Crude copper refining and purification process equipment

In order to enhance the use of copper, processing performance, the need to remove impurities in the crude copper, such as nickel, lead, arsenic, etc., while recovering the valuable metals, such as gold, silver, etc., which is the refining process of crude copper. The process is generally divided into two stages, one is the fire refining of crude copper into anode copper, and the other is the electrolytic refining of anode copper into electrolytic copper.

Fire refining of crude copper.

Fire refining is the process of crude copper - anode copper, the basic process is in the refining furnace to the crude copper melt drummed into the air, so that the melt has a greater affinity for oxygen impurities such as zinc, iron, lead, nickel, etc. oxidation, in the form of oxide floating on the surface of the melt to form slag, or volatilization into the furnace gas and removed, the residual oxygen by reducing the removal of can be cast into the anode plate. In summary, this process can be divided into five steps: charging, melting, oxidation, reduction and pouring. In the reduction step, the mainstream reducing agents are currently ammonia, LPG and heavy oil.

Crude copper fire refining equipment.

Refining furnaces generally have fixed refining reflection furnace, rotary refining furnace and tilting refining furnace, of which, the rotary refining furnace has a better refining effect, higher product quality, energy saving and lower production costs, with good economic benefits.

In addition to the anode plate (containing 99.2%-99.7% Cu), there are slag, furnace gas and soot in the refined product. Among them, the slag has a high copper content of about 10%-30%, which generally needs to be returned to the converter for blowing or added to the blast furnace for further treatment. The furnace gas is generally composed of O2, CO2 and CO, and does not contain SO2, so it can be discharged directly.

Anode copper electrolytic refining.

By electrolysis of electrolyte solution, the crude copper is used as the anode, the pure copper as the cathode, and the solution containing copper ions as the electrolyte, copper is dissolved from the anode and precipitated at the cathode. The impurities in the crude copper, which are not active, do not dissolve and become anode mud and settle at the bottom of the electrolytic bath, while the active impurities, although dissolved at the anode, cannot precipitate at the cathode. So copper with high purity can be obtained by electrolysis of the cathode.

The main equipment of copper electrolytic refining.

(1) Electrolytic tank

Electrolytic tank is the main equipment of copper electrolysis workshop, which is a rectangular tank containing anode plate and cathode, with alternate hanging of cathode and anode. There are liquid discharge outlet and mud discharge outlet in the tank.

The electrolysis tank is generally constructed of reinforced concrete and lined with anti-corrosion resin, so that the tank can play the role of supporting the cathode and anode, and can also play the role of acid-proof. The electrolysis tank is discharged on the support beam in turn, and the beam is covered with insulating material to prevent the tank from conducting electricity with the ground.

(2) Cathode making unit

The function of this unit is to make cathodes from copper skins peeled off from titanium mother plates after embossing and riveting (rod piercing), and then to distance the cathodes for crane lifting.

Due to its unique function, the cathode making unit needs to be made by professional manufacturers. The unit should consider the thickness of copper skin and processing capacity of riveted ears in the design and manufacturing process.

(3) Anode processing unit

The function of this unit is to process the anode plate from the fire refining process to meet the standard required by the electrolysis process. The processes of the unit are: flattening of the anode plate surface, sin ear, press ear, anode plate row spacing, etc.

In the process of designing and manufacturing the anode processing unit, the quality of each hydraulic seal and the anode plate processing capacity should be fully considered.

(4) Electric copper washing unit

The function of this unit is to wash, dry, extract the conductive rods, stack, pack and weigh the copper after leaving the tank. Many domestic copper electrolysis manufacturers do not use this unit, but rely on manual work to complete the various functions of the unit.

(5) Residual electrode unit

The function of this unit is to wash, stack, pack and weigh the residual electrodes out of the tank, and then send the packed residual electrodes to the pyrorefining and re-dissolving process. Due to the simple function of this unit, many domestic copper electrolysis manufacturers do not use this unit, and rely on manual processing of the residue.

The above is the introduction of the rough copper refining process equipment, of course, if you have more questions or interested in the equipment process, you can contact us in time.