Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

A comparative study between cone crushers and theoretically optimal crushing sequences
E. Lee , C.M. Evertsson 1
Chalmers Rock Processing Research, Dept. of Product and Production Development, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gteborg, Sweden

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The supply of minerals, ores and aggregates are crucial for the continuous development of todays society. With a rising world population, growing urbanization, and increasing standards of living, the performance and efciency of existing crushers must be improved in order to meet the escalating demand on these products. The current paper thus presents a comparative study between existing cone crushers and theoretically optimal crushing sequences. Full scale experiments are conducted in order to examine the effects of Closed Side Setting (CSS), stroke, and eccentric speed on crusher output. The performance of the examined cone crusher is then compared against what is considered as theoretically optimal. The subsequent analysis shows that signicant gains can be made in terms of both product yield and overall capacity by adjusting crusher operation depending on the conditions at hand, e.g. increasing the CSS while maintaining the same stroke or decreasing the eccentric speed. It is also shown that a mixture of breakages modes is more optimal than the sole application of one optimized breakage mode. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Available online 6 September 2010 Keywords: Optimization Compressive crushing Full scale experiments Cone crushers Product yield Comminution

1. Introduction The use of compression crushers, such as gyratory, cone, and jaw crushers, is common within the mining and aggregate industries. The raw material handling in these industries include drilling, blasting, and crushing, sometimes several times, before a nal product or a product ready for the next stage of the process emerges. Considering that the European aggregates industry alone has an estimated annual production of 3 billion tons aggregates (European Aggregates Association, 2009), i.e. an average production of 7 tons aggregates per capita and year, it is evident that signicant gains can be made if the efciency of existing crushers can be improved. The aim of this work is thus to study the performance of existing cone crushers and to evaluate them against theoretically optimal crushing sequences. The performance of cone crushers has been studied by e.g. Moshgbar et al. (1995), who used wear sensors in order to enable dynamical wear compensation through crusher control; Bearman and Briggs (1998), who showed the importance of incorporating time dependent variables in the control of crushers; and Hulthn (2008), who worked on dynamical control of cone crushers.

In terms of theoretical optimizations, Lee and Evertsson (2008, 2009) have in previous work shown that modern cone crushers do not operate optimally with respect to product yield, energy consumption, or pressure variation. Instead, fewer and/or smaller compressions than what is believed to be applied in existing crushers are suggested. The scope of the present paper is to examine the effect of crusher parameters on crusher performance and to compare the output from a real crusher with the theoretically optimal output. It simply seems unlikely that xed variables would be optimal in all situations as well as applications. In contrast, it is believed that improvements of crusher performance are attainable through adjustments of the operating parameters. For instance, earlier work suggests that by decreasing the stroke or CSS of the crusher and/or lowering the eccentric speed, an increased product yield can be obtained if nes generation is to be considered as waste (Lee, 2009).

2. Full scale experiments With the purpose of examining the performance and efciency of existing cone crushers, a set of full scale experiments were conducted in the test facility of Sandvik SMC in Dalby, Southern Sweden. The facility, as shown in Fig. 1, holds one crushing equipment platform, which at the time of testing consisted of a Sandvik CH430 cone crusher.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 31 7723551.

E-mail addresses: elisabeth.lee@chalmers.se (E. chalmers.se (C.M. Evertsson). 1 Tel.: +46 31 7721368. Lee), magnus.evertsson@

0892-6875/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2010.07.013

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

189

1188 rpm, 1782 rpm and the standard speed of 1485 rpm for the crusher driveshaft. 2.2. Closed Side Setting, CSS The Closed Side Setting, or CSS, of a cone crusher represents the smallest permitted distance between the mantle and the concave during crusher operation. This geometrical measure of the crushing chamber, which is shown in Fig. 3, thus affects the size of the outgoing product as well as the throughput capacity of the equipment. Simply put, a small CSS implies a ner product, whereas a large CSS allows a coarser product. The CSS parameter can be adjusted by lowering or raising the mantle. The setting is increased if the mantle is moved downwards and decreased if the mantle is moved upwards (Svensson and Steer, 1990). In the applied cone crusher, the CSS parameter could be set and regulated by an automatic control system making use of the built-in hydraulics of the equipment (ASRi). The effects of CSS on the outgoing product as well as the throughput of the crusher could therefore be examined by systematically varying the CSS parameter during testing. Consequently, the parameter was varied between the values of 13 and 20 mm. 2.3. Stroke The mantle of a cone crusher moves eccentrically during operation. The distance between the mantle and the concave thus varies horizontally as the mantle moves from its furthest position from the concave to its closest position from the concave. The distance between these two extreme positions is called the stroke s, which is illustrated in Fig. 3. The stroke in a cone crusher is, in other words, a measure of the normal mantle movement during crusher operation. It is also known as the eccentric throw and is a machine parameter, which can be manually changed by changing the position of the eccentric bush in the crusher. Experiments with two different strokes were carried out during testing in order examine the effects on crusher output. More specically, a smaller stroke of 29 mm and a larger stroke of 36 mm were applied. 2.4. Results More than 100 test samples were gathered throughout the experiments. The material samples were collected using belt cuts, and analyzed through traditional sieve analysis or optical size analysis in order to determine the resulting particle size distributions. Fig. 4 shows the collected data from six different test series, which were conducted at different eccentric speeds, CSS and strokes. The

Fig. 1. Schematic layout over the Dalby test facility.

A parameter study of the eccentric speed, Closed Side Setting (i.e. CSS) and stroke (i.e. eccentric throw of a cone crusher) was conducted. The study was carried out through tests using a modied crushing chamber. The test material during the experiments consisted of a local gneiss of a 1050 mm size fraction. Feed samples, which were intermittently taken throughout testing, show particle size distributions such as illustrated in Fig. 2. Post-processed material samples, on the other hand, were gathered through belt cuts and transported to the laboratory test facility of Sandvik SMC in Svedala, where sieve analysis and optical particle size analysis were conducted. 2.1. Eccentric speed Cone crushers can be operated at different eccentric speeds. However, despite this possibility, most cone crushers are in fact operated at a xed eccentric speed. The underlying reason for this can be found in the time-consuming step of changing belt pulleys, which is normally required in order to alter the setting. Nevertheless, the actual speed of the eccentric movement of the mantle in a cone crusher is dictated by this machine parameter. In the applied cone crusher, changes of the eccentric speed could be performed using a frequency inverter. The eccentric speed was therefore systematically altered during testing as to study its effects on the output of the crusher. The test settings included

Fig. 2. Particle size distributions for a few of the collected feed samples.

Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of the close side setting of a cone crusher.

190

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

Fig. 4. Test data obtained for different eccentric speeds, CSS, and strokes.

test results, which are presented in terms of particle size distributions, clearly indicate that different product curves are obtained for

different CSS values. More specically, the particle size distribution curves visibly shift towards larger particle sizes as CSS increases.

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

191

This shift can be explained by the smallest permitted particle size, which increases with a growing CSS parameter. This horizontal move in the cumulative particle size distribution diagrams also agrees with the ndings of Hulthn (2008). In order to facilitate comparisons between the different crusher outputs, the data are presented in an alternative way in Figs. 5 and 6. The gures show the generated relative amounts of the 02 mm, 28 mm, and +8 mm fractions at different crusher settings. As can be seen, the relative amount of nes (i.e. the 02 mm size fraction) decreases with a growing CSS, but increases with a rising eccentric speed. As previously stated, this decrease is probably caused by the smallest permitted particle size being allowed to be larger with a larger CSS. The latter phenomenon, on the other hand, is consistent with the work of Evertsson (2000), who showed that the number of crushing zones in a cone crusher increased with the eccentric speed. Fig. 5 (right) also shows the effect of the eccentric speed on the generated relative amount of 28 mm product. The effect is, however, less pronounced than for the case of the nes generation. Nevertheless, the increased CSS similarly conveys a decreased amount of 28 mm product. The eccentric speed is shown to have bearing on the amount of oversized product in Fig. 6 (left). In this specic case, the oversized product is dened as the +8 mm size fraction. As illustrated, a higher eccentric speed generally produces a smaller amount of oversized product than a smaller eccentric speed. This nding is in accordance with the theory that a higher eccentric speed entails a larger number of compressions, which in turn implies a larger size reduction. A decreased size reduction, on the other hand, is obtained when the CSS setting increases, which is shown in the gure. Also presented in Fig. 6 (right) is the product yield of the 2 8 mm size fraction and the 216 mm size fraction. As argued in

Lee and Evertsson (2008), product yield is an effective means of evaluating crushing processes typical within the aggregate industry. The approach is therefore applied in the present work to assess the performance of the applied cone crusher. The applied denition of product yield is given in Eq. (1), which is formulated according to Lee and Evertsson (2008). As can be seen, the dened product yield is a function of capacity, product and by-product. More specically, capacity is dened as the relative amount of material, which is smaller than or equal to the dened product of the process. When considering the product yield of the 28 mm size fraction, the product of interest would thus be the 28 mm size fraction. This implies that the relative amount of 08 mm material represents the capacity as described in Eq. (2). Similarly, the by-product p1 in this case corresponds to the relative amount of 02 mm material, whereas pm represents the circulating load (i.e. the relative amount of +8 mm material).

fYield

Pm1
i 2

pi

p1

Capacity Product By-product

m 1 X i 1

pi

Fig. 6 (right) shows that the product yield for the 216 mm material is higher than the product yield for the 28 mm material. The difference in product yield is explained by the larger amount of material included in the wider size fraction of the 216 mm product as well as the subsequently larger capacity. In terms of comparisons between the product yields of the same product, the results indicate that the product yield generally increases with a decreasing eccentric speed for the 216 mm product. This is in line with the assumptions made by Lee (2009) regarding product yield and eccentric speed. The product yield for the 28 mm product,

Fig. 5. Generated relative amounts of the 02 mm size fraction (left) and the 28 mm size fraction (right) for different eccentric speeds and CSS at 36 mm stroke.

Fig. 6. Generated relative amounts of the +8 mm size fractions (left) and the generated product yield (right) for different eccentric speeds and CSS at 36 mm stroke.

192

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

however, does not show the same clarity with respect to eccentric speed. Nevertheless, the increasing product yield for the 216 mm product along with the increasing CSS conrms another aspect of the ndings of Lee and Evertsson (2009), which predict a higher product yield following a reduced size reduction. It is also likely that the opposite trend for the 28 mm product can be explained by the same reduced size reduction, which happens to have a negative impact on the product yield in this case. Another studied parameter in these full scale experiments was the effect of stroke on crusher output. The resulting particle size distributions, which are shown in Fig. 4, are divided up and analyzed in terms of different size fractions as well as product yield. Fig. 7 presents the effect of stroke on different size fractions. Although no clear effect of the stroke is evident from these data, the benets of a larger stroke in terms of the product yield can be seen in the gure. Clearly, the highest product yield is obtained with a larger stroke, which depending on the applied CSS should be combined with a different eccentric speed. It would thus seem that a larger stroke generates a higher product yield than a smaller stroke. A larger stroke, however, generally implies a larger size reduction, which is in direct contrast with the effect of an increasing CSS and earlier ndings. This contradiction is, nevertheless, explained by the actual decrease of the generated relative amount of nes and the actual increase of the circulating load. All in all, it would seem that the larger stroke in this case implies a reduced size reduction, which is consistent with earlier ndings. Further analysis of Fig. 7 reveals a tendency of a decreasing product yield following an increased CSS. The explanation for this behavior is, as previously stated, found in the reduced size reduction which a larger CSS implies. It would also seem that the effect of CSS is coupled with the eccentric speed; different eccentric speeds seem optimal depending on the CSS. This coupled effect seems reasonable, since the number of compressions or crushing zones is directly linked to the eccentric speed. In other words, a lower eccentric speed should imply a smaller number of compressions, which in turn might require a smaller CSS in order to compensate for the reduced size reduction.

3. Theoretical optimizations In order to evaluate the performance and efciency of the applied cone crusher, comparable reference values must be determined. Since the overall aim is to improve existing crushers, an appropriate reference would thus be a theoretically optimal particle size distribution. This theoretically optimal particle size distribution can be obtained by theoretical optimizations of compressive crushing, which can in turn be performed using mathematical models describing the breakage behavior of the material. 3.1. Mathematical models Material passing through the crushing chamber of a cone crusher is subjected to a series of compressions due the eccentric movement of the mantle. This continuous crushing process can be modeled as discrete events, where the outgoing material from one compression serves as the ingoing feed to the next compression (see Fig. 8). The output from a cone crusher can thus be predicted by predicting the resulting particle size distribution from each of these compressions. Consequently, the optimal output from a cone crusher should also correspond to the optimal product from the corresponding optimal compression series. The resulting particle size distribution from a single compression can be predicted if the breakage characteristics for the material of interest are known. Mathematical models of the breakage behavior of a material are, in other words, crucial for performance predictions as well as theoretical optimizations. The test material in the performed full scale experiments consisted of a gneiss from Dalby in Southern Sweden. Coincidently, Lee and Evertsson (2008) have previously conducted material characterizing crushing tests for the same material. The interparticle breakage behavior of the material was found to be described by following equation:
1 a2 s@ BInter x@ ; s@ 1 a3 a4 s@ xa a3 a4 s@ x@ @

Fig. 7. Generated relative amount of the 02 mm size fraction (upper left), the 28 mm size fraction (upper right), and the +8 mm size fraction (lower left), and the product yield of the 28 mm size fraction (lower right) for different strokes, eccentric speeds and CSS.

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

193

Fig. 8. The continuous crushing process being modeled as a series of discrete compressions (Lee, 2009).

where x@ is a particle size relative to the initial particle size x0 and ai, i = 1,. . ., 4, are tted constants (see Table 1). The relative particle size x@ is dened in Eq. (4), where xmin is a small reference particle size (xmin = 0.008 mm).

result of target products being present or in close proximity to the feed fraction. Thus, in order to obtain a theoretically comparable reference to the measured crusher output, an alternate tness function was applied.

x@

log2 x=xmin log2 x0 =xmin

fProduct

m 1 X i 2

pi Product

3.2. Performed theoretical optimizations Theoretical optimizations were performed for a feed fraction of 1050 mm gneiss, which was specied according to one of the distributions shown in Fig. 2. The optimizations were carried out for interparticle breakage and were conducted using a genetic evolutionary algorithm (Lee, 2008). Ten optimizations were performed. However, due to the fraction width of the feed fraction, theoretical optimizations could not be performed using the tness function (i.e. evaluation function) in Eq. (1). This is because of the mathematical nature of the applied optimization routine trivial solutions are obtained as a
Table 1 Breakage function constants for the gneiss tested by Lee and Evertsson (2008). Breakage mode Interparticle

The applied tness function is, as can be seen, quite simple and only aims at maximizing the amount of product. Nevertheless, the obtained optimization results can still be evaluated in comparison to the data from the full scale experiments. It is, however, important to bear in mind that since optimization is only performed for interparticle breakage, direct comparisons with real crusher outputs cannot be carried out. This is simply because of the mixture of single particle and interparticle breakage, which occurs inside the crushing chamber of a cone crusher (Evertsson, 2000). Comparisons between theoretical results and measured outputs are thus only conducted in order to examine the differences between a strictly interparticle crushing process and a mixed crushing process. 3.3. Results The results from 10 interparticle optimizations aiming at maximizing the 28 mm size fraction are shown in Fig. 9. The bold

a1
23.58

a2
45.86

a3
0.03614

a4
0.5374

Fig. 9. Optimal crushing sequences with respect to maximized production of the 28 mm size fraction (left) and the resulting particle size distribution for the best crushing sequence, i.e. the bold curve (right).

194

E. Lee, C.M. Evertsson / Minerals Engineering 24 (2011) 188194

Table 2 Comparison between the best crusher output in terms of generated relative amount of 28 mm product and the theoretically optimal output in terms of generated relative amount of 28 mm product. Material Crusher output Theoretically optimal output Capacity (%) 78 62 By-product (%) 38 33 Product Eq. (5) (%) 40 30 Product yield Eq. (1) 82 56

curve among the optimal crushing sequences represents the best crushing sequence, whose resulting particle size distribution is presented to the right. As can be seen, the theoretically optimal crushing sequences consist of three compressions; starting with one large compression at 0.35 in compression ratio (i.e. the maximum allowed compression ratio in the optimization routine) before dropping to lower compression ratios around 0.220.26. Illustrated to the right is then the resulting particle size distribution of the best crushing sequence. Analysis shows that roughly 30% of 28 mm material is generated by the presented crushing sequence. This number is, however, exceeded by the applied cone crusher in the aforementioned full scale experiments (40%, see Table 2). The explanation for this can be found in the fact that the crushing process inside a real cone crusher occurs through single particle as well as interparticle breakage. By only applying interparticle breakage in the theoretical optimizations, one simply loses a more effective means of size reduction which is implied by single particle breakage. In addition, a larger amount of ne material is generated due to the sole application of interparticle breakage (see Table 2). Thus, although previous research work has suggested that modern cone crusher do not operate optimally in the interparticle crushing zone (Lee, 2009), the data in Fig. 9 clearly indicate that a mixture of interparticle and single particle breakage would be more optimal than solely applying optimized interparticle crushing. 4. Conclusions Full scale experiments have been conducted in order to examine the effects of eccentric speed, CSS, and stroke. In terms of eccentric speed, the results from the full scale experiments indicate that the product yield for the 216 mm product is increased with a decreasing eccentric speed. Since the eccentric speed can be directly linked to the number of crushing zones inside a crushing chamber, the decreased eccentric speed simply implies fewer crushing zones or fewer applied compressions. This is in turn consistent with the ndings of Lee and Evertsson (2009), which state that compressive crushing should optimally be conducted with fewer compressions than what is applied in existing cone crushers. The contradiction found for the product yield for the 28 mm product shows the complexity surrounding crusher design and control. It would seem that a coupled effect between the eccentric speed and the CSS might be present. Different CSS seem to imply different optimal eccentric speeds. Since a larger CSS value combined with a constant stroke imply a reduced size reduction, it is conceivable that an increased eccentric speed might be required in order compensate for the reduced size reduction. Moreover, obtained results also show that the product yield for the 216 mm size fraction can be increased with a larger CSS

parameter. This phenomenon is likely to be caused by the reduced size reduction, which is implied by the larger CSS combined with a constant stroke. The effect can, however, also be interpreted as a result of the smallest permitted particle size being increased following the increase of the CSS. Nonetheless, the reduced size reduction is in accordance with Lee and Evertsson (2009), who found that smaller compressions than what is believed to be applied in modern cone crushers should generally be used. In contrast, full scale experiments with varying strokes surprisingly show that a better product yield is achieved with a larger stroke. This result is explained by the decreased amount of nes and the increased amount of circulating load, which is conveyed by the larger stroke. In conclusion, obtained results indicate that signicant gains can be made in terms of both product yield and process capacity by the adjustments of cone crusher operation. For instance, the case study of the 216 mm product yield shows the benets of operating cone crushers at a small eccentric speed, with a large stroke, and a large CSS. It can also be concluded that a crushing process with both single particle and interparticle breakage is more optimal than a crushing process solely consisting of optimized interparticle breakage. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Sandvik Mining and Construction, the Swedish Mineral Processing Research Association (MinFo), the Swedish National Research Program MinBaS, the Ellen, Walter and Lennart Hesselmans Foundation for Scientic Research, and the Knutbergs Foundation for their nancial support. Nils-ke Hallberg at Sandvik Mining and Construction is gratefully acknowledged for his invaluable assistance and help with the practical details surrounding the full scale experiments. Jonny Hansson and Lars Jacobsson, also at Sandvik Mining and Construction, are recognized for their assistance during the full scale experiments. Richard Bern at Sandvik Mining and Construction is also acknowledged for organizing and enabling the full scale experiments. Finally, special thanks go to Bengt-Olof Tjell and his immediate colleagues at Sandvik Mining and Construction for their help with the tedious work of sieving all the test samples. References
Bearman, R.A., Briggs, C.A., 1998. The active use of crushers to control product requirements. Minerals Engineering 11 (9), 849859. UEPG (European Aggregates Association), 2009. Annual Review 20082009. Evertsson, C.M., 2000. Cone Crusher Performance, Ph.D. Thesis, Chalmers University of Technology. Hulthn, E., 2008. Real Time Optimization of Rock Crushers, Thesis for Licentiate of Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. Lee, E., 2009. Theoretical Optimization of Compressive Crushing, Thesis for Licentiate of Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology. Lee, E., Evertsson, C.M., 2008. Yield and energy optimizations of compressive crushing. In: Proceedings of the XXIV International Mineral Processing Congress, Beijing, China. Lee, E., Evertsson, C.M., 2009. Optimized compressive crushing with respect to energy consumption, pressure and multiple product yield. In: Proceedings of the European Symposium of Comminution and Classication 2009, Espoo, Finland. Moshgbar, M., Bearman, R.A., Parkin, R., 1995. Optimum control of cone crushers utilizing an adaptive strategy for wear compensation. Minerals Engineering 8 (4/5), 367376. Svensson, A., Steer, J.F., 1990. New cone crusher technology and developments in comminution circuits. Minerals Engineering 3 (1/2), 83103.