PulpMax mill liners are high-performance, lightweight mill liners that are constructed with a rubber-ceramic matrix and reinforced with carefully selected high-hardness steel inserts.

FLSmidth stated that the composite design incorporated in its new PulpMax mill liners ensures that users get reduced downtime and maintenance, increased throughput and improved worker safety.

They are also customisable to fit the specifications of any SAG or ball mill. This allows for improved throughput, safer maintenance, and additional uptime which ultimately creates enhanced productivity for customers.

With lighter-weight PulpMax composite mill liners, installation is faster and safer, as each liner is easier to manipulate. There are also fewer parts, so fewer movements are required to perform a reline. This results in a significant decrease in scheduled downtime. The composite nature of the liner also reduces its weight by almost 50%, allowing the plant to increase its ball charge level without increasing the total weight of the mill. This higher ball charge further contributes to the higher throughput.

Additionally, the lighter weight of these liners has an important impact on size, design and installation time. Each liner can now be larger - subject to the size of the mill opening - and the mill can be lined with fewer of them, reducing the downtime required to conduct replacement. A lighter liner also means fewer bolts to hold it in place - a factor that further reduces installation time. The shorter downtime means less time spent by contractors inside the mills, leading to a faster and safer liner changeout experience.

Another important benefit of the composite material used in many of FLSmidth's redesigned liners is that, unlike worn steel liners, composite liners can be removed without torching. This torching process in the mill is best avoided, as it is dangerous, often time-consuming and can cause costly damage to the mill shell.

"As mines increasingly recognise the positive financial impact derived from just a few more percentage points in throughput improvement, many are looking beyond conventional steel cast liners for their mills," commented Jack Meegan, global product line manager, mill liners and wear parts at FLSmidth. "FLSmidth's innovations, based on optimised geometry and improved wear characteristics, allow the liners to be more efficient at discharging slurry, by reducing restrictions and recirculation, in addition to extending wear life."

Meegan concluded: "Responding to the continuous assessment of customer needs, FLSmidth has launched a mill liner solution based on extensive data on mill operations, shutdowns, wear profiles and other factors. These have been used to develop a high-end technical and financial solution. Following installation, an ongoing measurement of actual wear, tonnage processed and estimated wear life is conducted so that further recommendations can be made to improve performance."