1020 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
the environmental information on the product. Plantsmith
has aligned itself with guidelines set out by the International
EPD System which uses the PCR 2019:14 for construction
products. Currently they do not have a sub-PCR referring
to aggregate products specifically, however, a sub-PCR is
in development with the European Aggregates Association.
The EPD Norge programme operator has produced a sub-
PCR for aggregates in 2022 (EPD Norge 2022), NPCR
018, which can be referred to as a reference.
Environmental Product Declarations
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are standard-
ized documents for communicating the environmental per-
formance of a product or service for business-to-business
purposes. The information presented is based on an LCA
that has followed specific guidelines to allow for compa-
rability between EPDs of similar products. EPDs have
become increasingly popular in the construction industry
with over 130,000 EPDs published globally for construc-
tion products. The standards within the EPD framework are
numerous and can be difficult to navigate for non-experts
(Lee et al., 2024). Therefore, it is no surprise that consid-
erable efforts have been made in developing software to
enable EPD creation (OneClick LCA, and LCA for Experts
EPD Automation). Tools like this can significantly reduce
the time and cost of creating an EPD for companies how-
ever, they often miss industry-specific insights or concerns,
particularly in aiding the improvement of the production
process from an environmental perspective Segura-Salazar,
Lime &Tavares 2019).
Simulation Solver
Crushing plants operate continuously and are subject to
variations and dynamic operational shifts that overlay dis-
tinct strategic approaches (Asbjörnsson et al., 2022). The
evaluation of their process performance can be approached
using different methodologies, such as discrete event simu-
lation, time-dependent simulation, or steady-state simula-
tion. In the context of the Plantsmith platforms, the core
utilizes steady-state simulations, employing both topologi-
cal analysis and a sequential-modular approach to deter-
mine mass and energy balances accurately.
Mass and energy balance calculations are crucial for
designing and optimizing processing plants in aggregates
or minerals processing. Mass balance calculations involve
tracking the input and output of material streams, includ-
ing the feed, product, and waste streams, to ensure that the
process is operating efficiently and that the quality of the
final product meets the desired specifications. The stream
properties are programmed as variable-size input to allow
for simple integration of material properties not included
in initial development. Properties such as ore content, com-
ponents and cost can be added to the simulations.
The model library is decoupled from the simulation
core and solver to minimize the dependence between the
platform and equipment models. Each model is a stand-
alone identity stored in a model library. When configur-
ing the process simulation for the solver, the corresponding
models are extracted from a model database based on the
ID of selected icons in drag-and-drop visual applications
in the front-end user interface. Figure 1 demonstrates the
overarching structure of Plantsmith.
CASE STUDY
For the purpose of demonstrating the capability and func-
tionality of the platform, several sites in Sweden were used
as pilot sites. Two of the pilot sites are demonstrated in
this paper. The company responsible for these sites opted
for the verification of the LCA and EPD reports with an
independent 3rd party verifier. Making the EPDs in ques-
tion publicly available. The published EPDs for both sites
can be found on the Environdec database for currently
active and published EPDs under the framework of EPD
International. See Figure 2 for an overview of the studied
aggregate quarry.
Process 1—Mobile plant
The first process layout represents the mobile crushers used
on batch operation on site, which produces three different
products: reinforcement layer (0/300, 0/150) and carrier
layer (0/32), see Figure 3. These are divided up into three
product groups: group 1 which is not crusher (0/300),
group 2 that passes through one crushing stage (0/300)
and product group 3 which passes through two crushing
stages. Annual production of the mobile plant is about
100,000 tons.
Process 2—Stationary Plant
The second layout is the stationary plant, see Figure 4.
The products produced are wear bearing (0/16), stone
flour, macadam, crushed rock (0/2, 2/4 or 0/8, 2/6), mate-
rial for manufacturing asphalt, macadam (12/22, 8/16 or
11/16, 8/11, 4/8, 0/4), material for larger house founda-
tions and drainage, railway macadam (32/63, 16/32). The
product 0/16 only passes through one stage and forms
the first product group. The products 0/2, 2/4, 2/6, 0/8,
32/63 and 16/32 pass through two crushing stages and are
grouped together in a second product group. The aggre-
gates included in the products 16/22, 8/16, 11/16, 8/11,
4/8 and 0/4 pass through four crushing stages and form the
the environmental information on the product. Plantsmith
has aligned itself with guidelines set out by the International
EPD System which uses the PCR 2019:14 for construction
products. Currently they do not have a sub-PCR referring
to aggregate products specifically, however, a sub-PCR is
in development with the European Aggregates Association.
The EPD Norge programme operator has produced a sub-
PCR for aggregates in 2022 (EPD Norge 2022), NPCR
018, which can be referred to as a reference.
Environmental Product Declarations
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are standard-
ized documents for communicating the environmental per-
formance of a product or service for business-to-business
purposes. The information presented is based on an LCA
that has followed specific guidelines to allow for compa-
rability between EPDs of similar products. EPDs have
become increasingly popular in the construction industry
with over 130,000 EPDs published globally for construc-
tion products. The standards within the EPD framework are
numerous and can be difficult to navigate for non-experts
(Lee et al., 2024). Therefore, it is no surprise that consid-
erable efforts have been made in developing software to
enable EPD creation (OneClick LCA, and LCA for Experts
EPD Automation). Tools like this can significantly reduce
the time and cost of creating an EPD for companies how-
ever, they often miss industry-specific insights or concerns,
particularly in aiding the improvement of the production
process from an environmental perspective Segura-Salazar,
Lime &Tavares 2019).
Simulation Solver
Crushing plants operate continuously and are subject to
variations and dynamic operational shifts that overlay dis-
tinct strategic approaches (Asbjörnsson et al., 2022). The
evaluation of their process performance can be approached
using different methodologies, such as discrete event simu-
lation, time-dependent simulation, or steady-state simula-
tion. In the context of the Plantsmith platforms, the core
utilizes steady-state simulations, employing both topologi-
cal analysis and a sequential-modular approach to deter-
mine mass and energy balances accurately.
Mass and energy balance calculations are crucial for
designing and optimizing processing plants in aggregates
or minerals processing. Mass balance calculations involve
tracking the input and output of material streams, includ-
ing the feed, product, and waste streams, to ensure that the
process is operating efficiently and that the quality of the
final product meets the desired specifications. The stream
properties are programmed as variable-size input to allow
for simple integration of material properties not included
in initial development. Properties such as ore content, com-
ponents and cost can be added to the simulations.
The model library is decoupled from the simulation
core and solver to minimize the dependence between the
platform and equipment models. Each model is a stand-
alone identity stored in a model library. When configur-
ing the process simulation for the solver, the corresponding
models are extracted from a model database based on the
ID of selected icons in drag-and-drop visual applications
in the front-end user interface. Figure 1 demonstrates the
overarching structure of Plantsmith.
CASE STUDY
For the purpose of demonstrating the capability and func-
tionality of the platform, several sites in Sweden were used
as pilot sites. Two of the pilot sites are demonstrated in
this paper. The company responsible for these sites opted
for the verification of the LCA and EPD reports with an
independent 3rd party verifier. Making the EPDs in ques-
tion publicly available. The published EPDs for both sites
can be found on the Environdec database for currently
active and published EPDs under the framework of EPD
International. See Figure 2 for an overview of the studied
aggregate quarry.
Process 1—Mobile plant
The first process layout represents the mobile crushers used
on batch operation on site, which produces three different
products: reinforcement layer (0/300, 0/150) and carrier
layer (0/32), see Figure 3. These are divided up into three
product groups: group 1 which is not crusher (0/300),
group 2 that passes through one crushing stage (0/300)
and product group 3 which passes through two crushing
stages. Annual production of the mobile plant is about
100,000 tons.
Process 2—Stationary Plant
The second layout is the stationary plant, see Figure 4.
The products produced are wear bearing (0/16), stone
flour, macadam, crushed rock (0/2, 2/4 or 0/8, 2/6), mate-
rial for manufacturing asphalt, macadam (12/22, 8/16 or
11/16, 8/11, 4/8, 0/4), material for larger house founda-
tions and drainage, railway macadam (32/63, 16/32). The
product 0/16 only passes through one stage and forms
the first product group. The products 0/2, 2/4, 2/6, 0/8,
32/63 and 16/32 pass through two crushing stages and are
grouped together in a second product group. The aggre-
gates included in the products 16/22, 8/16, 11/16, 8/11,
4/8 and 0/4 pass through four crushing stages and form the