The TBRC as a unit with a promising future for secondary copper plants

Abstract

Plants for copper winning from secondary raw material in their conventional structure are operating with the aggregates blast furnace, converter, refining furnace, and refining electrolysis. Between the single operation steps there are necessarily considerable material reverse runnings which cause a loss of metal and additional energy.

It showed that regarding the sphere of blast furnace, converter, and refining furnace the situation can be considerably improved by use of a TBRC (Top Blowing Rotary Converter). At the same time the emissions are reduced considerably, as by operation of the reactor in a close casing not only the process gases but also the secondary emissions from various charging operations will be totally captured. Alternatively the aggregate can do the reduction work of the shaft furnace, the oxidation work of the converter, and the refining work of the anode furnace with a high effectiveness and a lot of advances.

Materials as computer scrap can be charged continuously by a charging device. Therefore, huge quantities of them can be used without any problems regarding keeping the air clean.

Regarding converter work besides other advantages especially the good adjustability of temperature and slagging practice have to be remarked.

As in the secondary metallurgy the materials used are stored and sampled in small units, high efficient aggregates for charge processing are to be preferred and promise a higher economy.

Therefore, with the TBRC an aggregate is available which due to its flexibility can be adjusted to permanently changing input relations and which, moreover, due to its kind of construction and its kind of operation is able to considerably improve the environmental situation.