This project delivered a prototype fully automated online measurement system for size distribution measurement of limestone aggregate on conveyor for Nordkalk. The system is based on 3D profile data from laser triangulation and measures an approximately 1.5m long section of limestone every minute, producing an estimate of the sieve size distribution. A specific goal of the project was to demonstrate that the image processing results would trend in the right direction tracking changes in the material size. This has been achieved with the sizing result producing larger results when large rocks are on the conveyor and smaller when small rocks are on the conveyor. Additionally, the installation has proven that the measurement hardware works, that the system has the ability to distinguish between overlapped and non‐overlapped rocks, and produce sizing results based on the non‐overlapped rocks. A stage two project is currently in application to perform the necessary field trials and experimentation to adapt the sieve size estimation to the broad range of material sizes used at the mine site. The underlying research has many applications including; quality control of bulk material before transportation to the customer, process control on the input to ovens or crushers, quantifying the output from these same processes, and to validate the size of material received from the supplier. These applications contribute to the knowledge and process flow in concepts such as "mine‐to‐mill" for overall mine efficiency. The project was a collaboration between Nordkalk, MinBaS, MBV-Systems, ProcessIT Innovations and Luleå University of Technology and was partly supported by the INTERREG IVA program of the European Union.
Publikationer: Automated online measurement of limestone particle size distributions using 3D range data; A machine vision system for estimation of size distributions by weight of limestone particles during ship loading; Automated online measurement of particle size distribution using 3D range data; Status: Ongoing; Period: 31/05/2009 → 31/05/2009