Tackle product variability

Product variability is often directly attributable to periodic off-line analysis and manual control. For the cement industry this problem is compounded by the inability of Blaine measurements to sensitively differentiate between samples.

Consider a conventional milling circuit operated with reference to hourly off-line analysis. The operator extracts a sample and sends it to the lab for analysis and a result is returned 30 minutes later. Assuming that this result is correct, although it may be subject to either sampling or analytical errors, or both, the operator assesses the plant and operational trends. Action is then taken, trying to account for changes that have occurred from the time the sample was removed from the plant. Over-compensation is extremely common so the plant has a tendency to swing around the operating point. Inaccuracies in the analytical data resulting from operator-to-operator variability will exacerbate this problem potentially triggering at best a delay in taking action while the result is verified, and at worst an erroneous correction.

Manual control with intermittent analysis

Switching to laser diffraction particle size analysis offers multiple benefits in terms of product variability:

• More precise definition of the manufacturing target, based on percentage fines and coarse material
• Sensitive differentiation between samples - comparing particle size distributions unambiguously verifies that the product is meeting the defined specification
• A rapid fully automated analytical process off-, at- or on-line that ensures high reproducibility
• The opportunity for continuous particle size measurement for real-time plant monitoring

The ability to consistently manufacture to a well-defined specification confers competitive advantage in the marketplace, simultaneously increasing operational confidence and the scope for the production team to push the plant closer to its operating boundaries for economic gain.

What's Next?

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