Thesis OPTIMIZACIÓN DE MALLA DE RIEGO EN PILA DE LIXIVIACIÓN
Date
2021-09
Authors
REQUENA PRADO, DANIEL ANDRÉS
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Abstract
Con el pasar de los años, la industria minera se ha visto confrontada por diferentes problemáticas, ya sean por falta de tecnología o por problemas ambientales, sin embargo, un factor fundamental que cada vez toma más fuerza es la baja de las leyes de cobre, sobre todo en los óxidos de cobre que son tratados mediante la hidrometalurgia. Esto genera la necesidad de obtener maquinarias y procesos optimizados que permitan una reducción del costo de producción, a fin de lograr beneficios. Dicho trabajo no es simple y requiere ser tratado con la mayor rapidez posible. Muchas veces al intentar cambiar a maquinaria más avanzada se incurre en costos elevados, por lo que, no todas las faenas mineras son capaces de solucionar esta problemática por ese rumbo, es por ese motivo que este trabajo de título se optimizó la malla de riego en relación con la distribución geométrica de los emisores dispuestos en la superficie de la pila, tomando en consideración como el área circular de riego afecta en la cantidad de mineral lixiviado. Para lo anterior, se realizaron 48 simulaciones donde se ocupó la misma pila de lixiviación con dimensiones de corona de 1600 m x 350 m. Además, se diseñó un solo sistema de impulsión, el cual se utilizó a lo largo de todas las simulaciones. Con lo anterior definido, se utilizaron distintos diámetros de boquilla de aspersores de la marca Senninger del modelo MiniWobbler, debido a que, en el momento en que se varíen las geometrías de distribución de emisores, el caudal requerido por estos también lo hará, por lo cual, el aspersor debe cumplir con los requerimientos de estos nuevos valores de caudal. Para la realización de las simulaciones se utilizaron los software Kypipe y EPANET, el primero se utilizó netamente para realizar el modelo y esquelitazación del sistema de riego y el segundo se ocupó para realizar los cálculos de caudal y presiones en cada emisor y tuberías relacionadas con el transporte de la solución lixiviante. Para lograr generar una comparación que permitió determinar qué sistema de riego es el óptimo, se compararon 4 aspectos fundamentales los cuales son la uniformidad de riego, área regada, costo de implementación de malla de riego y el costo energético del sistema de impulsión. Además, para cuantificar estos criterios, se implementó un análisis económico, donde se maximizó la utilidad en función con los costos relacionados a la inversión inicial y al costo por términos energéticos. Luego de concluir con las simulaciones y el análisis de los datos recopilados, se obtuvo que la geometría de distribución de emisores que mejores resultados presentó fue la cuadrada y para efectos de este trabajo de título, la malla de riego que obtuvo la mayor utilidad fue la simulación 28 que presentó 4.448 m2 de área total regada, una utilidad de MMUS$ 986 y un coeficiente de uniformidad de 99,2%.
Over the years, the mining industry has been confronted by different problems, either due to lack of technology or environmental problems, however, a fundamental factor that is becoming more and more important is the drop in copper grades, especially in copper oxides that are treated by hydrometallurgy. This generates the need to obtain optimized machinery and processes that allow a reduction in the cost of production, in order to achieve benefits. Such work is not simple and needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Many times when trying to change to more advanced machinery, high costs are incurred, so not all mining sites are able to solve this problem in this way, that is why this title work optimized the irrigation mesh in relation to the geometric distribution of the emitters arranged on the surface of the heap, taking into consideration how the circular irrigation area affects the amount of leached ore. For this purpose, 48 simulations were carried out using the same heap leach pad with crown dimensions of 1600 m x 350 m. In addition, only one drive system was designed and used throughout all the simulations. With the above defined, different diameters of Senninger sprinkler nozzles of the MiniWobbler model were used, due to the fact that, at the moment in which the distribution geometries of the emitters vary, the flow required by them will also vary, therefore, the sprinkler must comply with the requirements of these new flow values. Kypipe and EPANET software were used for the simulations, the former was used to model and model the irrigation system and the latter was used to calculate the flow rate and pressures in each emitter and piping related to the transport of the leaching solution. In order to generate a comparison to determine which irrigation system is the optimal one, four fundamental aspects were compared, which are irrigation uniformity, irrigated area, cost of irrigation mesh implementation and the energy cost of the impulsion system. In addition, to quantify these criteria, an economic analysis was implemented, where the utility was maximized based on the costs related to the initial investment and the cost per energy terms. After concluding with the simulations and the analysis of the data collected, it was obtained that the geometry of emitter distribution that presented the best results was the square geometry and for the purposes of this title work, the irrigation grid that obtained the highest utility was simulation 28, which presented 4,448 m2 of total irrigated area, a utility of MMUS$ 986 and a uniformity coefficient of 99.2%.
Over the years, the mining industry has been confronted by different problems, either due to lack of technology or environmental problems, however, a fundamental factor that is becoming more and more important is the drop in copper grades, especially in copper oxides that are treated by hydrometallurgy. This generates the need to obtain optimized machinery and processes that allow a reduction in the cost of production, in order to achieve benefits. Such work is not simple and needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Many times when trying to change to more advanced machinery, high costs are incurred, so not all mining sites are able to solve this problem in this way, that is why this title work optimized the irrigation mesh in relation to the geometric distribution of the emitters arranged on the surface of the heap, taking into consideration how the circular irrigation area affects the amount of leached ore. For this purpose, 48 simulations were carried out using the same heap leach pad with crown dimensions of 1600 m x 350 m. In addition, only one drive system was designed and used throughout all the simulations. With the above defined, different diameters of Senninger sprinkler nozzles of the MiniWobbler model were used, due to the fact that, at the moment in which the distribution geometries of the emitters vary, the flow required by them will also vary, therefore, the sprinkler must comply with the requirements of these new flow values. Kypipe and EPANET software were used for the simulations, the former was used to model and model the irrigation system and the latter was used to calculate the flow rate and pressures in each emitter and piping related to the transport of the leaching solution. In order to generate a comparison to determine which irrigation system is the optimal one, four fundamental aspects were compared, which are irrigation uniformity, irrigated area, cost of irrigation mesh implementation and the energy cost of the impulsion system. In addition, to quantify these criteria, an economic analysis was implemented, where the utility was maximized based on the costs related to the initial investment and the cost per energy terms. After concluding with the simulations and the analysis of the data collected, it was obtained that the geometry of emitter distribution that presented the best results was the square geometry and for the purposes of this title work, the irrigation grid that obtained the highest utility was simulation 28, which presented 4,448 m2 of total irrigated area, a utility of MMUS$ 986 and a uniformity coefficient of 99.2%.
Description
Keywords
LIXIVIACION , HIDROMETALURGIA , INDUSTRIA MINERA