Descripción del proyecto
Análisis de la composición de minerales en tiempo real para rentabilizar una minería más sostenible
El 10 % del material excavado y transportado en minería es escombro. De hecho no existen métodos vanguardistas con los que analizar en tiempo real la composición de los minerales según pasan por la cinta transportadora y es necesario mandarlos al laboratorio. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos ROCS se propone lograr que la minería sea económica y medioambientalmente sostenible al lograr un análisis de la composición de los minerales al principio de la fase de producción. Un sensor especial añadido a la cinta detectará una serie de minerales, metales y otras materias primas. La tecnología optimizará la producción y ayudará a que las minas ahorren más de un 30 % de la energía necesaria para transportar, triturar y moler las rocas.
Objetivo
In mining, 5-10% of the material excavated and transported is waste material or so-called gangue. This % might seem low but mining dilution is one of the most important factors affecting the economy of mining projects. There are four main state-of-the-art approaches to analyzing ore composition but all of them take place at the lab and none in real time at the conveyor belt.
ROCS will help make mining financially and environmentally sustainable by allowing mining companies to understand the ore composition right at the start of the production phase. A LIBS sensor is added to the conveyor belt in order to optimize production through modern mining and processing techniques. This technology can be used to detect all kinds of minerals and metals including critical raw materials, featuring better signal-to-noise-ratios than leading competitors.
The raw materials sector is crucial to Europe’s economy. With the increasing population, securing reliable and unhindered access to certain raw materials is a growing concern within the EU. However, the EU is strongly dependent on imports as mining is becoming increasingly unsustainable. The global mining industry produces around €3 trillion of minerals (excluding diamonds). The ROCS system will be a product for innovative and sustainable mines.
Assuming that ROCS can improve the ore pre-concentration process in order to detect the dilution and decrease the gangue percentage by 4 points (from 14-17% to 10-12%), the mine can save over 30% of the energy required for transportation, crushing and grinding these rocks. This translates into 25,000 to 30,000 MWh annually, i.e. €2.5-3M of costs and 22,500-27,000M tons of CO2, not including other savings (water, chemicals, man-hours).
SPECTRAL is a high-tech start-up from Delft. We have a fruitful relation to TNO that has a strong pedigree in designing and building spectroscopic instruments for applications including medical diagnostics, semiconductors and space.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringtribologylubrication
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringmining and mineral processing
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Régimen de financiación
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinador
2627 AN Delft
Países Bajos
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.