Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Characterization and Modeling of

Semi-Autogenous Mill Performance Under
Ore Size Distribution Disturbances
Felipe N
un
ez Daniel Silva Aldo Cipriano

College of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Cat

olica de Chile,
Santiago, Chile (e-mail: fenunez@ing.puc.cl, aciprian@ing.puc.cl).

Automation Department, Compa

na Minera Los Pelambres, Choapa,
Chile (e-mail: dsilva@pelambres.cl).
Abstract: Advance control of semiautogenous (SAG) grinding has become a major issue for
mining companies. SAG mills are very complex systems involving important nonlinearities and
unmeasured disturbances which make the process very difficult to control. In the last decades
approaches varying from decentralized PID control to multivariable predictive control have been
applied to control of SAG mills with variable success; at the same time, new sensors has been
developed with the aim to provide real time measurements of important variables currently
unmeasured. The recent availability of new measurements, such as ore size distribution, has
faced control engineers with the problem of obtaining new models, and designing new control
algorithms capable of both, providing mathematical relations describing SAG mills behavior,
and incorporating the new measurements in determining the control law. In this work, real time
R
visual sensor are used in order to obtain a qualitative
measurements obtained using a WipFrag
characterization and a dynamic model of SAG mills performance when faced to disturbances in
the ore size distribution. Results obtained show that the two parameters of the Rosin-Rammler
R
are the best option for characterizing the ore size
distribution, n and xc , delivered by WipFrag
distribution. Modeling results show that including the information regarding ore size distribution
reduces the mean absolute error from 2.91% to 2.33% with respect to the case when only the
feed rate and the speed of the mill are used to obtain the model.
Keywords: Mineral processing, SAG Mill, Ore size distribution, Process control, Visual sensors.
1. INTRODUCTION
The aim of mineral processing is to concentrate raw ore
in preparation for the subsequent metal-extraction stage.
Usually, the valuable minerals are first liberated from the
ore matrix by comminution and size-separation processes
and then separated from the gangue using processes capable of selecting the particles according to their physical or
chemical properties.
Semiautogenous grinding (SAG) is one of the most used
processes for comminution. The process involves feeding
large rock particles and water into a grinding mill of several
meters of diameter containing steel balls which rotates at
a fraction of its critical speed. The slurry and ball charge
adheres to the walls of the mill before cascading off at
a given angle, causing impact and thus fragmenting the
ore. The size distribution and hardness of the ore feeding
the SAG mill influence the breakage inside the mill and,
thus, the quality of the product. Throughput and product
quality are heavily affected by the conditions inside the
mill; therefore, feed properties are important variables
worth measuring and studying with the aim to improve
the control of the process.

measurement option, mainly due to their high sampling

frequency, low cost, and non-intrusive characteristics. The
principal application fields of these sensors have been
grinding and flotation. Particularly in grinding, the most
successful application is measuring the ore size distribution delivering parameters which define the distribution.
These parameters should be incorporated in the control
algorithms looking for an improvement in SAG mills performance.
In this work, a qualitative and quantitative characterization of the performance of a SAG mill when faced to ore
size distribution disturbances is developed. Ore size distriR
bution measurements, obtained using a WipFrag
visual
sensor, are analyzed in order to obtain a set of variables
for SAG modeling and control. First, a qualitative characterization regarding the effect of variations in the ore
size distribution on the SAG mill fill level is made. Then,
a quantitative relation in the form of a dynamic model is
obtained, with the aim to predict the weight of the mill
based on the parameters defining the ore size distribution
and other operating variables such as feed rate and speed.
Finally, the model is validated using real process data from
Minera Los Pelambres comminution circuit.

In obtaining new measurements for mineral processing

processes, visual sensors have emerged as an interesting
Copyright by the
International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC)

9941

Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

2. ORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION

2.1 SAG mills
Semiautogenous grinding mills are currently one of the
most widely used approaches in the field of mineral size
reduction as a consequence of their comparative advantages, such as higher processing capacity, lower space requirements, energy efficiency, and lower investment and
maintenance costs. However, they show an important complexity in terms of operation and control.
In order to improve the control of SAG mills, several modeling approaches have been developed (Amestica et al.,
1996; Gal
an et al., 2002; Apelt et al., 2002; Morrell, 2004;
Salazar et al., 2009); these models are useful for modelbased control strategies that incorporates process variables
in control law determination. For control purposes, manipulated variables include: water flow rate, solids flow rate,
and mill speed (Wei and Craig, 2009). Controlled variables
differs from one plant to another and include control of:
mill power, mill tonnage, mill internal load, and product
particle size (Wei and Craig, 2009).

R
Fig. 1. WipFrag
interface.

New control approaches should incorporate measurements

recently available by means of obtaining models capable of
relating these new measurements with process variables.

Ore size distribution measurement is made in several

stages: image acquisition, net generation, equivalent volume determination, and curve adjusting.

2.2 Ore size distribution measurement

Image acquisition is carried out using a camera installed

over the conveyor belt in which the mineral is transported.
The shutter speed is adjusted looking for obtaining an
image without slipping.

Ore size distribution is considered an important process

measurement for SAG mills operation and control. Both,
ore hardness and ore size distribution are the most important disturbances that affect SAG operation and, thus,
having information of these variables is useful when designing controllers (Hahne et al., 2003). Currently, the
most accepted method for measuring ore size distribution
is digital image analysis; including simple one or two dimensional methods, or sophisticated approaches such as
multivariate and texture-based image analysis. There are
several commercial visual sensors currently operating in
industrial mineral processing plants. Some of them are:
SplitOnline (Bobo et al., 2008), VisioRock (Guyot et al.,
2004), and WipFrag (Maerz et al., 1996). The incorporation of measurements delivered by visual sensors in control
algorithms is still an open issue, and further research
regarding the effects of ore size distribution on SAG mills
performance is needed.
In other line, ore size distribution has been measured
using model-based soft sensors (Casali et al., 1998; Apelt
et al., 2002) and laser scanning (Kaartinen and Tolonen,
2008). However, image processing-based sensors are the
most popular method and are commonly found in mineral
processing plants worldwide.
3. WIPFRAG

SENSOR

R
WipFrag
is an image analysis system for sizing materials
such as blasted or crushed rock (Maerz et al., 1996). It
is based on image processing techniques, using automatic
algorithms to identify individual blocks, and create an
outline net, using state of the art edge detection. If desired
or necessary, manual intervention (editing of the image
net) can be used to improve its fidelity (Maerz et al., 1996).

Net generation involves the identification of block edges.

This is done in two stages (Maerz et al., 1996). The
first stage uses several conventional image processing techniques, including the use of thresholding and gradient
operators. The operators detect the faint shadows between
adjacent blocks, and work best on clean images with lightly
textured rock surfaces. The second stage uses a number of
reconstruction techniques to further delineate blocks that
are only partly outlined during the first stage. These include both knowledge based and arbitrary reconstruction
techniques, to complete the net.
Finally, the identified blocks are approximated by an
equivalent volume sphere, and then ore size distribution
is estimated based on spheres volume. Curve adjusting
modifies the parameters of the Rosin-Rammler characteristic distribution given by:
x n
y(x) = 1 e( xc )
(1)
where y(x) is the cumulative passing percentage, x is the
particle size in inches, xc is the characteristic size, and n
is the Rosin-Rammler uniformity coefficient.
R
WipFrag
modifies the characteristic distribution using
two calibration factors that must be established prior to
the analysis (Wipware, 2002):

nnaddj

y(x) = 1 e

x
xc xcaddj

(2)

R
WipFrag
delivers as output the modified Rosin-Rammler
distribution and several parameters such as the coefficient
of uniformity cu , the percentile sizes Dn , the RosinRammler uniformity coefficient n, the characteristic size

9942

Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Fig. 2. Rosin-Rammler distribution for different values of

n and xc .
xc , and the sphericity, among others. Figure 1 shows the
R
WipFrag
interface and the outputs for a given image.
4. MODELING OF SAG PERFORMANCE UNDER
OSD DISTURBANCES
4.1 Qualitative analysis
The qualitative effect of changes in ore size distribution
(OSD) on the performance of the mill can be addressed
using the grindcurves (Powell and Mainza, 2006) of the
SAG mill under analysis. The operation of SAG mills is
extremely sensitive to mill filling; from a qualitative point
of view, for a given fill level and constant feed rate and
speed, if the OSD becomes slightly coarser then the fill
level will increase, and on the other hand, if the OSD
becomes slightly finer then the fill level will decrease.
Grindcurves provide information regarding the effect of
changes in fill level on SAG power and throughput (Powell
et al., 2009). Therefore, variables capable of explaining
how changes in the OSD affect mill filling are required and
could be obtained based on the measurements delivered by
visual sensors.
In plant operation is customary to monitor the passing
percentage for a given size considered representative, regardless of the Rosin-Rammler distribution parameters,
and to characterize the OSD based on this passing percentage. However, there are several combinations of n and xc
that delivers the same passing percentage for a given size,
yet a completely different performance. Figure 2 shows the
Rosin-Rammler distribution for different values of n and
xc . It can be seen that for a given size (1.2500 ) the passing
percentage varies when the parameters are varied. For the
cases when n = 2 and xc = 4, and n = 1 and xc = 4
the passing percentages are very close each other; however,
the corresponding Rosin-Rammler distributions are totally
different. This fact suggests that a better characterization
of the process is achieved when considering the RosinRammler parameters rather than the passing percentage
for a given size.

Fig. 3. Scatter plot of real process data from Minera Los

Pelambres.
Minera Los Pelambres comminution circuit. It is clear,
merely by visually inspecting, that during normal operation there is an inverse relation between n and xc , and
that mostly the process operates in a small region of the
domain. Figure 4 shows Rosin-Rammler distributions obtained from data presented in figure 3, the region delimited
by the two red curves contains more than the 92% of the
points and could be considered as representative limits for
normal operation.
In order to find variables capable of explaining changes
in fill level, correlation tests were conducted. Results obtained confirm that Rossin-Rammler parameters n and xc
R
delivered by WipFrag
are the best choice for explaining
variations in the filling level, when the others process
variables remain unchanged. Therefore, Rosin-Rammler
parameters will be used for modeling purposes, as indicators of the OSD, in the next section.
4.2 Fuzzy modeling
Fuzzy modeling is one of the most important fields in fuzzy
system theory; two general structures can be identified: linguistic fuzzy modeling that is focused on interpretability,
mainly the Mamdani model; and precise fuzzy modeling
that is focused on accuracy, mainly the Takagi-SugenoKang (TSK) model, which is used in this work due to its
simplicity to model highly nonlinear relations combining
simple linear models. The general form of the TakagiSugeno-Kang model is given by several implications formulated as if-then rules using fuzzy variables in the antecedent and standard linear models in the consequence
(Takagi and Sugeno, 1985). The implications are based
on a fuzzy partition of the input space; in each fuzzy
subspace a input-output relation is formed, and the output
of the system is obtained by the aggregation of the values
inferred. A typical implication is given by (Takagi and
Sugeno, 1985):

Figure 3 shows a scatter plot, in the Rosin-Rammler parameters domain, of real operating data obtained from
9943

R : IF x1 is A1 and and xk is Ak
T HEN y = f (x1 , . . . , xk )

(3)

Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

A major concern in fuzzy modeling is identification. Identification is broken down into two problems: structure and
parameter identification (Sugeno and Yasukawa, 1993).
Structure identification consists of finding input variables,
and a partition of the input space. Parameter identification
consists of finding the parameters of each model in the
consequence part of the rule (Sugeno and Yasukawa, 1993).
For structure identification several schemes have been proposed; many of them based on fuzzy clustering and sensitivity analysis of output with respect to inputs. Structure
identification methods can be grouped into model-free and

model-based methods (Sindel

ar and Babuska, 2004). For
parameter identification least squares have shown good
performance. In this work the TSK model is tuned using the Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System
(ANFIS) (Jang, 1993).
4.3 ANFIS structure
Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System is a class
of adaptive network which is functionally equivalent to
fuzzy inference systems (Jang, 1993). An adaptive network
is a multilayer feedforward network where each node
performs a particular function; each node can be adaptive
or static, and then the parameter set of an adaptive
network is the union of the parameter set of each adaptive
node. A TSK fuzzy inference system can be described by
a 5 layer ANFIS structure as follows (Jang, 1993):
Layer 1: Every node in this layer is an adaptive node
with node function:
O1i = Ai (x)
(4)
where x is the node input, and Ai is the linguistic label (fuzzy subset). Then, the parameter set is formed
by the parameters defining membership functions.
Layer 2: Every node in this layer is an static node
with node function equal to the T norm function
selected for fuzzy inference.
Layer 3: Every node in this layer is an static node in
charge of rules firing strength calculation w
i .
Layer 4: Every node in this layer is an adaptive node
with node function:
O4i = w
i fi
(5)
where w
i is the output of layer 3, and fi is the
consequent function of rule i. Then, the parameter set
is formed by the parameters defining each consequent
function fi .
Layer 5: The single node in this layer is a static node
in charge of computing the overall output as the sum
of all incoming signals.
Training is achieved using a hybrid learning algorithm
which make use of least squares for layer 4 parameter identification, and the well-known backpropagation algorithm
for layer 1 parameter identification (Jang, 1993).
4.4 Model training
In order to evaluate TSK model performance, several
structures were tested following Jang (1996) for input
selection. The input selection method proposed in Jang
(1996) is based on the assumption that the ANFIS model
with the smallest mean absolute error (MAE) after one

Fig. 4. Rosin-Rammler distributions commonly found at

Minera Los Pelambres.
epoch of training has a greater potential of achieving a
lower MAE when given more epochs of training. This
assumption is not absolutely true from a theoretical point
of view, but it is heuristically reasonable.
In this application five main variables are considered for
modeling: the Rosin-Rammler parameters n and xc , mill
speed, mill feed rate, and mill weight; the objective is to
obtain a model capable of predicting future mill weight, a
variable commonly used for estimating mill filling, based
on measurements of the other variables. Models with
different combinations of input, including models with and
without OSD information and with and without delayed
versions of weight as an input, were trained using 5000
samples obtained from the comminution circuit of Minera
Los Pelambres at a sample rate of one minute. Models
include a different number of fuzzy subsets for each input
varying from 1 to 3, with Gaussian membership functions.
Training results show that the best input set is formed by
the current measurements of n, xc , mill speed, mill feed
rate, and mill weight. A response time of 3 samples was
found; thus, the output is the prediction of mill weight 3
steps in the future (w(t + 3)). Then the linear models in
the consequence part of each rule are of the form:
w(t + 3) = a0 + a1 n(t) + a2 xc (t) + a3 f (t) + a4 s(t) + a5 w(t)
(6)
where f and s are mill feed rate and mill speed respectively,
and ai are fixed parameters.
4.5 Model validation
For validation, the TSK models are tested using real data
from Minera Los Pelambres. Data consists of 5000 samples,
different from those used for identification, acquired at a
sample rate of one minute. Validation results are presented
in figures 5 and 6 for the two best models obtained in terms
of MAE and number of parameters; for the case without
considering the OSD information and considering the OSD
information respectively. The former considers mill feed
rate (with two fuzzy subsets), mill speed (with two fuzzy
subsets), and the current measurement of mill weight as
inputs; and the latter considers n (with two fuzzy subsets),
xc (with two fuzzy subsets), mill feed rate, mill speed,

9944

Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

and xc improves the modeling mean absolute error from

2.91% to 2.33%.
Future research should consider the implementation of
an optimization strategy that makes use of the model
which includes the OSD information for predicting the
fill level, and grindcurves for determining the optimal fill
level required in order to obtain the desired throughput or
power.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors want to thank Minera Los Pelambres for the
industrial data provided and the approval for publishing
this work.
REFERENCES
Fig. 5. Modeling results without considering OSD information.

Fig. 6. Modeling results considering OSD information.

and the current measurement of mill weight as inputs. It
can be seen that including the OSD information improves
the prediction capabilities of the model. The inclusion of
the OSD information in the form of n and xc reduces the
mean absolute error from 2.91% to 2.33% without adding
considerable complexity to the model.
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS AND FUTURE
RESEARCH
The analysis of ore size distribution parameters delivered
R
by WipFrag
sensors shows that the Rosin-Rammler
distribution parameters n and xc are the best selection for
characterizing OSD and including the OSD effect in a SAG
mill performance model. Analysis of real operating data
obtained from Minera Los Pelambres shows that during
normal operation, the OSD varies in a range that can be
delimited by two Rosin-Rammler distributions.
Modeling results show that variations in mill weight can
be modeled using as inputs the mill feed rate, mill speed,
and a delayed version of weight. The inclusion in the model
structure of the OSD information using the parameters n

Amestica, R., Gonzalez, G.D., Menacho, J., and Barria,

J. (1996). A mechanistic state equation model for
semiautogenous mills. International Journal of Mineral
Processing, 44-45, 349 360.
Apelt, T.A., Asprey, S.P., and Thornhill, N.F. (2002).
Inferential measurement of SAG mill parameters III:
inferential models. Minerals Engineering, 15(12), 1055
1071.
Bobo, T., Rodriguez, C., Urrejola, S., and Delgado, L.
(2008). Split-online digital image analysis system to
quantify particle size, shape and color for real time
process control of crushed materials. In Proceedings of
the 1st International Congress on Automation in the
Mining Industry Automining 2008, April 23-25, 153
162. Gecamin, Santiago, Chile.
Casali, A., Gonzalez, G., Torres, F., Vallebuona, G.,
Castelli, L., and Gimenez, P. (1998). Particle size
distribution soft-sensor for a grinding circuit. Powder
Technology, 99(1), 15 21.
Galan, O., Barton, G.W., and Romagnoli, J.A. (2002).
Robust control of a sag mill. Powder Technology, 124(3),
264 271.
Guyot, O., Monredon, T., LaRosa, D., and Broussaud,
A. (2004). Visiorock, an integrated vision technology
for advanced control of comminution circuits. Minerals
Engineering, 17(11-12), 1227 1235.
Hahne, R., Palsson, B.I., and Samskog, P.O. (2003). Ore
characterisation forand simulation ofprimary autogenous grinding. Minerals Engineering, 16(1), 13 19.
Jang, J. (1993). Anfis: adaptive-network-based fuzzy
inference system. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man
and Cybernetics, 23(3), 665685.
Jang, J. (1996). Input selection for anfis learning. In
Proceedings of the Fifth IEEE International Conference
on Fuzzy Systems, 1996., volume 2, 14931499.
Kaartinen, J. and Tolonen, A. (2008). Utilizing 3d height
measurement in particle size analysis. In M.J. Chung,
P. Misra, and H. Shim (eds.), Proceedings of the 17th
IFAC World Congress, July 6-11, 2008, Seoul, Korea.
IFAC, Seoul, Korea.
Maerz, N.H., Palangio, T.C., and Franklin, J.A. (1996).
Wipfrag image based granulometry system. In Proceedings of the FRAGBLAST 5 Workshop on Measurement
of Blast Fragmentation, August 23-24, 1996, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada, 9199.

9945

Preprints of the 18th IFAC World Congress

Milano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011

Morrell, S. (2004). A new autogenous and semi-autogenous

mill model for scale-up, design and optimisation. Minerals Engineering, 17(3), 437 445.
Powell, M. and Mainza, A. (2006). Extended grinding
curves are essential to the comparison of milling performance. Minerals Engineering, 19(15), 1487 1494.
Powell, M., van der Westhuizen, A., and Mainza, A.
(2009). Applying grindcurves to mill operation and
optimisation. Minerals Engineering, 22(7-8), 625 632.
Salazar, J., Magne, L., Acuna, G., and Cubillos, F. (2009).
Dynamic modelling and simulation of semi-autogenous
mills. Minerals Engineering, 22(1), 70 77.
Sugeno, M. and Yasukawa, T. (1993). A fuzzy-logic-based
approach to qualitative modeling. IEEE Transactions
on Fuzzy Systems, 1(1), 731.
Takagi, T. and Sugeno, M. (1985). IEEE Transactions on
Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 15(1), 116132.

Sindel
ar, R. and Babuska, R. (2004). Input selection
for nonlinear regression models. IEEE Transactions on
Fuzzy Systems, 12(5), 688696.
Wei, D. and Craig, I.K. (2009). Grinding mill circuits a
survey of control and economic concerns. International
Journal of Mineral Processing, 90(1-4), 56 66.
Wipware (2002). WipFrag Calibration. Wipware Inc.

9946