The objective of this study was to improve the operation of the classical semiautogenous and ball milling circuit also known as the SABC circuit. In order to
achieve this goal, the challenges around this circuit were identified as the
formation of critical sized material in a SAG mill. The size class considered for the
critical sized material also known as pebbles was -100+23 mm. The attainable
region (AR) method was used as an optimisation technique for the generated
results using a computer simulation programme. MODSIM® demo version 3.6.22
is ore processing simulator that was used.
The research was divided into two sections, the first being the variation of feed
flow rate ranging from 50 – 150 tph and ore feed size ranging between 100 and
600 mm. The second section compared the variation of the operating parameters
of the SAG mill, which were mill filling, ball filling, ball size and mill speed. The AR
technique graphically presented the results which indicated the best operating
conditions to minimise pebble formation.
The effects of mill filling on a SAG mill indicate that a higher filling produces lower
pebbles. Lower pebble generation also was observed at a higher ball filling. The
influence of ball size indicated that the larger ball size was more effective in the
reduction of pebbles. For mill speed the media displayed two common mode
operations namely cascading at a low speed of 65% and cataracting at higher
speed of 75%. The higher speed generated the least pebbles. / College of Engineering, Science and Technology / M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/26693 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Bashe, Luzuko |
| Contributors | Mulenga, Francois |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiii, 104 leaves) : color illustrations, graphs (chiefly color), application/pdf |
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