Minerals Engineering, Vol. 1, No. I, pp. 81-84, 1988 0892-6875/88 $3.00 + 0.

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Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press plc

T E C H N I C A L NOTE:
A RAPID M E T H O D FOR M E A S U R E M E N T OF FINENESS OF GRIND

B.A.WILLS

Camborne School of Mines, Redruth, Cornwall, England

(Received 7 May 1987)

ABSTRACT

A rapid method of estimating fineness of grind is presented. The method

involves no drying of screened products, and results can be obtained
within a few minutes. Although the rapid method is less accurate than
the conventional method of drying screened products, in certain cases
this lack of accuracy may be of less importance than the increased speed
of assessment.

The accuracy of assessment can be reliably forecast from a simple

expression providing measurement errors can be estimated.

Ke~words
Grind; grinding; screening; sizing; size analysis

INTRODUCTION

The m o s t i m p o r t a n t u n i t o p e r a t i o n in m i n e r a l p r o c e s s i n g is u n d o u b t e d l y
grinding. Control of g r i n d i n g circuit product p a r t i c l e size distribution, or
'mesh of grind' is vital, as u n d e r g r i n d i n g produces i n a d e q u a t e l i b e r a t i o n ,
while overgrinding is w a s t e f u l of e n e r g y a n d can lead to poor d o w n s t r e a m
p e r f o r m a n c e due to the p r o d u c t i o n of 'slimes' particles.

Control of p r o d u c t size d i s t r i b u t i o n to a p r e - d e t e r m i n e d o p t i m u m is a c h i e v e d
in a v a r i e t y of ways. Continuous on-line p a r t i c l e monitoring, by devices such
as the A u t o m e t r i c s P S M - 4 0 0 a n d the B e s t o b e l l C y c l o m e t r i c sizer, a l t h o u g h
expensive, is used on m a n y plants, p a r t i c u l a r y where the g r i n d i n g circuit is
c o n t r o l l e d by computer. Some o p e r a t i o n s infer mesh of grind by m o n i t o r i n g the
o p e r a t i n g p a r a m e t e r s of h y d r o c y c l o n e s in the g r i n d i n g circuit and feeding this
data into m a t h e m a t i c a l models.

Many operations, particularly modular pilot plants, may not have these
facilities, and r e c o u r s e may h a v e to be m a d e to r o u t i n e a n a l y s i s of m i l l
products. If t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n is u s e d for c o n t r o l , the c o n t r o l w i l l be
r e t r o s p e c t i v e and may be m e a n i n g l e s s in a very small pilot o p e r a t i o n w h e r e
small input changes rapidly affect output. As mesh of grind is usually related
to one point on the c u m u l a t i v e size d i s t r i b u t i o n curve, e.g. % p a s s i n g 150
microns, a n a l y s i s can be speeded up by screening a sample on one sieve only,
and w e i g h t i n g o v e r s i z e d and u n d e r s i z e d products. As t h e s e p r o d u c t s r e q u i r e
drying, this method is a l s o r a t h e r slow, and control s t e p s m a y be
r e t r o s p e c t i v e by times in the order of one hour. A rapid m e t h o d for routine
measurement of m e s h of g r i n d , w h i c h r e q u i r e s no d r y i n g of p r o d u c t s , is
presented. Results are o b t a i n e d w i t h i n a b o u t 2 m i n u t e s of c o l l e c t i n g the
sample. A l t h o u g h the results are less accurate than those obtained by product
drying, this may be of less importance than the increased speed of assessment,
p a r t i c u l a r y w h e n the i n f o r m a t i o n is used for the control of f a s t - r e s p o n s e
pilot circuits.

M E A S U R E M E N T OF M E S H OF GRIND BY DRYING PRODUCTS

In this method a sample of mill product is w e t - s c r e e n e d on a standard sieve of

m e s h s i z e P m i c r o n s . T h e u n d e r s i z e a n d o v e r s i z e p r o d u c t s are d r i e d a n d

81
~;2 I c'chnic~d Nole~

weighed, from which %-P (Q can be found from:

Q : 100u
U+0

where U = weight of u n d e r s i z e p r o d u c t
and 0 = weight of o v e r s i z e p r o d u c t

RAPID MESH OF GRIND METHOD

In t h i s m e t h o d , a s a m p l e of m i l l p r o d u c t is t a k e n in a g r a d u a t e d m e a s u r l n g
c y l i n d e r . T h e v o l u m e of s l u r r y t a k e n , Lf (mls) a n d w e i g h t of s l u r r y , Wf (g)
are recorded. The slurry is w e t s c r e e n e d as before, the undersize being
c o l l e c t e d in a n o t h e r m e a s u r i n g c y l i n d e r . A f t e r s c r e e n i n g , t h e u n d e r s i z e s l u r r y
is w e i g h e d (Wu) a n d its v o l u m e r e c o r d e d (Lu). T h e s e o p e r a t i o n s t a k e n o m o r e
than a few minutes.

The proportion of solids by w e i g h t in t h e feed sample [I!

: d__f (Df - dwi 2~

Df (df - d w)

where Df = d e n s i t y of f e e d s l u r r y (kg/l)
df = d e n s i t y of s o l i d s in f e e d s l u r r y (kg/l)
d w = density of w a t e r (kg/l)

Therefore dry weight of solids in f e e d sample, F (g)

= ~_ddf (Df - awl _

Df (df - dw)

and since Df = Wf/Lf,

F = df (Wf - d w L f !
(df - dw)

Similarly, dry weight of solids in u n d e r s i z e fraction, U (g)

= d_u (W u - L u d w ) 5)
(d u - d w)

where d u = density of solids in u n d e r s i z e fraction (kg/l)

Therefore:

Q : 100 d u (W u - L u d w ) ( d f -- d w ~ 6)
(d u - d w) df (Wf - d w Lf)

Equation 6 is r e l a t i v e l y insensitive to small differences in df and du, so

that, a s s u m i n g df = du:

Q = ]00 (W u Lu) 7)
(Wf - Lf)

(assuming d w = I kg/])

ESTIMATION OF ACCURACY OF DRY AND WET METHODS

The variance in t h e c a l c u l a t i o n of Q c a n be c a l c u l a t e d from the estimated

experimental v a r i a n c e s in t h e i n d e p e n d e n t d e r i v a t i v e s , i.e. f r o m Eq.I:

VQ = (aQ/gU) 2 V U + (9Q/80) 2 V O (8)

where V U and V O are the v a r i a n c e s in m e a s u r e m e n t of U a n d O

Hence:

VQ = (100/[U+O]Z) 2 {U2Vo+O2Vu } (9)

 Technical Notes 83

From Eq.7:

VQ = VWu (aQ/aWu)2 + VLu (aQ/aLu)2 + Vwf (aQ/aWf) 2 + VLf (aQ/aLf) 2 (10)

w h e r e Vwu , VLu , VWf and VLf are the variances in m e a s u r e m e n t of Wu, Wf and Lf
respectively.

Therefore:

VQ = 1002 [VWu + VLu + {(Wu-Lu)/(Wf-Lf)} 2 + {(Wu-Lu)/(Wf-Lf)} 2 VLf] (11)

(Wf-Lf) 2

For a typical value of Q of about 33%, and assuming Wf = 400g, Lf = 250mls, W u

= 150g, and L u = 1000mls, then from Eq.11:

VQ = 0.44 (Vwu + VLu 0.11Vwf + 0.11VLf) (12)

E q u a t i o n 12 shows that the a c c u r a c y of the result using the wet method is most
s e n s i t i v e to the e r r o r s in m e a s u r e m e n t of W u and Lu, and p a r t i c u l a r care
should therefore be taken to e n s u r e h i g h p r e c i s i o n in the m e a s u r e m e n t of
u n d e r s i z e data.

C O M P A R I S O N OF WET AND DRY METHODS

The d i s c h a r g e from an o p e r a t i n g p i l o t - s c a l e rod mill was sampled every hour,

a n d the m e s h of g r i n d at 300 m i c r o n s d e t e r m i n e d by b o t h the wet and dry
techniques, Results from the dry method were o b t a i n e d roughly an hour a f t e r
taking the sample, whereas the wet method p r o d u c e d a result w i t h i n 2 minutes.
A total of 82 samples was taken, and the results are compared in Figure I. The
root m e a n square error between the two sets of data was 4.4%.

E
80

70

60 I
x/
x x

x S x
Xx
o
ro
' 40 i
L~x x

~ 30 x;~,xy~ ,~x
/Xx x
20

I0 / I I I I i I I I I
I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Dry % - 300/.Lrn

Figure I C o m p a r i s o n of wet and dry methods

A n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e was p e r f o r m e d on typical results; at values of Wf, Lf,

Wu, and L u of 400g, 250mls, I050g and 1000mls respectively, from Eq.7:

Q = 100 (1050-1000) = 33.3%

(400-250)

and from Eq. 12:

VQ = 0.44 (Vwu VLu + 0.11Vwf + 0.11VLf )

It was e s t i m a t e d that the w e i g h t s could be m e a s u r e d to 0.2g (Is.d.), Lf to

2mls (Is.d) and L u to 5mls.
84 Technical Notes

Hence, VQ = 11.2, and estimated standard deviation in m e a s u r e m e n t of Q is

3.3%

A f t e r d r y i n g the o v e r s i z e and u n d e r s i z e slurries, values of U and O of 80g and

150g r e s p e c t i v e l y were obtained, from w h i c h (Eq.1), Q = 34.8%

It was e s t i m a t e d that the dry weights, a l l o w i n g for losses in f i l t r a t i o n and

p r e p a r a t i o n , could be m e a s u r e d to 2g (Is.d.), hence from Eq.9:

VQ = 3.6 x 10 -6 (6400V 0 + 22500Vu) = 0.4

The e s t i m a t e d standard deviation in m e a s u r e m e n t of Q is thus 0.6%

The c o m b i n e d e r r o r in c o m p a r i n g the two methods is thus e s t i m a t e d to be (11.2

+ 0.4) I/2 = 3.4%, w h i c h c o m p a r e s f a v o r a b l y with the root mean square error of
4.4% obtained.

CONCLUSIONS

A rapid m e t h o d of e s t i m a t i n g mesh of grind is presented. The m e t h o d involves

no d r y i n g of s c r e e n e d products, a n d r e s u l t s can be o b t a i n e d w i t h i n a few
minutes. A n a l y s i s of v a r i a n c e shows that very a c c u r a t e results can be a c h i e v e d
by drying the screened products, whereas the rapid method is far l e s s
accurate. In c e r t a i n cases, however, particularly where information is
required for t h e c o n t r o l of f a s t r e s p o n s e pilot circuits, t h i s l a c k of
a c c u r a c y may be of less i m p o r t a n c e than the i n c r e a s e d speed of assessment.
The a c c u r a c y of a s s e s s m e n t can be r e l i a b l y f o r e c a s t from a simple e x p r e s s i o n
p r o v i d i n g m e a s u r e m e n t errors can be estimated.

REFERENCES

I. W i l l s B.A. Mineral Processing Technology, 4th Edn, p.95. Pergamon Press

Ltd, O x f o r d (1988)