scholarly journals Analysis of the Dynamics of Rougher Cells on the Basis of Phenomenological Models and Discrete Event Simulation Framework

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1454
Author(s):  
Manuel Saldaña ◽  
Purísima Neira ◽  
Víctor Flores ◽  
Carlos Moraga ◽  
Pedro Robles ◽  
...  

Due to the increase in the amount of copper sulphide minerals processed through concentration processes and the need to improve the efficiency of these production processes, the development of theoretical models is making an important contribution to generating a better understanding of their dynamics, making it possible to identify the optimal conditions for the recovery of minerals, the impact of the independent variables in the responses, and the sensitivity of the recovery to variations in both the input variables and the operational parameters. This paper proposes a method for modeling, sensitizing, and optimizing the mineral recovery in rougher cells using a discrete event simulation (DES) framework and the fitting of analytical models on the basis of operational data from a concentration pilot plant. A sensitivity analysis was performed for low, medium, and high levels of the operative variables and/or parameters. The outcomes of the modeling indicate that the optimum mineral recovery is reached at medium levels of the flow rate of gas, bubble size, turbulence dissipation rate, surface tension, Reynolds number of bubble, bubble–particle contact angle, superficial gas velocity and gas hold-up in the froth zone. Additionally, the optimal response is reached at maximum levels of particle size and density and at minimum levels of bubble speed, fluid kinematic viscosity and fluid density in the sampled range. Finally, the recovery has an asymptotic behavior over time; however, the optimum recovery depends on an economic analysis, examining the marginalization of the response over time in an operational context.

Author(s):  
G.J. Melman ◽  
A.K. Parlikad ◽  
E.A.B. Cameron

AbstractCOVID-19 has disrupted healthcare operations and resulted in large-scale cancellations of elective surgery. Hospitals throughout the world made life-altering resource allocation decisions and prioritised the care of COVID-19 patients. Without effective models to evaluate resource allocation strategies encompassing COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care, hospitals face the risk of making sub-optimal local resource allocation decisions. A discrete-event-simulation model is proposed in this paper to describe COVID-19, elective surgery, and emergency surgery patient flows. COVID-19-specific patient flows and a surgical patient flow network were constructed based on data of 475 COVID-19 patients and 28,831 non-COVID-19 patients in Addenbrooke’s hospital in the UK. The model enabled the evaluation of three resource allocation strategies, for two COVID-19 wave scenarios: proactive cancellation of elective surgery, reactive cancellation of elective surgery, and ring-fencing operating theatre capacity. The results suggest that a ring-fencing strategy outperforms the other strategies, regardless of the COVID-19 scenario, in terms of total direct deaths and the number of surgeries performed. However, this does come at the cost of 50% more critical care rejections. In terms of aggregate hospital performance, a reactive cancellation strategy prioritising COVID-19 is no longer favourable if more than 7.3% of elective surgeries can be considered life-saving. Additionally, the model demonstrates the impact of timely hospital preparation and staff availability, on the ability to treat patients during a pandemic. The model can aid hospitals worldwide during pandemics and disasters, to evaluate their resource allocation strategies and identify the effect of redefining the prioritisation of patients.


2012 ◽  
Vol 502 ◽  
pp. 7-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.P. Ferreira ◽  
E. Ares ◽  
G. Peláez ◽  
M. Marcos ◽  
M. Araújo

This paper proposes a methodology to analyze complex manufacturing systems, based on discrete-event simulation models. The methodology was validated by performing different simulation experiments and will be applied to a multistage multiproduct production line, based on a real case, with a closed-loop network configuration of machines and intermediate buffers consisting of conveyors, which is very common in the automobile sector. A simulation model in an Arena environment was developed, which allowed for an analysis of the important aspects not yet studied in specialized literature, namely the assessment of the impact of the production sequence on the automobile assembly line. Various sequence rules were analyzed and the performance of each of the corresponding simulation models was registered.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253869
Author(s):  
Michael Saidani ◽  
Harrison Kim ◽  
Jinju Kim

Providing sufficient testing capacities and accurate results in a time-efficient way are essential to prevent the spread and lower the curve of a health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with recent research investigating how simulation-based models and tools could contribute to mitigating the impact of COVID-19, a discrete event simulation model is developed to design optimal saliva-based COVID-19 testing stations performing sensitive, non-invasive, and rapid-result RT-qPCR tests processing. This model aims to determine the adequate number of machines and operators required, as well as their allocation at different workstations, according to the resources available and the rate of samples to be tested per day. The model has been built and experienced using actual data and processes implemented on-campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where an average of around 10,000 samples needed to be processed on a daily basis, representing at the end of August 2020 more than 2% of all the COVID-19 tests performed per day in the USA. It helped identify specific bottlenecks and associated areas of improvement in the process to save human resources and time. Practically, the overall approach, including the proposed modular discrete event simulation model, can easily be reused or modified to fit other contexts where local COVID-19 testing stations have to be implemented or optimized. It could notably support on-site managers and decision-makers in dimensioning testing stations by allocating the appropriate type and quantity of resources.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Zhou ◽  
Jessica S Ancker ◽  
Mandar Upahdye ◽  
Nicolette M McGeorge ◽  
Theresa K Guarrera ◽  
...  

Stroke ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany M Bogle ◽  
Andrew W Asimos ◽  
Wayne D Rosamond

Introduction: Proposed EMS routing algorithms permit additional transport time to an endovascular center (EC) beyond the closest non-EC for patients with suspected large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke (LVO). The effectiveness of these algorithms depends on screening tools and patient location relative to EC and non-ECs. We implemented routing algorithms in a discrete event simulation to examine their impact on one region. Methods: We simulated stroke and stroke mimic patients screened by EMS over a year using hospital locations and demographics of Mecklenburg County, NC. We used an 8% LVO prevalence among those screened and geographically distributed patients using published stroke incidence rates and census tract population estimates, stratified by age, sex, and race. We estimated distance from census tract centroids to the nearest EC and non-EC using real road travel times. Last known well (LKW) was probabilistically assigned using county data. A patient was EC-routed if they screened positive, had LKW ≤6 hours and were within an allowable additional transport time. We simulated policies that varied by stroke severity screen (LAMS ≥ 4, RACE ≥ 5, C-STAT ≥ 2) and allowable additional transport time (10, 20, and 30 minutes). We define Number Needed to Route (NNR) as the number of patients enduring additional transport time to route one LVO patient to an EC. Results: Over 100 replications, EMS screened an average of 3102 patients annually; 249 were LVOs. NNRs were 2.6 (LAMS ≥ 4), 5.3 (RACE ≥ 5), and 9.3 (C-STAT ≥ 2). The number of EC-routed non-LVOs ranged from 87 (LAMS ≥ 4, 10 minutes) to 859 (C-STAT ≥ 2, 30 minutes). The proportion of LVOs within 10 and 20 minutes of added transport time to an EC was 67% and 99.6% respectively. EC-routing added a mean of 5.5 and 9.5 minutes to transport time for 10 and 20 minute policies respectively. A 20 minute policy EC-routed 1.8 times more patients than a 10 minute policy (e.g. C-STAT: 957 vs. 535). Increasing from a 20 to 30 minute policy routed only 4 more patients, thus these policies had similar results. Conclusions: We designed and tested a simulation tool to evaluate LVO routing policies. It is easily modifiable to aid in tailoring routing policies to a specific region. We propose using NNR as an intuitive metric of non-LVO overtriage.


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