PRESENTATION ON THE DMS PLANT

COMPILED BY: NGONIDZASHE BAKASA

INSTITUTION: ZIMBABWE SCHOOL OFMINES

DATED: 04/07/2018
SUMMARY
This DMS presentation deliberates mainly on the objectives of the process ,the process flow description ,the control philosophy, the
general problems that are faced during operation and their mitigatory measures.
OBJECTIVES
 To separate targeted minerals from other mineral species utilizing differences in density.
 To produce a finished marketable product which falls in specification of the customer(HAP,LAP,STD PET,) for example:
SPECIFICATIONS FOR STANDARD PETALITE
%Li2O %K2O %Na2O AL20 3% %SiO2 %Fe2O3 TOTAL
TYPICAL 4.20 0.26 0.7 16.5 76.5 0.040
RANGE 4.05-4.75 0.05-0.5 0.15-1.00 16.00-17.8 74-79 0.01-0,05

 To pre-concentrate the mineral for down stream processes(milling).

 To avoid media (magnetite) loss.
 To dispose tailings in such a way which does not harm the environment.

Risk
Working on heights
Stored energy (Tensioned CVB snapping)
Flying particles and objects(produced by
the nozzle sprays)
Uneven surfaces (spillages on CVB3)
Heavy material lifting and Handling
(pushing the swinging conveyor belt)
Noise (Noise generated by vibrating
screens in operation over 90Db)
SECTIONAL SHE ASPECTS
Effect
 Falling from heights
 Dropping tools onto passerby
 Unexpected energy release
 Body injury
 Eye irritation
 Damaging of the cornea and the
conjunctiva of the eye.
 Tripping and falling leading to injury.
 Back injury
 Diseases such as hypertension and
ischemic heart disease
 Eardrum damages
Mitigation
 Inspection of walk ways and hand rails
 Wear hard hat
 Ensure engineering department releases
emerging sources before commencing
maintenance.
 Wear safety goggles
 Annual medical fitness examination.
 Clear spillage as quickly as possible.
 Follow correct working procedure
 Wear hearing protection (ear plugs or muffs).
 Monitor noise levels around the plant
PROCESSFLOW DESCRIPTION
 OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS
The operating parameters vary depending with the type of ore being treaded. Below are the fundamental ranges.
Feed rate 50-70 Tph (varies by the spigot size and the size fraction )
Set point 2.25-2.4 kg/m3 (determined by merely assessing the quality of separation)
Water pressure 700-800 Kpa
Cyclone pressure 30.0-50.5 Kpa
S.G Differentials 0.7-1.2 Kg/m3

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MAJOR EQUIPMENT

Feed prep screen 1.8×4.8m ;2mm apertured panels

Floats double screen 1.3×5.1m ;0.8mm apertured panels
Sinks double screen 1.3×5.1m ;0.8mm apertured panels
Separating cyclones C420, 94mm Spigot size, 80Kpa
Wet Drum separators: Primary 915×1220mm, 1400rpm capacity, coupled with 15Kw
Secondary 915×610 mm, 1400rpm capacity, 15Kw
 CONTROL PHILOSOPHY AND PLANT OPTIMIZATION
Activity/setup
 An interlock system is incorporated in the conveyor belt systems (belts downstream
will not start if the belts up stream have not started)
 The conveyor belts are fitted with pull wires
 A siren is rung before starting any operation
 Particle size distribution analysis (Met services)
 Visual monitoring of the skirting that is being produce the cyclone underflow
 Regular check of screen panels breakage or damage
 Densities of all the streams are checked after every hour manually
 Scheduled weekly plant maintenance (spigots, oiling, greasing, CVB inspection,
pumps, classifier)
 Interval operational parameter logging (weight meter readings, cyclone pressure,
manual and automatic S.G recordings, yields)
 Maintaining an optimum and consistent feedrate
 Physical determination
 Hand sorting
 Regular checks on the water pressure
Reason
 To avoid overloading of the machinery hence spillages (Downtime)
 To allow emergency belt stoppage
 To alert everyone and avoid accidents
 Determine the feed partitioning into the two plants
 Determine crushing efficiency
 Cyclone underflow should be a mirror image angle of the cone of the cyclones
slope(small spigots or low pressure results in roping, large spigot produces an
excessive spread)
 Holes in panels may lead to thickening cyclone choke-up or thickener pipeline choke
up
 So to eliminate any possibilities of errors in the values of density that is recorded by
the instruments
 To assess the differentials (0.1 differential is more efficient)
 Plant optimization measure (keep accessories intact)
 For easy analysis of the operations and assessment of the plant efficiency
 For future reference
 To avoid over capacitating the separating cyclones (choke-ups)
 The cyclones separate more efficiently with a constant feed
 To assess the efficiency of separation (reject floating, floats sinking)
 To remove foreign objects and contaminant mineral species in the product stream.
 To avoid media loss through inadequate washing
 To avoid contamination of product (high iron)

Problem
Cyclone choke-ups
Fluctuations in feed on the feed
preparation screen
Screen blockage, no proper
draining
Inadequate water supply on the
screens
Thickening cyclone and thickener
pipeline choke-up
Rejects reporting to the product
stream (contaminants floating)
Product being rejected (std pet
reporting to sinks)
Dense meter malfunctioning
TROUBLESHOOTING
Cause Mitigation
 New spigots with a small diameter mounted (95mm).Leads to  Hosing via the inspection chamber
build up.
 High feed rate causes build up at the spigots (60tph optimum)
 Appearance of oversize material in the cyclones lead to the
blockage of the spigots
 Depletion of ore directly oriented to the vibro feeder  Request for ore feeding by a front end loader
 Type of ore being treated  De-blind the screen to maintain the aperture size
 Contamination by clay particles
 Water valves not opened  Ensure water valves are open.
 Water pressure too low  Verify water pressure
 Spray nozzles blocked  Unblock spray nozzles
 Holes in screen panels  Check condition of screen panels and rectify
 Operating at a relatively high S.G  Lower the S.G set point
 Automation system not functional  Perform hand sorting
 Operating at a low S.G  Raise the S.G set point
 Inadequate media in the plant to meet the set point  Charge media
 System loses memory due to power cut  Request for calibration from the instruments
department
 DOWNTIME

MAJOR DOWNTIME DITSRIBUTION

11%
38%
14%

10%

6%
15%
6%

38%-Separating Cyclones choke-up (due to high feedrate, oversize material, small spigot diameter)
11%-Thickening cyclone and thickening pipeline choke-up (due to wearing of screen panels on the drain side)
6%-Wing tank choke-up ( due to high pressure of the circulating media)
10%-Media correction (due to power cut )
6%-Slimes not being discarded (as a result of excessive rains soaking up the slimes discharge pump at the thickener section thus the
slimes .
6%-No feed supply [no transport (front end loader) to directly introduce feed onto the vibro feeder]
14%-Unplanned maintenance (machinery faulty/broken-down)
 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The weight meters should regularly be calibrated to give correct tonnages particularly the one on conveyor belt 2.
2. A new weightometer should be installed on conveyor belt 5 for more accurate tonnages and yield figures.
3. I suggest that 6mm apertured screen panels be used on the feed preparation screen rather than 2mm screen panel. (Fines in the DMS1
plant leads to media carry over, reduction in S.G, poor separation).
4. Impact plates should be mounted on the double screens since apertured screen panels easily wear out.
5. I suggest that coarse magnetite from Dorowa should be used in the DMS1 plant than fine magnetite, since separation is done at a high
S.G and it’s hard to raise the S.G when using fine magnetite.
6. Inspection of conveyor belts should be done regularly and rollers should be repaired since some of them have become almost static
therefore impairing belt life as well as reducing friction which affects mass flow rates (conveyor belt 7).

7. Provision of adequate lighting services in the plant (Density sample collection point).
THE END