Mitigating overload conditions in vibrating screens through fuzzy-controlled feed rate regulation
Alexandre G. Fonseca, Robson A. Duarte, Kaike S. Albuquerque, Thomás V.B. Pinto, Thiago A. M. Euzébio · Minerals Engineering · 2026
While most control strategies for crushing circuits focus primarily on cone crushers, the screening stage, equally critical to plant efficiency, often remains overlooked. This study proposes a fuzzy logic-based control approach tailored specifically to vibrating screens, aiming to mitigate overload conditions and improve operational stability. The control system adjusts feeder speeds individually based on real-time silo levels and the position of the tripper car, promoting a more balanced material distribution. Deployed in an industrial-scale iron ore processing complex with ten parallel screening lines, the strategy was evaluated through two experimental scenarios. The first, a short-term comparison between two identical plants, demonstrated a 15.8% reduction in average feeder speed, improved screening throughput by 2.3%, and a 20.6% increase in the time between interlock events. The second, a month-long assessment, revealed a 58.6% increase in time between interlocks, a 7.0% reduction in silo level variability, and more stable feeder behavior. These results validate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy controller in enhancing screening performance and addressing an often-neglected component of crushing circuit automation.