Romero, a member of the Hydroprocess 2015 Advisory Committee, believes that the automation of hydrometallurgical plants helps to stabilize processes, reducing the variability of both the quantity and the quality of the final product.
Do you think that hydrometallurgical processes, in the case of base and precious metals, employ adequate process control technology?
Speaking from experience with mainly hydrometallurgical processes for base metals, particularly copper, I´d like to make clear that the correct use of process control technologies allows one to stabilize processes, in the most basic cases. In this sense, one can say that hydrometallurgical processes for medium and large mining companies do have suitable technology for this purpose: sensors, actuators and basic control stabilizing loops.
However, if you consider a higher degree of automation in hydrometallurgical process control, a significant deficit can be seen in the use of technologies that have been available for some time now; mainly instrumentation for mineral characterization in different stages and the use of advanced control strategies.
What are the reasons for this deficit?
The reasons for the lack of development or higher levels of automation in hydrometallurgical process control are, among others: The limited initial investment in these types of projects (involving the incorporation of new technology); process stability compared to concentration processes; agglomeration and heap leaching processes are complex to model, making it difficult to define more advanced control strategies; the lack of sensors or a more reliable application to measure key variables to allow for better control; and the lack of qualified personnel to develop advanced control strategies.
In general, what is the level of automation in hydrometallurgical plants?
Compared to other processes in the mining industry, the level of automation in (copper) hydrometallurgical plants is low. Among the benefits that can be derived from automation is process stabilization, which reduces variability of both the quantity and quality of the final product. On the other hand, advanced process control strategies allow us to go even further, and can optimize, from an economic point of view, the process performance in real time. Optimizations include reducing the consumption of critical resources such as water and energy and minimizing the environmental impact that waste emission generates. A very important point is that process automation, even at its most basic level, always makes things safer for operators and also protects the equipment.
Lastly, why are seminars like Hydroprocess important for the mining industry?
These types of events provide a very good opportunity to share experiences amongst different stakeholders from mining companies, equipment and service providers and specialists working in universities and research centers, both nationally and abroad. The main contribution that seminars like Hydroprocess can make is to pose problems, needs and challenges for the mining industry and to showcase alternative solutions that are developing or that have already been successful and to discuss the future of the industry.
