Intelligently Vibrating Dewatering Machinery

In the mining industry, dewatering, screening, and size separations may not be the most energy intensive processes, but they are often the major bottleneck in the whole system.. Improvements would provide tremendous potential in both energy savings and production yield. This project will develop Intelligently Vibrating Dewatering Machinery with miniaturized, ceramic-based, smart motors. The technology will combine state-of-the-art smart materials, the concept of single- or multi-stage resonators, and a recently patented energy management technique to control energy flow. In Phase I, a variety of PZT/PMN (lead zirconate titanate/lead magnesium niobate) actuator/sensor sets will be investigated for use in a full scale prototype of an Intelligently Vibrating Dewatering Machine. PZT-based motors will be designed, fabricated, and packaged. A full scale prototype will be fabricated and evaluated under controlled-laboratory conditions. Commercial Applications and Others Benefits as described by the awardee: The technology should have application in the processing industries for dewatering, physical separation or screening, compacting, mixing, and transport. Benefits include energy savings (up to 75%), improved performance (5-to-10% improved throughput), reductions in maintenance cost (50% or more), improvements in worker health and safety (up to 15 dBA reduction in noise level), and waste reduction (from lubrication, bearings, and other spare parts for rotating machinery).