The JKMRC’s commercial arm JKTech has entered into a joint venture with engineering consulting firm MIPAC, assisted by funding from the Queensland government, to develop a SAG mill load and power draw stabilisation control system.
According to JKTech senior consultant Dr Andrew Schroder, the basis for the new system is the dynamic JKDynaGrind comminution circuit simulator, which is the product of many years of JKMRC modelling and simulation work.
MIPAC’s joint venture agreement with JKTech aims to adapt the multi-purpose JKDynaGrind package to the task of SAG mill control and stabilisation, which will be marketed to the minerals industry as Mill Auto-Pilot.
“The system is expected to change the way SAG mills are controlled and managed by using powerful predictive models in the decision making process,” Dr Schroder said.
“Controlling the load in a SAG mill circuit is one of the most demanding tasks in plant operation.”
Dr Schroder explained that controlling SAG mill load determined the efficiency of grinding and the stability of all downstream processes.
He said that while Mill Auto-Pilot was primarily a load controller for the mill, it would also provide a wealth of understanding about the grinding process to the operator in real time.
“In effect, that means ‘right now’, not in a week or a month after a problem has occurred at the mill.”
A JKMRC graduate who is now principal process control engineer with MIPAC, Dr Andrew Thornton, said Mill Auto-Pilot is more than just a piece of software.
“Mill Auto-Pilot integrates MIPAC’s process control experience and JKTech’s modelling and simulation expertise,” Thornton said.
“Together we can offer a complete solution to grinding control problems.”
The Queensland Industry Development Scheme has provided financial support for the venture to bring the software to a beta release version. MIPAC has matched the Queensland government’s funding on a dollar for dollar basis.
The first sale of Mill Auto-Pilot software is scheduled for delivery to a copper mine in Australia early this year.