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- Alakangas, Lena, et al.
(författare)
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Project: Improve Resource Efficiency and Minimize Environmental Footprint
- 2016
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Annan publikation (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- The REMinE project is organized in five work packages that comprise: detailedcharacterization and risk assessment of the mine wastes selected (WP2), identification of new processing methods for mine waste (WP3), characterization and risk assessment of the remaining residuals (WP4), outlining business opportunities and environmental impact in a conceptual model for sustainable mining (WP5). The project comprises case studies of historical mine wastes from three different European countries, namely Portugal, Romania and Sweden. The interdisciplinary research collaboration in this project is innovative in the sense that separation of minerals and extraction of metals not only are basedon technical and economic gain but also considers the environmental perspective.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Anton, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization and Upgrading of a Low Zinc-Containing and Fine Blast Furnace Sludge : A Multi-Objective Analysis
- 2017
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Ingår i: ISIJ International. - : The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan. - 0915-1559 .- 1347-5460. ; 57:2, s. 262-271
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ore-based steelmaking generates a variety of residues including dusts, sludges and slags. Recycling of these residues within the process or via other applications is essential for sustainable production from both environmental and economic aspects. In blast furnace (BF) ironmaking, there are generally two residues leaving the gas cleaning equipment; namely, BF dust and BF sludge. Traditionally, the dust is recycled via the sinter or, in the case of pellet based BF, via cold bonded agglomerates and injection. As the main output of zinc from the BF is the top gas, the sludge has to be dezinced prior to recycling to prevent accumulation of zinc in the furnace. Although dezincing of BF sludge has been successfully accomplished using e.g., hydrocycloning, the studied sludges are generally coarse sized and high in zinc. Furthermore, information is lacking regarding the efficiency of separation of different hydrocyclone setups. In the present work, hydrocycloning of a fine sludge, with low zinc content, generated by a pellet based BF has been studied. The gas cleaning equipment used to produce the sludge was running a primary aerocyclone and a scrubber. A characterization of the sludge has been conducted together with an evaluation of the separation efficiency of the hydrocyclone in order to assess the hydrocyclone performance and limitations. Furthermore, the dezincing using the hydrocyclone has been compared to that of sulfuric acid leaching. The results suggest that 51 to 93% of the sludge can be recycled depending on the demand on zinc removal and the chosen dezincing route.
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- Bergamo, Pedro A. de S.
(författare)
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On the use of immersive technologies in the professional education of mineral processing
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With the advance of technology, many educators started implementing immersive technologies like simulators and gamified learning applications to improve the trainings of process operators. However, it is noted that the minerals sector is significantly behind other industries, for instance, the chemical industry, especially when it comes to the evaluation of these types of trainings. Understanding how new technologies and concepts can improve the creation and evaluation of operator trainings, would perhaps create solutions for the lack of skilled operators in the mining sector, which is partly related to the challenge of evaluating time-dependent skills. In this scenario, this research aims to access the use of immersive technologies to increase the creation of operator talent in the minerals industry. In this context, an EU-funded network called “metalintelligence” exists. Its aim is to provide innovative research and equip a new generation of leaders in the minerals processing field providing lasting novel technological and training methods to build capacity in this growing area thus further establishing the EU’s leadership position in minerals processing. Hypothetically, the research in this field, backed by strong case studies, could provide valuable hints on how the trainings of operators could be made more efficient by using new technologies and concepts such as modelling and simulation and gamification. The study conducted within this thesis project can be divided into four parts, starting with a systematic review of how immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR), educational games and simulation-based trainings have been used to teach different topics related to mining and mineral processing operations during the last 20 years. The current applications are mostly focused on hazard awareness and specific maneuvers of mining equipment, while only a few are related to the operation and management of the control rooms in mineral processing plants. During the review, it was noted that most papers found in the literature focus on the technical description of their solutions but fail to present an evaluation of the application by experts in the field. The review also found that further benefits can be achieved by employing tools like cloud solutions and gamification as these technologies can help with the collection of user data and improve the validation of technology-enhanced trainings. In the second part of this thesis, a case study is presented on how the current trainings of mineral process operators can benefit from immersive technologies. It involves the development and evaluation of a simulator-based training for froth flotation. The training was delivered to a group of operators at a greenfield process site and the analysis of the trainees’ evaluations were collected and discussed based on the first two levels of the Kirkpatrick evaluation model, a broadly used evaluation model. The reaction evaluation showed a strong satisfaction and a high learning perception from the trainees, while the learning evaluation, gathered with the help of the simulator, showed several weak spots in the training, especially when it came to teaching performance calculations. The disparity between the reaction and learning evaluations raises serious questions about evaluating trainings solely on the trainees’ feedback and goes against some principles of established evaluation methods such as Kirkpatrick’s. The third part of this study comprises the development of a training solution called “Minfloat”. It is an educational game developed in Unity3D focused on teaching the basic process behavior of froth flotation to operators and university students. It also describes the attempts to create a light-weight simulator core that could be run on a mobile device. After first testing a short-cut model, a model based on first principles was programmed and linked to the user interface. The game also includes an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) which presents concepts, examples, and questions pertinent to flotation performance calculations to the user. The principles of user experience (UX) design were used to produce assets (e.g., boxes, buttons, containers, and graphs) that could be re-used by other training developers, therefore promoting modularity, in a way that developers could use those to create their own educational games. The current game could be extended to basically every aspect of flotation, as also other mineral processes. In addition, the modules (such as assets, ITS, and graphs) could be re-used by other Unity3D developers to create trainings for topics in practically every process industry. The fourth and last part of the study involved the development of a questionnaire aiming to evaluate “Minfloat” in terms of overall quality, didactic efficacy, and inspiring character, besides having a better understanding of the target audience and outlook of the solution. To develop this questionnaire, the history of evaluation frameworks such as Kirkpatrick’s ‘Four levels’, Phillips’s ‘return on investment (ROI) based evaluation’ and Scriven’s ‘Goal-free evaluation’ are introduced to help clarifying the steps involved in assessing and evaluating a gamified educational solution like “Minfloat”.The questionnaire was applied to 25 experts in the minerals industry to access key aspects of the game-based training described earlier. From the results, three key lessons can be taken. The first is that users were, in general, satisfied with the game in terms of quality, efficacy and inspiring character. Second, users thought that the main target of the game should be university students, although novice industrial operators could also benefit from it. Third, the use of this short questionnaire, combined with the use of online forms, is a powerful tool for researchers who need a fast and efficient way to evaluate important aspects of a game and get feedback in written form.By analyzing the four parts of this research, some clear concluding benefits of the use of immersive technologies in operator training can be outlined. The first is that new engines such as Unity3D united with modelling and simulation, were proven to be powerful tools to create efficient, inspiring and non-expensive educational solutions for the process industry. Being a free software for personal or small companies, there is a big chance that, in the near future, engineering students will start using it to create their own educational trainings, and compete with larger companies which currently dominate that training market. Another contribution from this research is an evaluation form that provides training developers a way to get feedback for their application, improve their games or simulation-based trainings and produce more comprehensive articles about education in the minerals industry.The next step for this research would be to develop similar kinds of applications for other mineral beneficiation units and methods, such as comminution and hydrometallurgy. The game presented could even be expanded to teach the operation of an entire mineral processing plant. This way, university students and novice operators could learn and understand, in an inspiring way, important aspects of this type of operations, including material characterization, reagent usage, operational parameter setting, equipment design as well as financial and holistic operations of mineral processes. This development could revolutionize the teaching of mineral processes, the same way simulators leveled up the training of flight operators. However, this revolution will only occur if those immersive technologies are guided by the light of a proper and inexpensive evaluation, which will make sure that the technologies developed by academia are resonating in the same wavelength as the solutions of the industrial sector. Another aspect that immersive technologies could help with, is the declining rates of students entering university courses like mineral industry and geoscience. Digitalization solutions like the one described could help to inspire more students to choose a career in those fields, helping with the development of societies and their increasing needs for minerals.
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| 7. |
- Bergamo, Pedro A. de S., et al.
(författare)
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Simulation-based training and learning : A review on technology-enhanced education for the minerals industry
- 2022
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Ingår i: Minerals Engineering. - : Elsevier. - 0892-6875 .- 1872-9444. ; 175
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a lack of skilled operators for mineral processing plants in the mining sector, which might be related to the challenge of creating trainings that addresses the operator’s daily work problems. In recent years, the use of simulator-based trainings as a tool to build competence has grown in many different fields. With the help of technologies like virtual reality, these tools have been demonstrated to increase awareness and the capability of workers when compared to traditional learning methods. In this paper, a review is presented on the development and application of such technologies in simulation-based training for the training of operators of the minerals industry in the last 20 years. Proposed next steps and new technologies with the potential of improving these applications are also discussed.
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| 8. |
- Bergamo, Pedro A. de S., et al.
(författare)
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Use of Kirkpatrick evaluation model in simulation-based trainings for the mining industry - A case study for froth flotation
- 2022
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Ingår i: Minerals Engineering. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0892-6875 .- 1872-9444. ; 188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Trainings play a vital role in the transference of knowledge between skilled and novice operators in the mineral industry. Evaluation is an important part of those trainings, but many trainings rely solely on the trainees’ feedback. This paper presents how technology enhancement can help produce more effective training evaluations to the mineral industry. It describes a case study involving a froth flotation simulator-based training, including details of the simulation, user interface, and the training program. The training was delivered to sixteen mining operators and evaluated by both the traditional method (trainee's feedback) and with the simulation's learning evaluation. The feedback evaluation showed a high level of satisfaction with the learning results, while the learning evaluation showed a very different training outcome, putting established evaluation methods such as Kirckpatrick's “Four levels” into question. Correlations between the learning results and the operators’ personal information such as process work, and academic experience are also presented.
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| 9. |
- Bielig, Tina, et al.
(författare)
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Methodology for the process based acquisition and assessment of non-intended outputs in the mining industry
- 2007
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Ingår i: CLEAN - Soil, Air, Water. - : Wiley. - 1863-0650 .- 1863-0669. ; 35:4, s. 370-377
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For the activities of the mining industry land, equipment, material, and energy are used. During operation material and energy flows such as overburden, dead rock, tailings, wastewater, exhaust air, dust, energy, abrasion, coolant and lubricant losses, are released. These released material and energy flows are nearly always without value for the raw material supply chain as they are not production targets. Instead, they have negative effects on the economy and ecology and are, therefore, referred to as non-intended. The knowledge of the quantities and qualities of these non-intended outputs as a function of the processes and their parameters is the basis for technical and economical measures. A methodology for the acquisition and assessment of the material and energy flows in the mining industry was developed and tested at the Technical University Berlin, Germany. For that purpose and based on a system analysis in different mines, all relevant material and energy flows were assigned to individual processes. Causal relationships, possible interactions, quantities, and qualities were examined as functions of system parameters. Finally, a technical and economic evaluation was performed.
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| 10. |
- Bru, Kathy, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative laboratory study of conventional and Electric Pulse Fragmentation (EPF) technologies on the performances of the comminution and concentration steps for the beneficiation of a scheelite skarn ore
- 2020
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Ingår i: Minerals Engineering. - : Elsevier. - 0892-6875 .- 1872-9444. ; 150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Electric Pulse Fragmentation (EPF) is an innovative technology that uses High-Voltage Pulsed Power (HVPP) for the selective comminution of a material. This paper aims to compare a beneficiation flowsheet including an EPF treatment in the comminution circuit to a conventional pathway where the EPF step was replaced by a series of jaw crushers. Tests were performed on a skarn ore containing scheelite as the main mineral of interest. This ore is characterized by a fine-grained mineralogy and represents a challenge to conventional comminution processing, requiring fine grinding to liberate the valuable minerals. Fine grinding has high energy requirements and generates large amounts of fines which can result in losses of the target mineral due to their removal before the concentration processes, especially in this case since scheelite is a brittle material.Comparison of EPF treatment to mechanical crushing with a similar product size P80 (i.e. 80% passing size) showed that the EPF treatment led to a significant increase in WO3 content and distribution in the 0/250 µm size fraction suggesting a pre-concentration aspect to EPF treatment. Moreover, a marked improvement of the grindability of the ore treated at a discharged energy of 9.1 kWh/t was observed with values of 10.6 kWh/t compared to 14.5 kWh/t when conventional treatment was used. Subsequent grinding and concentration steps confirmed the positive impacts of the fragmentation selectivity and pre-weakening effect of the EPF treatment. In particular, a reduction in fines production was observed after ball milling and a better concentrate grade was achieved for a similar recovery rate when an EPF treatment was included in the comminution pathway compared to the conventional one. These results confirm the potential of the EPF treatment for improving the performances of the beneficiation processes of this scheelite-bearing skarn ore.
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