Instrument technicians at remote sites can now install the CyLas on-line instrument for measuring a hydrocyclone’s underflow flare discharge angle with only telephone or email assistance where needed.

The inability of minerals processing and metallurgical engineering products and services provider Mintek’s installers to travel internationally, owing to Covid-19 restrictions, required that the device’s installation process be compatible with travel restrictions to remote sites, says Mintek process control group research coordinator David Phillpotts.

“While the product documentation was changed to assist people unfamiliar with the instrument, importantly, the standalone device has a wizard on the touch screen interface that guides the user through its calibration.”

Improvements were made to the CyLas instrument during the hard lockdown last year and helped Mintek secure orders in Russia, to which it is currently very difficult or expensive to travel. CyLas has also been supplied locally to Zambia and Australia.

“Plants are recognising the importance of process measurements and the use of automatic controllers to avoid poor operation. The hydrocyclone discharge flare shape – be it within normal angle ranges, roping (a condition where separation is not occurring correctly), or flaring excessively – is a basic indication of separation efficiency.

Hydrocyclones are used to separate materials according to particle weight. Poor hydrocyclone performance can lead to overgrinding in a closed milling circuit; wasted energy; coarse particles being sent to downstream processes, such as flotation and leaching, or the loss of valuable dense media.

Traditionally, plant operators used the shape of the hydrocyclone underflow discharge to assess the efficiency of the milling circuit. CyLas provides this information on-line and uses a laser to measure a point on the hydrocyclone underflow discharge, which then directly relates to the underflow discharge angle.

This data is then relayed to operators and control systems, says Phillpotts, adding that this measurement can be integrated into a control system to avoid undesirable states or to maintain the process at the most efficient underflow flare angle. The measurement can also be used to automatically switch cyclones on or off in a cyclone cluster.

After being developed and industrially tested over a year, CyLas was introduced to the market in 2014. An evolution of the Mintek Hydrocyclone Underflow Meter (HUM), which used mechanical and later ultrasonic readings, the CyLas is designed to be cheaper, easier to install and more robust than the HUM.

The biggest challenge with instruments on metallurgical plants is robustness, explains Phillpotts.

“It must be able to survive washdowns, spillages, vibrations and rough handling.

In addition, the CyLas’s non-contact nature, rugged construction, lack of regular calibrations and integrated cleaning system results in an inherently low-maintenance instrument.

The instrument originally relied on the Mintek MillStar control system but is now available as a standalone option. This includes a user-friendly industrially rated touch panel equipped with a protected screen which shows the current discharge angle or trends of previous operation.

The display can also be used to configure the CyLas, with password protection for critical parameters. The values from this unit are compatible with the plant’s programmable logic controller (PLC) and supervisory control and data acquisition network.

Integrated at Mintek’s facilities in Randburg, Gauteng, the key components of the device, such as the laser and PLC – the brain of the CyLas – are manufactured overseas as locally produced alternatives are not available. However, these parts are sourced from local representatives.

To date, 20 units have been installed or are in the process of being installed.

“We always have some units in stock, but larger orders can be accommodated in two months,” says Phillpotts.