SCANALYSE says it has received help from the Climate Ready grant to develop its three-dimensional laser technology to help mining plants increase energy efficiency.
According to Scanalyse, its laser technology is being used in grinding mills and crushers, facilities which process ore deposits.
Grinding mills have traditionally used a lot of energy, and were very inefficient. Around 60% of the total energy use on a mine site goes toward powering grinding mills and crushers, but only up to five percent of that electrical energy is actually converted into useful work.
Scanalyse’s laser technology was originally used to alert operators to the wear and tear of mill liners. Scanalyse’s MillMapper software uses three dimensional scanning to detect imminent mill liner failure from cracking and chipping. This improves safety and prevents downtime.
In 2009, Scanalyse was awarded $1,779,952 from the Australian Government’s Climate Ready program.
This grant allowed Scanalyse to apply the laser scanner technology to provide information about energy use. The grant will also allow the company to carry out research on ways to reduce power consumption.
Scanalyse is collaborating on the project with the University of Queensland, CSIRO, and Curtin University. The laser scanner technology will take measurements of energy use in order to draw conclusions about what could be changed to improve efficiency.
According to Scanalyse, the research will enable it to make measurements of factors which were not previously available, leading to new insights for mill performance optimisation.
The Climate Ready grant is not the first time Scanalyse has received help from the Australian Government’s programs. In 2006, Scanalyse received $120,000 as part of AusIndustry’s Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) program.
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