A Novel Approach to Cone Crusher Feeding using High frequency Power Draw Measurements

Other conference contribution, 2017

The cone crusher is one of the most widely used crushing machines in comminution circuits. The performance of the machine is heavily dependent on how it is fed. The performance of cone crushers is usually quantified by the three measures; throughput, power and particle size distribution. In this research, an adjustable feeding nozzle is controlled using an adaptive algorithm to position the feeder nozzle for improved feeding conditions. By processing high-frequency power data, an estimation of the power variance can be obtained, which is in this work studied to improve the feeding conditions of the cone crusher. Step responses as well as steady state power draw is compared and used to develop a new algorithm. An adjustable nozzle have been built and evaluated in a laboratory environment. The results are also compared to using a stationary feeder. The laboratory tests show promising results for applications where trickle feeding of cone crushers is preferable.