Modeling the contribution of specific grinding pressure for the calculation of HPGR product size distribution

Vale, one of the largest mining companies in the world, has prioritized the development of HPGR technology for practical application in its current projects. An existing model for the HPGR, capable of predicting product size distributions, has been evaluated under distinct grinding conditions for one feed material. The effect of grinding pressure and feed size distribution were investigated. The model response showed a clear dependency of product size distribution with specific grinding pressure. As a result, specific grinding pressure was incorporated into the model, allowing for predicting product size distribution at practical values of this important process parameter. Based on this result, a characterization procedure was envisaged so as to produce parameters for the model. The procedure does not require complex experimental procedures, and all of the testing can be carried out in an expedited form in an instrumented bench-scale HPGR, using small samples of about 10 kg. The only analyses required are size distributions. The model was implemented in the Modsim™ plant-wide simulator, with facilities to predict product size distribution for any roll diameter, length and speed of an HPGR machine.