The adoption of transformative process measurement technologies in industrial plants, including mineral processing concentrators, does not follow the pattern of the rapid development and adoption, that for example, information technologies follow. These technologies regularly morph into new features and functionality, that provide ever increasing speed and access to information at our fingertips that can be converted into knowledge and action.

In most concentrators, traditional “near-line” particle size measurement systems have been in place for several decades and have typically been inadequate for reliable use in automatic control and process optimization initiatives. However, these conventional systems have limited capability to provide operators and metallurgists with key information that would help transform information into knowledge that could mitigate variability and increase production. CiDRA Minerals Processing Inc. has developed a unique technology that provides a highly reliable system for “on-line, real time” measurement of the particle size in the overflow of individual cyclones. This innovative technology, the CYCLONEtrac™ Particle Size Tracking (PST) system, is based around a wetted sensor design with no moving parts and provides a real-time trend of the desired target grind size parameter.