Experimental observations of lifter parameters and mill operation on power draw and liner impact loading

In mineral processing the mill power plays a major role in the economics of the process and is a critical design criterion. The mill power is influenced by a range of parameters such as: charge and slurry filling, number and geometry of lifters, and mill speed. Deriving the optimum conditions of these parameters should lead to efficient mill operation. Additionally, the optimum utilization of the impact loads that are affected by charge and slurry filling, number of lifters, geometry of lifter and mill speed should result in increased milling efficiency. In this work the influence of these operating parameters were investigated using a laboratory experimental mill. It is found that the power, are affected by number of lifters, lifter height, mill charge and mill speed. Overall the results showed that increasing the mill velocity, number of lifters, and height of lifter and significantly decreasing the mill charge filling results in a higher impact value and impact frequency that may also increase overall efficiency. A simple linear regression relationship has been demonstrated for mill power as a function of lifter spacing (S/H) and mill speed. These parameters give an indication of the possible optimum mill operating conditions in an idealised condition.