Bruno: Decision making-software developed by Metso used by aggregate producers worldwide
Little known is the fact that, when it came to choosing ‘Bruno’ as the name for its unique software system that Metso makes available to customers, the Finnish crusher manufacturer delved into 1800s-era history, drawing inspiration from the life of noted engineer, entrepreneur, and inventor, Bruno V. Nordberg.
Born in Turku in 1857, Nordberg emigrated to the United States at age 22 settling in Milwaukee. There, in 1886, he founded the Nordberg Manufacturing Company and, in that moment, gave life to a business whose products have since become a byword for excellence in crushing across the globe.
Bruno simulation software comes in to its own when seeking to optimise aggregates production. Loaded with tech whose purpose is enable Metso users to improve optimization, its purpose is to help iron out some of the decision-making wrinkles that aggregates producers regularly face in the course of their work.
Described by Metso as ‘an intuitive software program’, Bruno was developed in 1994 to answer a question frequently asked in aggregates circles: How can one build an optimal aggregate production process?
According to Metso, there is no one simple answer to that most challenging of questions: not least for the fact that ‘optimal’ can mean different things: for some, it means low operating costs; for others, it can mean having as little equipment as possible commensurate with the goal of producing exactly what customers need.
It was to throw light on this and other subjects that Metso was moved to develop Bruno as a technological device designed to assist aggregates producers with guidance in finding answers to many of the operational questions and decisions that face them from time to time.
Conscious that an aggregates crushing and screening process often requires adjustment and change for whatever reason (poor product quality and too high production costs being two examples), Metso has modelled Bruno so a user can test-bed suggested changes to determine if they would have the desired effect before unintentionally compromising the performance of their system in some other way.
In very simple terms, a quarry owner wishing to determine the model and type of crusher best suited to his situation, the application, and the outcome required in terms of finished aggregate, can access Bruno through Metso and its distributor network.
Accompanied by rock samples for analysis, factors peculiar to the quarry site and its situation for which the study is required are then processed through Bruno’s complex and sophisticated software system before being supplied back to the quarry owner in a form that will significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the element of guesswork that sometimes is involved when investing in appropriate crushing equipment.
That Bruno proves its value can be seen in the fact that demand for what has become a proven software system has spread to a point where, today, there are 8,500 Bruno users located in 112 countries across the world.
Available to Metso owners under a controlled arrangement, it is especially useful to large companies with internal performance teams. Using it, they can make a change on Bruno and see what the result might be without first having to do it on site.
Using Bruno, users enter basic feed material and machinery data into the process. From there, the software will then predict how the process will perform, helping the user to determine the most optimal process for each specific situation.
Once an accurate model of reality is reached - a model that is close to reality in terms of product yields and settings on machines - then can a change be made and assessed to determine if the required effect has been produced, all without having to do it in real life. In that way, Bruno points producers in the right direction without having to go through the trial and error and the downtime and expense that would otherwise be involved.
As a spokesman for Metso distributor McHale Plant Sales, said: “before commencement, it is much cheaper to spend a few extra desk hours making a feasibility plan rather than start blindfolded and risk making potentially costly changes.”
“A scenario that showcases its value is one that many producers will easily understand. After equipment has been set and the process has started - and you notice that the crusher feed begins to include rocks that are larger than expected and too large for the crusher to process - what does one do?” he asks.
While the size difference may not be huge, it can be significant, sufficient to require operators to reline the crusher chamber and delay start-up. “In such a situation, Metso claims that, by using their Bruno system, an accurate estimate of the feed size could have prevented the issue from emerging in the first place” McHale Plant Sales contends.
Another scenario in which Metso claims the Bruno system could be applied is one whereby production targets change, and an existing setup doesn’t fit needs anymore.
“In that situation, users can look to Bruno to quickly and easily find out how the process flow can be reset and, in addition to resetting the process flow, to offer the possibility to try new equipment - one example in certain applications being to decide if it might be effective to change from one crusher to another” McHale says.
“A common reasons why this might happen - and a machine would fail to deliver as expected - arises from the fact that rock type is not properly taken into consideration. For instance, high abrasiveness can cause unexpectedly short wear part lifetime which increases downtime and operating costs’ they add.
Under their Bruno umbrella, Metso can analyse a rock sample from a customer site to determine its specific characteristics and feed the information into Bruno. Moving forward, accuracy then comes from the information that has been gathered from measuring real equipment, exactly the same as ones used by customers in their quarries.
As McHale notes: “there is no definitive right or wrong answer for any process, though there can be several equally good ones - scenarios that can be compared with Bruno as a precursor to the ultimately choice that only a producer can make, namely: what preferred outcome should be emphasize in their production processes?
Helpful in that context is the Bruno process flowchart produced as a spin-off feature which Metso can provide as standard issue to users.
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