GRINDING MILL OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE – CENTRAL TO ASSET MANAGEMENT

摘要

Since 2005, RME has pursued a vision for a new grinding plant operational paradigm, made possiblernby RME’s latest Mill Relining Systems.rnAt some sites, new liners degrade SAG mill performance. The variables include mill volume loss,rnrotational speed limitations (ball strike) and liner designs developed for longer and longer life butrnwithout a backward glance at metallurgical consequences of whole plant performance. Freshlyrnrelined mills can initially deliver as little as 80 per cent of their maximum throughput, that maximumrnoccurring toward the end of the liners’ wear life.rnRME’s proposition is to see new liners designed for maximum commercial performance. This mayrnmean more frequent mill relines but with liners designed to yield optimum grinding, metallurgicalrnand profitability performance, not maximum life.rnIn other words, mill liner profiles and relining speed become key profitability contributors and notrnsimply ‘must do’ maintenance functions and costs.rnThis paper includes a short history of RME’s Mill Relining System development (Appendix A).rnThese are the enabling technologies which permit more frequent liner exchange without incurringrnadditional downtime imposts.rnThe body of this paper outlines RME’s vision of a ‘liner profile vs. profitability’ commercial model,rnunderpinned by the rigour of PAS 55-1:2008 Asset Management Part 1: Specification for the optimisedrnmanagement of physical assets. The technical elements can be developed either intuitively (based onrnplant experience) or by using a combination of new measurement and modelling technologies. Thesernnew measurement and modelling tools provide the opportunity to predict the optimum technicalrnsolution for the maximum commercial outcome. Much of this can be modelled off-line, in the virtualrnworld, before asking senior management to commit to an expensive liner experiment.rnThe potential benefits are compelling.