no impact on the project. The relief was tangible to say the least.
In order to save time during the installation, the hydraulic and
electrical systems were installed and commissioned to run
concurrent with the existing system. This saved about 5–7 days for
the total installation.
About a month before the delivery of the final components to
site, the installation team went with the project manager to the
site in order to establish whether all components were on site and
taken down to 64 level. The reason for this was that most
suppliers would be closed during the installation period, and as
such we needed to reduce as much risk as possible. Coupled with
reducing the risk through inventory control, we also had a
machine shop and on-site machining services on standby just in
case any situations arose.
With everything in order, the installation period began on the
night of December 24, 2013 after the ropes were removed from
the drum.
The installation was completed in 24-hour shifts (12-12) over the
space of 10 days.
The main obstacle to installation was the logistics of removing
the old drum and transporting the new drum into position.
FLSmidth anticipated this, and the new drums were delivered
underground and strategically positioned to allow for easier
installation. The old winder drum was cut into smaller pieces to
be removed. FLSmidth worked closely with the mine’s logistics so
that there was no delay. Efficiency of the operation was on the
forefront of our minds.
The installation was completed smoothly on January 5, 2014.
When following up with the client, they commented that they
were happy and even impressed with the winder, which fully met
their expectations. The newly installed winder reduced the safety
risks at the mine, and the reliability and availability of spares has
added to the value of the operation of the mine.
The success of this project can be attributed to the participation of
all of the involved individuals, including the installation managers
(Nisharl Maharaj and Hans Steyn). The various FLSmidth
departments worked harmoniously with one another, and the
results speak for themselves.
fEATURES
32
CONTACT Stefano boscolo
[email protected]
Packing & dispatching
technology for the minerals industry
Figure 1: POLIMAT® EVO palletizer
For more than half a century, FLSmidth
Ventomatic has delivered complete plants
and single machinery for high-accuracy
and high-capacity packaging and
dispatching for the cement, building
materials, chemical, petrochemical and
minerals industries. For the past 20 years,
fEATURES
focus has been placed on the cement
industry, though in recent years FLSmidth
Ventomatic’s R&D group has been
exploring and developing technologies for
use in the minerals and industrial markets.
The goal has been to supply a complete
range of products and technologies for
packing and dispatching in the fertilizer,
chemical, petrochemical and minerals
markets similar to what has been offered
within the cement industry for so many
years. To accomplish this feat, FLSmidth
Ventomatic teamed up with two
experienced and reliable Italian companies
33
to develop these technologies and offer
minerals customers quality solutions
backed by proven experience.
FLSmidth Ventomatic is now able to offer
minerals customers:
• High-accuracy “net weigh” weighers
for bagging and bulk-load applications,
to accurately measure and dose
powdery or granulated products
• VENTOPACK™ automatic and
semiautomatic machines (Figure 3) for
pre-formed open mouth bags with
capacities up to 1,200 bags/h (50 kg
bags), specifically designed to pack bulk
free-flowing and semi-free-flowing
granular products into plastic, paper or
polywoven open-mouth bags
• VENTOTUBE™ automatic form fill and
seal (FFS) bagging machines, where the
plastic bags are formed out of a roll of
tubular plastic film, while
simultaneously filling the bags with
product and sealing the filled bags
• Big bag filling machine—the big bags
filling unit is suitable for production
rates up to 60 big bags per hour and
for most common products, even those
with difficult flow
Figure 2: VENTOTUBE™ automatic form
fill and seal (FFS) bagging machine
• Additionally, the POLIMAT® EVO
palletizer and CARICAMAT®
automatic bag loader, manual loaders
and the most recent addition, the
Flying Forklift (FFL) have been added
to our product portfolio
Special care was taken to ensure that the
equipment to be used for the processing
and handling of mineral and chemical
products was designed, fabricated,
constructed and installed according to
sound design principles. This ensures that
the equipment can be adequately installed
and operated, and that surfaces are
resistant to daily exposure to corrosive
products and chemicals. General
considerations when designing and
fabricating this equipment include:
• Clean and dust-free filling, to
reduce the exposure of workers to
dangerous agents
• Stainless steel (or other corrosion
resistant materials) used for
contact surfaces
• Non-product surfaces of equipment
should be constructed with
appropriate materials and fabricated in
such a manner as to be reasonably
cleanable, corrosion resistant and
maintenance-free
• All the components are easily accessible
to facilitate inspection, testing,
adjustment and cleaning
• Use of proven and reliable sub-suppliers
with proven records of successful
installations in the industry
FLSmidth Ventomatic is devoted to a
continued emphasis on R&D, and we feel
that continuous research is the cornerstone
of our future development. Our R&D
center in Italy puts special emphasis on
optimizing weigh accuracy; increasing
plant and machine capacity, availability and
operating efficiency; decreasing power
consumption and minimizing safety risks.
This center is also equipped with a testing
facility where it is possible to test the
equipment in the same conditions that it
would be under within industrial
production facilities.
Figure 3: VENTOPACK™ automatic and semiautomatic machine
fEATURES
34
Dry sintering of nepheline–
a new, more energy efficient technology
A new technology for dry sintering of nepheline
and limestone to produce alumina has been
developed in collaboration between Pikalevo
Soda, FLSmidth and the Russian National Mineral
Resources University. The new technology is a
result of laboratory research activities and semiindustrial tests conducted by FLSmidth in
Denmark and the USA.
CONTACT Sine Bogh Skaarup
[email protected]
The technology was tested in a semiindustrial setting, which consisted of a
three-stage preheater with calciner and
rotary kiln. This type of equipment has
already been in operation in the cement
industry for more than 40 years.
Laboratory research and semi-industrial
testing have been key in the effort to
develop a dry technology for nepheline
sintering. The result of this testwork shows
that dry technology is now a valid
replacement for wet technology. The
processing of nepheline to alumina
contains many sub-processes. The sintering
of nepheline and limestone is the first part
of the production of alumina.
The tests proved a success due to the ability
to control feed chemistry and particle size
distribution, as well as temperature profile
and retention time in kiln system. Control of
the above parameters is the basis for
achieving high-quality sintering and
required alumina extraction.
Innovation
Up until today, sintering of nepheline and
limestone has been done by means of wet
technology. In spite of the fact that
nepheline contains substantially less
alumina than bauxite, its chemical
components can still produce significant
alumina percentages. In regards to energy
efficiency, the wet technology is unable to
compete with newer technology. The
conversion to a dry process offers the
potential to reduce the specific fuel
consumption by nearly 50%.
CONTACT mICHAEL pROKESCH
[email protected]
35
Sintering process (existing wet process)
The raw mix preparations are made up of
two steps. First, limestone is ground
separately with white slurry in an opencircuit system followed by co-grinding with
nepheline in the last step, also in an opencircuit system.
White slurry is a waste product from the
desilication step, but as it contains residual
alumina it is re-introduced to the process
to minimize waste products and achieve as
close to 100% utilization of the chemical
components as possible.
Preceding the burning zone is a preheating
and calcining zone. In the preheating zone
the material is heated up and the moisture
in the raw mix is removed. In the calcining
zone the most important reaction is the
decomposition of calcium carbonate.
This reaction is also central in cement
production and is one of the reasons for
the good synergies that are present when
comparing the two processes. It is to a
great extent the same equipment applied,
and thereby processes from cement
production can be used in the nepheline
sintering process.
Final sintering takes place in a rotary kiln at
a burning zone temperature of 1,250–
1,325°C. There is a very narrow
temperature range where the final
sintering takes place, and attention to the
amount of liquid phase is crucial as this is
responsible for the final reactions and
structure of the sinter.
The solid material retention time in the kiln
is 2½–3 hours, resulting in an alumina
extraction of 87–89% in the sinter. The
heat consumption is approximately 1,290
kcal/kg sinter. The result of the burning
tests with the raw mix sample shows that
the best conditions were a burning
temperature of 1,325°C with a duration of
30 minutes.
Testing
Extensive laboratory and pilot testing was
performed over a span of several years.
Initial pilot operations in the dry process
system yielded unsuccessful results in
terms of process stability, efficiency and
alumina extraction. Adjustments were
made to the method of feed preparation,
and the pilot system was redesigned to
improve cyclone performance. The end
results were significant improvements to
feed chemistry control, higher cyclone
efficiencies, more stable flash calciner and
kiln operation, and better control of the
sinter liquid phase in order to support
target alumina conversion levels. The
clients were present to observe these
efforts and see firsthand the ability of the
dry system to satisfy their expectations.
Conclusions
Dry sintering of nepheline and limestone is
a new approach to the sintering process
and results in a much more energy
efficient technology. The process has been
proven in a semi-industrial test, and the
alumina extraction results are in line with
what is achieved today when a wet
technology is applied.
Additionally, when comparing the two
technologies the following process
knowledge and experience has shown:
• Separate grinding resulting in similar
particle size distribution of the
nepheline and limestone
• Enhanced focus on raw mix
homogenization and chemical
control to ensure optimal conditions
for sintering
• Control of calcination degree and
temperature profile
• Special care to the temperature profile
in the rotary kiln as the burning zone
is narrow
• Retention time is needed to allow for
the sintering to reach completion
Further optimization is possible, and
industrial operated systems should be
custom-built to enable the dry process to
achieve excellent performance.
This new, more energy efficient technology
for sintering of nepheline and limestone
has been developed and now proven semiindustrially, with more than 50% reduction
in heat consumption. Furthermore the dry
technology offers the possibility of having
bigger production units.
Based on this study, Pikalevo Sodium and
FLSmidth have signed an agreement on
technological and project cooperation
aimed at upgrading the facilities of the
Pikalevo manufacturing complex. The
3,700-tpd dry process sinter system
designed by FLSmidth will support a
significant reduction in plant fuel
consumption and enable an increase in
plant alumina production levels. A basic
engineering contract was signed with the
plant in February 2014, and this
engineering work will continue for several
months in order to yield a final firm
solution for the plant.
Innovation
36
Upcoming Events
Date
Event
Location
7–10
Comminution '14
Cape Town, South Africa
9–11
Mining World Russia 2014
Moscow, Russia
21–25
EXPOMIN
Santiago, Chile
April 29
–May 1
Coal Prep
Lexington, KY, USA
11–14
CIM 2014
Vancouver, BC, Canada
21–22
Schüttgut Easy Fairs
Dortmund, Germany
3–5
PowerGen Europe
Cologne, Germany
3–6
Russian Coal & Mining
Novokuznetsk, Siberia
4–7
Convención ExpoMinera
zacatecas 2014
zacatecas, mexico
9–12
Paste 2014
Vancouver, BC, Canada
22–25
Hydro 2014 7th Int'l
Symposium
Victoria, BC, Canada
24–26
Hillhead
Buxton, UK
29–30
aUSimm sAMPLING 2014
pERTH, aUSTRALIA
1–3
aUSiMM mILL oPERATORS cONF.
tOWNSVILLE, aUSTRALIA
9–10
oIL sANDS tRADE sHOW
fORT mCmURRAY, ab, cANADA
10–12
eXPOMINA
lIMA, pERU
14–18
15TH aUSTRALIAN cOAL pREP
(acps) cONF. & eXHIBIT
gOLD cOAST, aUSTRALIA
15–19
eLECTRA mINING 2014
jOHANNESBURG, sOUTH aFRICA
17–18
VGB Congress
Hamburg, Germany
17–19
mINING wORLD cENTRAL aSIA
aLMATY, kAZAKHSTAN
22–26
Platinum Conference
Sun City, South Africa
20–24
IMPC 2014 Intl. Mineral
Processing Congress
Santiago, Chile
November
5–7
Arabal 2014
UAE
December
3–6
IMME 2014
Kolkata, India
April
May
June
July
sEPTEMBER
October
Meet us
in person
We always look forward to being able to
meet up with you in person. To the left
you will find the schedule of our upcoming
events. Be sure to stop by and see us if you
will be attending any of these exhibitions.
Follow us
online
Follow us on social media to stay up to
date on all of the most recent happenings
at FLSmidth. You can also stay apprised of
our latest news at www.flsmidth.com

customers` needs performance

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