News
Screening or Imaging for Fragmentation / Particle Size Distribution Measurement ?
When talking about piled particulate material on conveyor belt, the answer is probably both.
Sampling and screening is about "product grading" and providing product certification particularly in the aggregates industry.
Imaging is about providing online or real-time analysis to rapidly alert operators to out-of-spec behaviour and avoid production losses, avoid excess damage and wear, avoid chute blockages, and prevent safety incidents. And additionally allow process control opportunities for crushers, mills, agglomeration, and other particle processes.
Our Principal Scientist Matthew Thurley, delves into this topic, originally featured on LinkedIn
Size Distribution Measurement and Boulder/Foreign-Object Detection
Boliden's mines are using 3DPM not only for reliable particle size distribution (PSD) measurement but also to reliably detect boulders and rock bolts before they cause production losses and costly maintenance due to belt tears, equipment damage, blocked chutes and un-scheduled stops.
Speaking with the 3DPM team at Optimation, Anders Forslund from Boliden Garpenberg said 3DPM "provides us with reliable boulder and rock bolt detection in a demanding environment, ... has given us the opportunity to take control of where we handle boulders and rock bolts in our feeding line, ... and belt stops generated can be handled in a safer and easier way"
3DPM detecting small particles in the undersize feed after a rollerscreen
3DPM is measuring the particle size distribution and detecting the "oversize" particles in the undersize feed after a roller screen in a Swedish Iron Ore plant. Measuring small particles on high speed belts, in the presence of a large amount of fines, is a significant challenge, but it is exactly what 3DPM has been designed to do. Find out more
Next Generation of 3DPM Launched
2021-02-11
More accurate particle size distribution measurement, application to high speed conveyors, and more customer control over results, comms protocols, and flexible warnings for abnormal properties of the bulk material.
Optimation Advanced Measurements (formally MBV-Systems) has launched the next generation hardware for the 3DPM system for on-line particle size distribution (PSD) measurement on conveyor belts using 3D imaging.
With the latest in laser triangulation hardware, the measurement module of the new generation 3DPM makes it possible to measure particles at higher belt speed, using lower strength lasers, and robustly detect smaller particles than ever before. Therefore, the customer base can now be expanded to industries with very high speed conveyors or for processing particles previously too small to be measured robustly.
Read the full article here
IGO greatly improves grinding mill efficiency through predictive control using 3DPM size distribution meaurement
2020-09-03
IGO Limited, the owner and operator of the Nova Nickel Operation in Western Australia has trialed and purchased 3DPM system for on-line particle size distribution (PSD) measurement on conveyor belts using 3D imaging. IGO uses the size distribution as a “disturbance variable” in a model predictive controller for a SAG mill. The model can predict by up to 100 seconds in advance the effect on the SAG mill weight. This has greatly improved the stability of the grinding circuit as well as increased the energy efficiency of the Mill.
Read the full article here
International Mining Magazine takes a look at 3DPM
Full Article 2020-06-04: Visualising the future of particle measurements with 3DPM
"The 3DPM vision system has had quite a journey. Since the first prototype was installed at LKAB’s Malmberget iron ore to help the miner optimise its pellet production, the system has helped ‘settle the argument’ between mine and mill at base metal mines in Europe and improve the quality of coke being fed to blast furnaces in Japan.
The future looks bright too, with the potential for the system to play a major role in the automation of mine process plants."
Daniel Gleeson from International Mining magazine takes a look at 3DPM in this interview with our Principal Scientist Matthew Thurley.
Rio Tinto measuring fragmentation for feedback to blasting and primary crusher control using 3DPM
In conjunction with our product partner Optimation Advanced Measurements, Innovative Machine Vision is proud to annouce that Rio Tinto, one of the worlds largest mining companies, uses 3DPM®at a mine site in Western Australia. 3DPM is used to increase knowledge and understanding of material flow and hence improve production efficiency and product quality in the mine.
Specifically, Haugg, Perincek and McNeilage (2023) from Rio Tinto state that using "the crusher current, the 3DPM sensor, and the lump and fines resulting post processing, the outcome of the initial blast is quantified and used to improve blasts in the coming benches"
"The use of machines as sensors to optimise drill and blast outcomes", Haugg, C., Perincek, O. and McNeilage C., Proceedings of the 26th World Mining Congress, 26-29 June 2023, Brisbane, Australia, ISBN 978-0-646-87565-1.
3DPM® provides online particle size distribution (PSD) measurements of rock and bulk material on conveyor belt using 3D imaging and advanced algorithms.
"Its been a real pleasure working with Rio Tinto to scope out and understand the pros and cons of various different PSD measurement options. As a result, it's very satisfying that they have selected 3DPM" says IMV Principal Scientist Matthew Thurley.
"This is a very important order for us since Rio Tinto is a world class mining company with operations all over the world", says Lars Lindqvist CEO at Optimation Advanced Measurements.
World-class metals company installs another 3DPM particle size distribution measurement system
2020-03-24
European mining and metals company Boliden has decided to install another 3DPM system in their mine in Garpenberg. The first system we delivered four years ago when Boliden was searching for a system which could help them to improve their process knowledge and control strategies for crushers and grinding mills at Aitik. Three years ago they wanted to push the limit even further at their Garpenberg facility to be able to detect boulders and rock bolts on-line in a safe way. These were new features in 3DPM but Optimation Advanced Measurements(formally MBV-Systems) guaranteed the functionality. Today, the system is in continuous operation at Boliden Garpenberg, and an additional system is commissioned at Boliden Aitik. With this new order, Boliden Garpenberg will have two systems in operation in their mine. Using 3DPM Boliden can take control of particle size, volume flow and safely detect unexpected boulders or rock-bolts after their crushers.
Within mining and metal industry, crushers and grinding processes are big energy consumers, improved handling within these areas are therefore necessary for a long term sustainable production.
Boliden is very satisfied with the results. Andreas Forslund project leader at Boliden Garpenberg says: "Optimation has delivered equipment that provides us with reliable boulder and rock bolt detection in a demanding environment. The equipment has given us the opportunity to take control of where we handle boulders and rock bolts in our feeding line. This also means that the stops generated can be handled in a safer and easier way. "
Nippon Steel installs 3DPM
Nippon Steel (one of the worlds largest steel companies) has decided to install 3DPM particle size distribution measurement system in Japan in order to give better knowledge and understanding of the material and hence improve blast furnace efficiency and product quality.
Japanese steel producer JFE Steel optimizes blast furnace production using Swedish 3D machine vision technology
One of the world's most advanced steel producers, JFE Steel in Japan, has improved feed-control for optimizing the coke particle size distribution to the blast furnace at their west Japan steelworks. After extensive onsite testing, JFE Steel has bought multiple 3DPM® online particle size distribution measurement systems enabling feed-control and improving blast furnace production. Read the full press-release here.
Why Existing Commercial In-Pit Rock Fragmentation Systems cannot be Reliable
Principal Scientist Dr Matthew Thurley writes about in-pit fragmentation measurement systems available on the market and how they cannot be reliable due to using photographic based imaging in an environment with uncontrolled lighting and conditions unsuited to this measurement method. More info here.
Innovative Machine Vision provides enhanced image analysis capabilities to CSIRO's CGA microscopy image analysis software
One of the worlds most advanced optical microscopy image analysis softwares for particle mineral grain analysis, CSIRO CGA software, has been enhanced with advanced image analysis capabilities to eliminate hours of manual editing and allow fast turn-around of sample analysis. Successful commercialization of this important analysis capability is now well in progress. More info here.