Optimal Ball Mill Maintenance Strategy in Mineral Processing: A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Approach for a Case Study

This study addresses the importance of cost-effective maintenance, en-compassing fault and failure modes, and criticality information associated with a primary ball mill in mineral processing. In understudying a case-based comminution process experiencing excessive maintenance problems during grinding, it is difficult to estimate the prevention of ball mill breakdown over higher levels of maintenance. The current maintenance strategy has proven to be ineffective as the downtime for reactive maintenance has a high opportunity cost, slow production rate, and disrupted quality of production. Prevailing strategies are a combination of various production and maintenance tactics (run-to-failure, planned maintenance, and prevention) with little research into their cost-effectiveness. Thus, this research aims to formulate an alternative maintenance strategy through a comprehensive life cycle cost analysis method of a four-year dataset for setting strategic decision-making. The methodology employed involves the initiation of a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in weighing systematically the adoption of most viable maintenance strategy for the primary ball mill. This approach ensures a rigorous and systematic examination of various maintenance alternatives, considering factors such as cost, failure, and effectiveness, culminating in an informed decision-making process.