Rock processing simulation software

Paul Boughton

When you want to be sure to select the right crusher or screen for your forthcoming aggregates or mining process, you can play it safe and benefit from the information given by Metso’s Bruno simulation software. Bruno tells you accurately and in advance what your equipment will do in practice at your quarry or mine.

“The base of the Bruno simulation software development is the field data, gathered and fed into the system from our different test laboratories and several thousands of customer sites worldwide,” says Saku Pursio, Development Engineer, responsible for Bruno’s development. “After more than a decade of extensive development, we can today honestly say that the Bruno simulation provides our customers with information very close to the truth concerning the aggregates process,” Saku Pursio adds.

Named after Bruno Nordberg

The Bruno simulation software was developed by Metso’s Mining and Construction Technology in the 1990s. A few years earlier the company had a predecessor 'Simu' which was functional, providing simple, technical process data.

The first real Bruno version saw daylight in 1994. Following a competition, the simulation software was named after Bruno Nordberg, the Finnish immigrant to the US who founded Nordberg Manufacturing Co. in Milwaukee in 1889.

Today, the name Nordberg is known globally as the leading crusher and vibrating equipment brand, and Bruno as the most advanced process simulation software available. Over the years, a total of ten different versions of Bruno have been published. Step by step more Metso crushing and screening equipment performance data has been added to the software.

Easy and visual to use

Using Bruno is quite simple. You just feed in the main facts of your process: feed material type and size, the machines with relevant settings and the process flow. As a result, you get a visual process flow picture showing the estimate for the process performance including the percentage of different end products clearly marked.

“By using Bruno, we can ensure the suitability of the crushing equipment to any process our customer may be planning. Our recent tests and comparisons are testimony that the simulation provided by Bruno is now very close to the actual ‘live’ aggregates process,” Saku Pursio comments.

New version with more features

A new Bruno version 3.4. was released at the beginning of 2010. In addition to all present, proven features and updated product ranges, it forecasts the operating costs for the first 1,000 working hours.

“Among other things, a complete calculation can now also be made for Metso’s mobile Lokotrack mobile crushing plant and mobile screen range, adding new value for customers planning mobile processes, comments Development Engineer Marika Kovanen. “The new Bruno also covers more vibrating products data. It also features more calculation models, resulting in improved simulation accuracy for screens, she adds.

“The new version is easier to use, it calculates the required simulation faster, and provides a more visual process picture,” Saku Pursio concludes.

Saving money while designing new plants

The widest possible benefits from the Bruno simulation software can be achieved when designing a new crushing and screening plant or a mining process. Any test run for a stationary or mobile process may be quite expensive and time consuming. By using Bruno, the plant's optimization can be achieved quickly and inexpensively.

In several countries, Bruno is used as an official design tool by Metso’s customers. When the same equipment is moved and used at several sites and applications, optimization for local conditions is needed.

“A recent example by a Finnish customer showed that up to 20 per cent more productivity could be achieved with the help of the process optimisation. With Bruno, the accurate setting adjustments were easily found,” Saku Pursio says. “To really play it safe in plant design, a crushability test of the rock or ore in Metso’s rock laboratories, and the data input into the Bruno simulation software, will certainly provide the most accurate process simulation,” he adds.

How to get your own Bruno?

Today, there are about 3,000 licensed Bruno users worldwide. To get your own copy of the Bruno simulation software, please take the following steps:
Send an e-mail to minerals.bruno@metso.com. In the e-mail please inform us of your name, indicate whether you are a customer, a dealer or a university, the name of your company or university, country of origin, and your contact person at Metso Minerals.

After receiving your message, we will send you an e-mail with a link to the Bruno installation page.

Metso’s Mining and Construction Technology organizes crusher and process training in Tampere, Finland, and Mâcon, France. The training will provide you with advice on how to use Bruno effectively.

For more information, visit www.metso@com

Fig. 1. The Bruno simulation software is very useful when designing new, complicated stationary plant processes. Photos: Ralf Salonen and Eero Hämäläinen.

Fig. 2. Development Engineers Saku Pursio (left) and Marika Kovanen, responsible for the Bruno simulation software, in the rock laboratory that provides important back-up, such as crushability tests, for accurate process simulation. Photos: Ralf Salonen and Eero Hämäläinen

Fig. 3. A typical Bruno simulation of a mobile process describes the equipment used, as well as the feed and end product percentages in an easily readable format.

Fig. 4. A typical Bruno simulation of a mobile process describes the equipment used, as well as the feed and end product percentages in an easily readable format.
 

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