Moly-Cop Tools, Version 3.

0
About the Media Charge_Wear_Ball Mills Spreadsheet ...

Scope :

The Media Charge_Linear Wear_Ball Mills spreadsheet was designed to estimate the Linear Wear Rate
Constants for a ball charge in a Conventional Ball Mill, as a function of its known dimensions and basic operating
conditions. Also, the spreadsheet allows for the calculation of the typical Grinding Media Consumption Rate
indicators; that is, gr/ton, gr/kWh, kg/hr or tons/month.

Theoretical Framework :

The most widely accepted mathematical description of the gradual consumption process experienced by a grinding
ball inside a tumbling mill is known as the Linear Wear Theory, by which the mass rate of consumption of a grinding
ball is described as directly proportional to the surface area exposed by such ball to the various wear mechanisms
(abrasion and/or corrosion) active in the mill charge environment :

Wt = d(mb)/d(t) = - km Ab

where :

Wt = mass wear rate, kg/hr

mb = ball weight, kg; after t hours of being charged into the mill.
Ab = exposed ball area, m 2
km = mass wear rate constant, kg/hr/m2.

Equivalently, taking into account the geometry of the grinding body (sphere or cylinder), one obtains :

d(d)/d(t) = - 2 km / rb = - kd

where :

d = size (diameter) of the grinding ball, mm; after t hours of being charged into the mill.
rb = grinding ball density, ton/m3
kd = wear rate constant, mm/hr.

If kd is to remain unaffected by the extent of wear; that is, kd is not a function of the current ball size d - a condition
satisfied by most grinding media varieties and normally referred to as Linear Wear Kinetics - the above expression
may be simply integrated to obtain :

d = dR - kd t

where dR represents the initial size of the balls.

For any given grinding media variety, the constant kd becomes an indicator of its relative quality, as compared to
other alternative products.

Moly-Cop Tools / 625016131.xlsx 11/09/2022 / 15:17:09

 Moly-Cop Tools, Version 3.0
About the Media Charge_Wear_Ball Mills Spreadsheet ...

By direct analogy to mineral particle breakage kinetics, it is postulated that an even more representative and
scaleable quality indicator is the Energy Specific Wear Rate Constant [kdE, mm/(kWh/ton)], defined through the
expression :

kd = kdE (Pb/Wb) / 1000

where the ratio (Pb/Wb) corresponds to the contribution (Pb) of every ton of balls in the charge (Wb) to the total power
draw (Pnet) of the mill. The underlying theoretical claim is that grinding balls will wear faster in a more energy
intensive environment. Therefore, kdE is expected to be more insensitive than kd to variations in mill operating
conditions (that may affect Pb and/or Wb). As a practical evaluation criterion, it should be then accepted that the
top quality grinding media, in any given application, will be the one that exhibits the lowest value of the
wear rate constant kdE.

The above expression creates the need for a theoretical representation of the Mill Power Draw and how each
component of the mill charge (balls, rocks and slurry) contribute to this power demand. The simple Hogg and
Fuerstenau model serves such purpose well (see Spreadsheet Mill Power_Ball Mills).

Then the traditional Grinding Media Consumption Indicators may be obtained from the expressions :

[4000 k W ]d b
Wt = ________________________

dR [ 1 – (dS/dR)4]

where dS represents the average size of the metal scrap being rejected by the mill. Also :

WE = 1000 Wt /Pgross , in gr/kWh

WM = WE E , in gr/ton

where E represents the Specific Energy Consumption of the operation, normally expressed in kWh per ton of ore
ground.

Recently, H. Benavente (Moly-Cop 2006 : X Simposio sobre Procesamiento de Minerales, Termas de Chillán, Chile)
proposed an empirical correlation for the calculation of kdE, as a function of the Bond's Abrasion Index (54th
Annual Meeting of AICHE, 1963) of the ore, the F80 feed size and the slurry pH :

kdE = kdB [(AI - 0.02)/0.2]0.331 (F80/5000)0.13 (pH/10)-0.677

where kdB is known as the Benavente Constant.

Moly-Cop Tools / 625016131.xlsx 11/09/2022 / 15:17:09

Moly-Cop Tools / 625016131.xlsx 11/09/2022 / 15:17:09
 Moly-Cop Tools TM
(Version 3.0)
DETERMINATION OF WEAR RATE CONSTANTS
Special Case : BALL MILLS

Remarks Base Case Example

Power, kW
Mill Dimensions and Operating Conditions 3,348 Balls
Diameter Length Mill Speed Charge Balls Interstitial Lift 0 Overfilling
ft ft % Critical Filling,% Filling,% Slurry Filling,% Angle, (°) 536 Slurry
18.50 22.00 72.00 38.00 38.00 100.00 35.00 3,885 Net Total
rpm 12.82 10.00 % Losses
% Utilization hr/month 4,316 Gross Total
% Solids in the Mill 72.00 97.00 698 3,014 MWh/month
Ore Density, ton/m3 2.80
Slurry Density, ton/m3 1.86 Charge Mill Charge Weight, tons Apparent
Balls Density, ton/m3 7.75 Volume, Ball Slurry Density
m3 Charge Interstitial above Balls ton/m3
Ore Feedrate, ton/hr 400.0 63.76 296.48 47.48 0.00 5.395
ton/day 9,312
Energy, kWh/ton (ore) 10.79 Ball Recharge Rate
gr/ton gr/kWh (gross) gr/kWh (balls) Kg/hr tons/month
Make-up Ball Size, mm 75.0 625.4 57.96 74.72 250.2 175
Scrap Size, mm 12.0
Wear Rate Constants:
Spec. Area, m2/m3 (app) 63.78 kdE, mm/[kWh(balls)/ton(balls)] 1.400
Total Charge Area, m2 4067 kd, mm/hr 0.0158

Purge Time, hrs 3,985 Benavente

Bond's AI Feed Size, F80 Slurry pH Constant, kdB
0.302 5000 10.5 1.292

Moly-Cop Tools / 625016131.xlsx 11/09/2022 / 15:17:09