Protecting performance: Mill drive technologies and their impact on overall mill availability

Protecting performance: Mill drive technologies and their impact on overall mill availability Passed

Wednesday May 27, 2026 15:00 - 15:15 Conference hall

Exhibitor: ABB AB

Grinding mills are the workhorses of concentrator plants and are often pushed beyond their original design throughput. Maintaining high mill availability is therefore critical, and the choice of mill drive technology plays a decisive role in achieving this.

This presentation explores the key factors in mill drive systems that influence overall availability - and how these can be optimized. One of the few remaining wear components affecting availability is the sealing system, which protects the motor from dust, water, and slurry ingress.

We will take a closer look at ABB’s latest sealing system, designed to extend seal lifetime, enable faster replacement, and provide real-time monitoring of seal wear. The system has been extensively pilot-tested at Boliden’s Aitik copper concentrator, where 22.5 MW gearless mill drives have been operating successfully on two large AG mills for more than 15 years - and you will get to explore how these innovations translate into real-world performance gains.

Held by ABB.

Lecturers

Maarten van de Vijfeijken Speaker

Global Product Manager, Grinding Drives
ABB

Maarten has a background in electrical engineering and has worked in the global grinding industry for almost 30 years. He initially worked at ABB on gearless and ring-geared mill drive systems for AG, SAG and ball mills, as well as HPGR drive systems. 15 years later, he joined a start-up company that designed and manufactured a novel vertical stirred milling technology – the HIG mill – which was introduced in collaboration with Outotec and, later, Metso. After more than a decade, he returned to ABB in 2023, once again focusing on drive systems for grinding applications.

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