Thermo-Mechanical Integration ofWaste Heat for Drying of Material during Milling

Abstract

This thesis experimentally and theoretically investigated the integration of waste heat for drying of rock particles during milling, as well as the potential drying effect of heated airflows inside of Comminution Reimagined’s ARBS mill. Pre-study tests indicate that a cost effective side effect, drying of the crushed particles, occurs when heat is added to the air system that extracts fine crushed rock particles. The drying of crushed particles is key in order to improve crushing performance and fines extraction. Previous research has left several knowledge gaps, mainly in terms of how the drying effect can be controlled and predicted, i.e. the drying parameters. Experimental data was used together with a broad literature study to gain an understanding of the drying effect and parameters as. A conceptual design was created to illustrate a potential integration of the drying system for the current design of the rock crushing mill. Our findings indicate that integrating waste heat into the rock crushing mill can be done in an efficient way where the negative effects of moist rock particles inside of the ARBS mill can be minimised, but requires further research before implementation.