Plant Design
Plant Layout
The layout of a process plant is one of the critical factors in its efficient and safe operation. The plant layout can significantly impact the project's capital and operational costs, productivity, safety, and ability to meet environmental regulations.
Consulmet considers several essential criteria when developing a plant layout:
Process Flow: The plant layout should follow the logical progression of the processing flow from crushing and milling through to final concentration and waste disposal. This approach can minimise the need for ore and waste to be moved over large distances within the plant, reducing costs and improving efficiency.
Health & Safety: Safety is a paramount consideration in plant layout. Hazardous processes or substances should be located away from frequently accessed and staffed plant areas. Clear access for emergency vehicles and safe pedestrian routes must be provided.
Environmental Impacts: The plant layout must consider environmental impacts such as noise and dust pollution. Certain operations may need to be located away from sensitive areas or neighbouring settlements, and buffer zones may need to be incorporated.
Maintenance & Service Access: Equipment should be placed to accommodate easy access for regular maintenance and service.
Vehicle Access: Heavy mine and light vehicle movements should be separated for safety. This often involves considerations of mine road width, turning radii, and gradients. The plant must be designed for efficient and safe ore delivery and waste removal.
Minimising Earthworks: Careful planning of the plant layout can reduce the need for extensive earthworks, which can be costly and time-consuming. Plant components can be located to take advantage of the natural topography. For example, locating equipment so that they can be gravity-fed.
Future Expansion: Allowing space for possible expansion can avoid costly and complex reconfigurations in the future.
Utilities & Infrastructure: Consideration should be given to the placement of utilities (water, power, communications) and supporting infrastructure (offices, labs, workshops). Their locations should provide effective and efficient service to the operation without interfering with the plant's primary functions.
A typical Consulmet plant layout considers the facility's functionality, safety, and environmental impact while minimising capital and operational costs. A well-designed plant layout can contribute significantly to the overall success of a mining operation.
Plant Modelling
All of our plants are fully designed and modelled in 3D before fabrication commences. Our 2D layout drawings are generated from full 3D models.
Our Common Data Environment
Our Common Data Environment (CDE) is a centralised repository for storing, managing, and accessing all information related to our projects.
The advantages of a CDE include:
Collaboration: A CDE facilitates seamless collaboration across various teams, departments, or even organisations, ensuring that everyone is working from the most recent and accurate set of data. It eliminates the issues arising from version discrepancies.
Efficiency: A CDE makes information accessible whenever and wherever needed, reducing the time spent searching for the correct data. This expedites decision-making processes and maximises the efficient use of resources.
Quality Control: Centralising all data makes it easier to maintain stringent standards of data quality, consistency, and reliability – all vital elements for achieving successful project outcomes.
Risk Mitigation: A CDE plays an important role in risk management by providing transparency and traceability. Users can easily track changes and updates, creating a clear audit trail that aids in risk mitigation.
To illustrate the power of our CDE, below is a video of a walkthrough of a large mill installation recently designed and built by the Consulmet team. Such projects, given their complexity and required accuracy, can be challenging. However, the use of our CDE enabled effective and efficient information management, leading to a successful outcome.
Multi-Discipline Engineering Capability
In addition to our processes engineering team, Consulmet provides a full multi-disciple suite of engineering services, including:
• Mechanical engineering:
Design of materials handling and storage systems
Design of pumping systems & pipe networks
• Electrical & instrumentation engineering:
Design of plant instrumentation and control systems (PLC, SCADA, HMI)
Design of communications and remote access networks
Design of high and low-voltage power supply and reticulation
Design of battery backup systems.
• Civil & structural engineering:
Plant infrastructure design
Design of materials handling and storage systems
Bulk and detailed earthworks design
Civil works design.