Desarrollo de software académico para simulación de procesos metelúrgicos de reducción y clasificación de tamaño : desarrollo de software académico para simulación de procesos metalúrgicos de reducción y clasificación de tamaño con una trituradora de mandíbulas de doble efecto.

Abstract

Simulation programs are a useful tool for decision making in an industry. In mining, primary crushing is the first stage of mineral processing, jaw crushers are used whose operating principle is compression. Given the high rate of energy consumed in crushing, it is important to properly select the equipment that best suits the operational needs to reduce energy cost and increase the performance of downstream processes. Therefore, the objective of this work is to develop a software in MATLAB together with the AppDesigner tool that provides the operating conditions of jaw crushers from different suppliers that best fit the user’s requirements. For the simulation of the particle size distribution of the crushed product, a model has been used that describes the comminution process as a repetitive cycle of classification and fracture. In addition, the algorithm used allows the calculation of the crusher’s closed side setting that meets the desired product particle size conditions and, together with information on the crusher’s hourly feed, generates a report with the crushers that best meet these requirements. Finally, validation of the model was performed with experimental data reported in the literature where it was verified that the modeled particle size distribution graph follows similar patterns and the average error of the experimental d80 with the calculated d80 is 2.51%.