10 Technology Effect of nickel and zinc upon electrical
conductivity of copper
Most of the copper that is used globally has been refined by Inasmuch as the recycling rate for copper is greater than that an electrolytic refining process. If electrolytic copper contains of any other metal, it is not surprising that nearly as much oxygen, the term tough-pitch (ETP) is used. When high copper is recovered from recycled material as is derived from electrical conductivity is an important property, the minimum newly mined ore. Considerable technological efficiency has copper content including silver is usually not less than 99.9 %. been developed of late by the design and construction of extremely large top loading refinery furnaces. By ASTM’s definition, high-conductivity copper must have a minimum electrical conductivity of 100 % IACS (International However, the fundamental metallurgical processing steps Annealed Copper Standard) in the fully annealed condition. for fire-refining have not changed appreciably, and include Specific details of manufacturing methods to achieve this charging copper scrap as low as 93 % - 94 % melting, oxidizing, physical property do not need to be designated, and can fluxing, slag removal, reduction of excess oxygen, and therefore be either electrolytically refined or fire-refined. casting, oftentimes within a 24 hour cycle. A few of the The latter term refers to copper of any origin or type that is impurities that have high vapor pressures such as S, Cd, and finished by furnace refining. If this copper contains oxygen, Zn are partially lost during melting due to volatilization. More it is designated as Fire-Refined Tough-Pitch (FRTP), but if it important, however, impurities whose oxides have a higher has the aforementioned minimum 100 % IACS, it is known as free energy of formation than copper, such as Al, Cr, Fe, Ag, FRHC (Fire Refined High Conductivity). Sn, Zn, Ni and Pb will tend to form stable oxides that can be easily removed from the slag, albeit some fluxing may Although fire-refined copper had been used commercially in be required. the form of wire bars for more than half a century, there has been a surge of interest in FRHC rod and wire during the past Residual impurities in both ETP and FRHC copper may cause two decades or so. Major reasons for the increased usage identical detrimental effects, such as reducing electrical and of this copper alloy include lower manufacturing costs and thermal conductivity, increasing the annealing (recrystallization) an increase in production efficiency while still attaining many temperature, hampering fine wire drawability, and degrading of the required physical and mechanical properties. Some of wire conformability during coil winding. Much of the basic these factors are briefly discussed in this article, together with work on annealing behavior and electrical properties was technical merits. performed during the 1940’s on high purity copper (99.999) In consideration of the growing importance and quantity of that was alloyed with different elements to produce binary FRHC rod produced with Properzi equipment, the ASTM alloys for subsequent laboratory investigations. These studies Committee on Copper and Copper alloys is conducting work have served as the foundation for commercial wirebars to update the B49 Standard pertaining to copper rod for and continuously cast ETP and FRHC rod. Unfortunately, electrical purposes. four important metallurgical variables make prediction
THROUGH A THERMAL REFINING PROCESS
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Copper scrap: a real bank of energy Technology 11
of the behavior and properties from measured chemical
compositions alone somewhat difficult.
First, the laboratory studies were made on alloys in which the
residual elements were dissolved in the copper matrix, where they have their maximum unit effect. In contrast, their effects are diminished if the elements precipitate out of the copper solid solution, which can easily occur during hot rolling and annealing by slow cooling from elevated temperature.
Second, interactions may occur between the different
residual elements in commercial copper to form intermetallic compounds, as for example, when lead reacts with sulfur to form PbS, thereby negating the detrimental effects of each element.
Third, oxygen tends to react with the impurities, making them
less harmful because they are removed from the copper matrix. Typical coils of FRHC rod Finally, certain elements such as lead have been shown to be beneficial at higher levels than permitted in ETP because they reduce the tendency to have high temperature cavitation fracture occur during solidification and hot rolling.
In summary, the benefits of FRHC copper rod compared
with ETP copper rod include lower manufacturing costs, very good electrical conductivity (>100 % IACS), the ability to recycle scrap, good drawability in rod breakdown machines, and being able to produce wire in multi wire drawing machines. Disadvantages include higher annealing temperatures. Both ETP and FRHC alloys ought to have similar uniform surface oxide thicknesses and sub-surface oxide contaminants, twist test performance, adequate drawability at larger gauge sizes, and eddy-current quality on finished rod. Although use of FRHC rod for magnet wire applications is questionable at this time, potential markets include building and automotive wire, power cable, can wire, telecommunications applications, and ground wire. By Horace Pops
View of the state-of-the-art Properzi
patented refining furnace: the heart of the technology
