Cloud Publications

International Journal of Advanced Mining, Fuel and Mineral Engineering

2013, Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 1-5, Article ID Tech-135

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Case Study Open Access

Iron Ore-Dressing Plant Performance Improvement - A Case Study

C. Rudrappa, M.R. Patil, S.J.G. Krishna, P.S. Kumar, P.C. Naganoor and B.P. Ravi

Mineral Processing Department, VSKU PG Centre, Nandihalli-Sandur, Karnataka, India

Correspondence should be addressed to B.P. Ravi, [email protected]

Publication Date: 30 September 2013

Article Link: http://technical.cloud-journals.com/index.php/IJAMFME/article/view/Tech-135

Copyright © 2013 C. Rudrappa, M.R. Patil, S.J.G. Krishna, P.S. Kumar, P.C. Naganoor and B.P. Ravi. This is an
open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract The sustainable viability of mineral enterprise during recession time depends on improving
concentrate product quality, generating readily salable by-products, improving recovery, throughput,
and reduction of expenses at minimum unit cost rate and maximum unit profit rate. The present paper
discuses the importance of process plant audit for improving the mineral processing plant
performance as indicated by different case studies of iron ore dressing plants in Hospet region,
Bellary, Karnataka.
Keywords Iron Ore Processing, Plant Audit

1. Introduction

The viability of a mineral enterprise necessitates the development of specific techno-economic model.
The techno-economic model predicts the operating strategy during the economic recession. The co-
dependence of process variables, interdependence of different operations in a mineral enterprise,
non-quantifiable factors needs continuous monitoring. This continuous monitoring and generation of
techno-economic model is difficult. Hence, age old philosophy of improving viability by maximizing
recovery and productivity seems unsustainable till significant overall unit cost rate reduction and
enhancement of overall unit profit rate is achieved. With stress on cost reduction, project engineers
engaged in multiple projects, usually opt profitable projects than looking into performance
improvement studies. However, the performance improvement of the plant needs the routine auditing
studies, for reducing the overall unit cost and to improve the cash flow.

Audit is defined as a formal, thorough and periodic examination – evaluation of a system. The global
audit is divided into geological audit, mining audit, marketing audit, energy audit, process audit and
environmental-safety audit. The present paper deals with metallurgical process audit and its role in
plant overall performance improvement. A few case studies are discussed, to reinforce the importance
of auditing for performance improvement.
 IJAMFME – An Open Access Journal

2. Experimental

The aim of process auditing is to understand the effect of the process variables on the profitability.
Table 1 denotes the steps and outline of process auditing. The performance improvement studies by
process auditing are demanding from time – economic viewpoint. Sometimes it is frustrating due to ill
defined objective, improper problem identification and lack of will for implementation. It is a tough job
as conceptual ideas have to be sold enumerating the costs, time and risk factors with relation to the
benefits obtained. The problem compounds if the historical data is improperly logged and improper
location of sampling points in the circuit. However, the total involvement of plant team with proper
communications is the key to solve the problems associated with auditing. The data is analysed
logically, scientifically, stastically keeping techno-economics in view. Once the problem is identified,
test works under simulated conditions, based on evolutionary and revolutionary concepts, are
conducted. Conclusions are drawn evaluating the alternatives for solving the problems. The
recommendations are made based on sustainable benefits. After on-site implementations, circuit is
sampled, the results with techno-economic benefits are evaluated with reference to base line and
projected values. Recommendations for improvements are suggested.

The flexibility of process auditing for diverse cases to improve the overall performance of plant from
techno-economic view point are discussed below. The program objectives vary due to the time,
money and operating philosophy constraints of the company. The process auditing has to be flexible
to cater the present needs in stages with an integrated approach in future.

The mid-sized secondary steel manufacturer established a concentrator and pelletization plant
producing 1 MTPY BF grade pellets for export and for its sponge iron plant by utilizing sub-grade iron
ore fine dumps from the region. The process comprises of closed circuit screen - ball mill grinding of
iron ore fines to – 0.5 mm, cycloning, spiraling of cyclone underflow, HGMS of spiral tails, open circuit
grinding of concentrate (thick pulp) followed by pressure filtration yielding BF grade pellet concentrate.
Figure 1 shows the process flow-sheet. As the plant productivity was below the design level, auditing
was conducted to improve productivity with minimum alterations and cost.

Table 1: Outline of Steps in a Metallurgical Process Auditing

Outline of Steps
Define project objective
Check the objective
Identify the problem
Review the historical data
Designing the sampling campaign
Sample the unit operations/circuit
Logical data analysis and base line data preparation
Test work in simulated conditions-evolutionary and revolutionary concepts
Techno –economic evaluation of alternatives, comparing with similar industrial data base
Recommendations, on site implementation and evaluation
Conclusions

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120 96 5 59.1 10.25

174 26 507 59.1 10.2
100.0 4.1 34 100 4.25
145 1.24 549 145.0 4.25
Fine ore bin

54 67 27 59.1 10.2

Scrubber 45 1.65 40 45 4.37

120 71 50 59.1 10.25

100.0 2.2 79 100 4.25 Ball Mill w - 9m3 54 60 36 59.1 10.2

w - 258 m3
45 1.54 49 45 4.27
120 33 240 59.1 10.25 Screen

100.0 1.34 269 100 4.25 O/F 14.5 5 276 50.27 19.51

12.1 1.04 280 10.3 7.3

120 20 480 59.1 10.25 Cyclone

100.0 1.18 509 100 4.25 105.5 34 204 60.21 8.34

U/F 87.9 1.35 229 69.7 4.05

120 24 371 59.92 9.65

100 1.23 416 101.5 5.75 14.5 8 167 57.75 11.63

R. Spiral
Tails w - 47 m3 12.1 1.06 171 118 4.50
47.1 18 215 55.09 13.17 Conc.
Mag 72.9 328 156 63.03 6.11
39.2 1.17 227 36.6 5.75 Cl.
LIMS Spiral 60.8 1.32 173 64.9 3.04
1.2 7 16 60.76 8.12 w - 61 m3 Tails
Non Mag 45.9 15 260 54.94 14.63
1 1.07 16 1 3.73
w - 1160 m3 38.2 1.15 262 35.6 5.8
Conc.
23.2 7 308 63.67 4.08
WHIMS
22.7 2 1112 46.02 24.38
19.3 1.08 313 20.9 3.20
Mag Non Mag
18.9 1.02 1118 147 8.45
Conc. w - 309 m 3
58.4 62 36 64.34 4.73 Thickner
Conc.Ball Mill 37.2 2 1388 47.68 22.48
48.7 1.90 49 53.1 2.68
31 1.02 1398 25 8.01

Tailing w - 309 m 3
24.4 62 15 63.53 5.23
Thickner
VFA Filter 37.2 26 105 47.61 22.41
20.3 1.9 21 21.9 3.23
w - 42 m 3 Final Tails
31 1.24 115 25 8.01
Final Concentrate
82.8 62 50 64.10 4.88 Legend
82.8 10 8 64.10 4.88
(Al+Si)
69 1.9 70 75 2.84 TPH %S m3/h W Fe% Oxide
69 3.30 28 75 2.84 %Fe
Wt% PD m3/h P LOI
Dist

Figure 1: Process Flow Sheet with Base Line Data Material and Metallurgical Balance

3. Results and Discussion of Plant Auditing of a Mid Size Iron Ore Dressing Plant

The activity comprised of (a) Review of historical and design data, sample the unit circuits,
observation, characterization – test work, data analysis and base line data preparation; (b) Short term
modification (STM –1) and evaluation of its benefits with reference to base line data. The plant was
run on designated process at stable condition. The periodical incremental samples from all the
streams were collected and sampled as per standard methods. The products were chemically,
granulometrically and mineralogically characterized. The material and metallurgical balances were
prepared and rechecked with production data. Comminution tests were conducted on feed and
concentrates samples. The productivity problems in plants lie in grinding - classification circuits with
mismatched concentration and auxiliary circuits [1, 2]. The historical ore variability data indicated that
the goethite (3-35%), hematite (45-75%), aluminous gangue mineral (1-20%), slimes (6-26% minus
45 microns), and Bond’s work index (7-15 Kwh/short ton) varied widely [3].

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3.1. Base Line Data (BLD)

Tables 3 and 2 give the overall results and the metallurgical results of BLD. It indicated that; a) The
plant is run in a custom mode with variable ore types in a discontinuous fashion affecting the
operation.

Improper maintenance of process parameters like % solids and granulometry resulted in marginally
high tail value w.r.t design tail values (refer Table 2). b) The plant was run at 120 tph much below the
designed rate with little load on primary closed circuit screen – ball mill grinding, de-sliming and
gravity concentration circuits; This led to slimes generation, finer MOG, and operation at lower %
solids. c) Insufficient mill capacity (50%) for open circuit concentrate grinding was noticed even at
design Bond’s work index value of 7.2. Kwh/short ton. The plant and the lab data indicated that the
Bond’s ball mill work index of the concentrate was found be >13 Kwh/short ton. d) The size analysis of
different concentrates indicated that the HGMS concentrate was of very fine size (-200mesh) and
nearly 50% of the un-ground composite concentrate passed the pellet feed size requirement (-
200mesh). The grinding of composite concentrate with 50% finished size material generates slimes,
which may affect the filtration. The filtration rate was low due to insufficient filter area (60%) and
increased slime content (30% - 10 microns).

3.2. Short Term Modifications (STM-1)

The plant was run at a high throughput in an ascending sequence, after the following STM-1 was
made. The cyclone parameters were adjusted to get a finer cut (-20 microns) in overflow. 60% cut
was implemented in I cleaner spiral circuit to increase the grade and re-circulating load. The plant was
run at slightly thicker pulp. The HGMS circuit parameters were adjusted to increase the recovery by
pulp density, ring speed and intensity. The thickened slimy HGMS concentrate (-200 mesh) was by-
passed from the concentrate ball mill grinding. The ball charge volume in the concentrate mill was
raised to maximum level of 45%. The thickened slimy HGMS concentrates and ground sandy
concentrate (-200 mesh) thick pulps were subjected to VPA filtration at high percent solids of 70%
(PD > 2.2) with minimum pumping and air blow time. The overall results and metallurgical results of
STM 1 are given in Tables 3 and 2 respectively. The STM-1 data indicated that

a) Ore throughput was raised steadily from 120 to 162 tph (35% w.r.t. BLD);

b) The concentrate production increased from 82.8 to 120.7tph (46% w.r.t. BLD). The tail losses
reduced from 47.68% to 40.62%Fe increasing Fe recovery from 75 to 82%;

c) The concentrate regrinding mill capacity was increased by bypassing the -200 mesh from the
circuit preventing slimes generation by over grinding. The VPA cycle time was reduced from 11
to 8 minutes;

d) The cost benefit analysis indicated a reduction of 65 Rs./t of ore (10% savings w.r.t. BLD).

Table 2: Metallurgical Results at Various Conditions

Design (200 tph) Base line (120 tph) STM-1 (162 tph)
Products Wt.% Assay %Dist. Wt.% Assay %Dist. Wt.% Assay %Dist.
% % %
Cyclone O/F 9.4 55.00 8.8 12.1 50.27 10.3 11.2 45.70 8.8
I Cl. Sp. Conc. 48.9 66.60 55.2 48.7 64.34 53.1 56.5 64.21 62.6
Mag. Conc. 19.0 61.17 19.7 20.3 63.53 21.9 18.0 62.67 19.5
Non-Mag tails 22.7 42.36 16.3 18.9 46.02 14.7 14.3 36.64 9.1
Head(Calc.) 100.0 59.00 100.0 100.0 59.01 100.0 100.0 57.92 100.0

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Final Tails 32.1 46.20 25.1 31.0 47.68 25.0 25.5 40.62 17.9
Final Conc. 67.9 65.08 74.9 69.0 64.10 75.0 74.5 63.84 82.1

Table 3: Results of Base Line (BLD) and STM-1 Data

Base Line STM-1

Data
Feed Conc. Tails Feed Conc. Tails
TPH 120.0 82.8 37.2 162 120.7 41.3
Size % - 45 microns 65.0 72.0 94.6 59.0 70.9 93.9
Hematite + Martite % 60 – 65 85 – 90 5 – 10 80 – 85 85 – 90 20 – 25
Goethite % 15 – 20 8 – 12 50 – 60 5 – 10 3-5 35 – 40
Clay % 10 – 15 3–5 30 – 35 3–5 1–2 4–5
Gibbsite % 5 – 10 1 2 10 – 15 1–2 1–2 1–2
Quartz % Traces Traces 3–4 5 – 10 ~1 35 – 40
Work index Kwh/short ton 11.72 13.00 -- 13.0 13.00 --
Wet Screen CL% 45 -- -- 98 -- --
Wet Screen Efficiency % 99.8 -- -- 90 -- --
Feed ball mill Efficiency% @ 10 WI 60.9 -- -- 78.2 -- --
Cyclone Efficiency% 60.3 -- 59.7 -- --
2
Thickener UTA m /t/d -- 0.0256 0.0392 -- 0.0215 0.0353
Conc. ball mill Efficiency% @ 10 WI -- 64.2 -- -- 73.1 --
2
VPA rate t/m /hr -- 0.196 -- -- 0.286 --
% cake moisture -- 9.0 -- -- 9.2 --
Power & water Rs/t 122.0 -- -- 93.0 -- --
Consumables Rs/t 89.7 -- -- 79.5 -- --
Salary wages Rs/t 44.9 -- -- 39.8 -- --
Ore Rs/t 400.0 -- -- 378.6 -- --
(Total ) operating cost Rs/t 656.6 -- -- 590.9 -- --

4. Conclusion

Base line auditing and short term modification of the iron ore concentrator increased the concentrate
productivity and reduced operating cost significantly. Based on the recommendation the company
removed bottlenecks like adding additional filters, regrind ball mill, running feed ball mill open circuit,
using de-sliming cyclones ahead of WHIMS to maintain pulp density and by-passing drum scrubber
and averting pumping of coarse pulps. This enabled in reducing the operating cost by Rs. 100/t and
reducing. Tails losses to <40% and increasing productivity to 250tph and concentrate yield to 75%.
The audit study indicated that there is scope for further improvement in productivity and cost reduction
by detailed auditing studies, which needs to be immediately taken up.

References

[1] K.T. Louis, B.P. Ravi, G.S. Kumar, M.I. Hussain, Indira Ravindran, A.B.K. Prasad, B.D. Ananth,
Y.N. Sontakke, N.P. Haran and C.S. Gundewar. Enhancing Throughput of an Iron Ore Dressing
Plant. Proc MPT 2010, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

[2] IBM, 2011: Iron and Steel-Vision 2020.

[3] IBM, 1997: Monograph of Iron ore. Nagpur.

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