Algorithm designed for total optimization of energy saving, production quantity, and production quality by modelling operation parameters in aggregate production systems

Abstract

The invention is related to a system and method comprising an algorithm designed for optimization of production quantity and quality, providing energy saving by modelling operation parameters obtained with equipment compatible with industry 4.0 in industrial mineral and aggregate crushing plants.

Description

[0001] ALGORITHM DESIGNED FOR TOTAL OPTIMIZATION OF ENERGY SAVING, PRODUCTION QUANTITY, AND PRODUCTION QUALITY BY MODELLING OPERATION PARAMETERS IN AGGREGATE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

[0002] Technologic Field:

[0003] The invention is related to a system and method comprising an algorithm designed for providing energy saving, optimization of production quantity and quality by modelling operation parameters obtained with equipment compatible with industry 4.0 in industrial mineral and aggregate crushing plants.

[0004] Prior Art:

[0005] The main machines in mineral and aggregate crushing plants are crushers. Crushers provide rocks of minerals and similar stones to be crushed, to be classified by gradations of desired sizes and shapes, and to be stored. Rocks and similar raw materials are fed from a feeder to crushers, this raw material is graded by crushing into desired sizes in crushers. The invention of the description describes a system comprising an algorithm for using in a plant where there are crushing machines and around of them, auxiliary equipment connected to them and working compatible with them.

[0006] Aggregate production is an energy-intensive branch of industry. In America, almost 7% of total production of electrical energy is consumed in aggregate and mineral crushing plants, (data of year 1993)

[0007] Most of the R&D studies regarding this production are for reducing said energy consumption. However, while energy saving is aimed, quality expectations are ignored mostly. The part which has the biggest share from the energy consumption in the system is the main crusher. This share can be indicated as almost 50% of the total consumption. Various patents have been taken for the purpose of providing energy economy in main crushers, special mechanisms have been designed.

[0008] In the European Patent document numbered EP3294457B1 which was found in the literature search performed, a crusher is mentioned for using for the purpose of processing in mineral mines. Said crusher comprises mechanical novelties related to the position of the elements it has in its structure. The method of determination of various parameters and data and formation of algorithm with artificial intelligence mentioned in the invention of the description is not mentioned.

[0009] In the utility model document numbered 2021 / 009328 which was found in the literature search performed, a crusher is mentioned which is designed for using in crushing coal and stone. In said document, there is not an autonomous system which collects various data from machines and equipment and forms an artificial intelligence algorithm by using this data.

[0010] Other components of the system than crushers are generally designed for a raw material having an average resistance and an average final product composition. In spite of that, production and quality efficiencies in the system are possible to decrease since the design parameters in the system cannot show sufficient flexibility because of possible differences in the raw material and changes in final product demands for these types of differences.

[0011] As a result, a new system and method are needed wherein they are not obvious to the person skilled in the art, disadvantages of the prior art are overcome.

[0012] Summary of the Invention:

[0013] The invention is related to a system and method wherein they are not obvious to the person skilled in the art, disadvantages of the prior art are overcome, in addition, which are compatible with current technical approaches comprising new advantages.

[0014] The aim of the invention is to present a new system and method comprising an algorithm for providing compatibility with quality standards during the steps of energy saving in mineral and aggregate crushing plants.

[0015] Thanks to the algorithm in the system of the invention, increasing flexibility of the system and a sustainable product flow in production and quality issues are expected.

[0016] For the purpose of easiness of describing design of the algorithm in the system of the invention, the main subjects of quality information are assumed to be grain geometry and size distribution (gradation) of crushed material. All other subjects related to quality as moisture and the like can be added to the same algorithm easily. Similarly, for the purpose of easiness of describing enhancement related to quality in the algorithm, although there are many other setting options, only the settings of jaw opening (CSS) and engine revolutions (rpm) are shown. Other setting options also can be added to the algorithm easily.

[0017] Another aim of the invention is to present a new crusher wherein production problems resulted from feeding flow rate of raw material (interruption of production, production inefficiency and the like) are removed.

[0018] Description of the Figures:

[0019] The invention will be described by referring the attached figures; therefore, the properties of the invention will be understood more clearly. However, the aim of this is not to limit the invention with these certain arrangements. On the contrary, it is aimed to include all alternatives, changes and equivalents which can be included in the area of the invention defined by claims attached. It should be understood that the details shown are shown only for the purpose of describing the preferred arrangements of the present invention and they are presented for the purpose of providing not only shaping of the methods, but also the most useful and easily understandable definition of the rules and conceptual properties of the invention. In the figures;

[0020] Figure - 1 It is the general command control principal scheme of the plant in the system of the invention.

[0021] Figure - 2 It is a flow chart for minimizing energy consumption during production increase in the system of the invention.

[0022] Figure - 3 It is a flow chart which shows working the flows of quality and energy saving together in the system of the invention.

[0023] References

[0024] SI, S2 Sensor

[0025] Ml , M2 Crusher engine

[0026] Detailed Description of the Invention:

[0027] In this detailed description, the system and method of the invention are described with examples which will not form any limiting effect only for a better understanding of the subject-matter. Crushing machines are the machines working for crushing various mineral and aggregate raw materials by feeding them to jaw crushers. In aggregate production plants, there are crushing, screening and washing machines. The algorithm of the invention is related to operating these machines compatibly with automation, with low energy consumption and maximum quality.

[0028] In the system of the invention, aggregate production is performed with not only desired quality but also low energy consumption. Therefore, CSS setting, RPM (revolutions) setting, and breakdown control are made for aggregate crusher jaws. CSS setting is a setting for jaw openings in crushing machines. When the opening is large, size distribution (gradation measures) in the grain geometry of crushed material becomes large, when the opening is small, it becomes small. RPM setting is to increase and decrease revolutions of the feed for setting the amount of raw material the feeder sends to the crusher jaw. Breakdown control is determined by measuring sound, vibration and heat data in the crushing machine. The working principle of the system of the subject-matter is given in the Figure 1.

[0029] There are lower and upper limit set data desired for the machine to work in the database seen in the Figure 1. In the meanwhile, during working of the machine, data are collected momentarily by the group A and group B sensors seen in the figure. Group A sensors collect data about breakdown situations. Sound, vibration and heat data can be given as examples of them. While this data is within the limit, the machine is working, while it is out of the limit, it performs programmed stop or instantaneous stop. Group B sensors collect data about production. These measure weight, energy, quality data. The energy data measures the energy consumption of the machine momentarily. One of the most important data for the quality data is size distributions in the grain geometry of raw material exiting from the crusher jaw, namely gradation measure. However, it is possible to measure the quality of final product also with data such as aggregate geometry, moisture and the like. Data of production quantity is obtained with the weight data.

[0030] As seen in the Figure 1, in the invention, not only values of the data set in the database but also data taken from the sensor groups A and B are sent to a PLC group, production and breakdown processes in the machine are controlled by working the algorithm on a CPU (processor).

[0031] In the invention, energy, weight and quality data taken from the data of group B sensors are compared to set values in the database firstly. If the data is within the limit, the command of “OK” will be issued, the machine will continue working. If the data is out of the limit, aforementioned CSS and RPM settings will be made (if necessary), data will be taken from the group B sensor again, if the data is within the limit, the command of “OK” will be issued, if it is out of the limit, the command of “work the algorithm again” will be issued.

[0032] Also, breakdown monitoring is performed momentarily as seen in figure 1 in the invention. Heat, vibration and sound data taken from the group A sensors are compared to the set values in the database by the CPU in the PLC group, if the data is within the limit, the machine will continue working by issuing the command of “OK”, if the data is out of the limit, closeness of the data to the deviation value will be determined. The deviation value is a value showing that a data harmful to the machine is reached. If the data is at the upper limit of the deviation value, the machine will be suddenly stopped, if it is at the lower limit of the deviation value, it will be stopped in a programmed manner. It is the general command algorithm which is described until here and shown in the figure 1 in the invention. It will be mentioned in this manner in the remaining description.

[0033] There is a flow chart for minimizing the produced aggregate quantity and consumed energy in the system of the invention in the Figure 2. According to this, firstly, data of the product parameters are taken from the database. These data can be summarized as the data of desired production quantity. Next, real-time production information is taken from the sensor (SI) of the crusher engine (Ml) or the sensors measuring weight. The real-time production data and the desired production data taken at first are compared. If the result of comparison is within the limit values, an approval signal will be given. If it is above the limit, the feeder flow rate will be decreased. If it is below the limit, the feeder flow rate will be increased. The feeder flow rate controls how much raw material is fed to the crusher jaw. In the meanwhile, flow rate and production information are taken from the crusher engine (M2) and its sensor (S2). If the flow rate data reaches the maximum, it will be determined whether the production is within the limit or below the limit. If the production is within the limit, an approval will be given, if it is below the limit, a warning signal will be issued. If the flow rate is below the maximum, again it will be determined whether the production is within the limit or below the limit. If the production is within the limit, an approval will be given, if it is below the limit, the command of increase the feeder flow rate will be issued. Therefore, energy consumption can be taken under control by feeding raw material to the crusher in an optimum rate. The flow rate mentioned in the algorithm is the data indicating the raw material the feeder sends to the crusher, the production quantity is the data indicating the final product quantity exiting from the crusher. This flow mentioned in the figure 2 is the production algorithm. It will be mentioned as the production algorithm in the remaining description.

[0034] Figure 3 shows the final workflow of the general command algorithm mentioned in the figure 1 and the production algorithm mentioned in the figure 2 together. Accordingly, in the invention, the production algorithm is run at first, after the approval signal regarding that the production is within the limit is taken, the general command algorithm is run. After two algorithms are run, the production information is compared to the production information in the database, if the information match, the final workflow will be repeated in certain periods with delay. If the information does not match, the final workflow will be repeated immediately.

[0035] Working of the production and general command algorithms together with the workflow mentioned in the figure 3 in the invention will provide obtaining the highest energy saving simultaneously while the expected quality conditions in the final product are reached.

[0036] In the invention, for collecting data, sensors of heat, vibration, sound, pressure, weight, energy meter, tacho generator / decoder, optical identification tools or camera are used. For processing the data, a computer or PLC equipment is used. In mineral and aggregate crushing plants, there are more than one basic equipment such as crusher, feeder, screen, washer, conveyor bands and in addition to them, various auxiliary equipment. All units in complex plants can be operated by being put together in the algorithms given in the examples above, also they can be evaluated as parts. Therefore, it is provided that plants can make production in a quality and continuous manner by providing economic efficiency and energy saving continuously by collecting production, efficiency, quality and maintenance information of all plant or individual equipment and processing them in artificial intelligence algorithms.

Claims

CLAIMS1- A method comprising an algorithm designed for optimization of production quantity and quality, providing energy saving by modelling operation parameters obtained with equipment compatible with industry 4.0 in industrial mineral and aggregate crushing plants, characterized by running• at least one general command algorithm having■ at least one breakdown process step which takes sound, vibration and heat data from groupA sensors and matches them with set values in the database in the CPU in a PLC group,■ as a result of this, which gives outputs of continuation of machine working, a sudden stop or programmed stop according to whether the value matching is below or above the limit,■ at least one production and quality process step which compares weight, energy and quality data taken from group B sensors to the set values in the database,■ as a result of this, which provides making CSS setting or revolutions (RPM) setting of the machine according to whether the value matching is below or above the limit,• and a production algorithm comprising the process steps of■ collecting the information of production quantity from the crusher engine (Ml) and its sensor(SI),■ comparing the production information to the production quantity value which needs to be in the database,■ giving approval / warning according to the limit value needed, issuing the commands of increasing / decreasing the feeder flow rate,■ taking the flow rate information from the crusher engine (M2) and its sensor (S2),■ comparing the flow rate value to the limit values,■ as a result of the comparison, issuing approval / warning or command of increase the feeder flow rate, respectively, and comparing them to the production data in the database momentarily.2- A method according to claim 1, characterized by repeating the process of comparing the production data obtained as a result of running the production and general command algorithms to the production data in the database momentarily until the production data and desired data in the database match with each other.3- A method according to claim 1 , characterized by, when said matching is provided, repeating it within certain periods with delays.4- A system comprising an algorithm designed for optimization of production quantity and quality, providing energy saving by modelling operation parameters obtained with equipment compatible with industry 4.0 in industrial mineral and aggregate crushing plants, characterized by comprising• for collecting data, sensors of heat, vibration, sound, pressure, weight, energy meter, tacho generator / decoder, optical identification tools or camera equipment,• for processing data, PLC, CPU and computer hardware,• an algorithm performing the processes of comparison, calculation, formation of graph by processing data in the PLC, CPU and computer hardware.

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