XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 1469
of the reconstructed 3D image of the 4-inch column are
shown as examples in Figure 1 (Bottom).
It has been validated that LBM simulated permeability
of pores in the micrometer scale matches well with experi-
mental measurements (Videla et al., 2008). An in-house
program using the LBM method developed from the Sandia
National Laboratories was selected for flow simulation in
this study (Stockman, 1999). In the LBM simulation, the
solution was modeled to flow through the pore network
under a pressure drop similar to the influence of gravity.
The outputs from the LBM simulation are flow velocity,
permeability, and an image stack for the flow channels. The
flow velocity and permeability values should only be treated
as approximations because the voxel resolution is not high
enough to factor in small pores that may be present in the
packed particle bed. The image stack obtained was used to
create three-dimensional flow images.
HPGR Crushed Ore Particle
The selected ore particles were screened to remove the fines
then crushed by a plant-scale HPGR unit at the specific
compression pressures of 5 N/mm2 and 10 N/mm2. As
shown in Figure 2 (top left), the particles were mounted
onto a piece of Styrofoam to ensure only the particle was
visible for the X-ray image (Styrofoam and tape were invis-
ible at the selected X-ray energy). A projected X-ray trans-
mission image of a 9,525 × 6,350 μm particle is shown as
an example in Figure 2 (top right). About 1,600 of these
projected images were collected per scan to reconstruct the
3D image of the ore particle, Figure 2 (bottom right). An
example of a cross-sectional view of an ore particle from the
stack of images is shown in Figure 2 (bottom left). The size
fractions of 25.4 × 19.1 mm, 15.9 × 12.7 mm, and 9.5 ×
6.4 mm were scanned at the voxel size of about 27.7 μm,
20.5 μm, and 12.6 μm.
Figure 2. Top left: a particle from the 9,525 × 6,350 μm size fraction scanned at a voxel resolution of
12.5 μm Top right: 2D projected image captured by the flat panel detector Bottom right: 3D image of
the particle after reconstruction Bottom left: an example of a cross-sectional view of an ore particle from
the stack of images
of the reconstructed 3D image of the 4-inch column are
shown as examples in Figure 1 (Bottom).
It has been validated that LBM simulated permeability
of pores in the micrometer scale matches well with experi-
mental measurements (Videla et al., 2008). An in-house
program using the LBM method developed from the Sandia
National Laboratories was selected for flow simulation in
this study (Stockman, 1999). In the LBM simulation, the
solution was modeled to flow through the pore network
under a pressure drop similar to the influence of gravity.
The outputs from the LBM simulation are flow velocity,
permeability, and an image stack for the flow channels. The
flow velocity and permeability values should only be treated
as approximations because the voxel resolution is not high
enough to factor in small pores that may be present in the
packed particle bed. The image stack obtained was used to
create three-dimensional flow images.
HPGR Crushed Ore Particle
The selected ore particles were screened to remove the fines
then crushed by a plant-scale HPGR unit at the specific
compression pressures of 5 N/mm2 and 10 N/mm2. As
shown in Figure 2 (top left), the particles were mounted
onto a piece of Styrofoam to ensure only the particle was
visible for the X-ray image (Styrofoam and tape were invis-
ible at the selected X-ray energy). A projected X-ray trans-
mission image of a 9,525 × 6,350 μm particle is shown as
an example in Figure 2 (top right). About 1,600 of these
projected images were collected per scan to reconstruct the
3D image of the ore particle, Figure 2 (bottom right). An
example of a cross-sectional view of an ore particle from the
stack of images is shown in Figure 2 (bottom left). The size
fractions of 25.4 × 19.1 mm, 15.9 × 12.7 mm, and 9.5 ×
6.4 mm were scanned at the voxel size of about 27.7 μm,
20.5 μm, and 12.6 μm.
Figure 2. Top left: a particle from the 9,525 × 6,350 μm size fraction scanned at a voxel resolution of
12.5 μm Top right: 2D projected image captured by the flat panel detector Bottom right: 3D image of
the particle after reconstruction Bottom left: an example of a cross-sectional view of an ore particle from
the stack of images