= (2)
where
f
system
= the system frequency (Hz)
f
rotor
= the rotor circuit frequency (Hz)
n = the speed of rotation (rpm)
p = the number of pole pairs, 3 in the case of the Tarkwa motors with 6 poles.
From n and the gearbox ratio, the mills angular speed, , is known and therefore also the angular
acceleration, , and angular position, .
The only unknowns in the system equation [1] are therefore J and mgr. During the first few
degrees of mill rotation, the charge has not tumbled and both the parameters may therefore be solved.
Thereafter, J and mgr remain constant until the point in time where tumbling occurs, and J and
mgr may therefore be substituted to solve . will remain equal to mill rotation up to the tumbling point,
after which it breaks away and remains approximately constant thereafter.
5
Protection Operation Examples
Figure 2 - Tarkwa Ball 2011/05/05 15h09 #0123 (Ore Angle Graph)
Figure 2 is an actual example of a safe start-up. For the first part of the start-up, the graph is at 45, while
the charge has not tumbled and the ore angle is therefore the same as the mill angle. At 63, the ore
tumbles and the ore angle settles at a lower value as the mill angle continues to increase. The graph
therefore enters the green safe area to the right of the graph.
6
Figure 3 - Tarkwa Ball 2011/05/05 14h04 #0122
Figure 3 is an actual example of a locked charge trip. The charge does not tumble and the graph
therefore enters the red TRIP area at the top of the graph. A trip is issued by the Locked Charge Protection
Relay (LCPR), and the motor is tripped after a short delay, caused by intermediate relay action and
breaker tripping time. After the trip, the mill still coasts a few degrees under its own momentum. Hans de
Beer was standing next to the mill during this trip, and confirmed that a small fraction of the charge could
be heard dropping, but not enough to cause damage to the mill. The trip setting was reduced to 75
following this experience.
Video Taken Inside a Mill
In order to confirm the calculation of ore angle by means of the above principles visually, a video
was taken inside a mill and correlated frame-for-frame with the graph of mill and ore angles generated by
the locked charge protection system.
7
SYSTEM OVERVIEW
Locked Charge Protection Relay (LCPR)
At the heart of the system is the Locked Charge Protection Relay, or LCPR. This is a powerful
numerical protection device responsible for calculating the angle of repose in real time and tripping the
mill if this reaches a dangerous angle. Figure 4 is a photo of the LCPR panel at the Tarkwa SAG mill
during commissioning. The LCPR panel is mounted against the Liquid Resistance Starter control cabinet,
to facilitate easy connection to the DC CTs depicted in Figure 5.
Figure 4 LCPR panel
Figure 5 DC CTs used for rotor current measurement
8
HMI
A dedicated HMI in the control room shows the status of the system, including the real-time mill
and ore angles during start-up. This is important to bolster the control personnels confidence in the
functioning of the locked charge protection system. Figure 6 shows a screenshot of the HMI after a typical
start-up.
Figure 6 HMI display after typical start-up
Typical Tumbling Angles
Figures 7 and 8 give the distribution of tumbling angles for the Ball and SAG mills. Power to
Tarkwa is supplied by the Ghana power utility and due to power dips and outages, the number of mill start-
ups is relatively high. Under these crash stop conditions, the mill stops without prior controlled grind out of
the mill charge and circulating load. This is when locked charge damage is most likely, and where normal
barring procedure has not been effective in eliminating locked charges.
It can be seen that the Ball mill tumbling angle is typically very high, with a total of 8 start-ups
reaching tumbling angles higher than 80 degrees and therefore tripping on locked charge. The total number
of start-ups was 129 and thus 6% of the start-ups could have caused locked charge damage.
The SAG mill tumbling angles were mostly between 30 and 40 degrees, yet it is interesting to note
that some start-ups also had high tumbling angles. As expected, high tumbling angles are reached more
often in the ball mill, as the particle size is smaller.
9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Tumbling Angle (degrees)
N
u
m
b
e
r
o
f
S
t
a
r
t
u
p
s
Figure 7 Histogram of Ball Mill Tumbling Angles
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Tumbling Angle (degrees)
N
u
m
b
e
r
o
f
S
t
a
r
t
u
p
s
Figure 8 Histogram of SAG Mill Tumbling Angles
Trip
Trip
10
Internet Based Report Generation
After each start-up, the data is automatically uploaded to a server where it is processed and a
report generated in .pdf format. The key performance indicators of the start-up are published in a web
interface from where the .pdf report may also be downloaded. The report is also emailed to authorized
users that choose this option. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of each start-up includes the
maximum ore angle before tumbling and the maximum torque spike during starting. These KPIs are sent
as a text message to the mobile phones of users that choose this option. Figure 9 shows a typical automatic
report, and Figure 10 a shows a portion of the KPI web interface screen.
Figure 9 Typical automatic start-up report
Mill Safety Start Automatic Expert System Report
Tarkwa Ball
2011/05/14 17h25 #0131
Full historical data availble on this mill at http:\\sdg.pnpscada.com
11
Figure 10 KPI web interface screen
12
CONDITION MONITORING FROM ROTOR CURRENTS
As stated, torque trace of each start-up is calculated from the rotor currents. This enables
comprehensive liquid resistance starter performance analysis, ensuring the early detection of liquid
resistance starter problems. Corrective action can therefore be taken expediently to prevent damage to
electric motors, gearboxes, pinion gears and girth gears.
LRS Arcing in Electrolyte
At Tarkwa, large current spikes were found on the ball mill motor rotors during some start-ups, as
shown in Figure 11. The mill motors had previously suffered severe damage of the slip-ring surface which
led to excessive brush wear and subsequent slip-ring flashing. The current spikes measured were large
enough to cause damage to the slip-rings, and may have been the cause of these problems.
Figure 11 Large rotor current spikes during start-up
4100A
4180A
4520A
-5920A
-4880A
-7462A
MOTOR 2
MOTOR 1
-5370A
-3800A
13
The current spikes were attributed to arcing inside the electrolyte when the LRS electrodes came
too close to each other too quickly, and slowing down the electrode movement easily eliminated this. The
electrolyte strength was also recalculated based on these results.
LRS Underperforming
Damang, situated close to Tarkwa in Ghana, also ordered a LCPR system after the success at
Tarkwa. Large torque spikes of up to 429% of rated torque were found at the end of the start-up sequence.
The mills were previously experiencing periodic gearbox damage. Torque spikes like these are severe
enough to cause mechanical damage, so it is likely that the damage was caused by these torque spikes. The
torque spikes were attributed to insufficient turn-down ratio of the LRS. This means that the LRS
resistance did not fall low enough at the end of the start-up sequence. The LRS was therefore unable to
bring the motor close enough to the running speed, resulting in a sudden speed increase with associated
high torque when the LRS was shorted out at the end of the start-up sequence.
Refurbishing the existing LRSs with bigger electrodes eliminated the torque spikes. Figure 12
shows the torque traces before and after the problem was detected and rectified.
Fig 12. Torque trace calculated from rotor currents on Damang Ball mill before and after remedial
action was taken.
14
Trip on Unbalance Torque
The Tarkwa SAG mill incorporates shear pin couplings to protect the drive train against
mechanical torque spikes. This presents the problem that when one pin has sheared, the mill will continue
to start from only one motor. This stresses the remaining drive train before the motor eventually trips on
overload. The mill motor protection relays were set to trip the mill on undercurrent, which then trips the
mill when one of the motor load falls away, but this was found to be unsatisfactory under certain
conditions.
The ideal solution would be to incorporate the shear pin coupling protection into the Mill Safe
Start, as it monitors the rotor currents and therefore the torque on both motors. This makes it simple to
detect a difference in torque of the two motors, and trip when one of the two shear pin couplings shears.
This functionality is currently being incorporated into the LCPR.
CONCLUSION
A system was presented that addresses some of the major risk areas that have caused premature
mechanical and electrical failure of large geared grinding mills, simply by mathematical processing of the
motor rotor currents. These include protection against locked charge incidents and detection and
measurement of torque transients during start-up, enabling corrective action to be taken expediently to pre-
empt electrical and mechanical damage.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank everyone who has made a contribution to this work, from its
inception to the successful procurement and commissioning of the Tarkwa systems.
REFERENCES
Frank, W.D. (1997). Dont drop that charge! Metals, Mining & More, 1/97, 1-2. Erlangen, Germany:
Siemens.
Svalbonas, V. (2002). The Design of Grinding Mills. Mineral Processing Plant Design, Practice, and
Control Proceedings, (p.846). Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
Vanderbeek, J.L. (2004). State of the SAG. In E.C.Dowling Jr. & J.I.Marsden(Eds.), Improving and
Optimizing Operations: Things that actually work!, Plant Operators Forum 2004 (pp.141).Littleton, CO:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.