Assessing the influence of lifter profiles on the velocity profile and the charge toe and shoulder using data from the PEPT system

The research focus of this thesis is lifter height effect on different charge characteristics. Thecharge characteristics identified were shoulder and toe angle, charge size and toe height. Anattempt was made to develop a model for the velocity profile incorporating lifter height.Therefore the objectives of the study are to: •Determine the effect of lifter height on the velocity profile using the particle tracking data. •Determine the effect the lifter height on the charge shoulder and toe. •Develop a velocity profile model including lifter height using granular flow theory and to compare the model to experimental data. The motivation for the study is that lifters are one of the most important design variables in a mill. Without lifters the mill’s energy efficiency would decrease. In Meaders & MacPherson, (1964) the effect of lifters on energy was quantified to be between 20% and 30%. The lifters control the height and angle of departure from the charge at the mill shell and therefore control the impact area and magnitude. The area and magnitude of the charge impact will affect the grind of the mill and energy utilization in the mill. The thesis was also aimed at generating data that can be used to model the velocity profile that can be incorporated in power models. Most of the power models do not account for the effect of lifters. The experiments involved collecting data from three dimensional particle tracking of selected particles in the charge. using the PEPT system. The PEPT experiments were conducted at IThemba Labs in Cape Town South Africa using a 300 mm x 285 mm experimental mill. The charge used for the experiments were glass beads with an approximate specific gravity (SG) of 2.7. The PEPT system operates by tracking the x, y and z coordinates with respect to time of an irradiated particle (tracer). The experiments were run under different conditions to evaluate the effect of the lifter height. The experiments were operated by varying mill speed (55%, 70% and 85%), mill fill (20%, 30% and 40%) and lifter heights (1.5 mm, 3 mm, 6 mm and 10 mm).

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Centre for Minerals Research

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Hartmut, Brodner

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mainza, Aubrey

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5613

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5613