3/19/2023 0 Comments Copper scrap priceWaste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the largest source of old copper scrap ( Glöser et al., 2013). The current high price of copper encourages copper recovery from buildings unfortunately, this often occurs as theft from job sites or vandalism. C&D debris as a whole contains about 0.30% copper, or 0.05–0.24 kg/m³ ( Koutamanis, 2018). The coverall copper content of ELV is about 0.8%.Ĭonstruction and demolition (C&D) waste includes copper from the wiring of buildings, pipes and fittings from the plumbing, and brass from door handles and frames, among other items ( Wildnauer, 2019). The copper in ELV consists primarily of wiring, in particular electric motors and the wiring harness that connects the lights and motors ( McGlothlin, 2018). The sources of old scrap have been divided into six classes ( Bertram et al., 2002 Ruhrberg, 2006):Įnd-of-life vehicles (ELVs) include cars, trucks, and buses, but not planes, ships, or trains. Location-old scrap is scattered about the landscape rather than being concentrated in a specific location like primary ore or new scrap. Unpredictability-deliveries of materials and objects vary from day to day, making processing difficult (c) Low Cu grades-old copper scrap is often mixed with other materials and must be separated from this waste (b) The challenges for processing old scrap include the following: (a) Old scrap is a huge potential source of recyclable copper. It is obtained from products that have ended their useful life. The final category of copper scrap (paths (3), (3a), and (3′)) is termed old, obsolete, postconsumer, or external arising scrap. However, scrap may contain more impurities than concentrates so larger electrolyte purification and slimes treatment facilities may be required. Secondary copper refining is similar to primary copper refining. Electrorefining also recovers Ag, Au, and Pt group metals. These processes do not completely remove Ni and Sn from Cu, so the refining furnace product must be electrorefined. The main smelting product is molten black copper (80% Cu), which is converted to rough copper (96% Cu) then fire refined and cast into anodes (98.5% Cu). Secondary scrap smelters primarily use TSL furnaces and TBRCs for smelting low-Cu grade scrap. The heat from the converter's exothermic Fe and S oxidation reactions is particularly useful for melting scrap, especially if considerable oxygen is used for the oxidation reactions. Scrap is also extensively recycled to the converters in primary smelters. Smelters with Isasmelt, Mitsubishi, Noranda, reverberatory, and TBRC smelting furnaces are particularly effective. Some, however, are well adapted to smelting all grades of scrap. Primary smelters mainly smelt concentrate. Alvear Flores, in Extractive Metallurgy of Copper (Sixth Edition), 2022 18.4 SummaryĬopper scrap is smelted in primary (concentrate) and secondary (scrap) smelters.
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