Abstract

Ausenco’s Ausgrind comminution program has been the in-house design tool used on a number of successful projects and technical studies. In recent years, Ausgrind has been used to benchmark comminution energy efficiency and provide technical guidance to resolve operational issues; which have resulted in a number of changes to the existing program to improve the accuracy and better reflect actual operating conditions.

Ausgrind program improvements include:

  • Mill liner wear and life prediction for any liner/lifter design
  • SAG mill slurry pooling model to predict the onset and effect of slurry pooling for varying operating conditions
  • Grinding mill trajectory model to determine safe operating speed ranges based on liner/lifter design

In this paper, a case study is presented benchmarking actual plant data against Ausgrind model predictions, validating the calculation improvements. Comparisons of actual and predicted data show improved response of the program for variable operating conditions.

Full paper here.

For more information please contact Dr. Rajiv Chandramohan.