As a basic material for modern industry, copper has strategic value in the fields of power
electronics, new energy equipment, construction and transportation. With the acceleration
of global energy transition, the traditional copper smelting industry is facing multiple
challenges such as energy efficiency improvement, environmental compliance and cost
control. Through the deep integration of automation technology, the non-ferrous industry
is reshaping the copper metallurgical process system, and promoting the industry to
efficient, clean and intelligent direction.
Intelligent transformation path of copper metallurgical process
Modern copper metallurgy mainly includes pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy two technical routes.
Pyrometallurgical process covers the three core aspects of smelting, blowing and refining, while wet
process involves leaching, extraction, electrowinning and other processes. Automation technology
achieves breakthroughs through three levels: precise regulation of process parameters, mechanical
substitution of high-risk processes, and collaborative optimization of the whole process.
In the melting section, the intelligent sensing system shows significant value. The flash smelting
furnace deploys thermocouple arrays and laser gas analyzers to monitor the temperature field
distribution of the furnace and the composition of the flue gas in real time, and dynamically
adjusts the oxygen material ratio through fuzzy control algorithms to control the fluctuation
of copper matte grade within the range of ±0.3%. After the transformation of a smelter, the
energy consumption of tons of copper was reduced by 12%, and the melting efficiency
was improved by 18%.
Innovation of whole-process automated production system
From concentrate pretreatment to copper cathode output, intelligent equipment runs through
the whole chain of copper metallurgy. The raw material preparation workshop introduces AGV
unmanned conveying system, which, together with X-ray fluorescence on-line analyzer, realizes
automatic ore proportioning and impurity warning. In the electrolytic refining process, the
intelligent flaking unit is equipped with a machine vision positioning system, with a flaking
efficiency of 1,200 flakes/hour and a breakage rate of less than 0.05%.
Intelligent upgrading of blowing and refining process is especially prominent. The converter
applies multi-spectral imaging technology to monitor the thickness of slag layer in real time,
and combines with neural network model to predict the end point of slag making, which
shortens the blowing time by 15%. The anode plate casting line is equipped with laser ranging
and constant flow control system, which makes the flatness error of the plate surface less
than 1mm, and the qualification rate stabilized at over 99.8%.
Construction of digital quality control system
Intelligent quality management system consists of three major modules: online inspection platform
collects 300+ process parameters in real time, digital twin system carries out process simulation,
and AI algorithm realizes defect traceability. In wet smelting, the PH/ORP value intelligent regulation
device controls the deviation of electrolyte copper ion concentration within ±2g/L through
feed-forward-feedback composite control.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) automatic inspection line constructed by an enterprise can analyze the
composition of anode copper within 20 seconds, with an inspection accuracy of 99.97%. The quality
data are linked with production equipment through MES system to realize closed-loop optimization
of process parameters, and the rate of A-grade copper cathode is increased from 92% to 97.5%.
Green Production and Resource Recycling Practice
Automation technology promotes the transformation of copper metallurgy into an environmentally
friendly one. The intelligent desulfurization system adopts model predictive control (MPC) technology
to stabilize the flue gas SO₂ concentration below 50mg/m³. The waste heat boiler synergizes with the
DCS system to make the waste heat recovery efficiency of the melting process reach 75%, reducing
CO₂ by 80,000 tons per year.
In terms of resource utilization, the electrolyte purification workshop applies PLC automatic filtration
system, and the recovery rate of copper powder is increased to 98.3%. The wastewater treatment station
deploys AI dosing robots, dynamically adjusts the treatment plan through water quality spectral
analysis, the wastewater reuse rate exceeds 90%, and the heavy metal ion removal efficiency reaches 99.9%.
The future evolution direction of smart factory
Industry 4.0 technology is giving birth to a new form of copper metallurgy. The digital twin platform builds
a virtual factory, which can simulate the effect of process adjustment 72 hours in advance. 5G edge
computing gateway application reduces the equipment data response delay to less than 10ms. An intelligent
workshop optimizes the batching model through machine learning, increasing the utilization rate of raw
materials by 2.3 percentage points.
In the field of equipment operation and maintenance, the predictive maintenance system integrates vibration
monitoring, infrared thermal imaging and other multi-source data to warn of equipment failure 21 days
in advance. The quality traceability system constructed by blockchain technology realizes the whole life
cycle tracking from copper concentrates to copper products, which meets the stringent requirements
of high-end cables on material reliability.
Conclusion
The intelligent transformation of copper metallurgy industry has entered a deep water zone. By building a
closed-loop system of “perception-analysis-decision-making-execution”, the enterprise not only realizes a
leapfrog improvement in production efficiency and product quality, but also makes breakthroughs in energy
consumption control and environmental protection management. With the continuous penetration of 5G,
digital twin, artificial intelligence and other technologies, copper metallurgy process will accelerate the
evolution of unmanned, refined, low-carbon direction, providing key material support for the global
energy transition.