Enhancing Screening Performance Through Automatic Selection of Operating Lines

Effective material distribution among silos is essential in mineral processing to reduce wear and ensure continuous operation. This work proposes a control strategy to improve productivity and equipment integrity in screening by automatically deactivating lines when additional screening surface is not needed. The approach adjusts the number of active silos based on variables such as circulating load and silo levels, introducing the concept of available silos. Applied to an iron ore plant in Brazil, the strategy increased the average screening rate by 13.4% while deactivating lines 62.3% of the time, with no efficiency loss and potential equipment integrity gains.