About the Media Charge_MBWT Spreadsheet ...

Scope :

The Media Charge_MBWT spreadsheet provides specific guidelines for the design, execution and results 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 :

W
t
= d(m
b
)/d(t) = - k
m
A
b


where :

W
t
= mass wear rate, kg/hr
m
b
= ball weight, kg; after t hours of being charged into the mill.
A
b
= exposed ball area, m
2

k
m
= 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 k
m
/ r
b
= - k
d


where :

d = size (diameter) of the grinding ball, mm; after t hours of being charged into the mill.
r
b
= grinding ball density, ton/m
3

k
d
= wear rate constant, mm/hr.

If k
d
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 = d
R
- k
d
t

where d
R
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.


Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office 5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM

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 [k
d
E
, mm/(kWh/ton)], defined through the expression :

k
d
= k
d
E
(P
b
/W
b
) / 1000

where the ratio (P
b
/W
b
) corresponds to the contribution (P
b
) of every ton of balls in the charge (W
b
) to the total power draw
(P
net
) of the mill. The underlying theoretical claim is that grinding balls will wear faster in a more energy intensive
environment. Therefore, k
d
E
is expected to be more insensitive than k
d
to variations in mill operating conditions (that may
affect P
b
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
d
E
.

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_SAG Mills).

In the above theoretical framework, a MBWT consists of weighing and tagging a limited number of balls of the type (or
types) under consideration charging them into the selected industrial test mill and recovering them after a predetermined
number of operating hours (t
test
). 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 k
d
for each ball may be computed from the simple expression :

k
d
= (d
R
- d
F
)/t
test


where d
F
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 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.

As a guide to new users, every relevant cell in the worksheets has brief inserted comments that render the whole
computation process self-explanatory.
Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office 5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM
spreadsheet provides specific guidelines for the design, execution and results interpretation of
Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office 5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM
Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office 5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM
Moly-Cop Tools
TM
Remarks
Mill
Power, kW
Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions 5,142 Balls
Diameter Length Mill Speed Charge Balls Interstitial Lift 3,344 Rocks
ft ft % Critical Filling,% Filling,% Filling,% Angle, () 1,491 Slurry
35.00 17.00 76.00 28.00 10.00 60.00 45.00 9,977 Net Total
rpm 9.84 3.00 % Losses
10,286 Gross Total
% Solids in the Mill 78.00 Charge Apparent
Ore Density, ton/m3 2.80 Volume, Ball Osize Interstitial Density
Slurry Density, ton/m3 2.01 m3 Charge Rocks Slurry ton/m3
Balls Density, ton/m3 7.75 129.94 215.79 140.33 62.55 3.222
Initial Ball Size, mm 125.0
Final Ball Size, mm 100.0 Free Kidney
Weight Loss, % 48.8 Height Above Angle,
Wear Rate Estimates, Charge, ft Degrees
mm/[KWH(balls)/ton(balls)] 3.952 with Grind-out 28.61 101.17
mm/hr 0.09418 without Grind-out 23.61 139.12
TEST DURATION, hrs 265
Recovery Available
Rate, Recovery
SAMPLE SIZE, N
TOT
(Minimum Number of Marked Balls per Group) m-hours/m
2
Hours
0.25 8.0
Option 1. Ball Picking over Exposed Mill Charge Surface
Recovery Recovery Exposed Exposed Marked Balls Sample
Target, Area, Marked Balls, Ball Layers, Concentration, Size,
# Balls m
2
# Balls/m
2
# # Balls/m
3
N
TOT
man-hours inspectors
w/ Grind-out 5 42.76 0.12 1.0 0.94 43 11 2
w/o Grind-out 5 51.87 0.10 1.0 0.77 100 13 3
Option 2. Same as Option 1, with one full-turn inching of the mill
Recovery Recovery Exposed Exposed Marked Balls Sample
Target, Area, Marked Balls, Ball Layers, Concentration, Size,
# Balls m
2
# Balls/m
2
# # Balls/m
3
N
TOT
man-hours inspectors
w/ Grind-out 5 91.63 0.05 1.0 0.44 20 23 4
w/o Grind-out 5 119.06 0.04 1.0 0.34 44 30 5
Practical Guidelines for
Labor
Required
Labor
Required
Base Case Example

Mill Charge Weight, tons
MARKED BALL WEAR TEST DESIGN
Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office
5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM
Moly-Cop Tools
TM
Remarks
Mill
Power, kW
Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions (Average for the MBWT) 5,142 Balls
Diameter Length Mill Speed Charge Balls Interstitial Lift 3,344 Rocks
ft ft % Critical Filling,% Filling,% Filling,% Angle, () 1,491 Slurry
35.00 17.00 76.00 28.00 10.00 60.00 45.00 9,977 Net Total
3.00 % Losses
10,286 Gross Total
% Solids in the Mill 78.00 Charge Apparent
Ore Density, ton/m3 2.80 Volume, Ball Osize Interstitial Density
Slurry Density, ton/m3 2.01 m3 Charge Rocks Slurry ton/m3
Balls Density, ton/m3 129.94 215.79 140.33 62.55 3.222
- Host Charge 7.75
- Test Group 7.75 Host Test
COMPARATIVE Charge Media
Operational Records during MBWT : PERFORMANCE (Actual) (Projected)
Test Duration, hrs 265 Sp. Energy, kWh/ton (net) 4.49 4.49
Ore Processed, ktons 590 Ball Consumption, gr/ton 300.7 328.8
Energy Cons., MWh (net) 2648 , gr/kWh (net) 67.0 73.3
Balls Charged, tons 177 , kg/hr 668.6 731.1 %
Make-up Ball Size, mm 125 0.0942 0.1030 Better
Scrap Size, mm 51 mm/(KWH/ton) 3.952 4.322 (9.36)
Ball Group Identification :
TAG Initial Initial Final Final
# Weight, gr Size, mm Weight, gr Size, mm mm/hr mm/(KWH/ton)
A3 13998.0 151.1 7808.4 124.4 0.1006 4.223
A10 13780.0 150.3 7444.8 122.4 0.1051 4.409
A16 13702.0 150.0 7322.3 121.7 0.1065 4.471
A23 13810.0 150.4 7755.9 124.1 0.0991 4.160
A34 14105.0 151.5 7879.5 124.8 0.1007 4.225
A38 13721.0 150.1 7364.5 122.0 0.1059 4.445














Average 0.1030 4.322
Std. Dev. 0.0032 0.134
Coeff. of Variation, % 3.11
Wear Rate Constant
MARKED BALL WEAR TEST RESULTS
Group B : Alternative Product
WR Constant, mm/hr
Base Case Example

Mill Charge Weight, tons
Moly-Cop Tools / 230034521.xls.ms_office
5/22/2014 / 1:36 PM