Ball Mill Flux Drying for Smelting Plant Capacity
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Solution Overview
Problem
In non-ferrous smelting plants, the existing methods for drying and conveying silica ore as a flux are inefficient, leading to reduced production capacity and increased costs due to the need for multiple systems and high water content issues, which limit the amount of silica ore that can be treated and affect the overall copper concentrate processing.
Innovation Solution
A method where silica ore is crushed and dried simultaneously in a ball mill using hot air, with the dried flux being conveyed separately from the copper concentrate, allowing for increased treatment capacity without requiring additional apparatuses, and utilizing recovered hot air for drying, thus enhancing drying efficiency and reducing water content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If silica ore and copper concentrate are dried together in the same system, then the drying process is simplified, but the drying capacity is insufficient to handle increased production requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the drying system into two separate systems: one for silica ore and one for copper concentrate. This segmentation allows each system to be optimized for its specific material, enabling increased treatment capacity without excessive complexity. The silica ore drying system can be operated at higher solid/gas ratios independently from the copper concentrate drying system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention makes the copper concentrate drying system multi-functional by enabling it to handle both silica ore and copper concentrate drying through operational flexibility. The system can switch between drying different materials or operate in parallel modes, increasing overall productivity without requiring completely separate dedicated systems for each material.
2Productivity
If the solid/gas ratio in the drier is increased to handle more silica ore, then the treatment capacity increases, but dust collecting capacity becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the drying and dust collection processes by creating separate handling paths for silica ore and copper concentrate. The silica ore drying system operates with optimized solid/gas ratios and dedicated dust collection, preventing dust generation issues from affecting the copper concentrate processing. This segmentation allows higher treatment capacity while maintaining dust control.
3Productivity
If a second parallel drying system is constructed to increase capacity, then the treatment amount increases, but the investment cost and system complicacy increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the existing copper concentrate drying system multi-functional by enabling it to handle both silica ore and copper concentrate through operational flexibility. This approach increases overall drying capacity without requiring completely separate dedicated systems for each material, thereby avoiding excessive investment costs and system complicacy while still achieving the desired productivity increase.
4Productivity
If hot air is blown into the ball mill for drying silica ore, then the drying efficiency increases, but the water content reduction becomes insufficient at conventional blowing rates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameters of hot air blowing by optimizing the temperature, flow rate, and distribution patterns. By adjusting these parameters, the system achieves effective water content reduction in silica ore while maintaining efficient drying operations. The parameter optimization ensures that the hot air blowing process achieves both high drying efficiency and sufficient water content reduction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach increases the copper concentrate treatment capacity by approximately 10% without reconstructing existing driers, improves crushing efficiency, and reduces energy consumption by effectively utilizing hot air for drying, thereby enhancing overall smelting plant productivity.
Implementation Method 1
a flux mainly composed of silica ore... is crushed in a ball mill and dried in the ball mill while hot air is blown into the ball mill
Implementation Method 2
dried in the ball mill while hot air is blown into the ball mill
Data Source
AI summary
In the operation, a flux mainly composed of silica ore and a non-ferrous metal-ore raw-material are charged into a smelting furnace via a conveying system. In order to increase the production amount of the metal, the flux is conveyed and treated through a first system, in which the flux is crushed in a ball mill and dried in the bail mill, and the crushed and dried flux is conveyed directly before the smelting furnace. The non-ferrous metal ore is treated and conveyed through a second system, in which it is dried with a drier and then conveyed directly before the smelting furnace. In the drier of copper concentrate, the flux is not dried at all.