Investigating continuous miners’ performance at Goderich salt mine to minimize the generation of fine particles

Continuous miner (CM) optimal performance depends upon various factors which controls the rock-bit (cutter) interaction, including the type and geometry of the bits (cutters), operational parameters (drum speed, advance rate and etc.) and geological setting of the target rock. According to the conducted investigation on CMs performance at Goderich mine, although, these machines have improved the production rate significantly, fine particle (<28 mesh) generation has been increased drastically as well. Increasing fines has several drawbacks including growth of respirable dust generation which is extremely hazardous for workers, material handling difficulties (flowability) and costumer dissatisfaction. Implementing numerical simulation such as discrete element method (DEM) is the key approach to simulate the rock-bit interaction process quantitatively which is essential to understand the performance of the CM. This simulation will reveal the role of the CMs bit geometry and type along with the operational parameters on rock fragmentation and size distribution of the generated particles considering the geological features of the target mine.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kamran Esmaeili

Student:

Partner:

Compass Minerals Canada Corp.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Mining

University:

University of Toronto

Program: