Mining Technologies

SIMINE Hybrid FlotEnvironmental Product Declaration

2

Design for environment

Ecological design is nothing new at Siemens. The company published its in-house standard SN 36350 on environmentally compatible product design in 1993, and since then this standard has been an integral part of our product planning and development process. Among other things, it calls for use of separate and distinct material fractions, ease of disassembly, a reduction in the number of com-ponents per product, durability, low energy requirements during manufacture and day-to-day use, and the avoidance of hazardous substances. It also lists minimum requirements regarding the pa-rameters to be described in environmental declarations.

This standard and our system of environmental management enable us to take a holistic and all-encompassing approach to environmental protection spanning the entire product life cycle from product planning to end-of-life recycling and disposal. We also work with product-specific guidelines that refine the require-ments outlined in SN 36350.

“Our knowledge and our solutions are helping to create a better world. We have a responsibility to the wider community and we are committed to environmental protection.

In our global operations, featuring a great diversity of processes, products and services, our company is concerned with sustaining the natural resources essential to life. We view the economy, environmental protection and social responsibility as three key factors car-rying equal weight in a liberal world market. We support the dissemination of knowledge needed for sustainable development through the transfer of knowledge in the fields of man-agement and technology, wherever we operate as a company.

For us, sustainable development in environ-mental protection means careful use of natural resources, which is why we assess possible environmental impacts in the early stages of product and process development. It is our aim to avoid pollution altogether or to reduce it to a minimum, above and beyond statutory requirements.“

Environmental mission statement

Environmental mission statement Lower energy consumption

The challenge

Flotation is the most important process for upgrading of metal ores, and is decisive for the profitability of a mine. The efficiency of the separating process depends on the grade of the concen-trate product and the recovery, especially of fine and extremely fine particles. For this purpose, the ground ore is slurried in water, transported to the surface through the injection of gas bubbles, and skimmed off there. The environmental balance of traditional flotation solutions features high energy and water requirements, and offers significant opportunities for optimization.

The solution

Siemens has developed a process called SIMINE Hybrid Flot which can satisfy these requirements. To this end, a pneumatic spray pro-cedure is combined with the column method. During the first step, the feed pulp mixed with air or gas is sprayed into the flotation cell. As a result of a high input of kinetic energy, extremely fine gas bub-bles are generated and brought into contact with valuable particles. The resulting agglomerates of gas bubbles and particles rise to the surface as froth where they are skimmed off. Larger bubbles are generated in the column area in order to capture coarser particles.

Spraying of feed pulp-gas mixture inserts sufficient kinetic energy into the flotation cell so that an agitator, its drive, and the associated energy are unnecessary.

Unlike other pneumatic cells, SIMINE Hybrid Flot can additionally work with a solids content of up to 50 % and thus requires less water.

Advantages for the environment

� Energy efficiency more than 50 % better than the reference solution

� Lower water consumption

� Reduced emission of greenhouse gases

4

Lower energy consumption Flotation concept

In a flotation concept based on the data of the Los Pelambres copper mine, 7,200 to 8,000 m³ of pulp are processed per hour. This results in a total specific energy require-ment of 0.93 kWh per metric ton of dry ore. In comparison, conventional flotation with agitators would consume a specific energy of 1.88 kWh per metric ton of dry ore.

Feed pulp

Tailing

Tailing

Tailing

Tailing

Tailing

Tailing

Cu/Mo separation

Final tailingsConcentrate

Cleaned concentrate

Mo concentrate

Cu concentrate for further processing

Mo concentrate for further processing

Concentrate

Concentrate

6.05 MW

0.32 MW

6.37 MW

Rougher flotationThree-stage in6 parallel linesTotal plant18 roughers (64 m³) with 18 pumps of 300 kW each

Cleaner flotation Single-stage in2 parallel lines Total plant2 cleaners (64 m³) with 2 pumps of 300 kW each and 1 pump of 50 kW

Rougher flotationThree-stage in 1 line Total plant 3 roughers (16 m³) with 4 pumps of 50 kW each

Cleaner flotationTwo-stage in2 parallel lines Total plant 3 cleaners (2 m³) with 6 pumps of 20 kW each

Collective flotation

Selective flotation

5

Implementation and evaluation

Conventional flotation

Hybrid flotation

Installed power 13.5 MW 6.37 MW

Sludge throughput 7,200 m³/h 7,200 m³/h

Specific energy/t of dry ore 1.88 kWh/t 0.93 kWh/t

Annual energy consumption* 77.1 GW/a 38.4 GW/a

Energy requirements for provision of N₂

n.a. 2.06 GW/a

Total energy 77.1 GW/a 40.46 GW/a

1.50

1.00

0.50

Increase in efficiency

Hybridflotation

50 % higher energy efficiency

0.05

0.88

2.00

Sp

eci

fic

curr

en

t co

nsu

mp

tio

n

in k

Wh

/t fl

oa

ted

ore

3.00

2.50

Conventionalflotation

Pumps and agitators

N₂ compression

0

0.941.88

Pumps

Conventional flotation solutions with agitator serve as the eval-uation reference for SIMINE Hybrid Flot. The data for SIMINE Hybrid Flot results from a pilot project at the Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile. The utilization phase is evaluated with consideration of the process energy, but without commodities.

Evaluation basis for energy requirements

* Specific energy consumption

Potential savings in CO₂ equivalents

Compared to a conventional solution, Siemens Hybrid Flot has a potential saving of 0.94 kWh per metric ton of dry ore rock.

Projected to the complete flotation capacity of Los Pelambres, a complete conversion to SIMINE Hybrid Flot would result in a saving in CO₂ of 24,401 t CO₂ equivalent per year.

Eco-Care Matrix (ECM)

-1 0 1-1

0

1

Hybrid Flotation

Reference

Customer benefits

Envi

ron

men

tal b

enefi

ts 0.5

0.5

-0.5

-0.5

4.00E+07

3.00E+07

2.00E+07

1.00E+07

CM

L 2

00

1 D

ec.

07

GW

P (

10

0 y

ea

rs)

[kg

CO

₂ e

qu

iv.]

6.00E+07

5.00E+07

Conventional flotation Hybrid flotation

24,401t

0

4.87E+07

1.30E+06

2.42E+07

Chile: current mix Chile: current mix with compressed air

� 50 % better environmental compatibility compared to a conventional solution

� 17 % lower total costs (TCO) compared to a conventional solution

For further information please contact:

Siemens AG Industry Sector Industry Solutions Mining Technologies

Schuhstr. 60 91052 Erlangen Germany

E-mail: service.mining@siemens.com

The information provided in this brochure contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in actual case of use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the re-spective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract.

Order No.: E10001-T1-A118-V1-7600Printed in Germany Dispo No.: 21600 K No.: 28137GB 090684 WS 11101.0Subject to change without prior notice

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