Bridging the gap between science and engineering

Of all the changes that have taken place in mineral processing during the last 20 years or so, ranking very highly must be the development of powerful and sophisticated models for simulation, control and optimisation of operations. It has been apparent, however, that many operators have been wary of many of these developments, viewing them as clever academic exercises with no real practical value beyond the experienced operators' hands-on approach to optimisation and control. This has inhibited the development, validation and implementation of some potentially very useful techniques.

Bridging the gap between academic science and practical engineering is a problem which needs to be addressed, by bringing together academics and operators, the conference circuits being the obvious forums. We try to do this at MEI Conferences, but still we get the criticism that operators are not there in force, and the perception often is that academics are talking to academics.

There is a lot to be gained by operators attending major conferences. After attending Comminution '14 Clifford Mutevhe, of Anglo Platinum, Zimbabwe commented "[Comminution '14] not only enhanced my knowledge but also helped me identify solutions to the milling circuit I manage. Some of the discussions we had, we have carried them forward as part of the business process improvements. I also managed to identify with a huge pool of knowledgeable people from across the world. I could not imagine communicating daily and interacting with people from SA, USA, France, Iran, China, Australia and various other countries."

But we realise that we need to do more to bring scientists and engineers together, and hence bridge that gap, and we would like to see operators presenting case studies on their operations, particularly relating their experiences in utilising modern sophisticated models and techniques. At next year's Comminution '16 we are hoping to attract interest in a potential session devoted to short presentations from operators, describing how innovative techniques have benefited their circuits.

At Flotation '15 in November Prof. Jan Cilliers, of Imperial College, UK will ask in his keynote lecture "what have models and measurements ever done for us?" and will show how advances in theory and experiment take some time to move from the laboratory to the literature and on to the plant.  Immediately prior to the conference, Dr. Stephen Gay will be running a 3-day Simulation Course covering all aspects from basic data accumulation and analysis to advanced software development. Stephen will show how simulation can be used for plant optimisation, plant trouble shooting, feasibility studies and plant design. Importantly the course will give plant managers an approach by which they can obtain guidance on how to improve plant performance via reduced energy costs, and better recovery.

Immediately prior to Comminution '16, two half-day workshops will attempt to bridge the science-engineering gap. In the first of these the Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution (CEEC) has invited one of the conference keynote speakers, and a Director of CEEC, Joe Pease, to review the practices available to improve processing efficiency, from mining operations through to mineral processing and smelting.  Attendees will become familiar with the CEEC energy curve and how to assess their own performance.  Procedures to compare energy productivity against other operations and to track the impact of improvements using the CEEC energy curve will be discussed. Examples of practices to improve efficiency will be discussed, along with techniques to find the improvement potential at your site.  Joe will elaborate on this in his conference keynote lecture, showing how the search to improve comminution efficiency will undoubtedly include some novel new technologies.  Significant benefits are also likely from evolving existing technologies, new ways of operating, and combining the old with the new.   He will ask whether advances in drilling, blasting, crushing, HPGRs and stirred milling could relegate the SAG mill to a curiosity during our careers?

Rob McIvor, of Metcom Technologies, USA will present a keynote at the conference aimed squarely at operating metallurgists and company management. He will show how the successful development of new comminution science into real business practice is well exemplified by inventions such as high-pressure grinding. But beyond new plants and capital expansions, how is the science helping industry make the best use of the equipment at their immediate disposal? Plant operations present numerous rewards and challenges to the people who run them. Among their many tasks, metallurgical staff are responsible for the processing performance of the grinding circuits, both daily production and continuous improvement. Means to identify viable process improvement opportunities, and to engage management when needed to achieve implementation, are needed. These include the use of meaningful technical terminology, appropriate metrics, clear economic analysis, and means for follow-up validation that improvements were achieved. Rob will present practical tools for plant staff and company management to bridge the gap between grinding science and daily plant practice, demonstrated by numerous case studies.

Rob will also present the second of the pre-conference workshops, on the Sunday afternoon prior to the conference welcoming reception. The “Functional Performance Equation for Ball Milling” was first introduced in 1988, and now has been applied in scores of mineral processing plants to improve ball milling circuit performance. This powerful, yet simple, tool provides a new level of understanding of closed circuit grinding, whereby plant metallurgical staff and equipment/material suppliers can manage and improve the processing performance of ball milling circuits with clarity and confidence. This workshop is certified by The Engineering Institute of Canada, which provides each participant with a certificate of course completion and registration of 0.3 CEU’s into their training database. It is intended for plant metallurgical staff and management, grinding circuit equipment and material suppliers, and others interested in industrial circuit design and optimisation including circuit designers and researchers. 

A 3rd conference keynote will be given by Prof. Malcolm Powell, of Australia's JKMRC, one of the world's leading experts on comminition modelling. He specialises in mill liner design, charge motion and DEM modelling, SAG mill modelling, and classification, with a strong link into applying the research knowledge in extensive site work and consulting to industry, aiming to link fundamental research into applied outputs through the development of practical and robust process models. He will discuss comminution modelling in the context of integrated process prediction.

 

So this is what we are trying to do, but what are your views- what more can we do to bridge the gap between science and engineering?