Refining Copper By Electrolytic Method Of Blister Copper

The smelting methods of electrolytic copper are divided into two categories: pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. At present, more than 80% of the refined copper output is produced by pyrometallurgy, and the refined copper produced by hydrometallurgy accounts for about 20%.

1. Pyrometallurgy

Pyrometallurgy is the main method of copper production today, accounting for 80% to 90% of copper production, mainly dealing with sulfide ore. The advantages of pyrometallurgy are strong adaptability of raw materials, low energy consumption, high efficiency and high metal recovery rate.

Fire copper smelting can be divided into two categories:

One is the traditional process: such as blast furnace smelting, reverberatory furnace smelting, electric furnace smelting.

The second is the modern strengthening process: such as flash furnace smelting, molten pool smelting.

Flash smelting and molten pool smelting have basically replaced the traditional pyrometallurgical smelting process.

Pyrometallurgy process

The pyrotechnic process mainly includes four main steps: matte smelting, copper matte (matte) blowing, blister copper pyrorefining and anode copper electrolytic refining.

Sulfur-making smelting (copper concentrate - matte): mainly using copper concentrate to make matte smelting, the purpose is to oxidize part of the iron in the copper concentrate, remove slag, and produce matte with higher copper content.

Matte blowing (matte - blister copper): further oxidize matte, make slag to remove iron and sulfur in matte, and produce blister copper.

Pyrorefining (blister copper - anode copper): further remove impurity elements from blister copper through oxidation and slagging to produce anode copper.

Electrolytic refining (anode copper-cathode copper): By introducing direct current, the anode copper is dissolved, pure copper is precipitated at the cathode, and impurities enter the anode slime or electrolyte, thereby realizing the separation of copper and impurities, and producing cathode copper.

2. Hydrometallurgy

Blister Copper Refined Copper Electrolysis

Hydrometallurgy accounts for 10% to 20% of copper production. It is a method of leaching copper ore or copper concentrate with a solvent to bring copper into the solution, and then recovering copper from the purified copper-containing solution. Mainly used to process low-grade copper ore, copper oxide ore and some complex copper ore.

The hydrometallurgical copper smelting equipment is simpler, the production is near the mine, the production cost is low, no sulfuric acid is produced, and there is no SO2 pollution. However, the impurity content is high, and the copper smelting cycle is long, the efficiency is low, and the production capacity is small; the recovery of precious metals is difficult, and the recovery rate is uncertain; the wet process for treating chalcopyrite concentrate has not been industrially applied, and there are technical obstacles.

Although copper hydrometallurgy currently accounts for a small proportion of copper production, from the perspective of future resource development trends, with the gradual dilution of ores, the utilization of oxidized ores, low-grade refractory ores and complex polymetallic copper ores is increasing. Copper hydrometallurgy will be an efficient way to process these raw materials.

Hydrometallurgical process flow

The hydrometallurgical process mainly includes four steps: leaching, extraction, stripping, and metal preparation (electrowinning or displacement). The oxidized ore can be directly leached, the low-grade oxidized ore can be leached by heap, and the rich ore can be leached by tank. Sulfide ore usually needs to be roasted before leaching, and it can also be directly leached under high pressure. Solvents commonly used in the leaching process include sulfuric acid, ammonia, and ferric sulfate solution.

SUNY GROUP has rich experience and first-class technical equipment in blister copper refining, providing customized solutions for customers. At present, customers are located in India, Europe and other places. If you have any questions or need to consult, please feel free to contact us.