Metso Minerals Upgrades Test Center

Since 1965, Metso Minerals’ Research and Test Center in Milwaukee has played a major role in the development of crushing technology.

According to Metso, this 30,000-square-foot indoor pilot crushing plant is the only one of its kind in the world. The test center/laboratory/pilot crushing plant provides crushing units for customer performance testing. Tests provide data on system capacities such as product distribution, tonnage and power requirements for crushing a customer’s specific rock or mineral. Multiple primary, secondary and tertiary crushers can be selected to determine the optimum arrangement and equipment settings for the given application.

The 2005 upgrade was designed to increase the speed and flexibility of the test circuit and includes:

·           Full automation of the pilot plant

·           New Flat Series (FS) horizontal screen

·            Barmac B3000 vertical shaft impactor

The test center circuit starts with material being fed directly into one of two available primary crushing units: the C80 jaw crusher or the NP 1007 horizontal shaft impactor.  Material is fed to the crushing circuit via mini-front end loader or overhead crane. The circuit can handle up to 600mm feed size and 300 tons per hour to accommodate the GP200S secondary crusher.

Following primary crushing, the material is transported via belt to the screen feed bin allowing for screening of the material with the new Flat Series (FS) Horizontal Screen.  This FS Screen, part of the recent upgrade, measures 6 feet by 16 feet and is able to handle higher tonnage rates than the 5 feet by 12 feet GP screen it replaced. Oversized material for secondary crushing is conveyed to the crusher feed bin for secondary and tertiary crushing if required. Undersized material is collected for additional testing or removal from the circuit. Screening can also be bypassed with the implementation of a versatile conveyor system, placing the entire stream into the crusher feed bin.

At any stage of the test operation, material can be removed from the process stream and stored on site for additional testing at a later time. Secondary crushing is accomplished by either an HP100 cone crusher or GP200S gyratory crusher. The GP200S is designed and implemented as a secondary crusher but it can also be used as a tertiary if necessary for the test work.

The Barmac B3000 VSI has open or closed circuit capabilities. It affords the option of having “Rock Box” and “Rotor and Anvil” configurations at the test center.

A key feature of the recent test center upgrade is the full automation of the test facility.  The new automation system was designed and programmed by Metso Minerals’ Process Technology of Kelowna, BC, in Canada. It provides test center operators with the ability to quickly run up to 16 automated startup sequences.

Plant operations can be monitored from an observation room overlooking the test circuit with displays showing real-time plant operation. The observation room allows customers maximum involvement during testing, while minimizing safety hazards. All test data is analyzed to determine the optimum settings for crusher circuit operation. Results of the test work and the data generated are held in complete confidence and become the customers’ property. Metso Minerals takes a customer-centered approach in the operation of the test center, with customer involvement in the planning of test work and encouraging customer presence during the actual tests. 

In addition to the pilot crushing plant, Metso Minerals offers a comprehensive range of laboratory crushing tests at the Milwaukee Research and Test Center:

·           Impact crushability

·           Paddle abrasion – includes chemical analysis of the material

·           French abrasion – mainly used to estimate hammer wear life in impactor applications

·           Lab cone

·            Dynamic fragmentation

·           Screen analysis

·            Particle shape/flakiness/void tests

Lab analysis requires anywhere from 5 to 250 pounds of material. Pilot crushing and screening tests require from 0.5 to 3 tons depending on the type of crusher. Some of the more unusual material submitted for testing include eyeglass lenses, chicken bones and grenade casings.