Copper is a non-ferrous metal with a very close relationship with mankind, is widely used in the electrical, light industry, machinery manufacturing, construction industry, the defense industry and other fields, in China's consumption of non-ferrous metal materials is second only to aluminum.
(1)
Copper in the electric power industry
Power transmission
Line cables, busbar, transformers, switches, connectors and connectors.
Motor Manufacturing
Stator, rotor and shaft head, hollow conductor, etc.
Communication cables and residential electrical wiring require large quantities of copper conductors.
(2)
Copper in the electronics industry
Electro-vacuum devices
High-frequency and ultra-high-frequency transmitting tubes, ferry tubes, magnetron tubes, etc., which require high-purity oxygen-free copper and diffusion-enhanced oxygen-free copper.
Printed circuits
Copper printed circuits require large quantities of copper foil and copper-based brazing materials.
Integrated circuits
Replacing aluminum in silicon chips with copper for interconnects and leadframes can result in
30
% efficiency gains.
(3)
Copper in the energy and petrochemical industries
Energy industry
The main condenser plate and condenser tubes of thermal power plants are made of brass, bronze or copper. They require
5t
of condenser tubes per 10,000 kilowatts of installed capacity. Solar heaters are also often manufactured using copper tubes.
Petrochemical industry
Copper and many copper alloys, a large number of used in the manufacture of various containers in contact with corrosive media, piping systems, filters, pumps and valves, a variety of evaporators, heat exchangers and condensers.
Marine industry
Because copper is not only seawater corrosion, and dissolved in the water of copper ions have a bactericidal effect, you can prevent the fouling of marine organisms, so copper and its copper alloys is a very important material in the marine industry, has been in the seawater desalination plants, marine oil and gas platforms, as well as other coastal and submarine facilities in a wide range of applications. For example, piping systems, pumps and valves used in the desalination process, as well as equipment used on oil and gas platforms, including bolts, anti-biofouling packages, pumps, valves and piping systems in splash zones and underwater.
(4)
Copper in the Transportation Industry
Ships
Copper alloys, including aluminum bronze, manganese bronze, aluminum brass, gunmetal
(
Tin-zinc bronze
)
, white copper, and nickel-copper alloys
(
Monel alloy
)
, are among the standard materials used in shipbuilding. Copper and copper alloys generally account for
2
% to
3
% of the deadweight of warships and merchant ships, such as aluminum-bronze spirals, bolts, rivets, condenser tubes, and copper-containing cladding paints.
Automobile
Copper and copper alloys are mainly used for radiators, brake system piping, hydraulics, gears, bearings, brake friction pads, power distribution and electrical systems, gaskets, and a variety of joints, fittings and trim, etc., each car with copper
10
~
20kg
, the small car with copper accounted for about the weight of <
6
%~
9
%.
Railways
The motors and rectifiers on trains, as well as the control, braking, electrical and signaling systems, all rely on copper and copper alloys to work. In addition, the electrification of railroads has a great need for copper and copper alloys, with more than
2t
of shaped copper wires required for each kilometer of overhead conductor.
Aircraft
Copper is required for wiring, hydraulics, cooling and pneumatics in aircraft, aluminum bronze tubing is used for bearing retainers and landing gear bearings, and antimagnetic copper alloys are applied to navigation instruments.
(5)
Copper in the mechanical and metallurgical industry
Mechanical engineering
In addition to motors, circuits, hydraulic systems, pneumatic systems and control systems in a large number of copper, a variety of transmission parts and fixed parts, such as cylinder liners, gears, worm gears, worm gears, connecting parts, fasteners, twisted parts, screws and nuts, etc., need to copper or copper alloy Wear reduction and lubrication.
Metallurgical equipment
Continuous casting technology in the key components? Crystallizer. Most of the use of chrome copper, silver copper and other high-strength and high thermal conductivity of copper alloy manufacturing, electrometallurgy in the vacuum electric arc furnace and electroslag furnace water-cooled crucible using copper tubing, a variety of induction heating of the induction coil is made of copper or shaped copper tube winding, inside the water cooling.
Alloy additives
Copper is an important element added to alloys such as steel and aluminum. Small amounts of copper (
0.2
%~
0.5
%) added to low-alloy structural steel can improve the steel's strength and resistance to atmospheric and marine corrosion. Adding copper to corrosion-resistant cast iron and stainless steel can further improve their corrosion resistance. Containing copper
30
% or so of the high nickel alloys are well-known high-strength corrosion-resistant "Monel alloy", widely used in the nuclear industry.
Light industry, copper and copper alloys can be used in the manufacture of air-conditioning heat exchangers, watch movements, paper machine netting, rollers, printing copper plate, fermentation tank lining, distillation pots, architectural decorative components.
Copper is not only widely used in traditional industries, but also in emerging industries and high-tech fields also play an important role, such as superconducting alloy jacket, ultra-low temperature media containers and piping, rocket engine cooling village, high-energy gas pedal magnet windings and so on.
From the point of view of the overall application of copper, electrical and mechanical industry and construction is a large consumer of copper. According to statistics, the United States, Japan and Western European countries
20
Century
80
The mid-80s in the consumption of refined copper, the electrical industry accounted for
47.8%
, machinery manufacturing accounted for
23
.
8
%, construction
15.
8
%, transportation
8
.8
%, and others
8
%.
20
Century
90
After the 1990s, the industry distribution of copper consumption in Western countries changed dramatically. In the United States, for example,
1998
copper consumption, the construction industry accounted for
41.
4
%, electrical and electronic products accounted for
26
.0
%, transportation equipment
12
.4
%, machinery manufacturing
11.
2
%, and Others
9
.0
%.
Compared with developed countries, China's electronic and electrical industry and machinery manufacturing industry consumes a high proportion of the total consumption of copper, while the construction and transportation industries consume relatively little copper.
2002
In 2002
China's copper consumption reached
2.5
million tons, accounting for
17
percent of the global consumption of copper, thus replacing the United States as the world's top copper consumer.
From:China Nonferrous Metals Business Network
Knowledge section