AG FEED PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION

MEASUREMENT OF IRON ORE

*A. Faucher1, S. Makni1, G. Gagnon2, F. Lavoie3 and É. Roberge2

1
COREM
1180, rue de la Minéralogie
Québec (QC), G1N 1X7, Canada
(*Corresponding author: arnaud.faucher@corem.qc.ca)
2
ArcelorMittal Exploitation Minière Canada s.e.n.c.
1000, route 389
Mont-Wright (QC) G0G 1J0, Canada
3
Cliffs Québec Mine de Fer Ltée
755, route 389
Fermont (QC) G0G 1J0, Canada

ABSTRACT

Feed particle size is an important variable for the primary grinding mill operation. Several
commercial vision systems have proven to successfully measure online many types of ores and are used for
automatic control. However, due to limitations associated with segmentation algorithms, these systems fail
to provide good measurements when the feed is composed of a specific bimodal particle size distribution:
very big rocks and a large amount of fine particles. This is typically the case for crushed iron ore. This
paper presents a technique to overcome the limitations of existing vision systems by using 3D cameras and
appropriate processing methods. It provides online particle size distribution indicators and bulk volume
flow rate measurement. It is designed to be very cost-effective, robust, precise, easy to install and to
maintain. The 3D system was validated in two iron ore processing plants and the results clearly show that it
can be used to optimize primary grinding mill operation where 2D segmentation vision systems fail.

KEYWORDS

Iron ore, particle size distribution, bulk volume flow rate, 3D vision system,
conveyor, crusher product, autogenous grinding

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INTRODUCTION

Fragmentation measurement using digital image processing has successfully been applied in
mining and mineral processing operations. Several maintenance and operating applications are already
deployed in the industry:

• Measurement of rock fragmentation after blasting (Maerz, 1999; Palangio, 1999) (Pragyan, 2012)
• Truck inventory (Palangio, 2005)
• Monitoring of crusher mantle wear
• Automatic control of crushers and SAG mills (Bouajila, 2000) (Bartolacci, 2001)

Commercial technologies like WipFrag (Maerz, 1999), VisioRock and others proved to be very
efficient to precisely measure the particle size distribution of many types of materials. These products are
mainly composed of a camera, a lighting system and an image processing system based on a segmentation
algorithm. By controlling adequately the lighting conditions and with periodic maintenance on the
segmentation algorithm calibration parameters, it is almost always possible to achieve
reliable measurements.

However, the segmentation algorithm is not adequate when the particle size distribution contains
big rocks and a large amount of fine particles. In this case, the area containing the fine particles is
accounted as a big rock while big rocks get segmented as multiple smaller sized particles, leading globally
to a wrong measurement. This situation prevails for crushed iron ore and coke, among other materials.
Figure 1 shows a picture of a material which is typically very difficult to process through segmentation
techniques.

Figure 1 – Picture of material difficult to analyse through 2D image segmentation

In order to solve these measurement problems, the use of 3D cameras for material measurement
on conveyors was investigated. These cameras provide direct dimension measurement (in Cartesian
coordinates); thus, no scaling calibration or special tilting compensation are needed. Most 3D solutions like
Ore3D, (Thurley, 2007), (Andersson, 2012) use laser line-scan cameras. However, they must be coupled
with a conveyor speed sensor to reconstruct an image before processing. Other commercial providers use
pairs of cameras (binocular cameras), which requires special efforts in camera synchronisation, a good
stability of lighting conditions and a lot of computing power to extract 3D data. A structured light 3D
camera was selected by COREM for its general robustness, its insensitivity to lighting perturbations and
the low computing power needed to extract 3D data. These sensors take full 3D scene pictures (not only
line profiles); this eliminates the necessity for a coupling with a conveyor speed sensor. Moreover, they
prove to be safe (do not require to be enclosed), easy to install and very cost efficient.

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With these sensors, COREM also developed a method to measure bulk and material volume
flow rates.

METHODOLOGY

The testing was performed in two phases. In the first phase, lab testing was conducted with coke
placed in a fixed pan.

Coke was used because this material produces large amounts of fine particles when processed
(ground, then calcinated). Table 1 shows a short description of the visual properties of coke depending on
its status in the process.

Table 1 – Coke visual properties

Coke status Visual properties

• Fines naturally agglomerate around bigger particles
Green before grinding • Produces bulky particles without sharp edges
• Small amounts of fines only

• Smaller agglomerates, still without sharp edges

Green after grinding
• Larger amounts of fine particles

• Particles de-agglomerate
Calcinated • Bigger particles show sharp edges
• Large amounts of fine particles

In the second phase, industrial tests were performed at the Cliffs Québec (Bloom Lake) and the
ArcelorMittal (Mont-Wright) concentrators.

Both concentrators produce iron ore concentrate. They operate near Fermont, in the north-east of
the province of Québec, Canada.

The Cliffs Québec plant operates one AG mill. The camera was installed over that mill’s fresh
feed conveyor.

The ArcelorMittal plant operates seven AG mills. The camera was installed over the fresh feed
conveyor of the most recently commissioned mill. The conveyor itself is fed by two silos.

LABORATORY TESTING

The laboratory testing setup was composed of a 3D camera observing samples in a pan (Figure 2).
The particle size distribution (PSD) of every sample was obtained by screening. The PSD was also
obtained by processing the 3D camera images. Both results were compared.

Five coke samples in the laboratory setup were processed. Each sample was analysed twice.
Table 2 summarizes the design of experiment.

An image processing algorithm was developed to analyze the data. Figure 3 presents a schematic
of the algorithm. The camera takes pictures of the sample; every pixel represents an elevation from the
bottom of the pan. These elevations are then processed statistically and the result is compensated to
produce a size distribution by volume. Figure 4 shows a comparison of both PSD for sample #1. Similar
results were obtained for all five samples.

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Figure 2 – Laboratory scale setup

Table 2 – Summary of laboratory testing

# Coke source State

1 Coke source 1 Green before grinding
2 " " Green after grinding
3 " " Calcinated
4 Coke source 2 Green after grinding
5 " " Calcinated

Figure 3 – Image processing schematic

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Figure 4 – Comparison of PSD for sample #1 (cumulated passing fractions).

The circles represent the PSD measured by screening.
The line represents the PSD measured by 3D image processing

The following observations and results were obtained from these experiments:

• The system did not require external nor controlled ambient illumination (the camera provides its own
safe laser infrared source);
• No empirical parameter was used;
• Comparison of screened and image processed PSD showed an error of less than 2% (RMSE) on the
cumulated passing fractions;
• Best results for particle sizes bigger than 10 mm were obtained.

INDUSTRIAL CASE STUDIES: IRON ORE AG FEED

Conveyors feeding iron ore in autogenous mills operate at high speed and high tonnage. A short
industrial test was conducted at a concentrator to determine if the 3D camera was fast enough to produce
quality pictures.

For long-term installation purposes, a more industrial setup was used: camera and mounting,
electric panel, networking and computer. Figure 5 shows cameras installed over Cliffs Québec (Bloom
Lake) AG feed conveyor and ArcelorMittal (Mont-Wright) line 7 AG feed conveyor.

In order to ease installation and avoid manual reconfiguration, the image processing algorithm
continuously auto-detects the camera position and orientation in relation to the conveyor. This also
prevents long-term measurement biases.

The software was also upgraded to meet plant requirements: always-on reliability features, remote
monitoring (through an intranet web page) and communication with the control and historical data systems.
Table 3 shows a description of new indicators specifically developed. Conveyor speed and volume flow
rate computation are made possible by the use of full-scene 3D sensors.

A first sample was taken on Bloom Lake conveyor belt to calibrate the measured PSD.

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Figure 5 – Cameras installed over iron ore AG feed conveyors

Left: Cliffs Québec (Bloom Lake). Right: ArcelorMittal (Mont-Wright)

Table 3 – Available indicators

Indicator Unit Description

Particle size distribution % Cumulated passing fractions curve
Coarse particle fraction % Configurable coarse size
Fine particle fraction % Configurable fine size
D50 mm Median size
D80 mm 80th percentile size
Top size mm Top particle size observed during a certain time span
Conveyor speed m/s No external sensor (camera data only)
Bulk volume flow rate m3/h
Material volume flow rate m3/h

Operation with 3D cameras

At Cliffs Québec Bloom Lake, camera indicators are recorded and compared with AG mill
operation data to develop grinding optimization strategies.

At ArcelorMittal Mont-Wright, the camera is fully integrated via OPC with the plant monitoring
and historical system (PI). 3D camera indicator trends are observed in real time. Grinding optimization
strategies are being developed using this information.

Remote monitoring is also possible for both sites from COREM’s facilities in Québec City,
Canada to speed up development and validation.

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Calibration of PSD with a conveyor sample

Figure 5 shows a conveyor sample which was taken for initial calibration. Although the mass of
the sample was around 600 kg, and even though calibration was possible (Figure 6), it was concluded that
the sample size was too small. Since the camera computes the PSD as a moving average in time, sampling
a longer section of the conveyor belt would have permitted to obtain more reliable data for calibration. A
new campaign involving 12 larger samples is undergoing at ArcelorMittal.

100

90
%screened
80
Cumulated passing fraction (%)

%camera (calibrated)
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Size (µm)

Figure 6 – Calibrated camera PSD

Though a complete assessment of the camera accuracy is undergoing, , a 5% error (RMSE) can be
estimated from this curve on the cumulated passing fractions.

Relative accuracy of PSD measurement

Line 7 AG feed conveyor at Mont-Wright concentrator is fed by silos. Material segregation

naturally occurs so that:

• Full silos tend to feed finer particles

• Surged silos tend to feed coarser particles

Figure 7 compares the silo level with the coarse fraction indicator produced with the camera. A
high level of correlation can be observed between the 2 measurements. Modifications in the silos operating
strategies were planned consequently.

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90 30
Silo 7 level (%)
Coarse Fraction (%)
80 25

Coarse fraction (%)

70 20
Silo level (%)

60 15

50 10

40 5

30 0
3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00

Figure 7 – Comparison of the silo level and the coarse fraction camera indicator

From this result, it can be concluded that the measurement of the camera is reliable and sensitive
to change in mill feed size distribution.

Accuracy of the volume flow rate indicators

Camera volume flow rate and conveyor tonnage measurement using a nuclear scale were
conducted simultaneously at Mont-Wright. In a first phase, density (µ) of the material was assumed to be
constant during the evaluation period. A void fraction function (fvoid) depending on the amount of fines
(%finescamera) was also developed. The speed of the conveyor (speedcamera) and the cross-over section of
bulk material (sectioncamera) is evaluated by the camera. Ultimately, camera tonnage is given by Equation 1.

Tonnage camera = µ * speed camera * section camera * fvoid(%fines camera ) (1)

Figure 8 compares the two flow rates measurements. They show a very good agreement with
R2 = 0.96. Further data analysis showed that material density variation during the evaluation period even
explained better the differences between the two measurements.

3500
R² = 0.964
3000

2500
Camera (t/h)

2000

1500

1000

500

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Nuclear scale (t/h)

Figure 8 – Comparison of tonnage measurement methods (nuclear scale and camera)

CONCLUSIONS

A 3D image processing method was developed to measure the particle size distribution of crushed
iron ore over conveyors. The method is applicable where traditional 2D image segmentation fails. A
prototype has been tested in laboratory to measure coke particle size distribution.

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Industrial 3D cameras were installed in two iron ore processing plants and long-term validation is
undergoing. Preliminary results indicate that excellent performance has been achieved.

The technology developed also gives very promising results to measure bulk volume flow rates on
conveyors in a very affordable way and without intrusive modification on the conveyor.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge all COREM members who invested various kinds of
efforts to successfully achieve this project.

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