Optimal energy control of a crushing process based on vertical shaft impactor

摘要

This paper presents an optimal control model to improve the operation energy efficiency of a vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushing process. The optimal control model takes the energy cost as the performance index to be minimized by accounting for the time-of-use tariff and process constraints such as storage capacity of the VSI crusher hopper, capacity of the main storage system, flow rate limits, cascade ratio setting, production requirement and product quality requirement. The control variables in the developed model are the belt conveyor feed rate, the material feed rate into the VSI crusher rotor, the bi-flow or cascade feed rate and the rotor tip speed of the crusher. These four control variables are optimally coordinated in order to improve the operation energy efficiency of the VSI crushing process. Simulation results based on a crushing process in a coal-fired power plant demonstrate a potential of a daily energy cost saving of about 49.7% and energy saving of about 15.3% in a high-demand season weekday. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.