The Essential Chemical Industry - online search Copper Copper is used extensvely, particularly in electrical wiring, Although overall only a small amount is used in coinage, it Cu nevertheless means that we touch copper every time we handle a coin. Copper forme alloys mare freely than most metals, and With a wide range of alloying elements, including zing, tn, nickel and aluminium. These metals are added to increase strongth and Improve resistance to wear and corrosion, but they also affect the colour of the alloy. Uses of copper Figure 1 Uses of copper. In the UK, copperis mainly used to make semifnished products (ealled semis) which from the rained metal, either as pure copper or as copper allays. They can be in the form of wie, rd, bar, pate, sheet stip, follor tube, Overhalthe copper is sod nthe form af cables, wire ang tubes. Much ofthe ests made inta ays, made 28 far the largest proportion of copper is used global in elctical wring, printed circuit boards, in ‘generators, electric motors and transformers. An average car, for example, has about a mie of copper wing, wih a mass of 1 klogramme. The nev Boeing 787 (the Dreaminer) has some 120 miles of wing with a mass of tonnes, Coppers also used in cars in various elecvonic deviees, such as sensors to mantor and contol ‘temporatur and speed, ‘Much copper is used in buldings,notlustin copper pping and wring, buts in cladding, which sults n a very atracve cobur. kis alo used in reigarators and alr conditoning uns forts ease of fabrication and ts thermal properties.Annual production (Primary copper) Wort 18. millon tonnes! hie 5,7 millon tonnes? ‘china 1.8 ton toones? Pens 1.8:ion toonee? us 1.8 -tion oones? ‘Congo tnshasa)| 1.0 mon tonnes? eran Cape Sub Gr 208, 20S Giga Sie er Commo Smarr, 20 Manufacture of copper Abou 80% ofthe works primary copper comes fom oes in which coppers presents sue tinal fr example, chalcone (CuF eS) he most abundant copper oboe (Curr and Chaleoct (6498) These oes contain iy ony about 0.52% copper The remaner of pana, producion comes fram oresin wich copper Figure 2The Statue of Liberty was recenty ‘renovated ater suring over a cant of nt as silcates, sulfates, carbonates and weathering. The copper shin was intact only ‘oxides, which have been formed by the weathering and oxidation of sulfde mineral. ABOU 30% of de torch needed tenon. all copper procucton recovered from secondary and scrap mates which recycled Dyn prmeson oT Cope Dep dca “Major deposts ofthe ores are in Cle, the westem part ofthe US, Canada, Zambia, the Democratic Republi of the Congo and Russia. ‘oure3The Bingham Canyon min in Uh in te United States. te ages open cst coppermine the wor nmin fy hi ‘The manutacture of the copper takes pace in hee sages: 2) concenvaon ofthe ore ») conversion of the sues ane ater copper compounds to copper €}puticaon of copper (a) Concentration of the ore The ore eniche by oth flotation (igure 4). The pondered ar is mixed with ciland agiated wih watrin a large tank» whch etergenthas been added Compressed ais forced through the mixture, andthe ighiveight parties of copper sulle are cared tothe op and feat on te oth, Heavier clays and afer slcates sett the boom of he lank. This resi is known as‘ganguet. The copperladen fo skimmed of,| Seto spreupie paces Figure 4 Concentration of copper oe by roth Notaton. (b) Conversion of the sulfides and other copper compounds to copper “The conversion is done by several methods: i) by roasting copper sulle ores i) the aching process i) the bacteria metnod () By roasting copper sulfide ores ‘The enriched ore is roasted with just enough air to convert the kon sud to ron) oxide: Hee) + 4046) —> Cue © 08) « 38048) ‘The solid mixture is then mixed wit calsum carbonate (limestone), sca (sand) and heated to 1300 K. The ron forms asilcate slag and the coppert) sulfide mets and sinks tothe botom of the furace. itis known as copper mat. In arecent development the sasmell process, the enriched ore (he concentrates), Imestone and sca togathar wth a soll fuel (coal) ae mixed land pressed into pallets, These are fad into a furnace in which there i a lance down which natural gas (methane) and of wih oxygen-enriched \(ehemicalsfoxygen himifoxygen_enrched) are pumped. itis more economic to uss pure oxygen, or oxyger-anriched at rather than a as this Increases the reacton rates and moans that small chemical plans can be used and fuel cost are reduced. Further l makes teasierto ensure thatno gases such as sulurdioxda are lost and polute the atmosphere, Oxygen plants (chemicals/oxygen.himifoxygen) are constucted onthe ste, wy ran mater a) sop aa react ‘raat ‘neg exis pocety teeta oases tom nee viene Stein mice oda won Figure The manufacture of copper using the Issel process. ‘Tis miduro is pumped down at spood which causes lurbulonce and promotes a very rap reaction. The process i highly ofiiont and a argo amount of raw material can be processed in relatively small furaces. ‘The copper matte and slag are tapped into another fumnace for setting and separation. ‘The copper matt s then run into another fumace and ak or oxygen-enriched alr /chemicalsioxygen.htmi¥oxygen_enriched) is blown nto produce copper meta (CuyS{s) + Orla) —> 2Cut) + S046) ‘The sulfur dioxide s ten converte, on site, to sufuc acd (chemicals/sufuic-acidhtmitcontact process)‘This impure copper (ca 99%) is known as bister copper. tis heated untitis molten and more ais hycted nto remove unwanted su, Ths followed by the injecton of methane to remove oxygen. The process s known as fre-ething, The stilimpure coppers then cast into anodes for clecto-efning (i) The leaching process CCopperis obtained tom is ore by veating the ore wih a soliton of copper chlor and iron) chlorde: CuFeSys) + 3CuCy(aq) —r 4Cu0(s)+ Focizfa) + 25(6) CuFeS{s) + 3FeCi(aq) —> CUOKs) + 4FeCizfaq) + 25(8) Coppers recovered in the form of copper) chloride. To ksp the compound in solution, sodium chloride is added. In the Chloride ion, the complex ion [CUCIy is formed, which s soluble in water: CuCls) + CrYeq) —> (Cuch(ea) Final, impure copperis obtained by electolyzing the solution of the (CUCL ions to the metal 2ICuCI(aq) —> Gufs) + CuCl(aq) + 2Cr (aq) Copperti chloride is then recycles, (ti) The bacterial method AAsignifeant amount ofthe copper produced inthe US's obtained by using bacteria. Aciifed water's sprayed onto copper-mining wastes, which contain level of copper. As the water tickles down through the cxushed rock, the bacterum Thiobadlls ferrooxidans, whic thrives inthe presence of acid and sulfur, breaks down the Kon suldes inthe rock and convers kon() to onil)ons. The nil) ion in tum oxiszes the sulide lon of copper sules tothe sulfate, leaving copper(l) ion n soliton. This copperaden water's recovered atte bottom of he ple, and metalic ‘coppers obtained by reduction with serap ron CuP(ea) + Fels) —> Cus) + Fe (aq) (©) Purification of copper Whatever method is used to manufacture capper rom as ts final puiicaton is by electrolysis gure 6). ‘Slabs of mpure copper (bster copper) together wih thin sheets of pure copper meta or stainless steel or thanum are immersed ina sohtion of coppert)sufate (0.3 mol dm) and sufurie ac (2 mol dm). The pure copper or stee| sheets make the cathode (Figure 7) ofan electrolysis col ‘andthe impure slabs are the anode. This means that copper ions are formed at tre anode (oxidation occurs) ané move into solution @Anode: Culs) —> Cu(aq) + 20" Cathode: Cu*(aq) + 26" —r Culs) Figure 6 Puricaton of copper by slecroyss. ‘The ions migrate tothe cathode, are reduced to pure copper and deposted onthe cathode. From time to time, the pure copperis scraped of the cathode. Many impurites fom the copper anode, such as gol, siver, platinum and tn, are insoluble in the electrolyte solution and so do not depost on the cathodes. Instead, they are deposited as ‘anode slime on the batom of he tank, which s periodically removed and sent‘o specialist refiners (Other metals, e9. ron and nickel are soluble, so the electrolyte has to be continuously purfled o prevent excessive depositon of hese elements conto the cathode. Copper of purty of atleast 99.09%; is obtained inthis way ‘The copper obtained wilthen be made info convenient shaps (such as shes wire, 0d, tubes ete) for use in manufacturing,‘Figure 7 Pure copper cathodes a ratnery in Canada ytd pmo of Anion Secondary production ‘Copper and alos wih a high copper content are recycle o aban ure copper The maak are heated wi onygen-enrched air {chemeastongentimitoxygen_enrched), which oxizes most ofthe metab, but ntine copper or any precious meta, fing a slag that an be removed. The same process desetbed above fe oflen ued for secondary copper produc, ‘The remaining copper, now about 80% pure scat no anodes and puted further using he elacoWyic method descibed above CGiovay, Ris estimated hat about 39% ofnew copper products are made om recycbd copper wih some counts having slgnfeanty higher rates ofreeylng fr example inthe Nort Amerea (91%) and counties n Westem Europe (47%), Aboutha ofthis comes rom scrap om mis and foundies making copper arteles whch then simply red and cat The other hal comes roma seap or example om elec cables and plumbing wom Tet gp Patek rn Cp Se mp Copper alloys any sonmony a loys conan copar ae pradoriant ata it vaning ua fara TH 1). Ay ah = a em, ww Sg angen dl mec nl atv od f et ‘tn, phosphorus Precision bearings, springs, cymbals, instrument strings rem ince or sn nope iat min ann anne coment |e an re oon a ensoremae eonene Nhe [oh ane Te ne hdd rt ners soe Table 1 Important alloys of copper and thir uses. ‘The Euro coins use copper'in four diferent ways. The 1 to 5 centcoins are steel win a copper coating. The 10 to 60 cent coins are made of Nordic gold (89% copper wih aluminium, zinc and tin, ‘The 1 and 2 Euro coins contain two aloys. The inner part ofthe coin with a gold colour is made of 175% copper with zinc and nickel and he outer par, a siNer colour, is an ally of 75% copper and 28% nickel,Research has shown that bacteria cannot survive long on a copper surface, and one ofthe advantages of using copper aloys for wind or"brass' musical instuments that hey are fs prone to growth of moulls and bacteria, despte regular exposure lo moist, warm, bacteris-aden brea ‘This effects apparent the proportion of copperin the allo is 85% or greater, and is based on the abity of copper ions to disrupt electron tansportin the respiration systems of bacteria cels. Copper ean algo bind othe phosphate groups ia the cell DNA. causing the double-relito unravel: Date last amendea: 2nd October 2018 ‘Figure 9 The saxophone is made tom 2 copper log. yn pms fae Magn fwoge (ptm shits ‘Aninvitation We invte you to wite tous you have any specie comments about this ste, fr example ‘errors that you have found, suggestions for new topics or for adding tothe existing uns, ‘suggestions for inks to other ses and addtions or altematves to our examples. Please send these comments to: ecl@essentakchemicalndusty.org(malto:eci@essentilchemicalindusty.or9) ‘This web sie Is produced by the Centre for Industry Education Collaboration, non-proft organization and an integral pat ofthe Deparment of ‘Chemistry, Universy of York UK. Copyright © 2016 Unversity f York Centre for Industry Education Collaboration, York, UK. Al Rights Reserved