ABSTRACT: Circulating Load Calculation in Mineral Processing Closed Circuit Operations

A problem for solving mass balances in mineral processing plants is the calculation of circulating load in closed circuits. A family of possible methods to the resolution of this calculation is the iterative methods, consisting of a finite loop where each iteration of the initial solution is refined in order to move closer to the exact solution. The present work shows a low-complexity iterative algorithm for circulating load calculation in mineral processing closed circuits, thus enabling the construction of mass, metallurgist and water reliable balances. The proposed equations on the algorithm were obtained through the analysis of many industrial systems, taking into account the process operational parameters. A validation was performed with real industrial data, in order to ensure a greater reliability of the obtained results. Four different types of closed circuits are presented, each one with different levels of complexity, to clarify the proposed algorithm. With the obtained results it is possible to affirm that the proposed iterative algorithm can be successfully applied to any kind of closed circuit in mineral processing. The results obtained were satisfactory with respect to processing speed, convergence of the solution and the number of iterations required for the circulating load calculation.

Keywords: Process modeling, control and optimization; Advanced process control; Mineral processing.