Smelters copper

If antimony and arsenic are present ia the feed, copper and iron react to form the respective antimonides and arsenides known as speiss (specific gravity 6.0). If it is preferred to remove copper ia a speiss layer, the sulfur ia the siater must be reduced and the addition of scrap iron may be necessary to encourage speiss formation. Matte and speiss are usually sent to a copper smelter for recovery of the metals. 

Nonferrous Metal Production. Nonferrous metal production, which includes the leaching of copper and uranium ores with sulfuric acid, accounts for about 6% of U.S. sulfur consumption and probably about the same in other developed countries. In the case of copper, sulfuric acid is used for the extraction of the metal from deposits, mine dumps, and wastes, in which the copper contents are too low to justify concentration by conventional flotation techniques or the recovery of copper from ores containing copper carbonate and siUcate minerals that caimot be readily treated by flotation (qv) processes. The sulfuric acid required for copper leaching is usually the by-product acid produced by copper smelters (see Metallurgy, extractive Minerals RECOVERY AND PROCESSING). 

Fig. 1. Arsenic trioxide copper smelter-flow sheet.

Roasting . Roasting has been largely abandoned ia modem copper smelters, ia which this function is combiaed with the smelting furnace. In older systems, the multiple-hearth roaster is a brick-lined tower having horizontal brick hearths. The concentrate is iatroduced at the top hearth, where rotating arms with rabble blades turn it over and move it to holes ia the hearth. The concentrate is transferred successively to lower hearths and finally... 

Secondary Emissions from Basic Oxygen Process Steelmaking Facilities for Which Construction Commenced after January 20, 1983 Sewage Treatment Plants Primary Copper Smelters Primary Zinc Smelters... 

Coal-cleaning plants (with thermal dryers) Kraft-pulp mills Portland-cement plants Primary zinc smelters Iron and steel mill plants Primary aluminum-ore-reduction plants Primary copper smelters ... 

Arizona has traditionally been a large copper-producing state. SO, emissions from copper smelters near Phoenix and Tucson are shown in Fig. 10-10 (1). Phoenix is located 100 km from the nearest smelter, and Tucson is 60 km from the nearest smelter. The improvement in visibility in the 1967-1968 period was due to a decrease in SO, emissions when there was 9-month shutdown caused by a strike. Improvement in visibility in the mid-1970 was the result of better control technology and process changes. 

Sewage treatment plants Primary copper smelters... 

Sulfur Dioxide Emission Rates from Primary Copper Smelters... 

Electrical and electronic waste can be successfully recovered by pyrolysis following a suitable amount of separation. It has been demonstrated that by selecting the correct processing parameters, any halogenated hydrocarbons present are satisfactorily destroyed. Oil and gas from the pyrolysis are best used to heat the pyrolysis kiln. The metal containing pyrolysis coke can be treated in a secondary copper smelter without need for further processing. 

Primary copper processing results in air emissions, process wastes, and other solid-phase wastes. Particulate matter and sulfur dioxide are the principal air contaminants emitted by primary copper smelters. Copper and iron oxides are the primary constituents of the particulate matter, but other oxides, such as arsenic, antimony, cadmium, lead, mercury, and zinc, may also be present, with metallic sulfates and sulfuric acid mist. Single-stage electrostatic precipitators are widely used in the primary copper industry to control these particulate emissions. Sulfur oxides contained in the off-gases are collected, filtered, and made into sulfuric acid. 

As mentioned above, approximately 7% of the total sulfur present in lead ore is emitted as S02. The remainder is captured by the blast furnace slag. The blast furnace slag is composed primarily of iron and silicon oxides, as well as aluminum and calcium oxides. Other metals may also be present in smaller amounts, including antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, silver, and zinc. This blast furnace slag is either recycled back into the process or disposed of in piles on site. About 50 to 60% of the recovery furnace output is slag and residual lead, which are both returned to the blast furnace. The remainder of this dross furnace output is sold to copper smelters for recovery of the copper and other precious metals. 

Chenard L, Turcotte F, Cordier S. 1987. Lead absorption by children living near a primary copper smelter. Can J Public Health 78 295-298. 

Freedman B, Hutchinson TC (1980) Effects of smelter pollutants on forest litter decomposition near a nickel copper smelter at Sudbury, Ontario. Can J Bot 58 1722-1736... 

Copper concentrations in air, soil, water, sediments, and other abiotic materials are elevated as a result of human activities, especially near copper smelters and mines, urban areas, municipal and industrial wastewater outfalls, marinas containing copper-based antifouling paints, and agricultural soils receiving prolonged applications of copper-based fungicides (Table 3.2). Maximum copper... 

Muscle South Africa 1989 found dead near copper smelter surface soil had 103 mg Cu/kg DW (14 at reference site) 1.2 FW 93... 

Impalas (Aepyceros melampus) found dead in Kruger National Park, South Africa, had elevated concentrations of copper in livers (maximum 444 mg/kg FW) and kidneys (maximum 141 mg/kg FW) authors assert that copper poisoning is the most likely cause of death (Gummow et al. 1991), but this needs verification. Copper concentrations in bones, kidneys, and livers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) near a copper smelter and from distant sites are about the same. However, deer near the smelter have significantly elevated concentrations of cadmium in kidneys and livers, lead in bone, and zinc in kidneys (Storm et al. 1994). 

In Poland near copper foundries, livers from cattle (Bos sp.) have higher copper concentrations (35 to 140 mg/kg FW) than cattle from agricultural regions (7 to 32 mg/kg FW) however, kidney copper concentrations are comparable for both regions (Falandysz 1993a). Cattle found dead in South Africa near a copper smelter have elevated levels of copper in liver (600 mg/kg FW ... 

Sediment nickel concentrations are grossly elevated near the nickel-copper smelter at Sudbury, Ontario, and downstream from steel manufacturing plants. Sediments from nickel-contaminated sites have between 20 and 5000 mg Ni/kg DW these values are at least 100 times lower at comparable uncontaminated sites (Chau and Kulikovsky-Cordeiro 1995). A decrease in the pH of water caused by acid rain may release some of the nickel in sediments to the water column (NRCC 1981). Transfer of nickel from water column to sediments is greatest when sediment particle size is comparatively small and sediments contain high concentrations of clays or organics (Bubb and Lester 1996). 

Cow, Bos bovis Downwind from copper smelter 16-21 km Hair 8.9 FW 1... 

Vicinity of nickel-copper smelter, Sudbury, Ontario ... 

V. et al. (2003) A solution to the copper smelter scheduling problem, in The Hermann Schwarze Symposium on Copper Pyrometallurgy, vol. IV, Pyrometallurgy of Copper (eds C. Diaz,... 

Recent studies examining the distribution of smelter-derived elements around a copper smelter found that arsenic deposition rates in snow and concentrations in organic soils decrease gradually with distance from the smelter (Henderson et al. 2002 Knight Henderson 2006 Telmer et al. 2003 Zdanowicz etal. 2006). In order to explore the nature and behaviour of arsenic, a limited number of samples (stack and impacted soil) were characterized. 

The sample collected from the middle of a copper smelter stack representing emitted particles was highly complex. 

Keywords Contamination, physicochemical mechanisms, copper smelter, Karabash ecosystem. 

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