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Monitoring of M10000 IsaMill Process Performance by Passive Acoustic

Emissions

Conference Paper · September 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.3475.8406

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 Monitoring of M10000 IsaMill™
Process Performance by Passive
Acoustic Emissions
C A Jackson1, S J Spencer2, J Masters3, V Sharp4, A McEwan5,
S Rainey6, A Catanzano7, G Roberts8 and M Millen9

ABSTRACT
A passive acoustic emission (AE) monitoring system has been developed and trialled on two
M10000 IsaMillsTM. The analyser detects AE stress waves generated by grinding media impacts
with the mill liner during mill operation. Locally propagating stress waves can be detected on the
exterior liner surface using strategically mounted broadband accelerometers.
The analyser has been developed into a robust commercial prototype system, and has been
designed, installed and commissioned with Xstrata Technology at two mineral processing plants.
A six-month field trial showed large-scale variation in AE power signature with process
conditions. Analysis of the enveloped AE power output demonstrated a strong correlation with
mill process conditions – more specifically grinding media relative loading, feed pulp density, feed
volumetric flow rate and feed type.
Placement of accelerometers along the length of the mill body provided key information on the
grinding media relative deportment. The enveloped AE power detected by the mill body, discharge
pipe and bearing housing sensors all captured information strongly correlated with mill operating
parameters and process state.
The prototype analyser demonstrates suitability as a long-term online tool for stirred mill
performance monitoring, and potentially for optimisation and control, in beneficiation plants.

INTRODUCTION
Mineral processing plants around the world have been using
IsaMill™ stirred mills to access increasingly fine ore structures
and improve grade recovery since the 1990s (Burford
and Clark, 2007). In 2011, CSIRO performed preliminary
investigations into the use of passive acoustic emission (AE)
for stirred mill process performance and wear monitoring in
collaboration with Xstrata Technology. The investigations
provided a successful evaluation of the CSIRO AE analyser
for the monitoring of grinding media deportment and disc
abnormalities in an M3000 IsaMill™ (Spencer et al, 2011;
Spencer, 2011). Following the preliminary evaluation, a non-
intrusive, online, passive acoustic monitoring system, the
AE analyser, was developed for stirred mills with ‘drop in
liners’ and installed on two M10000 IsaMills™, which for
the purposes of this paper will be referred to as minerals
processing plant A (Spencer et al, 2013) and B.
The M10000 IsaMill™ is a stirred mill approximately 5  m
in length and 1.97  m in internal diameter. It contains eight
equi-spaced grinding or stirring discs, splitting the mill into
nine ‘grinding compartments’ (as seen in Figures 1B and 1C),
with Figure 1D depicting the position of AE sensors along the
mill. Each disc has five kidney-shaped holes and rotates at a
fixed speed of 245 rev/min. Grinding media (ceramic beads,
~0.5  cm diameter) and orebody particulate (in slurry form)
flows axially through the mill under pressure from the feed
through the kidney-shaped holes in the discs. Ore particulate
feed size varies according to orebody (F80~ 250–300 micron
for magnetite and F80~ 50–60 microns for copper). The stirring
disc rotation induces strong rotational and corresponding

1. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: catherine.jackson@csiro.au
2. Research Team Leader, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: steven.spencer@csiro.au
3. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: jonathan.masters@csiro.au
4. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: vic.sharp@csiro.au
5. Research Team Leader, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: alastair.mcewan@csiro.au
6. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: stephen.rainey@csiro.au
7. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: alvaro.catanzano@csiro.au
8. Research Projects Officer, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: gif.roberts@csiro.au
9. Research Group Leader, CSIRO, Locked Bag 2005, Kirrawee NSW 2232. Email: mike.millen@csiro.au

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 1
C A JACKSON et al

FIG 1 – (A) Fully assembled M10000 IsaMill™; (B) eight rotating discs on mill central axis; (C) schematic of IsaMill™, demonstrating
compartments created by disc feed → discharge (left to right); (D) block diagram of the IsaMill™ acoustic emission (AE) analyser installed
on an M10000 IsaMill™ – drawing in reference to the flow of AE signal to digitised data flow through analyser description.

2 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS
outwardly radial grinding media flow velocity components
(Jayasundara et al, 2011; Burford and Clark, 2007). This flow
pattern results in impacts between grinding media and the
mill (rubber) liner wall. AE stress waves generated by the
grinding media–mill liner impacts propagate locally to the
exterior surface of the liner. The resulting vibrational energy
is detected as a proper acceleration by a shell-mounted AE
sensor (accelerometer) that is spring-mounted so that it is in
constant acoustic contact with the external surface of the liner
bounding a grinding compartment. Each shell-mounted AE
sensor is effectively listening to a mill grinding compartment
– acting as an electronic ear. Through interpretation of AE
power envelope signals from shell-mounted passive AE
sensors, the AE analyser provides information on internal
local mill process conditions, in addition to grinding media
distribution, which are delivered to the plant in real-time
to assist in minimising the mill’s energy consumption and
optimising ore recovery. Further investigations demonstrate
that discharge particle size indicators (some key indicators of
stirred mill process performance) can also be estimated from
passive AE spectral data (Spencer, 2012).
THE ACOUSTIC EMISSION ANALYSER
Although the AE analyser can be used to monitor process
and wear state in any generic stirred mill or other stationary
surface materials processing device, CSIRO has designed
and built two commercial prototype analysers specifically
for use on M10000 IsaMills™. The AE analyser is capable
of recording AE data from 12 channels simultaneously. It is
designed to passively monitor the conditions in each grinding
compartment along the length of the mill, the product
separator, the bearing housing and the discharge pipe.
Of the 12 available channels on the AE analyser, 11 are
currently utilised, with one spare channel available. Nine
sensors are placed along the length of the mill (eight on the
grinding compartments and one on the product separator),
with the other two located on the bearing housing and
discharge pipe. Figure 1D is a block diagram of the analyser
layout and its connections with a detailed description of the
flow of the AE signal to digital data.
Digital data flow through acoustic emission
analyser
•• The AE sensors are mounted in steel sensor housings.
Nine housings are attached to the mill shell, and the other
two are mounted on the bearing housing and discharge
pipe. Armoured conduit is used to connect the mill shell
sensor housings to a cable tray, with quick release Harting
connectors at both ends.
•• A cable tray is used to gather all the cables from the nine
shell-mounted sensor housings and terminate them at a
single large Harting connector.
•• A quick release Harting connector is used for easy
disconnection of the analyser electronics cabinet from
the cable tray during maintenance periods. The main
(large Harting) plug on the cable tray is connected to the
electronics cabinet via a single large armoured conduit.
Although the cable tray has the facility to accommodate
all 12 sensors, the bearing housing and discharge pipe
have their own independent armoured conduit that
runs directly from the relevant sensor housings to the
electronics enclosure, ensuring minimal disruption to
maintenance crews.
•• The IP66-rated electronics enclosure provides protection
to the AE signal processing cards, computer and
communications equipment. The processed data is sent
12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
via a Modbus IP/TCP output to a 3G modem, with
wireless transfer to the plant SCADA system.
Sensor housings
The acoustic sensors (accelerometers) are mounted on the
IsaMill™ by means of sensor housings. The purpose of the
housing is to:
•• protect the sensors
•• provide a consistent acoustic contact with the internal
rubber mill liner (in the case of shell-mounted sensors)
•• act as a waveguide for the vibrational energy from local
media–mill liner impacts.
Figure 2 shows a schematic cross-section of a sensor housing
with a connected sensor. The sensor housings are mounted on
to the IsaMill™ shell via the 2 cm threaded protrusion (1) that
screws into a pretapped hole penetrating through the shell
on the side of the mill, permitting direct contact between a
waveguide (2) and the steel liner backing (Figure 3A). The
waveguide (transmission bar) is connected to an accelerometer
(3) mounted via screw attachment. The transmission bar and
accelerometer assembly are spring-mounted (4) within the
sensor housing chamber. This ensures consistent and strong
acoustic contact between the accelerometer and the mill liner.
The accelerometer screws into the transmission bar that
protrudes from a small opening in the base of the housing (5).
The bar contacts the rubber mill liner’s steel backing normal
to a machined flat surface, providing maximum surface area
contact for strong acoustic contact between the mill liner and
the AE sensor (demonstrated in Figure 3B).
The bearing and discharge pipe housings use the same
AE sensors but are both mounted differently onto the mill;
the mounting locations are not on the body of the mill and
have different geometries. In the case of the bearing housing
mounted AE sensor, a combined M42 and M10 bolt is inserted
into an inspection port and acts as the waveguide (Figure 4A).
In the case of the discharge pipe mounted AE sensor, the
sensor housing is fixed to an M10 bolt via an M10 nut that is
welded to the mill pipe (Figure 4B). In both these cases, the
M10 bolt at the base of the sensor housing acts as the point of
acoustic contact directly to the sensor. As each of these bolts
is screwed into a fixed position, there is no requirement for a
spring to ensure consistent acoustic contact.
Project goals
The development of the prototype analysers aimed to:
•• estimate grinding media relative deportment
•• estimate grinding media loading
•• identify incipient excessive wear operating states
(extensive disc/liner wear).
It is a reasonable hypothesis that optimal grinding
efficiency would see the grinding media evenly distributed
between grinding compartments across the length of the mill.
However, preferential wear patterns on the mill discs and
liner are regularly observed by mill operators, indicating a
grinding media deportment bias.
The observed wear patterns also provide the basis for the
determination of circumferential positioning of AE sensors
on the mill. In order to allow a relative comparison of the
AE characteristics associated with sensors mounted outside
different grinding compartments along the mill length, all the
AE sensors were mounted axially midway between stirring
discs and in the same circumferential position.
Preferential wear on liners and stirring discs due to uneven
media deportment may also cause excessive wear of stirring
discs in IsaMills™, resulting in extended periods of mill
3
C A JACKSON et al
FIG 2 – Block representation cross-section of mill body sensor housing
assembly, including (1) threaded protrusion; (2) waveguide (transmission bar);
(3) accelerometer; (4) spring loading direction; (5) transmission bar exit port.
B
FIG 3 – Sensor housing to IsaMill interface: (A) a pretapped hole in the
IsaMill shell, providing access to the exterior surface of the inner mill liner;
(B) cross-section shows the IsaMill layers with mounted sensor housing.
4 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
B
FIG 4 – Acoustic emission analyser bearing house and discharge
pipe mounted sensors: (A) bearing housing sensor mounted on
to an M42 bolt in an inspection port; (B) discharge pipe sensor
housing mounted to the discharge pipe by a welded M10 bolt.
downtime. The extended trial of the IsaMill™ AE analyser
at mineral processing plant A aimed to not only evaluate
grinding media relative deportment, but also potentially
identify extensive liner and disc wear. Identifying these
‘precatastrophic’ operating states could lead to improved
preventative maintenance practices.
ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS ANALYSIS
The AE analyser has been operational and supplying AE
data at mineral processing plant A for two years and plant B
for 18  months. Stirred mill acoustic data is output from the
AE analyser as one second average power envelope time
series (µV units). The use of enveloped signals allows high-
frequency information (up to 50 kHz) detected by the surface-
mounted accelerometers to be folded into relatively compact
low-frequency signals that contain key information linked to
local process and wear state. The AE power envelope data is
taken as an indicator of mill process and wear state, local to
the acoustic sensor.
The AE power envelope data is transferred via Modbus from
the analyser to the plant system, where they are displayed
as a bar chart on a dedicated screen and logged to the data
historian. CSIRO has also developed a Visual Basic script in
Excel to output a single-day file of acoustic emission data.
Each day consists of AE envelope data sensed for the eight
grinding compartments, the product separator, the bearing
housing and the discharge pipe, plus process data (mill
feed density, mill power and mill feed volumetric flow rate)
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

logged and supplied by the plant. An Excel file is output from
this script that includes a master data sheet containing the AE
and process data for the day and a variety of plots, including:
•• AE envelope time series associated with the eight grinding
chambers (split into morning and afternoon)
•• AE time series of the product separator, bearing housing
and discharge pipe (morning and afternoon)
•• histograms of four-hour average AE power envelope
values for the eight grinding chambers (morning and
afternoon)
•• histograms of four-hour average AE power envelope
values for the product separator, bearing housing and
discharge pipe (morning and afternoon)
•• AE envelope time series associated with the feed density,
mill power and mill feed volumetric flow rate process
variables (morning and afternoon).
A selection of these plots are discussed in the following
section to demonstrate the successful use of AE for monitoring
grinding media deportment and grinding media loading on
a minerals processing plant. Additional key AE monitoring
results have also been provided to demonstrate correlations
with specific process parameters.
Grinding media relative deportment
Figure 5 shows histograms (column plots) of the four-hour
average AE power envelope values for mineral processing
plant A’s grinding compartments for the morning of
28 March 2013 (Figure 5A) and the afternoon of 29 March 2013
(Figure  5B). In Figure  5A, there is clearly a characteristic
bi‑modal distribution of the strength of acoustic activity (an
indicator of grinding media loading) within the grinding
compartments, centred on compartments two and six
(depending on local operations, the disc diameter between
any two compartments could be either 1550 mm or 1720 mm).
Compartment two exhibits the strongest AE power envelope
over the entire morning, implying that the grinding media fill
is persistently largest near the feed end of the mill. On this day,
there is a constant ratio of approximately three between the
magnitudes of the smallest and largest AE power envelopes
(compartments two and four).

FIG 5 – IsaMill™ acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE power envelope (four-hour average) histograms:
(A) four-hour averaged AE power envelope for 28 March 2013 indicating a bi-modal grinding media distribution; (B) four-hour
averaged AE power envelope for 29 March 2013 indicating a shift in grinding media distribution to compartment six.

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 5
C A JACKSON et al
Approximately linear relationships between grinding
compartment AE mean signal power (in units µV2) and total
grinding media load at a variety of ‘quasi-steady’ operating
conditions representative of the normal range of mill
operating conditions (in each case for a univariate change in
either mill media loading, feed pulp density or volumetric
flow rate within the expected normal range of mill operating
conditions) have previously been observed in a study of an
M3000 IsaMill™ (Spencer et al, 2011; Spencer 2011). Similarly,
a study of particle impact on steel plate has found that AE
energy is proportional to incident particle kinetic energy
(Droubi, Reuben and White, 2012). Accordingly, the ratio of
average AE power (squared magnitude or strength) between
any two IsaMill™ compartments is interpreted here as roughly
representing the ratio of grinding media concentration
between the same two compartments. This interpretation is
based on uniform stirring disc diameters. While the influence
of stirring disc diameter on AE response is at this point unclear,
it would be a logical assumption that a larger diameter disc
would result in a larger grinding media to mill liner impact
velocity owing to an increased disc tip speed. The energy
transferred into AE per grinding media–liner impact event is
taken as the same in any two compartments (Spencer, 2011).
On the basis of this assumption, there is approximately nine
times as much grinding media in the compartment with the
highest grinding media concentration (compartment two) as
compared to the lowest (compartment four).
In the particular example of mill grinding chamber AE
envelope histograms shown in Figure 5A, the mill appears to
have consistent grinding media deportment for the 12-hour
period. However, Figure 5B demonstrates that a large change
in the AE signature of the grinding compartments of the mill
occurred during the period 4.00 pm–8.00 pm on 29 March 2013,
indicating a substantial change in the deportment of grinding
media throughout the mill. This information is received by
the plant in real-time (the AE envelope time series, which also
demonstrate this change in grinding media deportment, are
sent to the plant SCADA every second), allowing metallurgists
to investigate the causes and the likely value of corrective
changes to mill operating conditions. From inspection of the
mill process parameters over the same time period, there is a
FIG 6 – IsaMill™ acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE power envelope (four-hour average) histogram for minerals processing
plant B, which is processing a different ore feed type under different local process conditions compared to minerals processing plant A.
6 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
substantial decrease in the fresh feed flow rate, corresponding
with the change in the grinding media deportment (~4.00 pm–
7.00 pm). Moreover, examination of the media valve position
over the afternoon shows that grinding media was added
for the periods 2.09 pm–2.53  pm and 4.43  pm–4.44 pm and
for an extended period ~5.16  pm–11.41 pm. It is evident
that the change in grinding media deportment was induced
by an operational change of mill parameters. However, it is
unclear whether it was the decrease in fresh feed flow rate
and/or the loading of grinding media into the stirred mill
(particularly over the latter six-hour period) that caused the
change. The effect of operational changes of mill process
parameters on AE signatures is discussed in more detail later.
In this instance, changes in mill operating conditions caused
an overall increase in AE signature across all compartments
and a change in the distribution of grinding media towards
the discharge end of the mill, corresponding to a greater
dominance of AE power in compartment six than previously
seen.
For purposes of comparison of grinding media load
distributions between mills, Figure  6 shows an AE power
envelope histogram from the mineral processing plant B
installation, which was processing a different type of ore
to minerals processing plant A. The four-hour averaged
AE power envelope for the 12-hour period shows how the
grinding media distribution can vary considerably under
different operating regimes. In this case, the distribution of
the strength of acoustic activity (an indicator of grinding
media loading) within the grinding compartments is
centred on compartment five, being approximately four
times higher than the next strongest (compartment four).
This acoustic distribution implies that the grinding media
resides predominantly in compartment five in the centre of
the mill. This is a striking contrast to the indication of media
distribution in mineral processing plant A’s mill. More recent
data from minerals processing plant B suggests that the
data in Figure  6 is representative of the mill under extreme
operating conditions.
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

Additional grinding media loading
Grinding media are loaded into an IsaMill™ intermittently
over a maintenance period (considered here as the lifetime
of the mill liner) when assessment of the mill power draw
leads the operators and metallurgists to believe that the
mill media loading is becoming too low due to progressive
media wear. In some cases, this process is automated based
on an assessment of current mill parameters by the DCS.
There is evidence of grinding media addition on many
days in the record of the extended monitoring trials on the
two IsaMill™ AE analysers. An example reported here (in
Figures 7A and 7B) is for the afternoon of 29 June 2013, which
provides a close examination of the AE power envelope and
process variable record for the period around a notable AE
signature step change (~7.15 pm) from mineral processing
plant A. Figure 7A shows the AE power envelope across all
the compartments on the body of the mill, with media valve
position superimposed. Figure  7B shows an AE envelope
created by averaging the AE output across compartments one
to eight superimposed by media valve position and media
flow rate time series. In Figure  7A, it is demonstrated that
a sharp spike in media valve position indicative of media

FIG 7 – IsaMill™ acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE activity traces superimposed with media valve position
and media water flow rate: (A) AE activity traces for compartments one to eight, with media valve position (media loading indication)
superimposed; (B) total average AE activity across compartment one to eight, with media valve position and water flow rate.

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 7
C A JACKSON et al
loading (media valve opening) is correlated with a step change
increase in AE power envelope for compartments five to eight.
There is also a step change in the discharge product separator
AE signature at the same time (not shown here). Clearly, the
addition of grinding media to the mill is the cause of the step
increase in grinding compartment AE activity. Interestingly,
there are no obvious time-correlated changes in the AE
power envelopes for compartments one to four. It could be
hypothesised that this is an indication of increased wear state
of the relevant bounding stirring discs (one, two and three),
with new media not achieving the same magnitude of radial
acceleration component as media in compartments five to
eight. From discussions with Xstrata Technology staff, it is our
understanding that discs one, four and five were replaced on
7 May 2013. An examination of maintenance records from the
mill shell liner inspection at the start of August (or subsequent
plant shutdown) may confirm whether the feed end stirring
discs were significantly worn. Another possibility is that the
first compartments are at optimal loading and additional
grinding media dislodges the original media towards the
back half of the mill, increasing the total media residing in
the discharge end compartments (compartments five to
eight). Furthermore, geometrical positioning and the angle
of grinding media injection could also influence advection of
new media through the mill. Deeper investigation is required
to determine the exact cause of this effect, looking specifically
at the effect of disc wear on grinding media flow through the
mill (Jayasundara et al, 2011).
Figure 7B shows the same time correlation with media valve
position (media loading) and media flow rate, with a clear step
change in the average AE envelope detected at any time across
all the grinding compartments. It can be said with certainty
that the step change in average AE across compartment one to
eight is caused by the addition of grinding media. Therefore,
an averaged AE signature across compartments one to eight
has the potential to be used as a global absolute measure of
grinding media load.
FIG 8 – Total average acoustic emission power envelope trace for grinding compartments one to eight (C1–C8) and IsaMill™
process parameter traces (feed density and mill power) during a mill feed density disturbance event.
8 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
Density disturbance event tracking
The effect of feed density on mill shell AE is primarily to
decrease the intensity of impacts between grinding media
and liner by increasing the viscosity of the slurry, creating
a ‘cushioning effect’. Figure  8 shows the mill power, feed
density and flow rate time series for an hour over a morning
during which a pulp density drop-out event occurs from
minerals processing plant A. There is an obvious dip in the
feed density (total and fresh), mill power and flow rate (total
and fresh) at ~3.34 am (flow rate is not shown in Figure 8 for
clarity; its relationship to AE is discussed in the section ‘Feed
volumetric flow rate’). The hypothesis is that a temporary
drop-out of fresh feed to this particular mill (the fresh feed
rate actually declines to nil) leads to a significantly lower mill
total feed density because the recycle to the mill feed contains
a very low concentration of solids due to an abnormally dilute
recycle stream (from inclusion of gland seal and flushing
water) being added to the mill feed tank. The resulting
decreased ‘cushioning’ of grinding media motion leads to an
increase in the intensity of shell average AE generated by the
impact of grinding media with the liner, as seen in Figure 8.
Figure 9 shows the individual AE power envelope time series
for grinding compartments one to eight (feed to discharge
end of mill) on the same morning. Over the morning, the AE
power envelope is uniformly largest in compartment two,
followed in order of largest to smallest by compartments six,
one, three, five, eight, seven and four. Many of the temporal
features in the AE power envelope signals are common
across all the grinding compartments, indicating changes in
process conditions across the entire mill. There is a general
slow decline in the AE for each grinding compartment later
in the morning (after ~08.00 am). For most of the morning,
the AE power envelope signature is fairly steady, with the
exception being a large spike in the AE power envelopes of
all the grinding compartments at ~03.34 am (enlarged and
highlighted in the lower plot in Figure 9), time correlated with
the fresh feed density drop-out event.
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

FIG 9 – Acoustic emission (AE) power envelope traces for grinding compartments one to eight (C1–C8); top: AE power envelope trace (three-minute
averaging) from 12.00 am to 12.00 pm for C1–C8; bottom: AE power envelope trace (approximately 20 min from 03.26.36 am with ten-second averaging)
detailing the AE in individual grinding compartments tracking a mill feed density disturbance event (same disturbance as shown in Figure 8).

The 22-minute section of the AE power envelope time series
in the enlarged lower plot of Figure 9 highlights the spike in
AE power envelopes in the main plot that is time correlated
with a density disturbance in the mill caused by the fresh
feed solids drop-out event, as previously described. There is
a clear time sequence in the AE power envelope response to
the passage of the density disturbance through the grinding
compartments from feed to discharge. The peak in the AE
power envelope signal associated with compartment eight is
28 seconds after the second peak in compartment one, which
is in agreement with the Xstrata Technology case study on
Coarse IsaMilling (Pease, 2007). This can be interpreted as
correlated with advection of slurry through the mill and an
estimate of the residence time of a process disturbance in the
grinding compartments of the mill. The AE time signature
also varies in shape across the mill, with two peaks in the
AE power envelope near the feed becoming a single peak
nearer the discharge. This can be interpreted as correlated
with diffusion of a slurry disturbance as it advects through
the mill. Hence, the AE power envelope signature contains

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 9
C A JACKSON et al
information correlated with slurry flow through the mill as an
advection-diffusion process.
Moreover, during this same period in Figure  8, the mill
power decreases by ~200 kW (the mill is emptying of charge
solid particles caused by the density disturbance previously
described), indicating an anti-correlation between mill power
and AE power in the circumstances of a strong density
disturbance. Basically, as the mill empties of charge solids, the
‘cushioning’ of grinding media impact on the liner declines
substantially, resulting in increased AE, but the total mass
being rotated in the mill decreases, resulting in decreased mill
power. In contrast, in circumstances where grinding media
is added, the AE increases due to the increasing number of
media impacts on the liner and the mill power also increases
due to the increase in total mass being rotated in the mill by
the stirring disc action. These results are evidence that the
AE power envelope sensed on the outside of the mill liner
at any location contains information on the local process
conditions within the mill rather than any kind of global
acoustic resonance. Similar results have been found on close
examination of the time behaviour of grinding compartment
AE power envelopes during other process events (such
as start-up and shutdown) as slurry transients propagate
through the mill.
Process parameter correlations
In this section, some examples are given of specific outputs
from the IsaMill™ AE analysers that demonstrate correlations
with substantial changes in process state conditions.
Feed pulp density
As discussed and explained in the section ‘Density disturbance
event tracking’, a large drop in feed density results in a large
increase in mill shell AE power. The example illustrated
in Figures  8 and 9 was not a one-off scenario. The results
in Figure  10A are a striking visualisation of this effect for
process disturbances associated with normal mill operation,
and further confirm the anti-correlation between the mill
shell AE power envelope levels and the feed pulp density.
Figure 10A shows the AE power envelope signature for mill
grinding compartment one in mineral processing plant A,
with total feed pulp density superimposed, for six hours
on the morning of 16 April 2013. The AE power envelope is
characterised for much of the day by large-scale fluctuations
in strength with a quasi-periodicity of ~30 minutes. Although
for clarity the figure only shows the AE power envelope time
series for grinding compartment one, the anti-correlation of
the AE power envelope with feed density is strong across
all compartments. Even relatively small variations in feed
pulp density over time intervals of the order of minutes are
reflected in the behaviour of the compartment one envelope
signal. Close examination of the AE power envelope signals
in all compartments reveals that there are time lags between
the behaviour of AE power envelopes from feed to discharge
that are reflective of advection of slurry through the mill, as
seen and explained in the previous section.
Figure 10B is a similar plot to Figure  10A, but shows the
average AE power across compartments one to eight against
both fresh and total feed pulp density from mineral processing
plant A. As in Figure  10A, there is a strong anti-correlation
between the time behaviour of the total feed pulp density
and the average AE power envelope strengths. Further to
this, Figure  10B demonstrates the influence of fresh feed
pulp density on total feed pulp density on the order of a
minute later in time, which in turn results in fluctuations in
the AE signature.
10 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
These results support the view that feed pulp density
has a major effect on the time behaviour of mill shell AE
power envelope signals. The anti-correlation between feed
pulp density and AE power envelope time behaviour is in
accordance with the model that local grinding media impacts
on the mill liner are the primary source of AE detected by
grinding compartment mounted sensors. The feed pulp
density (feed density) is reflective of the particulate solids
volumetric concentration within each grinding compartment
as slurry advects through the mill. An increase in particulate
solids concentration results in an increase in the viscosity
of the slurry (Mangesana et al, 2008). The increase in slurry
viscosity impedes the motion of grinding media as centripetal
acceleration due to the discs motion pushing them radially
outwards towards the liner of each grinding compartment.
The net result is a decrease in the impact energy of grinding
media with the liner. This means decreased power of AE
generated by such impacts and detected by the IsaMill™ AE
analyser.
Given these results, it is clearly important to be able to
delineate between feed pulp density and other process- and
wear-induced effects in AE power envelope signals.
Feed volumetric flow rate
The time behaviour of feed volumetric flow rate is highly
intertwined with other mill process parameters. The effects of
feed volumetric flow rate on mill AE signatures are secondary
to those of other process variables and in practice are often
combined with the effects of changes to these other variables
(Spencer et al, 2011). For this reason, to date, no unique
correlation has been determined between AE power and feed
volumetric flow rate for the mills in this study. However,
such correlations have previously been found in a univariate
conditional monitoring study of an M3000 IsaMill™ (Spencer
et al, 2011; Spencer, 2011). In the present study, each short
time correlation between the behaviour of AE power
envelope signatures and feed volumetric flow rate should
be considered independently and viewed in association with
time-correlated changes in other process conditions.
Figure 11 shows one example of a time-correlated event in
both feed volumetric flow rate and grinding compartment
AE power envelope. The volumetric flow rate in this scenario
drops significantly from 160 m3/h to 145 m3/h for a period
of ~2.5 hours before a step change increase to 150–155 m3/h.
The compartment one grinding compartment average AE
power envelope increases steadily over the period of reduced
volumetric flow rate, before a sharp decrease as the flow rate
again increases. One hypothesis for this event is that as the
flow rate drops, the ore particles in the mill have a longer
residence time and therefore are ground more finely as they
pass more slowly through the mill. Consequently, at the
product separator, they will be more likely to be discharged
without recirculation and the total number of ore particles
in the mill at any time gradually decreases. The net result is
fewer particles per unit volume of slurry over time, leading
to decreased slurry viscosity and hence decreased grinding
media ‘cushioning’ effect. This scenario would lead to a
gradually increasing mill shell AE response as a function of
time, as observed in the case of this event. Another possibility
raised by Xstrata Technology is that there may be a change in
the hydraulic balance within the mill with flow rate, resulting
in grinding media moving towards the feed at lower flow rate
and towards the discharge at higher flow rate, thus changing
the AE levels detected in any grinding compartment.
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS

FIG 10 – IsaMill™ acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE power envelope trace: (A) envelope trace for
compartment one (one-minute time averaged) and total feed pulp density for a six-hour period; (B) envelope trace for averaged
grinding AE (compartments one to eight one-minute time averaged), fresh and total feed pulp density.

Change of feed ore type
Throughout the extended AE monitoring trial, one of the
M10000 IsaMills™ being studied was engaged in processing
mineral feed type I. During the period 22–28 July 2013, the
mill had its feed type changed from mineral feed type I to
mineral feed type II.
Figure 12 shows the AE power envelope time series of
the mill grinding compartments one, five and seven from
14 July–2 August 2013, during which the mill processing ore
feed changed from mineral I to mineral II and then back to
mineral I. A period of AE output with zero magnitude on the
21 July precedes the first change of ore feed type to mineral II.
A large spike in AE power signifies the mill restart with the
new ore type. The spike is not related to the change in ore
type, it is merely a symptom of the AE generated during
the restart at low mill fill. Following the large spike, the AE
power envelopes in all compartments (only compartments
one, five and seven are shown in Figure 12 for clarity) increase
gradually over four days before settling at an average
magnitude approximately two to three times higher than for
the preceding period of processing a mineral II ore feed type.
Interestingly, the increase in AE power was most significant
in the central region of the mill (compartments four to six),
creating a uni-modal relative grinding media distribution
whereas previously there was a bi-modal distribution (see
compartment five AE signature in Figure 12). On the 28 July,

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 11
C A JACKSON et al

FIG 11 – IsaMill acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE power output for compartment 1 (ten second averaging) superimposed with total flow rate.

FIG 12 – IsaMill acoustic emission (AE) analyser grinding compartment AE power envelope traces for compartment 1, 5 and 7 only (for clarity) with two
changes of ore feed type. Mineral feed type I: 14 July to 21 July. Mineral feed type II: 22 July to 28 July. Mineral feed type I: 29 July to 1 August.

the IsaMill™ was shutdown in preparation to return to the
original feed type (mineral I). On restart (29 July 2013), the
AE power envelope across all compartments decreased for
three days, eventually returning to a comparable average AE
magnitude as originally displayed by the mineral I feed type
prior to the processing of mineral II.
The change in AE envelope with feed type is again
understandable in terms of a ‘cushioning’ model for slurry
effect on grinding media motion. In this case, the feed
particle size for the mineral II ore is approximately five times
smaller than its mineral I counterpart, and there may also
be differences in feed ore density. The apparent viscosity of
a mineral II ore feed slurry should therefore be considerably
lower than that of the feed mineral I ore due to lesser inertial
effects in the case of smaller particles. This effect has been
observed in laboratory studies of slurry rheology (Mangesana
et al, 2008). Consequently, the velocity of grinding media
passing through the progressively ground mineral II ore
feed slurry should be substantially larger than that through

12 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 MONITORING OF M10000 ISAMILL PROCESS PERFORMANCE BY PASSIVE ACOUSTIC EMISSIONS
the mineral I counterpart. The AE generated by grinding
media liner impacts could therefore reasonably be expected
to be substantially larger in the case of the copper feed ore, as
is observed.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
CSIRO has developed a commercial prototype AE analyser
for process and wear monitoring of IsaMill™ stirred mills.
Success of the prototype analysers on the two M10000
IsaMills™ at mineral processing plants A and B has led to the
commercialisation of the analyser in association with CSIRO’s
industry partner Xstrata Technology.
The non-intrusive, online, real-time, passive AE analyser is
currently operational on IsaMills™ at two installations. The
analysers have robustly operated over an extended period
of time, providing information to the plants on internal
local process conditions in the grinding compartments. Data
discussed in this paper from the extended trial on one of the
M10000 IsaMills™ demonstrates:
•• Average AE power (squared magnitude or strength)
across the length of the mill can be ratioed to provide a
relative measure of grinding media deportment under
the assumption that the average AE generated by
each grinding media–liner impact event is the same in
all grinding compartments. This assumption may be
influenced by varying stirring disc diameter along the
length of the mill. An online measure of media deportment
has important ramifications for optimising process
efficiency and minimising excessive machine wear.
•• AE power envelope signatures can detect and track mill
feed density disturbances that influence slurry viscosity.
The information in the signatures can be correlated with
slurry flow through the mill as an advection-diffusion
process.
•• Fluctuations in the overall AE power envelope signatures
can be caused by a change in mill operation (process
parameters). Correlations have been identified between
the time behaviour of grinding compartment AE power
envelopes and several mill process parameters. These
results demonstrate that the AE analyser can be used to
identify changes in mill process conditions such as:
•• feed solids density (total and fresh)
•• media loading
•• feed volumetric flow rate
•• feed type
•• disc wear state.
Models to estimate specific key process and wear
parameters from AE analyser outputs are under
development.
12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
•• The time behaviour of AE power envelope signatures
provide a measure of the stability of mill operation with
changing media loading, mill feed pulp density, feed
volumetric flow rate and feed particle characteristics.
Therefore, the AE analyser may be useful as a supervisory
control tool.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CSIRO gratefully acknowledges funding and technical
support by Xstrata Technology Pty Ltd for the conduct of this
project. In particular, Greg Anderson and Roy Stevenson have
provided a high level of support for this project. Moreover,
our thanks to both mineral processing plants for hosting
and supporting the installation and commissioning stages of
the project. Finally, our thanks go to Xstrata Technology for
excellent comments on this manuscript that greatly increased
the quality of the paper.
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ferrous Ore Processing, Poland.
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