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S Furnace
Onahama Smelter introduced Mitsubishi technology for copper smelting process. Copper concentrates(Cu: 30%, Fe: 25%, S: 30%) is fed through lance pipe with oxygen enriched air into the smelting furnace then oxidized and melted by exothermic reaction to form molten mixture of matte(Cu: 60%) and slag. All the molten materials produced in S furnace are continuously transferred through covered launder which links S furnace and reverberatory furnaces. Reverberatory Furnace Copper concentrates is charged into reverberatory furnaces and melt by coal firing. The molten materials from S furnace are charged into reverberatory furnaces and separated into matte and slag. On the other hand, in the reverberatory furnaces, the automobile shredder residue(ASR) is treated by incineration. The heat of incineration helps to reduce fossil fuel consumption. P.S. Converter In the P.S. converters, silica flux is added to the matte from the reverberatory furnaces, and blast air is injected through the tuyeres in order to separate iron and sulfur from matte by oxidation. Then the white metal (Cu 75%) is further oxidized with air and the blister copper is produced. The blister copper is 98-99% purity. |
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The molten blister copper is delivered to anode furnaces and refined to anode copper after oxidation by air blowing and reduction by submerged combustion of oil. Anode copper is usually 99.5% purity. There are two types of anode casting machines; Anode casting wheel and Hazelett continuous strip casting machine. |
