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Plant Automation for Energy-Efficient Mineral Processing

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Energy Efficiency in the Minerals Industry

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

Abstract

Mineral processing is one of the most energy-intensive stages of the overall mining beneficiation chain, with an increasing share of the industry footprint. This chapter examines how automation represents a practical means to significantly improve energy efficiency in mineral processing operations. It introduces the fundamentals of automation, hierarchical framework of automation systems, and how the multiple functions can be integrated into an energy management information system. The discussion also explains the rationale of process control and real-time optimization approaches that facilitates lower specific energy requirements from lower variability of key process variables, and determining more appropriate operating points. Case studies are presented to illustrate the current state of the art.

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Acknowledgements

D. Sbarbaro acknowledges the kind support of the support of Solar Energy Research Center (SERC-Chile) Fondap #15110019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de génie chimique, Université Laval, Pavillon Adrien-Pouliot, 1065 avenue de la Médecine, Québec City, Canada

    Jocelyn Bouchard

  2. Departamento de ingenería eléctrica, Universidad de Concepción, Edificio Central de Ingeniería, Concepción, Chile

    Daniel Sbarbaro

  3. Département de génie électrique et génie informatique, Université Laval, Pavillon Adrien-Pouliot, 1065 avenue de la Médecine, Québec City, Canada

    André Desbiens

Authors
  1. Jocelyn Bouchard
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  2. Daniel Sbarbaro
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  3. André Desbiens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jocelyn Bouchard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining and Nuclear Engineering, Missouri University Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA

    Kwame Awuah-Offei

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Bouchard, J., Sbarbaro, D., Desbiens, A. (2018). Plant Automation for Energy-Efficient Mineral Processing. In: Awuah-Offei, K. (eds) Energy Efficiency in the Minerals Industry. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54199-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54199-0_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-54198-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-54199-0

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