Publication: ESTRATEGIA DE MANTENIMIENTO Y PROPUESTA DE INNOVACIÓN PARA BATERÍAS DE HIDROCICLONES EN PLANTAS CONCENTRADORAS
Date
2019
Authors
ESCOBAR VARELA, FELIPE ESTEBAN
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Abstract
Día a día la industria del cobre debe ir optimizando sus procesos en el ámbito operativo y de
mantenimiento, para lograr así mejoras y automatizaciones con el fin de disminuir costos de producción,
hacer una operación más segura para las personas, mejorar la recuperación de cobre y apalancar de cierta
forma el descenso de la ley de cobre, que es la tendencia actual y a futuro.
El foco de estudio en este trabajo son las baterías de hidrociclones de la Planta Concentradora Laguna
Seca en Minera Escondida, equipos fundamentales que dan el paso a la obtención del concentrado de cobre.
Al revisar los antecedentes de este proceso, se encontró con un desorden en cuanto a la planificación del
mantenimiento para los ciclones y también con poca información en cuanto a las fallas de estos equipos, por
lo que se comienza recopilando los informes semanales de inspecciones a las baterías (hechas por el área de
Operaciones), para así consolidarlos y buscar alguna tendencia común en cuanto a fallas.
Adicionalmente al estudio, se decide revisar la data histórica operacional de los hidrociclones con el
fin de buscar tendencias que puedan relacionarse al mantenimiento. En base a esa data, se generan series de
datos promedio y cruda a partir del registro de los dispositivos PST (particle size tracking) entre los años 2017
y 2018, para así analizar la relación entre granulometría de paso y el desgaste en el tiempo del revestimiento
interno del ciclón, como también analizar si el plan de mantenimiento en sistema es el adecuado a la realidad
en cuanto a los tiempos de recambio de estos.
En última instancia, se proponen dos alternativas innovadoras para contar con más variables que
analizar. Una de ellas es la propuesta de un horómetro que, aparte de contar las horas de operación del
ciclón, contabiliza el tonelaje procesado. La segunda, es la propuesta de un inserto de alambres de cobre
en el revestimiento del ciclón para poder predecir el desgaste prematuro del revestimiento y formación de
resaltes negativos, los que generan los by-pass de gruesos y por ende una mala clasificación. Estas propuestas
permitirán realizar mejores análisis y seguimientos al área de Planificación, la que prontamente se irá de la
planta y será remota, por lo que se requerirá más información en línea. Por último, nos permitirá hacer un
mejor estudio del desgaste de revestimiento y controlar el comportamiento de un ciclón en el tiempo.
Day by day, the copper industry must optimize its processes in the areas of Operations and Maintenance in order to achieve improvements and automation to reduce production costs, make a safer operation for people, improve the recovery of copper and leverage in some way the decline of the copper law, which is the current trend and future. The focus of the study in this work is the hydrocyclone batteries of the Laguna Seca Concentrator Plant at Minera Escondida, key equipment that leads to the obtaining of concentrate copper. When reviewing the background of this process, a disorder was found in terms of maintenance planning for the cyclones, also poor information regarding the failures of these equipment. This work begins by collecting the weekly reports of inspections to batteries (made by the area of Operations), by doing so, they consolidate and give information to look for some common trend in terms of failures. In addition to the study, it is decided to review the operational historical data of hydrocyclones in order to look for trends that may be related to maintenance. Based on this data, average and raw data series were generated from the record of the PST (particle size tracking) devices between the years 2017 and 2018, in order to analyze the relationship between granulometry and wear through time of the cyclone internal lining, as well as analyzing whether the maintenance plan in the system is appropriate to reality in terms of the replacement times for them. Lastly, two innovative alternatives are proposed to have more variables to analyze. One of them is the proposal of an hour meter that, apart from counting the operation hours of the cyclone, counts the tonnage processed. The second is the proposal of a copper wire insert in the cyclone lining to be able to predict the premature wear of the lining and formation of negative protrusions, which generate the by-pass of coarse material and therefore a bad classification. These proposals will allow for better analysis and monitoring to the area of Planning, which will soon leave the plant and be remote, so more information will be required online. Finally, it will allow us to make a better study of coating wear and control the behavior of a cyclone over time.
Day by day, the copper industry must optimize its processes in the areas of Operations and Maintenance in order to achieve improvements and automation to reduce production costs, make a safer operation for people, improve the recovery of copper and leverage in some way the decline of the copper law, which is the current trend and future. The focus of the study in this work is the hydrocyclone batteries of the Laguna Seca Concentrator Plant at Minera Escondida, key equipment that leads to the obtaining of concentrate copper. When reviewing the background of this process, a disorder was found in terms of maintenance planning for the cyclones, also poor information regarding the failures of these equipment. This work begins by collecting the weekly reports of inspections to batteries (made by the area of Operations), by doing so, they consolidate and give information to look for some common trend in terms of failures. In addition to the study, it is decided to review the operational historical data of hydrocyclones in order to look for trends that may be related to maintenance. Based on this data, average and raw data series were generated from the record of the PST (particle size tracking) devices between the years 2017 and 2018, in order to analyze the relationship between granulometry and wear through time of the cyclone internal lining, as well as analyzing whether the maintenance plan in the system is appropriate to reality in terms of the replacement times for them. Lastly, two innovative alternatives are proposed to have more variables to analyze. One of them is the proposal of an hour meter that, apart from counting the operation hours of the cyclone, counts the tonnage processed. The second is the proposal of a copper wire insert in the cyclone lining to be able to predict the premature wear of the lining and formation of negative protrusions, which generate the by-pass of coarse material and therefore a bad classification. These proposals will allow for better analysis and monitoring to the area of Planning, which will soon leave the plant and be remote, so more information will be required online. Finally, it will allow us to make a better study of coating wear and control the behavior of a cyclone over time.
Description
Keywords
PLANTAS CONCENTRADORAS , BATERIAS DE HIDROCICLONES , RECUPERACION DE COBRE