Moly-Cop Tools, Version 2.0 About the Media Charge_MBWT_Ball Mills Spreadsheet ...

Scope : The Media Charge_MBWT_Ball Mills spreadsheet provides specific guidelines for the design, execution and data interpretation of a Marked Ball Wear Test (MBWT), as a standard procedure for the evaluation of alternative varieties of grinding media to be utilized in conventional and semiautogenous mineral grinding tumbling mills.

Theoretical Framework : The most widely accepted mathematical description of the gradual consumption process experienced by a grinding ball inside a tumbling mill is known as the Linear Wear Theory, by which the mass rate of consumption of a grinding ball is described as directly proportional to the surface area exposed by such ball to the various wear mechanisms (abrasion and/or corrosion) active in the mill charge environment : Wt = d(mb)/d(t) = - km Ab where : Wt mb Ab km = mass wear rate, kg/hr = ball weight, kg; after t hours of being charged into the mill. = exposed ball area, m 2 = mass wear rate constant, kg/hr/m 2.

Equivalently, taking into account the geometry of the grinding body (sphere or cylinder), one obtains : d(d)/d(t) = - 2 km / rb = - kd where : d rb kd = size (diameter) of the grinding ball, mm; after t hours of being charged into the mill. = grinding ball density, ton/m 3 = wear rate constant, mm/hr.

If kd is to remain unaffected by the extent of wear; that is, k d is not a function of the current ball size d - a condition satisfied by most grinding media varieties and normally referred to as Linear Wear Kinetics - the above expression may be simply integrated to obtain : d = dR - kd t where dR represents the initial size of the balls. For any given grinding media variety, the constant k d becomes an indicator of its relative quality, as compared to other alternative products.

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Moly-Cop Tools, Version 2.0 About the Media Charge_MBWT_Ball Mills Spreadsheet ...

By direct analogy to mineral particle breakage kinetics, it is postulated that an even more representative and scaleable quality indicator is the Energy Specific Wear Rate Constant [kdE, mm/(kWh/ton)], defined through the expression : kd = kdE (Pb/Wb) / 1000 where the ratio (Pb/W b) corresponds to the contribution (Pb) of every ton of balls in the charge (W b) to the total power draw (Pnet) of the mill. The underlying theoretical claim is that grinding balls will wear faster in a more energy intensive environment. Therefore, kdE is expected to be more insensitive than k d to variations in mill operating conditions (that may affect Pb and/or W b). As a practical evaluation criterion, it should be then accepted that the top quality grinding media, in any given application, will be the one that exhibits the lowest value of the wear rate constant k dE. The above expression creates the need for a theoretical representation of the Mill Power Draw and how each component of the mill charge (balls, rocks and slurry) contribute to this power demand. The simple Hogg and Fuerstenau model serves such purpose well (see Spreadsheet Mill Power_Ball Mills). In the above theoretical framework, a MBWT consists of weighing and tagging a limited number of balls (Test Group) of the type (or types) under consideration charging them into the selected industrial test mill and recovering as many of them as possible, after a predetermined number of operating hours (ttest). The weight loss experienced by each marked ball may then be extrapolated to its expected performance - in terms of wear resistance (durability) - in an eventual plant application. After recovery, the Linear Wear Rate Constant kd for each ball may be computed from the simple expression : kd = (dR - dF)/ttest where dF represents the final diameter of the ball upon recovery.

Data Input : All data required for the calculation must be defined in each corresponding unprotected white background cell of the here attached Wear Rate_Host Charge, Test_Design or Data_Analysis worksheets. Gray background cells contain the results of the corresponding formulas there defined and are protected to avoid any accidental editing. When using the Data_Analyis worksheet, different Test Groups of balls must be analyzed in separate copies of this master worksheet. As a guide to new users, every relevant cell in the worksheets has brief inserted comments that render the whole computation process self-explanatory.

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(Version 2.0) DETERMINATION OF WEAR RATE CONSTANTS Special Case : BALL MILLS

Remarks

Base Case Example

Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions Eff. Diameter Eff. Length Mill Speed ft ft % Critical 18.50 22.00 72.00 rpm 12.82 % Solids in the Mill Ore Density, ton/m3 Slurry Density, ton/m3 Balls Density, ton/m3 Ore Feedrate, ton/hr ton/day Energy, kWh/ton (ore) Make-up Ball Size, mm Scrap Size, mm Spec. Area, m2/m3 (app) Total Charge Area, m2 Purge Time, hrs 72.00 2.80 1.86 7.75 400.0 9,312 10.79 75.0 12.0 63.78 4067 5,538

Charge Filling,% 38.00

Balls Interstitial Filling,% Slurry Filling,% 38.00 100.00 % Utilization 97.00 Charge Volume, m3 63.76

Lift Angle, () 35.0 hr/month 698

Power, kW 3,348 0 536 3,885 10.00 4,316 3,014

Balls Overfilling Slurry Net Total % Losses Gross Total MWh/month Apparent Density ton/m3 5.395

Mill Charge Weight, tons Ball Slurry Charge Interstitial above Balls 296.48 47.48 0.00

gr/ton 450.0

Ball Recharge Rate gr/kWh (gross) gr/kWh (balls) 41.70 53.76 Wear Rate Constants, mm/[kWh(balls)/ton(balls)] mm/hr

Kg/hr 180.0

tons/month 126

1.007 0.0114

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Moly-Cop Tools TM (Version 2.0) Practical Guidelines for MARKED BALL WEAR TEST DESIGN
Remarks Base Case Example

Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions Eff. Diameter Eff. Length Mill Speed ft ft % Critical 18.50 22.00 72.00 rpm 12.82

Charge Filling,% 38.00

Balls Interstitial Filling,% Slurry Filling,% 38.00 100.00

Lift Angle, () 35.00

Mill Power, kW 3,348 0 536 3,885 10.00 4,316

Balls Rocks Slurry Net Total % Losses Gross Total Apparent Density ton/m3 5.395

% Solids in the Mill Ore Density, ton/m3 Slurry Density, ton/m3 Balls Density, ton/m3 Initial Ball Size, mm Final Ball Size, mm Weight Loss, % Wear Rate Estimates, mm/[KWH(balls)/ton(balls)] mm/hr TEST DURATION, hrs

72.00 2.80 1.86 7.75 75.0 60.0 48.8 1.007 0.01138 1319

Charge Volume, m3 63.76

Mill Charge Weight, tons Ball Slurry Charge Interstitial above Balls 296.48 0.00 47.48

Free Height Above Charge, ft 11.01

Kidney Angle, Degrees 158.04

SAMPLE SIZE, NTOT (Minimum Number of Marked Balls per Group) Option 1. Ball Picking over Exposed Mill Charge Surface Recovery Recovery Exposed Exposed Marked Balls Target, Area, Marked Balls, Ball Layers, Concentration, m2 # Balls/m2 # Balls/m3 # Balls # 5 37.17 0.13 1.0 1.79

Recovery Rate, m-hours/m2 0.25 Sample Size, NTOT 114

Available Recovery Hours 8.0 Required Labor Man-hrs Inspectors 9 2

Option 2.

Same as Option 1, with one full-turn inching of the mill Recovery Recovery Exposed Exposed Marked Balls Target, Area, Marked Balls, Ball Layers, Concentration, m2 # Balls/m2 # Balls/m3 # Balls # 5 89.38 0.06 1.0 0.75

Sample Size, NTOT 48

Required Labor Man-hrs Inspectors 22 4

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(Version 2.0) MARKED BALL WEAR TEST RESULTS

Remarks

Base Case Example

Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions (Actual Average for the MBWT) Eff. Diameter Eff. Length Mill Speed Charge Balls Interstitial ft ft % Critical Filling,% Filling,% Slurry Filling,% 18.50 22.00 72.00 38.00 38.00 100.00 rpm 12.82

Lift Angle, () 31.1

Mill Power, kW 3,013 0 483 3,496 10.00 3,885

Balls Rocks Slurry Net Total % Losses Gross Total Apparent Density ton/m3 5.395

% Solids in the Mill Ore Density, ton/m3 Slurry Density, ton/m3 Balls Density, ton/m3 - Host Charge - Test Group Operational Records during MBWT : Test Duration, hrs Ore Processed, ktons Energy Cons., MWh (net) Balls Charged, tons Make-up Ball Size, mm Scrap Size, mm Ball Group Identification :
TAG # B03 B10 B16 B23 B34 B38

72.00 2.80 1.86 7.75 7.75

Charge Volume, m3 63.76

Mill Charge Weight, tons Ball Osize Interstitial Charge Rocks Slurry 296.48 0.00 47.48 Host Charge (Actual) 9.38 453.1 48.3 187.5 0.0119 1.166 Test Media (Projected) 9.38 548.7 58.5 204.4 0.0130 1.276

COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE 1365 565 5302 256 75 12 Sp. Energy, kWh/ton (net) Ball Consumption, gr/ton , gr/kWh (net) , kg/hr WR Constant, mm/hr mm/(kWh/ton)

% Better (9.44)

Group B : Alternative Product

Initial Weight, gr 1811.0 1753.0 1702.0 1744.0 1659.0 1732.0 Initial Size, mm 76.4 75.6 74.9 75.5 74.2 75.3 Final Weight, gr 821.0 782.0 764.0 777.0 731.0 780.0 Final Size, mm 58.7 57.8 57.3 57.6 56.5 57.7 mm/hr Wear Rate Constant mm/(KWH/ton) 0.0130 0.0131 0.0129 0.0131 0.0130 0.0129 1.277 1.285 1.264 1.285 1.279 1.267

Average Std. Dev. Coeff. of Variation, %

75.3 0.74 0.98

0.0130 0.0001 0.70

1.276 0.009 0.70

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