MEPS 531

INDUSTRIAL
PROCESSES
COPPER
INTRODUCTION/
HISTORY
Copper is a chemical element in the periodic table
that has the symbol Cu (Latin: cuprum) and
atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with
excellent electrical conductivity, and finds
extensive use as an electrical conductor, heat
conductor, as a building material, and as a
component of various alloys.
Copper is an essential nutrient to all high plants and
animals. In animals, including humans, it is found
primarily in the bloodstream, as a co-factor in
various enzymes, and in copper-based pigments.
In sufficient amounts, copper can be poisonous
and even fatal to organisms.
Nevertheless, the price of copper rose rapidly,
increasing 500% from a 60-year low in 1999, largely
due to increased demand. This metal has come into
the limelight on account of high volatility in prices.
According to New Scientist (May 26, 2007) the earth
has an estimated 61 years supply of copper left.
Copper is a reddish-colored metal, with a high
electrical and thermal conductivity (silver is the only
pure metal to have a higher electrical conductivity at
room temperature). In oxidation copper is mildly
basic. Copper has its characteristic color because it
reflects red and orange light and absorbs other
frequencies in the visible spectrum, due to its
band structure. This can be contrasted with the
optical properties of silver, gold and aluminium.
Copper occupies the same family of the periodic table
as silver and gold, since they each have one s-orbital
electron on top of a filled electron shell. This
similarity in electron structure makes them similar in
many characteristics. All have very high thermal and
electrical conductivity, and all are malleable metals.
In its liquified state, a pure copper surface without
ambient light appears somewhat greenish, another
characteristic shared with gold. Silver does not have
this property, so it is not a complementary color for
the orange incandescence color. When liquid copper
is in bright ambient light, it retains some of its
pinkish luster.
Due to its high surface tension, the liquid metal does
not wet surfaces but instead forms spherical droplets
when poured on a surface.
Copper is insoluble in water (H2O) as well as in
isopropanol.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Monel metal, also
called cupronickel, is an alloy of copper and nickel.
While the metal "bronze" usually refers to copper-tin
alloys, it also is a generic term for any alloy of
copper, such as aluminium bronze, silicon bronze,
and manganese bronze.
Copper is germicidal, via the oligodynamic effect. For
example, brass doorknobs disinfect themselves of
many bacteria within eight hours. This effect is
useful in many applications.
The purity of copper is expressed as 4N for 99.99%
pure or 7N for 99.99999% pure. The numeral gives
the number of nines after the decimal point when
expressed as a decimal (eg 4N means 0.9999, or
99.99%).
 Copper Physical Properties
 Electrical conductivity: Copper has the highest
conductivity of the engineering metals. 
 Thermal conductivity: This property is similar to
electrical conductivity.
 Color and appearance: Many of the copper alloys
have a distinctive color, which may change as the
object weathers.
 Corrosion resistance: All copper alloys resist
corrosion by fresh water and steam.
 Ductility can be restored by annealing: This
can be done either by a specific annealing
process or by incidental annealing through
welding or brazing procedures.
 Hardening/ Strengthening: There are four
common ways to harden (strengthen) copper
such as strain hardening,
Copper Manufacturing processes
 Mining
 Concentrating
 Smelting
 Refining
 Casting
 USES AND
ECONOMICS
Copper is malleable and ductile, a good
conductor of heat and, when very pure, a good
conductor of electricity.
It is used extensively, in products such as:
 Piping, including, but not limited to, domestic water
supply
 Electronics:

 Copper wire.

 Electromagnets.

 Printed circuit boards.

 Electrical machines, especially electromagnetic

motors, generators and transformers.
 Electrical relays, electrical busbars and
electrical switches.
 Vacuum tubes, cathode ray tubes, and the
magnetrons in microwave ovens.
 Wave guides for microwave radiation.

 Integrated circuits, increasingly replacing

aluminium because of its superior electrical
conductivity.
 As a material in the manufacture of computer
heat sinks, as a result of its superior heat
dissipation capacity to aluminium.
 Structural Engineering:
 Copper has been used as water-proof roofing
material since ancient times, giving many old
buildings their greenish roofs and domes.
 Statuary: The Statue of Liberty, for example,
contains 179,220 pounds (81.3 tonnes) of
copper.
 Alloyed with nickel, e.g. cupronickel and
Monel, used as corrosive resistant materials in
shipbuilding.
 Watt's steam engine.
 Household Products:
 Copper plumbing fittings and compression
tubes.
 Doorknobs and other fixtures in houses.

 Roofing, guttering, and rainspouts on buildings.

 In cookware, such as frying pans.

 Most flatware (knives, forks, spoons) contains

some copper (nickel silver).
 Sterling silver, if it is to be used in dinnerware,
must contain a few percent copper.
 Copper water heating cylinders.
 Coinage:
 As a component of coins, often as cupronickel alloy.
 Coins in the following countries all contain copper:
European Union (Euro), United States, United Kingdom
(sterling) and Australia.
 Ironically, U.S. Nickels are 75.0% copper by weight and
only 25.0% nickel.
 Biomedical applications:
 As a biostatic surface in hospitals, and to line parts of
ships to protect against barnacles and mussels, originally
used pure, but superseded by Muntz Metal. Bacteria will
not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic.
Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the
transfer of disease, and Legionnaires' disease is
suppressed by copper tubing in air-conditioning systems.
 Copper(II) sulfate is used as a fungicide and as
algae control in domestic lakes and ponds. It is
used in gardening powders and sprays to kill
mildew.
 Copper-62-PTSM, a complex containing
radioactive copper-62, is used as a
Positron emission tomography radiotracer for heart
blood flow measurements.
 Copper-64 can be used as a
Positron emission tomography radiotracer for
medical imaging. When complexed with a chelate
it can be used to treat cancer through
radiation therapy.
 Chemical applications:
 Compounds, such as Fehling's solution, have
applications in chemistry.
 As a component in ceramic glazes, and to color
glass.
 Others:
 Musical instruments, especially brass instruments
and cymbals.
 Class D Fire Extinguisher, used in powder form to
extinguish lithium fires by covering the burning
metal and performing similar to a heat sink.
 Textile fibers to create antimicrobial protective
fabrics.
POLLUTION AND
ABATEMENT
Byproducts/Waste
The recovery of sulfuric acid from the copper
smelting process not only provides a profitable
byproduct, but also significantly reduces the air
pollution caused by the furnace exhaust. Gold,
silver, and other precious metals are also
important byproducts.
Waste products include the overburden from the
mining operation, the tailings from the
concentrating operation, and the slag from the
smelting operation. This waste may contain
significant concentrations of arsenic, lead, and other
chemicals, which pose a potential health hazard to
the surrounding area. In the United States, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates
the storage of such wastes and the remediation of
the area once mining and processing operations
have ceased. The sheer volume of the material
involved—in some cases, billions of tons of waste—
makes this a formidable task, but it also presents
some potentially profitable opportunities to recover
the useable materials contained in this waste.