Smart Screening System (S3) In Taconite Processing

Allaei, Daryoush ; Mohammed, Asim Syed ; Tarnowski, David

Q.R.D.C., Inc.

关键词: Design;    32 Energy Conservation, Consumption, And Utilization;    Energy Efficiency;    Ore Processing;    Iron Oxides;   

DOI  :  10.2172/882483
RP-ID  :  none
RP-ID  :  FC26-02NT41470
RP-ID  :  882483

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The conventional vibrating machines used in processing plants have had undesirable high noise and vibration levels. They also have had unsatisfactorily low screening efficiency, high energy consumption, high maintenance cost, low productivity, and poor worker safety. These conventional vibrating machines have been used in most every processing plant. Most of the current material separation technology uses heavy and inefficient electric motors with an unbalance rotating mass to generate the shaking. In addition to being excessively noisy, inefficient, and high-maintenance, these vibrating machines are often the bottleneck in the entire process. Furthermore, these motors, along with the vibrating machines and supporting structure, shake other machines and structures in the vicinity. The latter increases maintenance costs while reducing worker health and safety. The conventional vibrating fine screens at taconite processing plants have had the same problems as those listed above. This has resulted in lower screening efficiency, higher energy and maintenance cost, and lower productivity and workers safety concerns. The focus of this work is on the design of a high performance screening machine suitable for taconite processing plants. SmartScreens{trademark} technology uses miniaturized motors, based on smart materials, to generate the shaking. The underlying technologies are Energy Flow Control{trademark} and Vibration Control by Confinement{trademark}. These concepts are used to direct energy flow and confine energy efficiently and effectively to the screen function. The SmartScreens{trademark} technology addresses problems related to noise and vibration, screening efficiency, productivity, and maintenance cost and worker safety. Successful development of SmartScreens{trademark} technology will bring drastic changes to the screening and physical separation industry. The final designs for key components of the SmartScreens{trademark} have been developed. The key components include smart motor and associated electronics, resonators, and supporting structural elements. It is shown that the smart motors have an acceptable life and performance. Resonator (or motion amplifier) designs are selected based on the final system requirement and vibration characteristics. All the components for a fully functional prototype are fabricated. The system is assembled and tested under laboratory and field conditions. The lab results are promising and the field test resulted in system performance drop due to plant structure not able to provide the required stiffness. The PZT-based Smart Motors performed better than expected. None of the Smart Motors failed during testing and the results were very encouraging. The development program is on schedule. Supporting structure was modified to improve system rigidity and integrity to help improve overall system performance. The improved supporting structure was fabricated and tested in the lab and in field. Results showed a significant improvement in reducing undesirable supporting structure vibration, better system performance and ease of installation. We plan to work on system installation sensitivity to relax plant structure foundation requirement. This would be necessary for the PZT-based system to perform better and not loose energy into the plant structure.