ANALYSIS OF THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF IMPLEMENTING ELECTRONIC CONVEYOR SCALES AT COPPER PROCESSING PLANT 2.
Abstract
This article presents a technical and economic analysis of the feasibility of replacing mechanical conveyor scales with electronic ones at mills No. 6, 8, 10, and 12 of the Copper processing plant No. 2 in Uzbekistan. The relevance of the study stems from the increasing requirements for the accuracy of metrological accounting in the mining and beneficiation industries, as well as the need to optimize the consumption of process reagents and energy resources in the context of resource-intensive production. A comparative analysis of the metrological characteristics of mechanical and electronic conveyor scales was conducted; the absolute and relative errors in accounting for processed ore were calculated for each type of equipment; and a quantitative assessment of the annual economic benefit from the implementation of more accurate measuring instruments was provided. Issues related to standardizing the consumption of flotation reagents and electricity depending on the accuracy of weight control are examined. It has been established that switching to electronic scales reduces the relative error in accounting for processed ore from 2% to 1%, thereby reducing the absolute error by approximately 19,700 tons per year, which accounts for about 50% of the error of mechanical scales. The payback period for capital investments in new equipment does not exceed 7 months, which indicates the high investment attractiveness of the proposed technical solution. The results obtained can be used when planning technical modernization programs for similar processing plants.
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