CA2440311C - Variable gap crusher - Google Patents
Variable gap crusher Download PDFInfo
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- CA2440311C CA2440311C CA002440311A CA2440311A CA2440311C CA 2440311 C CA2440311 C CA 2440311C CA 002440311 A CA002440311 A CA 002440311A CA 2440311 A CA2440311 A CA 2440311A CA 2440311 C CA2440311 C CA 2440311C
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- crusher
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- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000005549 size reduction Methods 0.000 claims description 5
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000012634 optical imaging Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000005065 mining Methods 0.000 abstract description 15
- 239000003027 oil sand Substances 0.000 description 29
- 239000002002 slurry Substances 0.000 description 12
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 8
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 6
- 239000004576 sand Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000012216 screening Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000011217 control strategy Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000026676 system process Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000009825 accumulation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000010426 asphalt Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000005086 pumping Methods 0.000 description 2
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910000831 Steel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000000454 anti-cipatory effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003247 decreasing effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008030 elimination Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000003379 elimination reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007613 environmental effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002349 favourable effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005007 materials handling Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009419 refurbishment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011435 rock Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000010959 steel Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005303 weighing Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B02—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING; PREPARATORY TREATMENT OF GRAIN FOR MILLING
- B02C—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN
- B02C4/00—Crushing or disintegrating by roller mills
- B02C4/02—Crushing or disintegrating by roller mills with two or more rollers
- B02C4/08—Crushing or disintegrating by roller mills with two or more rollers with co-operating corrugated or toothed crushing-rollers
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B02—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING; PREPARATORY TREATMENT OF GRAIN FOR MILLING
- B02C—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN
- B02C21/00—Disintegrating plant with or without drying of the material
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B02—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING; PREPARATORY TREATMENT OF GRAIN FOR MILLING
- B02C—CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING IN GENERAL; MILLING GRAIN
- B02C4/00—Crushing or disintegrating by roller mills
- B02C4/28—Details
- B02C4/32—Adjusting, applying pressure to, or controlling the distance between, milling members
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Food Science & Technology (AREA)
- Crushing And Grinding (AREA)
- Disintegrating Or Milling (AREA)
Abstract
In the field of mining an improved dual-roll crusher design particularly suited to the preparation of a mining ore for a subsequent processing step. The gap of a dual-roll crusher fitted with slide and actuation means can be actively controlled during operation to better suit characteristics of the ore such as variable lump size or other needs such as balancing load between series-wise crushers.
Description
1 Title: VARIABLE GAP CRllShIER
2
3 Introduction and Prior Art
4 In the field of mining the technology of Oil-sand recovery and processing is unique to the 6 deposits found in Northern Alberta, Canada in terms of the evolution of the process and 7 equipment suitable for mining and processing the oil-sand. In the oil-sand mine, 8 equipment used to excavate and transport the run-of-mine (ROM) oil-sand ore is as 9 large in scale as at any world-wide mining operations, typically using electric-hydraulic shovels of up to 62 cubic metre capacity buckets loading into haulage trucks of up to 400 11 tonnes capacity to transport the ROM oil-sand ore to a centralized oil-sand slurry 12 preparation facility.
14 Due to the massive scale of the mining equipment and the characteristics of the oil-sand itself, the ore received from the mining operation typically contains a very large range of 16 lump sizes spanning from 3,500 mm and weighing up to 30 tonnes down to sand 17 particles of a few millimeters. The ROM ore typically contains up to 30%
moisture, 2%
18 to 18% bitumen and 45% to 55% sand content by weight and also contains amounts of 19 siltstone rock having an unconfined compressive strength of 165 to 221 MPa as a waste component.
22 The harsh environmental conditions at oil-sand operations encompass an ambient 23 temperature range from +35 degrees Celsius down to -51 degrees Celsius. All mining 24 and slurry preparation equipment is required to function with unhindered effectiveness and productivity under these ambient conditions. Materials handling properties of the 26 ROM ore are highly variable over this temperature range. 'The oil-sand ore comprises 27 frozen, highly abrasive lumps in winter but exhibits sticky, cohesive behaviour in summer, 28 largely due to the influence of the contained moisture and bitumen components.
A slurry preparation process step is typically required to prepare all ROM ore to be 31 suitable for long-distance transport as a water-based slurry to a remote upgrading facility, 32 at single-stream production rates exceeding 10,000 tonnes per hour of ROM
oil-sand.
33 Typical prerequisites for efficient slurry pumping are crushing the oil-sand ore to minus 1 100 mm followed by the preparation of a homogeneous water slurry, typically with a 2 consistency of about 64% solids by weight at a specific gravity of 1.5.
4 Current practice for oil-sand slurry preparation in the industry requires the use of multiple series-wise equipment processing steps to accomplish controlled ore feeding, screening 6 and crushing prior to slurry pipelining. Disadvantages of the prior art for oil-sand slurry 7 preparation include a primary constraint of requiring a screening process step and oil-8 sand re-handling steps to ensure control of the maximum size of lumps. The variable 9 gap crushing innovations disclosed in this specification potentially enable acceptable oil-sand lump size reduction to be achieved and controlled by crushing steps rather than by 11 screening steps.
13 It is well known in the prior art to use two crushing steps in series to handle a large lump 14 size reduction ratio. In the case of oil-sand the crushers would typically be arranged to reduce lumps from 2,500 mm down to 100 mm (reduction ratio of 25 to 1 ).
Conventional 16 practice would use a primary crushing step of, for example, from 2,500 mm down to 600 17 mm (ratio 4.2 to 1 ) by setting the primary crusher roll gap to 600 mm, followed by a 18 secondary crushing step of, for example, 600 mm down to 100 mm (ratio 6 to 1 ) by 19 setting the secondary crusher roll gap to 100 mm. This is a necessary practice both to balance the crushing work load between the two series-wise crushing machines and to 21 enable the rolls to be able to "grab" the maximum lump size presented to each crushing 22 step. The geometrical concept of an adequate "pinch angle" between the rolls to enable 23 the rolls to "grab" a given maximum lump size is a function both of lump size and gap 24 width between the rolls for given roll diameters.
26 Also well known in the art is the random nature of particle or lump size distributions 27 arising from the mining process, in which although a very large fraction of the ore will 28 comprise lump sizes smaller than the expected maximum 2,500 mm, larger lump sizes 29 wiH occur from time to time. A conventional primary crusher used in oil-sand with the roll gap set to 600 mm and roll diameters of 3,000 mm, for example, will be able to "grab" a 31 2,500 mm Pump (reduction ratio 4.2 to 1 ) with minimal interference occurring to the 32 overall crushing throughput, but if a 3,500 mm or larger lump presented itself in the feed 33 to the crusher (reduction ratio > 5.8 to 1 ) there would likely be some delay and difficulty 1 for the crusher rolls to be able to "grab" the lump, thus causing obstruction of flow and 2 potential spillage of feed requiring a shut-down of the ore crushing operation.
4 For prior art crushers a possible option to improve the handling of large lump sizes would be to set a large gap width at the primary crusher, thereby achieving a more 6 favourable "nip angle" for large lumps. This solution is highly limited in that it not only 7 throws a much higher percentage of the crushing duty onto the secondary crusher but 8 also negatively impacts the secondary crushing reduction ratio. A second option is to 9 screen the ore stream feeding one of the crushing stages to control the lump size reduction ratio presented to that crushing stage. This known practice requires additional 11 equipment and structure to be added to the crushing plant and results in the unwanted 12 accumulation of reject, oversize ore lumps requiring separate handling.
Alternatively it is 13 known to install auxiliary equipment to break the large lumps using mechanical energy or 14 to employ some type of mechanical grapple to remove the lump from the throat of the crusher. Both of these solutions entail the addition of capital-intensive equipment and 16 steel structure and require semi-continuous operator attention and intervention . These 17 are known disadvantages of the prior art and also present serious safety hazards to 18 personnel in the mining industry as well as frequently causing spill and loss of production.
Successfully controlling the maximum lump size in the run-of-mine oil-sand ore 21 preparation process is an essential requirement to facilitate subsequent oil-sand slurry 22 pipeline transportation. The minimum oil-sand slurry pumping velocity is dictated by 23 maximum lump size handled and requires effective control to minimize the operating risk 24 of plugging the final oil-sand slurry delivery pipeline.
26 Also, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that whether or not the crushing 27 service is in oil-sand or in other types of mining ores there is always a strict requirement 28 to control maximum lump size so as to ensure the success of the subsequent processing 29 step.
31 With Reference to the Figures:
33 Figure 1 is a simplified isometric view of a dual-roll crusher assembly incorporating 34 preferred embodiments of the invention;
2 Figure 2 is a simplified elevation view of the dual-roll crusher assembly of Figure 1 3 showing more clearly the relationship of the crusher rolls and a simulated lump to be 4 crushed.
6 Figure 3 is a simplified elevation view of the dual-roll crusher assembly of Figure 2 7 shawing an enlarged gap between the crusher rolls.
9 Figure 4 is a schematic crushing equipment system process flowsheet using two, series-wise crushers in an improved ore preparation plant for the preparation of run-of mine oil-11 sand ore for a subsequent processing step.
13 In Figure 1, a dual-roll crusher assembly is shown mounted on a structural base 1 14 comprising a fixed roll 2 and a movable roll 3, with projecting shaft 4 on the fixed roll for mounting a drive means (not Shawn) and projecting shaft 5 on the movable roll for 16 mounting a drive means (not spawn), bath rolls being held by the structural base 1 in a 17 substantially parallel relationship with each other and in a substantially horizontal plane 18 and having a nominal gap 6 maintained between them. Fixed crusher roll 2 is arranged 19 with bearing means 7 in bearing holder means 8 at each end thereof and movable roll 3 is arranged with bearing means 9 (not shown) in bearing holder means 10 at each end 21 thereof. Bearing holder means 10 is arranged with slide means 1 ~1 at its base and 22 coupling means 12 enabling attachment of actuator means 13 which can be mativated to 23 slide the movable pulley assembly to the left or to the right, effectively increasing ar 24 decreasing the nominal gap 6 between the rolls. A spherical shape 14 is illustrated above the gap between the crusher rolls 2 and 3 to simulate a lump of run-of-mine ore 26 which can be drawn into the crushing zone above and through the gap by the teeth on 27 the rolls and forced to pass through the gap. The shape 14 can typically be significantly 28 larger in diameter than the nominal gap width between the crusher rolls.
In Figure 2 the crusher assembly mounted on base 1 having fixed roll 2 and movable roll 31 3 is shown with a simulated run-of mine ore lump 14 entering the crushing zone between 32 the two rolls. The nip angle 15 is shown to be a geometrical relationship between the 33 lump size, the roll diameter and the gap width between the rolls. In the illustration, teeth 34 on the surface of the rolls are shown as intermeshing in the gap.
2 In Figure 3 the effect of increasing the gap by movement of movable roll 3 to the left is to 3 allow lump 14 to drop further into the crushing zone, thus enabling the teeth on the rolls 4 to more easily "grab" the lump and force it into the crushing zone and through the gap.
6 In Figure 4 mine haulage truck 16 dumps run-of-mine ore into receiving hopper 17 from 7 which reclaim conveyor 18 withdraws run-of-mine ore and feeds it via chute 19 to 8 primary crusher 20 to create primary crushed ore. The primary crushed ore passes 9 through chute 21 to conveyor 22 feeding via chute 23 to secondary crusher 24 to create secondary crushed ore. The secondary crushed ore passes through chute 25 to 11 conveyor 26 and chute 27 to subsequent process step 28.
13 In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the feed hopper side plates controlling feed to the crusher have 14 been omitted for clarity, but it will otherwise be clear that the only possibility of the full stream of ore passing through the crusher is that all lumps first be reduced by the rolls to 16 a size equal to or less than the nominal crusher gap width between the rolls. In tact, the 17 basic presumption of the successful operation of the process flowsheet in Figure 4 is 18 that the full stream of run-of-mine ore will be reduced sufficiently in size after passing 19 through the crushing equipment system illustrated in the flowsheet to be suitable for a subsequent processing step 28.
22 As explained in conjunction with the Figures the preferred embodiments of the present 23 invention for the dual-roll crusher are the provision of bearing holder slides and actuation 24 means for adjusting the position of the movable roll so as to obtain an operable "variable gap" crusher. For conventional crushers the roll gap can only be changed manually 26 while the crusher is shut-down. Control of the crusher gap width has never been 27 available as an operating parameter in the prior art. The corollary provision of sensing 28 means and logical interpretation means, such as a known industrial programmable lagic 29 controller with pre-programmed set-points, enables closed loop crushing control strategies to be implemented based upon measurement of selected characteristics of 31 the oil-sand ore in combination with selected operating parameters of the crushing 32 equipment system itself, thereby to incrementally increase or decrease the crusher roll 33 gap and thereby to control the crushing operation in a beneficial way.
14 Due to the massive scale of the mining equipment and the characteristics of the oil-sand itself, the ore received from the mining operation typically contains a very large range of 16 lump sizes spanning from 3,500 mm and weighing up to 30 tonnes down to sand 17 particles of a few millimeters. The ROM ore typically contains up to 30%
moisture, 2%
18 to 18% bitumen and 45% to 55% sand content by weight and also contains amounts of 19 siltstone rock having an unconfined compressive strength of 165 to 221 MPa as a waste component.
22 The harsh environmental conditions at oil-sand operations encompass an ambient 23 temperature range from +35 degrees Celsius down to -51 degrees Celsius. All mining 24 and slurry preparation equipment is required to function with unhindered effectiveness and productivity under these ambient conditions. Materials handling properties of the 26 ROM ore are highly variable over this temperature range. 'The oil-sand ore comprises 27 frozen, highly abrasive lumps in winter but exhibits sticky, cohesive behaviour in summer, 28 largely due to the influence of the contained moisture and bitumen components.
A slurry preparation process step is typically required to prepare all ROM ore to be 31 suitable for long-distance transport as a water-based slurry to a remote upgrading facility, 32 at single-stream production rates exceeding 10,000 tonnes per hour of ROM
oil-sand.
33 Typical prerequisites for efficient slurry pumping are crushing the oil-sand ore to minus 1 100 mm followed by the preparation of a homogeneous water slurry, typically with a 2 consistency of about 64% solids by weight at a specific gravity of 1.5.
4 Current practice for oil-sand slurry preparation in the industry requires the use of multiple series-wise equipment processing steps to accomplish controlled ore feeding, screening 6 and crushing prior to slurry pipelining. Disadvantages of the prior art for oil-sand slurry 7 preparation include a primary constraint of requiring a screening process step and oil-8 sand re-handling steps to ensure control of the maximum size of lumps. The variable 9 gap crushing innovations disclosed in this specification potentially enable acceptable oil-sand lump size reduction to be achieved and controlled by crushing steps rather than by 11 screening steps.
13 It is well known in the prior art to use two crushing steps in series to handle a large lump 14 size reduction ratio. In the case of oil-sand the crushers would typically be arranged to reduce lumps from 2,500 mm down to 100 mm (reduction ratio of 25 to 1 ).
Conventional 16 practice would use a primary crushing step of, for example, from 2,500 mm down to 600 17 mm (ratio 4.2 to 1 ) by setting the primary crusher roll gap to 600 mm, followed by a 18 secondary crushing step of, for example, 600 mm down to 100 mm (ratio 6 to 1 ) by 19 setting the secondary crusher roll gap to 100 mm. This is a necessary practice both to balance the crushing work load between the two series-wise crushing machines and to 21 enable the rolls to be able to "grab" the maximum lump size presented to each crushing 22 step. The geometrical concept of an adequate "pinch angle" between the rolls to enable 23 the rolls to "grab" a given maximum lump size is a function both of lump size and gap 24 width between the rolls for given roll diameters.
26 Also well known in the art is the random nature of particle or lump size distributions 27 arising from the mining process, in which although a very large fraction of the ore will 28 comprise lump sizes smaller than the expected maximum 2,500 mm, larger lump sizes 29 wiH occur from time to time. A conventional primary crusher used in oil-sand with the roll gap set to 600 mm and roll diameters of 3,000 mm, for example, will be able to "grab" a 31 2,500 mm Pump (reduction ratio 4.2 to 1 ) with minimal interference occurring to the 32 overall crushing throughput, but if a 3,500 mm or larger lump presented itself in the feed 33 to the crusher (reduction ratio > 5.8 to 1 ) there would likely be some delay and difficulty 1 for the crusher rolls to be able to "grab" the lump, thus causing obstruction of flow and 2 potential spillage of feed requiring a shut-down of the ore crushing operation.
4 For prior art crushers a possible option to improve the handling of large lump sizes would be to set a large gap width at the primary crusher, thereby achieving a more 6 favourable "nip angle" for large lumps. This solution is highly limited in that it not only 7 throws a much higher percentage of the crushing duty onto the secondary crusher but 8 also negatively impacts the secondary crushing reduction ratio. A second option is to 9 screen the ore stream feeding one of the crushing stages to control the lump size reduction ratio presented to that crushing stage. This known practice requires additional 11 equipment and structure to be added to the crushing plant and results in the unwanted 12 accumulation of reject, oversize ore lumps requiring separate handling.
Alternatively it is 13 known to install auxiliary equipment to break the large lumps using mechanical energy or 14 to employ some type of mechanical grapple to remove the lump from the throat of the crusher. Both of these solutions entail the addition of capital-intensive equipment and 16 steel structure and require semi-continuous operator attention and intervention . These 17 are known disadvantages of the prior art and also present serious safety hazards to 18 personnel in the mining industry as well as frequently causing spill and loss of production.
Successfully controlling the maximum lump size in the run-of-mine oil-sand ore 21 preparation process is an essential requirement to facilitate subsequent oil-sand slurry 22 pipeline transportation. The minimum oil-sand slurry pumping velocity is dictated by 23 maximum lump size handled and requires effective control to minimize the operating risk 24 of plugging the final oil-sand slurry delivery pipeline.
26 Also, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that whether or not the crushing 27 service is in oil-sand or in other types of mining ores there is always a strict requirement 28 to control maximum lump size so as to ensure the success of the subsequent processing 29 step.
31 With Reference to the Figures:
33 Figure 1 is a simplified isometric view of a dual-roll crusher assembly incorporating 34 preferred embodiments of the invention;
2 Figure 2 is a simplified elevation view of the dual-roll crusher assembly of Figure 1 3 showing more clearly the relationship of the crusher rolls and a simulated lump to be 4 crushed.
6 Figure 3 is a simplified elevation view of the dual-roll crusher assembly of Figure 2 7 shawing an enlarged gap between the crusher rolls.
9 Figure 4 is a schematic crushing equipment system process flowsheet using two, series-wise crushers in an improved ore preparation plant for the preparation of run-of mine oil-11 sand ore for a subsequent processing step.
13 In Figure 1, a dual-roll crusher assembly is shown mounted on a structural base 1 14 comprising a fixed roll 2 and a movable roll 3, with projecting shaft 4 on the fixed roll for mounting a drive means (not Shawn) and projecting shaft 5 on the movable roll for 16 mounting a drive means (not spawn), bath rolls being held by the structural base 1 in a 17 substantially parallel relationship with each other and in a substantially horizontal plane 18 and having a nominal gap 6 maintained between them. Fixed crusher roll 2 is arranged 19 with bearing means 7 in bearing holder means 8 at each end thereof and movable roll 3 is arranged with bearing means 9 (not shown) in bearing holder means 10 at each end 21 thereof. Bearing holder means 10 is arranged with slide means 1 ~1 at its base and 22 coupling means 12 enabling attachment of actuator means 13 which can be mativated to 23 slide the movable pulley assembly to the left or to the right, effectively increasing ar 24 decreasing the nominal gap 6 between the rolls. A spherical shape 14 is illustrated above the gap between the crusher rolls 2 and 3 to simulate a lump of run-of-mine ore 26 which can be drawn into the crushing zone above and through the gap by the teeth on 27 the rolls and forced to pass through the gap. The shape 14 can typically be significantly 28 larger in diameter than the nominal gap width between the crusher rolls.
In Figure 2 the crusher assembly mounted on base 1 having fixed roll 2 and movable roll 31 3 is shown with a simulated run-of mine ore lump 14 entering the crushing zone between 32 the two rolls. The nip angle 15 is shown to be a geometrical relationship between the 33 lump size, the roll diameter and the gap width between the rolls. In the illustration, teeth 34 on the surface of the rolls are shown as intermeshing in the gap.
2 In Figure 3 the effect of increasing the gap by movement of movable roll 3 to the left is to 3 allow lump 14 to drop further into the crushing zone, thus enabling the teeth on the rolls 4 to more easily "grab" the lump and force it into the crushing zone and through the gap.
6 In Figure 4 mine haulage truck 16 dumps run-of-mine ore into receiving hopper 17 from 7 which reclaim conveyor 18 withdraws run-of-mine ore and feeds it via chute 19 to 8 primary crusher 20 to create primary crushed ore. The primary crushed ore passes 9 through chute 21 to conveyor 22 feeding via chute 23 to secondary crusher 24 to create secondary crushed ore. The secondary crushed ore passes through chute 25 to 11 conveyor 26 and chute 27 to subsequent process step 28.
13 In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the feed hopper side plates controlling feed to the crusher have 14 been omitted for clarity, but it will otherwise be clear that the only possibility of the full stream of ore passing through the crusher is that all lumps first be reduced by the rolls to 16 a size equal to or less than the nominal crusher gap width between the rolls. In tact, the 17 basic presumption of the successful operation of the process flowsheet in Figure 4 is 18 that the full stream of run-of-mine ore will be reduced sufficiently in size after passing 19 through the crushing equipment system illustrated in the flowsheet to be suitable for a subsequent processing step 28.
22 As explained in conjunction with the Figures the preferred embodiments of the present 23 invention for the dual-roll crusher are the provision of bearing holder slides and actuation 24 means for adjusting the position of the movable roll so as to obtain an operable "variable gap" crusher. For conventional crushers the roll gap can only be changed manually 26 while the crusher is shut-down. Control of the crusher gap width has never been 27 available as an operating parameter in the prior art. The corollary provision of sensing 28 means and logical interpretation means, such as a known industrial programmable lagic 29 controller with pre-programmed set-points, enables closed loop crushing control strategies to be implemented based upon measurement of selected characteristics of 31 the oil-sand ore in combination with selected operating parameters of the crushing 32 equipment system itself, thereby to incrementally increase or decrease the crusher roll 33 gap and thereby to control the crushing operation in a beneficial way.
5/8 1 The present invention enables a larger range of lump size reduction ratios to be handled 2 in a given crushing equipment system using less equipment than the prior art. It also 3 enables unique and valuable crushing control strategies such as load sharing between 4 series-mounted crushers. It will be possible to implement anticipatory as well as reactive control of oil-sand crushing based upon specific measurable characteristics of run-of
6 mine ore and primary crushed ore and secondary crushed ore. R possible associated
7 flow sheet innovation is the elimination of prior art screening and oil-sand re-handling
8 and accumulation of unwanted rejects due to the improved ability to control the
9 maximum lump size.
11 For example, since the primary and secondary crushers are installed in series and are 12 handling the same stream of oil-sand ore it will be possible to distribute the actual 13 crushing duty load equally between them by measuring the power delivered to each 14 crusher and adjusting the roll gap at one or both of the primary and secondary crushers to balance the power draw, thus enabling control of relative wear rates between the 16 crushers and extending the operating interval between shut-downs for major 17 refurbishment. Balancing the crushing duty between the primary and secondary 18 crushers may also enable increasing the crushing plant oil-sand ore throughput rate or 19 minimizing crushing power consumption as alternate strategies for improving mining profitability. Finally, for crushing run-of-mine oil-sand ores which are highly variable both 21 in composition and in lump size distribution, both seasonally and also between individual 22 mine haulage truck loads, the capability of balancing the crushing loads as a continuous 23 operating function is both unique and valuable for optimizing crushing duty and 24 throughput at each of the primary and secondary crushers and in the process flowsheet itself. No such beneficial capabilities or operating strategies are available in the prior art.
27 Known means of measuring crusher load include at least sensing means such as 28 measuring power delivery to the crusher rolls or' measuring 'the weight of oil-sand 29 material carried on selected conveyors by means such as belt weigh scales.
31 Variable gap crushing of the present invention could also be controlled by observation of 32 external factors in the crushing equipment system process flowsheet, enabling the 33 crusher gap to be adjusted in anticipation of receiving a particularly large lump of ore into 34 the throat of the primary crusher. In this case the roll gap could be incrementally 1 increased, thus improving the "nip-angle" of the rolls to enable the large lump to be more 2 easily gripped by the teeth on the rolls and to be forced into the crushing zone above 3 and through the gap. Although oversized large lumps might flow through the primary 4 crusher for several seconds in this instance, system throughput rates could then be temporarily reduced for the time it would take for the secondary crusher to handle the 6 extra crushing duty, without compromising the required control of maximum lump size 7 delivered to a subsequent processing step. No such beneficial capabilities or operating 8 strategies are available in the prior art.
Beneficial crushing control strategies could also be based on observation of lump size in 11 the primary or the secondary crushed ore streams. Any observed increase or decrease 12 in average lump size in the primary crushed ore, possibly due to wear or breakage of 13 primary crusher teeth, could provide a control basis for incrementally closing or opening 14 the primary crusher gap, respectively, both to control crushing system thoughput rate and to control crushing duty at the secondary crusher. Similarly, any observed increase 16 in average lump size in the secondary crushed ore could provide a control basis for an 17 operator alarm or to incrementally reduce the secondary crusher gap so as to ensure 18 meeting the maximum lump size specification for the subsequent process step. No such 19 beneficial capabilities or operating strategies are available in the prior art.
21 Known means of observing lump size include at least sensing means such as, for 22 example, optical imaging means and level sensing means in feed hoppers or on 23 conveyors in the crushing equipment system.
Although much of the foregoing discussion refers specifically to the mining environment 26 and conditions of Canadian oil-sand are it will be readily appreciated by one practiced in 27 the art that the improvements described for primary and secondary roll crushers and for 28 crushing equipment system process flowsheets will also be beneficial for other mining 29 plants handling other types of mining ores. Also, it will be understood that the quoting of specific capacity or dimensional data for the crushing equipment system is not intended 31 to exclude the use of other capacities and dimensions, when such use falls within the 32 spirit of the invention.
Lt will also be clear to one practiced in the art that means to remove tramp metal such as 2 a conventional belt magnet must be provided for the process flowsheet.
Although not 3 shown in Figure 4, this tramp metal removal means is understood to be present and 4 would typically be mounted on at feast one of the conveyors on the flowsheet.
11 For example, since the primary and secondary crushers are installed in series and are 12 handling the same stream of oil-sand ore it will be possible to distribute the actual 13 crushing duty load equally between them by measuring the power delivered to each 14 crusher and adjusting the roll gap at one or both of the primary and secondary crushers to balance the power draw, thus enabling control of relative wear rates between the 16 crushers and extending the operating interval between shut-downs for major 17 refurbishment. Balancing the crushing duty between the primary and secondary 18 crushers may also enable increasing the crushing plant oil-sand ore throughput rate or 19 minimizing crushing power consumption as alternate strategies for improving mining profitability. Finally, for crushing run-of-mine oil-sand ores which are highly variable both 21 in composition and in lump size distribution, both seasonally and also between individual 22 mine haulage truck loads, the capability of balancing the crushing loads as a continuous 23 operating function is both unique and valuable for optimizing crushing duty and 24 throughput at each of the primary and secondary crushers and in the process flowsheet itself. No such beneficial capabilities or operating strategies are available in the prior art.
27 Known means of measuring crusher load include at least sensing means such as 28 measuring power delivery to the crusher rolls or' measuring 'the weight of oil-sand 29 material carried on selected conveyors by means such as belt weigh scales.
31 Variable gap crushing of the present invention could also be controlled by observation of 32 external factors in the crushing equipment system process flowsheet, enabling the 33 crusher gap to be adjusted in anticipation of receiving a particularly large lump of ore into 34 the throat of the primary crusher. In this case the roll gap could be incrementally 1 increased, thus improving the "nip-angle" of the rolls to enable the large lump to be more 2 easily gripped by the teeth on the rolls and to be forced into the crushing zone above 3 and through the gap. Although oversized large lumps might flow through the primary 4 crusher for several seconds in this instance, system throughput rates could then be temporarily reduced for the time it would take for the secondary crusher to handle the 6 extra crushing duty, without compromising the required control of maximum lump size 7 delivered to a subsequent processing step. No such beneficial capabilities or operating 8 strategies are available in the prior art.
Beneficial crushing control strategies could also be based on observation of lump size in 11 the primary or the secondary crushed ore streams. Any observed increase or decrease 12 in average lump size in the primary crushed ore, possibly due to wear or breakage of 13 primary crusher teeth, could provide a control basis for incrementally closing or opening 14 the primary crusher gap, respectively, both to control crushing system thoughput rate and to control crushing duty at the secondary crusher. Similarly, any observed increase 16 in average lump size in the secondary crushed ore could provide a control basis for an 17 operator alarm or to incrementally reduce the secondary crusher gap so as to ensure 18 meeting the maximum lump size specification for the subsequent process step. No such 19 beneficial capabilities or operating strategies are available in the prior art.
21 Known means of observing lump size include at least sensing means such as, for 22 example, optical imaging means and level sensing means in feed hoppers or on 23 conveyors in the crushing equipment system.
Although much of the foregoing discussion refers specifically to the mining environment 26 and conditions of Canadian oil-sand are it will be readily appreciated by one practiced in 27 the art that the improvements described for primary and secondary roll crushers and for 28 crushing equipment system process flowsheets will also be beneficial for other mining 29 plants handling other types of mining ores. Also, it will be understood that the quoting of specific capacity or dimensional data for the crushing equipment system is not intended 31 to exclude the use of other capacities and dimensions, when such use falls within the 32 spirit of the invention.
Lt will also be clear to one practiced in the art that means to remove tramp metal such as 2 a conventional belt magnet must be provided for the process flowsheet.
Although not 3 shown in Figure 4, this tramp metal removal means is understood to be present and 4 would typically be mounted on at feast one of the conveyors on the flowsheet.
Claims (3)
1. In an ore preparation plant means for preparing ore to become suitable for a subsequent processing step, a crushing equipment system means to achieve size reduction of said ore comprising an initial receiving hopper means for receiving said ore from haulage truck means and a first conveying means for feeding said ore into a primary single-pass crushing means to create primary crushed ore and a second conveying means for feeding said primary crushed ore into a secondary single-pass crushing means to create secondary crushed ore and a third conveying means for feeding said secondary crushed ore to said subsequent processing step, said ore being made suitable for said subsequent processing step by the combined operation of said primary single-pass crushing means and said secondary single-pass crushing means within said crushing equipment system, said primary single-pass crushing means and said secondary single-pass crushing means each being independently arranged with a fixed roll and a movable roll, said rolls being held in substantially parallel relationship with each other in a substantially horizontal plane, said rolls being rotated by drive means with a nominal horizontal gap being maintained between said rolls, said fixed roll being mounted on bearing means and bearing holder means at each end thereof, said movable roll being mounted on bearing means and bearing holder means at each end thereof and said bearing holder means engaging horizontal slide means and being coupled to actuator means to impart linear, horizontal adjustment of the position of said bearing holder means and said movable roll along said horizontal slide means so as to decrease or increase said nominal horizontal gap between said fixed roll and said movable roll in response to an external control signal, said external control signal being derived from sensing and logical interpretation means which are arranged to monitor, interpret and compare at least one characteristic of said run-of-mine ore or said primary crushed ore or said secondary crushed ore or at least one operating parameter of said crushing equipment system or a combination of ones of said characteristics with ones of said operating parameters with pre-programmed set-points, thereby to control the crushing of said ore.
2. A crushing equipment system means as in Claim 1 in which at least one said operating parameter of said crushing equipment system is a measurement of load at said primary single-pass crushing means or at said secondary single-pass crushing means or at each said primary single-pass crushing means and said secondary single-pass crushing means or is inferred from measurement of load on said first conveying means or said second conveying means or said third conveying means.
3. A crushing equipment system means as in Claim 1 in which at least one said characteristic of said ore or said primary crushed ore or said secondary crushed ore is lump size and measurement of said lump size includes optical imaging sensing means or level sensing means.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002440311A CA2440311C (en) | 2003-09-04 | 2003-09-04 | Variable gap crusher |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002440311A CA2440311C (en) | 2003-09-04 | 2003-09-04 | Variable gap crusher |
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| Publication Number | Publication Date |
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| CA2440311A1 CA2440311A1 (en) | 2005-03-04 |
| CA2440311C true CA2440311C (en) | 2005-05-31 |
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002440311A Expired - Lifetime CA2440311C (en) | 2003-09-04 | 2003-09-04 | Variable gap crusher |
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| CA (1) | CA2440311C (en) |
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| US8025341B2 (en) | 2005-11-09 | 2011-09-27 | Suncor Energy Inc. | Mobile oil sands mining system |
| US8136672B2 (en) | 2004-07-30 | 2012-03-20 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Sizing roller screen ore processing apparatus |
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| CN104289270A (en) * | 2014-09-15 | 2015-01-21 | 盛金平 | Process for processing mineral products by cutting shear and compression shear type crushing method |
| US9016799B2 (en) | 2005-11-09 | 2015-04-28 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Mobile oil sands mining system |
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| US8136672B2 (en) | 2004-07-30 | 2012-03-20 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Sizing roller screen ore processing apparatus |
| US8851293B2 (en) | 2004-07-30 | 2014-10-07 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Sizing roller screen ore processing apparatus |
| US8025341B2 (en) | 2005-11-09 | 2011-09-27 | Suncor Energy Inc. | Mobile oil sands mining system |
| US8393561B2 (en) | 2005-11-09 | 2013-03-12 | Suncor Energy Inc. | Method and apparatus for creating a slurry |
| US9016799B2 (en) | 2005-11-09 | 2015-04-28 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Mobile oil sands mining system |
| US8328126B2 (en) | 2008-09-18 | 2012-12-11 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Method and apparatus for processing an ore feed |
| US8622326B2 (en) | 2008-09-18 | 2014-01-07 | Suncor Energy, Inc. | Method and apparatus for processing an ore feed |
| CN103480452A (en) * | 2013-09-30 | 2014-01-01 | 上海绿环机械有限公司 | Efficient crushing device |
| CN104289270A (en) * | 2014-09-15 | 2015-01-21 | 盛金平 | Process for processing mineral products by cutting shear and compression shear type crushing method |
| CN111495481A (en) * | 2020-05-06 | 2020-08-07 | 王翔宇 | Concrete breaker for building engineering |
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