Application of Computers and Operations Research in the Mineral Industry –

Dessureault, Ganguli, Kecojevic & Dwyer (eds)

© 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 04 1537 449 9

On-line imaging of aggregates for process control

T.W. BoBo Jr.

Split Engineering, LLC, Tucson, AZ

M. Taylor
Graniterock Company, Watsonville, CA

ABSTRACT: Currently two of the most important characteristics of construction aggregates are (a) the particle
size distribution (psd) and (b) the “shape” of the aggregate particles. The long established test methods and
standards for these properties require substantial resources and most suppliers can take samples and conduct
tests at intervals measured in days (psd) or even months (shape). Furthermore these tests require time: so the
results are available only after material has been stockpiled or shipped. In the rare cases where problems are
found the out-of-spec material has often been shipped to points unknown. There are substantial advantages to
be obtained if the psd and other geometrical properties could be obtained from the material as it moves through
the production processes and if the results could be reported back within seconds or minutes to Plant Control
Managers. This paper describes a single on-line system used to evaluate production of crushed material in a
production quarry. The system consists of an enclosure (containing the camera and lighting etc.) mounted over a
production belt. Images are fed by fiber optic cable to a nearby control room where the data are analyzed; stored;
displayed; and made available for integration into a process control system. Numerous forms of display can be
created according to the needs of the producer. Once programmed by an automation engineer all functions of
operation are fully automated. The system has permitted over 400 tests per hour with a feed back time less than
2 seconds. Sufficient geometrical measurements are made so that many different “shape” factors can be computed
on a similar time scale. The paper summarizes the results from approximately 100 shifts of about 8 hours each
and compares the imaging method with the current standard hand methods. Study of the data generated showed
that, when combined with additional plant information, the system can be used to generate additional useful
control information.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 SPLIT-ONLINE: IMAGE ANALYSIS

The Split-Online® digital image analysis software sys-
tem is the product of more than 13 years of research,
testing and validation by Split Engineering. Split-
Online is an automated image processing system
designed to operate continuously to monitor any step in
the mining process that can be measured using vision.
To date, the most widespread successful application of
image analysis is fragmentation measurement in the
traditional base and precious metal mining operations
with large crushing and milling circuits that require
efficiency in comminution to maximize the profit of
the final commodity product. With the help of on-line
digital image analysis systems, operators are able to
actively monitor the various stages in the comminu-
tion circuit to ensure their operation is running within
specification. This instrumentation provides real time
information allowing for process control decisions to
be made now instead of an hour or even a day later if
the process is out of specification.
SOFTWARE BACKGROUND
Split-Online® is an automated digital image analysis
system designed to operate continuously and monitor
locations suitable for permanently installed cameras.
The best place for a permanent camera monitoring
location is above a moving conveyor belt. This includes
apron feeders feeding primary crushers, belts carrying
all stages of crusher feed and product, feed and prod-
uct of screened material, belts carrying AG or SAG
mill feed, belts carrying ball or rod mill feed, or other
locations. Other more challenging applications include
truck dump beds unloading fragmentation into crush-
ers, although data availability is less than conveyor belt
applications.
Samples of material for screening are collected
when the Split-Online system is installed and cali-
brated. The purpose of this is to calibrate the fines
correction and delineation parameters for each system
and make sure that the hidden material is appropriately

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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK

 Figure 1. Schematic from typical Split-Online Fragmentation measurement system.

accounted for, if necessary. This involves stopping

the conveyor belt after a sample has been recorded
on video, removing and screening the belt material
and comparing the screened results with the image
processing results.
It is important to realize that the systems employ
fairly standard CCD cameras in that they can only see
the surface. It is assumed that the largest material is vis-
ible on the surface and that fines, which normally fall
to the bottom, are the only hidden material that needs
to be accounted for. The user does have the option
of turning off the fines correction and only using the
information generated from the surface of the mate-
rial, which is used when monitoring material where
the fines have been screened out. However, over the
past five years Split Engineering has collected more
than 80 sets of sieve results and corresponding images
from operations worldwide and this data set shows that Figure 2. Split-Online software window.
the fines correction approach is reasonable.
Split-Online runs continuously and can capture module can be implemented to find the boundaries
images from one or more cameras at a time interval of the particles and the areas of fine material. Addi-
preset by the user or when signaled by a digital trig- tional processing dlls for other mining applications are
ger.The software architecture is object oriented and the under development at this time. The fourth category is
processing steps are individual .dll components linked analyzing: for fragmentation, this means size distribu-
to execute as a chain of events to analyze images, and tion calculations using the delineated images as input.
generate and deliver output data. The chain of dlls is The fifth category is outputs: this includes text files,
called a process flow channel. There are no arbitrary serial strings, ODBC, OPC Server and analog out-
limits on the number of channels that can be created puts to plant control systems. All are user customized
and executed. via a drag-n-drop interface and connected via LAN
There are five categories of components that can to make data available to other systems. Split-Online
be implemented into a channel. The first step in the runs under Windows 2000 Pro and Windows XP Pro.
process is initiation or triggering: this can be a timer, Image Acquisition and Initiation: Images can be
relay or process as fast as possible. The second is collected from live video sources from permanently
capturing: the images can be read from a live video mounted cameras. The most convenient location for
source or files. The third is processing: this is the a permanent camera is above a moving conveyor
image processing step where images are dynamically belt where one software system can be configured to
cropped according to content and the fragmentation run continuously and capture images for processing.

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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK


Figure 3. Conveyor structure with camera and lights.
A typical set up for a camera above a conveyor belt
is shown in Figure 3. A light system is normally used
containing industrial style lighting for constant and
even light. At the center of the light frame the CCD
camera is mounted.
The images from live video sources are captured by
a framegrabber card in the computer, which is located
in a dust free environment such as a substation, crusher
or plant control room. The computer can be located
up to 3 km from the cameras with multimode fiber
optic transmissions and can be located many miles
away with single mode. Scaling of the images is done
only once, after the equipment has been installed and
the camera has been focused. The scale only needs
to be re-calibrated if the lens settings or the distance
between the rock and camera is changed. Rather than
process individual images, Split-Online is normally set
to take a number of images and give the average size
distribution for this set of images (this improves the
statistical confidence of the results).
Processing: Once the images have been acquired,
the next step is for software to transform them by
applying image-processing routines to extract useful
information.
Fragmentation: The fragmentation module trans-
forms a grayscale image of rocks into an image
showing three labels: particles, boundaries and patches
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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
of fines. There are a number of algorithm parameters
that must be accurately determined at commission-
ing, but once the range of these have been determined,
they are dynamically calculated so that a wide range of
sampling conditions can be accurately delineated and
labeled. Some of the algorithms include automated
dynamic delineation parameters and automatic fines
identification. The accuracy of delineation is the key
to obtaining accurate size results. The software allows
an observer to monitor the delineations.
Quality Check: The quality check module is impor-
tant because it is used to classify and discard images
that do not contain expected information. This is used
to discard images of empty belts in the event a digital
signal is not available to delay processing.
Analysis: The determination of the screen size and
volume of each fragment is calculated and the details
of these characteristics are adequately described in
Kemeny (1994) and Girdner et al. (1996). However,
the estimation of the amount of fines in an image and
the assumed distribution within the fines has recently
been improved, Kemeny (1999). The calculation of the
size distribution is done in a histogram using a large
number of very small bins. The interpolation module
allows the user to create the desired output sieve series
and percentage axis size intercepts (F50, F80, topsize
for example).
Results: There are numerous output modules avail-
able in the Split-Online software. These modules
enable writing to text files (on the Split-Online com-
puter or over LAN), writing to ODBC compliant
databases (on the Split-Online computer or over LAN),
sending analog signals using optional analog output
units provided with the Split-Online systems, creat-
ing custom serial output strings, simply writing text
to the log window of the Split-Online software, and
OPC Server communication. For the text, ODBC and
serial options, the entire format of the output is cus-
tomized at commissioning using a simple drag and
drop interface. Additionally, Split-Online provides a
VB scripting interface to allow the user to completely
customize the outputs, if necessary.
3 QUARRY CASE STUDY: INSTALLATION
OF ONLINE SYSTEM
An initial case study was performed in April 2002
that involved comparing size distribution results in
a laboratory setting between manual sieving of rock
fragmentation as compared to imaging. The study
produced promising results and warranted the pur-
chase of a permanently installed online system at
the A.R. Wilson Quarry in Aromas, California owned
and operated by Graniterock Company an integrated
producer of granite aggregates and asphalt. Installa-
tion of the online system would provide more data as
well as provide continuous size information for the
 on-going plant operation. Details of the installation
are described below.
The Split-Online system was selected after the
issuance of a competitive RFP. From three submis-
sions, Split Engineering was selected. Two desired
objectives were established initially.
1. Determine if an imaging system can give a particle
size distribution (“psd”) equivalent to the current
methods.
2. Determine if the on line real time monitoring can
assist the plant in increasing efficiency and quality.

3.1 System installation

The project kick-off meeting occurred April 2003 for
the installation of the Split-Online system at Granite-
rock. The location for the single camera was identified
and the requisite requirements for the camera loca-
tion were communicated. The chosen camera location
was over the stacker belt (No. 4158) for ¾ by ½ inch
material. Key requirements included (a) a structure
that provides shade for the camera from direct sunlight
and thus provides controlled lighting, (b) availability
of power for the lights and camera, (c) availability of
fiber-optic video cables for the video signal, (d) mini-
mum interference with quarry operations and (e) ease
of access to the hardware for system commissioning
and maintenance. Mine and Quarry Engineering Ser-
vices, Inc (MQes) was selected as the engineering firm
to design, fabricate and install the camera housing on
the 4158 belt. The camera housing was installed by
early June (see Figure 4) and engineers from Split
Engineering arrived on site mid-June to commission
the system.
3.2 System description
A camera is mounted above the belt with the cam-
era and associated lighting contained in an enclosure.
The software is controlled by the weightometer signal:
if the indicated weight on the belt exceeds a selected
minimum then the system operates; if the weight drops
below this value then the system pauses. The software
is highly flexible and configurable. At commissioning
the system settings were as follows. The camera views
a length of belt approximately one foot long in each
frame taken. The belt moves at about seven feet per
second and there is about eighteen pounds of material
per foot. The camera can analyze and produce a psd
within 0.8 seconds. The camera takes ten consecutive
images then averages the size information from the ten.
Therefore, each camera “test” is about equal to a ten-
foot belt cut and each camera “test” represents about
180 lbs. of material (the ASTM hand test amount is
35 lbs). The ten frames are taken and processed within
about 8 seconds and then the software waits for about
2 seconds and then repeats the cycle. In all, the sys-
tem tests about 15% of all material passing along the
Figure 4. Camera housing and computer station.
belt, which is an orders-of-magnitude increase over the
current manual testing method and frequency.
The system takes the images and processes them
to obtain a psd. Usually the system then discards the
images. However, at present it is storing one “test”
image (actually a composite set of ten frames) per hour
so as to provide an archive for future inspection and
analysis, if needed.
3.3 Data presentation
Initially, the system was configured to display the four
sieve sizes for the product on the conveyor (3/4, 1/2, 3/8
and #4) plus the “top size observed” as a simple time
series. The information can be viewed on the monitor
of the computer and it is also saved on the hard drive
of the computer.
On June 20, 2003 in connection with the com-
missioning of the Split-Online system, and again on
September 4th on a follow-up visit, three separate belt
cuts of material were taken for re-calibration. These
sample images (see Figure 5) were used to compare
the traditional sizing method versus the image analy-
sis method. A total of twenty-five images were saved
for future calibration and comparison to laboratory
manual sieve results. As is customary with all online
installations, some calibration of the sizing algorithms
is necessary.Typically, the same material that is imaged
is later sieved: this is the best comparison possi-
ble. Numerous studies and experience have demon-
strated that imaging will typically report a coarser size

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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK

 3.4 Application of information
In order to fulfill the second objective of the system,
the system had to prove that it can assist the plant in
increasing efficiency and quality.
A review on the following morning after initial
installation showed that the sizes were generally stable
but some “blips” were apparent in the plots. A com-
parison with the plant logs showed a concurrence with
various unusual events (e.g. crushers brought off line),
Figure 5. Grayscale Image and delineation of the particles verifying the fact that the blips seen in the data were
in the image using the Split-Online software. caused by actual variation in the particle size itself.
The value of the Split-Online system for process con-
Table 1. Screen sizes with percent passing of lab vs. Split- trol is the ability to pick up these changes, blips or
Online and absolute percent difference. “upset conditions” in the plant operation. Prior to the
installation of the Split-Online system, these events
Sreen Lab Split ABS Diff. would go unnoticed due to once a day or bi-weekly
sieve analysis checks. Now the information is virtu-
Sample #1 ally real-time and able to monitor the plant operation
1.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 to provide the plant operator the information neces-
0.75 89.30 88.89 0.41
0.50 26.80 26.54 0.26
sary information to make process control decisions
0.38 7.90 9.11 1.21 and alert the operators when the plant is running and
0.19 2.50 2.96 0.46 producing material out of specification or ASTM stan-
Average ABS Diff. 0.47
dards. Graniterock is currently investigating how this
information can be used to help the plant operations
Sample #2 improve their efficiency.
1.00 100.00 100.00 0.00
0.75 89.30 89.80 0.50
0.50 26.80 28.00 1.20
0.38 7.90 8.20 0.30 4 SPLIT-ONLINE AGGREGATES MODULE
0.19 2.50 2.50 0.00
Average ABS Diff. 0.40 With the opportunity to install a test system in the
aggregate industry, Split Engineering has a unique
Sample #3
1.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 opportunity to understand the needs of this industry.
0.75 88.90 89.47 0.57 The result is a custom particle size distribution module
0.50 26.40 27.26 0.86 specifically developed for the end-users in the aggre-
0.38 7.80 8.97 1.17 gate industry. Changes to the user interface include the
0.19 2.70 2.76 0.06 addition of pre-configured trend charts for standard
Average ABS Diff. 0.53 aggregate products. The trend charts include upper and
lower bound lines as defined by the ASTM standards.
distribution than sieving because smaller particles shift New features in the software include the ability
under the larger particles that appear on the surface. to “turn-off” the fines estimation in the size distri-
Calibration reconciles the under representation of fine bution calculation. This is a reflection of the fact that
material. most aggregate conveyors require the monitoring of
The unique challenge with the belt material pre- screened material. In addition, statistics regarding the
sented in the aggregate industry is the tight range of particles are easier to configure and output within this
sizes artificially introduced through screening. For the new module. Statistics involving the aspect ratio as
online system to have value as a process control tool, a function of sieve size, surface area, and shape are
it must be able to detect variation in the process, on available for output and can be tracked for each sieve
the order of 5–10% differences. The results of the size. Also, the size calculation for the 2D to 3D volume
calibration are detailed in Table 1. The three samples estimation for each particle can be customized using
manually sieved were virtually identical, and the cor- VB Script as well as other key data. The standard algo-
responding results from Split-Online are similar. The rithms used by Split Engineering are still available for
calibration step proved that the system can provide use, but a custom calculation may be appropriate for
accurate psd information on a continuous basis that different products. This flexibility is a reflection of
is equivalent to current manual methods, where 2–5% the fact that every operation is different and, further,
variations seen in manual sieving and digital image each conveyor may have different material on it. The
analysis are similar. This was the first objective of the ability to customize size calculations is important to
system installation. this industry. Figure 6 displays a new set-up window

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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK


Figure 6. New Split-Online aggregate module set-up
window.
created for the aggregate industry to include calcula-
tions on a variety of shape factors.
5 APPLICATION OF IMAGING TO GRADING
While imaging has been used in many fields and for
many purposes, the initial objective in the current
research was to determine whether an on-line imag-
ing system could be used to replace (or augment) the
traditional sample-prepare-test-report quality control
procedures. A single camera system was installed over
one belt in a production quarry. The details of the sys-
tem have been described above. The initial request to
the software engineers of Split Engineering was to pro-
duce a size distribution that could be compared with
that produced by standard sampling and testing and
evaluated according to the standards of bias and pre-
cision of authorities such as ASTM and various State
agencies.
There were 4 major potential advantages of such a
system.
1. It provides much more data than the traditional
method (approx. 1000 times as many data points
per unit time period for the system configuration
presented here).
2. The feedback time is almost instantaneous rather
than hours or days.
3. It operates at a much lower cost than the manual
system (when averaged over a reasonable period of
time).
4. Virtually real-time sampling provides the plant
operator the with the necessary to make process
control decisions and alert the operators when the
plant is running and producing material out of
specification or ASTM standards.
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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
The potential disadvantages include:
1. Since the current system “sees” only an (essentially)
2-d view of the material, some method must be
found to translate this into 3-d that is both reliable
and equivalent to the hand sieving method.
2. There may be a considerable resistance to the intro-
duction of imaging as an acceptable procedure in
the relevant industries. The degree of resistance is
an unknown at the present time.
3. Lack of sufficient automation, supervisory or
expert control systems installed in the aggregates
industry may hinder the realization of the full
potential of an integrated on-line real-time process
control tool.
6 RESULTS TO DATE
The system has been operating for over one year. The
system is triggered on when the weight of the material
on the belt exceeds a chosen value and stops when the
weight falls below another value. The system runs for
between 10 or 12 hours each day. There have been
only 5 non-operating periods. Three of these were
assignable to power (to the computer system) failures
and the other two remain unexplained. Each “down”
situation has been correctable within minutes of its
discovery.
To demonstrate the amount of data obtainable Fig-
ures 7 and 8 show typical outputs from a single shift.
Figure 7 is for a shift in which there were very few (and
small) problems with sizing: Figure 8 shows a shift
during which some significant problems occurred.
Variation in the data shown in Figure 8 is thought to
be caused by changes in the comminution process up
stream, such as a crusher or a screen deck being turned
on and off, which really opened the eyes of those in
operations as to the magnitude of changes seen in the
final product of what is thought to be a fairly static pro-
cess. Similar shifts in the product size would also be
seen if a hole in one of the screen decks occurred.These
charts plot the results of over 3000 measurements (as
described hereinbefore) per 10 hour shift. As a com-
parison it may be noted that the traditional schedule in
this quarry this product would have been checked only
once every 3 days. The chart can be generated at any
time during the shift. An individual result is available
within 15 seconds of the shutter opening. This may be
compared with the 6–8 hours needed for a single test
using hand-sampling, preparation, testing and report-
ing. For quality control engineers, Figure 9 shows the
results from about 3 months (one shift per day) of
continuous operation. This chart is currently gener-
ated daily (and could be generated at more frequent
intervals). The information produced from the system
is currently being used for quality control to main-
tain a product that is in the desired specifications as
 4158 Visual Gradation Results for 8/3/03
100 2
90 1.8
80 1.6
70 1.4
Percent Passing

Sieve 0.187
60 1.2 Sieve 0.375

Top Size
Sieve 0.500
50 1
Sieve 0.750
40 0.8 Sieve 1.000
30 0.6 Topsize

20 0.4
10 0.2
0 0
8/4 0:00 8/4 4:00
Time

Figure 7. Results from a shift with few or no problems.

4158 Visual Gradation Results for 1/7/04

100 2

90 1.8

80 1.6

70 1.4
Percent Passing

Sieve 0.187
60 1.2
Sieve 0.375
Top Size Sieve 0.500
50 1
Sieve 0.750
Sieve 1.000
40 0.8
Topsize
30 0.6

20 0.4

10 0.2

0 0
1/7 1/7 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8
22:00 23:00 0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00
Time

Figure 8. Results from a shift with some significant (sizing) problems.

4158 Daily Visual Gradation Results

For Last 3 Months
100 2
90 1.8
80 1.6
Percent Passing

70 1.4
60 1.2
50 1
40 0.8
30 0.6
20 0.4
10 0.2

Figure 9. Daily averages trended over 3 months.

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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK

 determined either by ASTM standards or customer
requirements. If the system detects a product that is out
of specification the operator can be alarmed and iden-
tify immediately what may be the cause and remedy
the problem immediately, as opposed to the “old way”
of quantifying the product size manually by taking a
sample maybe every third day.
To meet the requirement for converting 2-d data
to a 3-d size distribution the engineers from Split
Engineering elected to use a calibration experiment
in order to develop algorithms to convert the 2-d
image information into an equivalent 3-d particle
size distribution.
This test was conducted as follows.
1. The production belt was stopped.
2. Two 10 foot long sections were selected for test.
3. Several images were obtained from both test
sections.
4. The material from both sections were removed,
taken to the laboratory, split and tested.
This provided a direct comparison of the image
information and the laboratory sizes that could be
used by the Split-Online system to generate their algo-
rithm. The success of this first trial may be gauged
from Figures 5 and Table 1, which show the standard
laboratory result and the size distribution produced by
the Split-Online system.
Although these preliminary results were satisfac-
tory, the data from this trial period were combined with
other data to generate an improved algorithm. This
new aggregates module that plugs into the Split-Online
Version 3.0 base system was released by Split Engi-
neering in July 2004 and was installed at Graniterock in
August 2004.
7 CONCLUSIONS
The imaging method appears to be an improvement
over existing methods. It is inexpensive, low mainte-
nance, has high output and high reliability. The results
are of acceptable accuracy. As future improvements
are made, the system may well become the method of
choice in both new and existing (by retrofit) aggregate
production plants. With the growing market demand
for aggregates, the industry faces increased competi-
tion and the need for higher productivity. New tech-
niques for automation, process control and efficiency
will be required. Digital image analysis is a practical
and successful technique that can be applied at virtu-
ally any point in the quarry process that can be imaged,
from the muck piles of the post-blast fragmentation
to the aggregate final products. Various user-assisted,
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Copyright © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
on-line and off-line digital image analysis methods
can be employed. However, the on-line, automated
methods generate the most value in that these meth-
ods provide opportunity for real time process control
and management. Split-Online is an integrated online
image analysis system that accurately, automatically
and non-invasively measures particle size by acquir-
ing images over a moving conveyor belt. A recent
case study demonstrated that Split-Online provides
reasonable and accurate particle size information from
imaging the surface of a moving conveyor belt within
the comminution circuit. The short case study justi-
fied the installation of a permanent online system,
which enabled more information to be gathered and
analyzed. The opportunity to learn from the system
installation lead to the development of a new soft-
ware module developed exclusively for the aggregates
industry. The new software module plugs seamlessly
into the Split-Online framework and provides contin-
uous particle size distribution information that assists
in plant efficiency and product quality control. Gran-
iterock is currently investigating how this information
can be used to help the plant operations improve their
efficiency. The information produced from the system
is currently being used for quality control to main-
tain a product that is in the desired specifications as
determined either by ASTM standards or customer
requirements. If system detects a product that is out of
specification the operator can be alarmed and identify
immediately what may be the cause and remedy the
problem immediately, as opposed to the “old way” of
quantifying the product size manually taking a sample
maybe ever third day.
REFERENCES
BoBo, T., Norton, B., Kemeny, J., 2002. “Application of
the Split-Online Digital Image Analysis System to Quan-
tify Particle Size for the Aggregate Industry”, Proceed-
ings from National Sand Stone and Gravel Association,
Automation in Aggregates Conference, Fort Worth, Texas.
Girdner, K, Kemeny, J., Srikant, A., McGill, R. 1996.
“The Split system for analyzing the size distribution of
fragmented rock”, Proceedings of the FRAGBLAST-5
Workshop on Measurement of Blast Fragmentation
(Franklin, J. and T. Katsabanis, eds.), Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, pp. 101–108.
Kemeny, J., 1994, “A practical technique for determining the
size distribution of blasted benches, waste dumps, and
heap-leach sites”, Mining Engineering, Vol 46, No 11,
pp.1281–1284.
Kemeny, J., Girdner, K., BoBo, T., Norton, B. 1999.
“Improvements for Fragmentation Measurement by Dig-
ital Imaging: Accurate Estimation of Fines”, Proceedings
of FRAGBLAST-6, Johannesburg, South Africa.