RECURSIVE BILMAT ALGORITHM - AN ONLINE EXTENSION OF DATA RECONCILIATION TECHNIQUES FOR STEADY-STATE BILINEAR MATERIAL BALANCE

The paper proposes a method to correct measured mineral processing variables and simultaneously estimate unmeasured ones, using an on-line material balance program. The technique is an extension of the steady-state material balance algorithm BILMAT for redundant measurements of stream ore flowrates and compositions on any complex flowsheet. The proposed method reconciles data with material conservation equations on a real-time basis, using information in a moving window. The computation algorithm is recursive and easy to implement. It is illustrated on a simulated flotation circuit.