Siemens weighfeeders contribute to a positive bottom line for mining companies.
Backfill is widely used in mines to fill voids, improve structural support and prevent cave-ins and air blasts. Cement is commonly used as a binding agent but the cost can make up as much as 5% of a mining company’s operating costs. To help offset the cost, materials such as fly ash, slag, gypsum and lime are often added. These are mixed with water, sand, mine tailings and other aggregates.
To ensure safety it is important to optimise the strength and quality of the backfill. At the same time operating costs must be minimised. Low grade backfill can be used in noncritical applications while higher grades with more tensile strength are required in areas of high load. The recipe for the backfill differs depending on the specific purpose of each batch. Hence the ratio in which the ingredients are blended must be closely monitored to ensure that the correct specification is obtained.
This can be achieved with the Siemens Sitrans WW300 weighfeeder combined with the Milltronics BW500 integrator. Together they control the rate of flow of the binder materials into the mixing process by continuously weighing them on a conveyor belt and varying the belt speed. The system is rugged and low maintenance and allows cost effective, accurate weighing and feeding of materials.
The binder ingredients are stored in silos. Since the particles are very fine, there is normally a rotary airlock feeder at the bottom of the silo to control the flow of material from the silo to the weighfeeder below. The weighfeeder is usually enclosed in a housing with a dust collector port to handle the fine dust generated.
The rate of material flow is compared to a setpoint in a control loop, and the rotary valve and speed of the conveyor belt are varied in unison to deliver a controlled, accurate flow of material to the mixing process. The integrator provides dual loop PID control of the weighfeeder’s drive and can also be programmed for batch control. The weighfeeders and integrator accurately weigh and consistently control the flow of the expensive binder materials into the mixing process to maintain the backfill quality and plant efficiency while minimising the operating costs.
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