The Life Cycle of Copper, Its Co-Products and Byproducts

273 Pages·2003·4.963 MB·English

by  Robert U. Ayres, Leslie W. Ayres, Ingrid Råde (auth.)

THE LIFE CYCLE OF COPPER, ITS CO-PRODUCTS AND BYPRODUCTS
ECO-EFFICIENCY IN INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE
VOLUME 13
Series Editor: Arnold Tukker, TNO-STB, Delft, The Netherlands
Editorial Advisory Board:
Martin Charter,Centre for Sustainable Design, The Surrey Institute ofArt & Design, Farnham,
United Kingdom
John Ehrenfeld,International Society for IndustrialEcology, New Haven, U.S.A.
Gjalt Huppes,Centre of Environmental Science, LeidenUniversity, Leiden, The Netherlands
Reid Lifset,Yale University School of Forestry andEnvironmental Studies,New Haven, U.S.A.
Theo de Bruijn,Center for Clean Technology andEnvironmental Policy (CSTM), University of
Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
The Life Cycle of Copper,
Its Co-Products and Byproducts
by
Robert U. Ayres
Center for the Management of Environmental Resources INSEAD,
Fontainebleau Cedex, France
Leslie W. Ayres
Center for the Management of Environmental Resources INSEAD,
Fontainebleau Cedex, France
and
Ingrid Råde
Physical Resource Development,
School of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
With contributions from
Roland Geyer
Donald Rogich
Benjamin Warr
Foreword by Luke Danielson
Project Director: Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD)
International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED)
London
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-6396-0 ISBN 978-94-017-3379-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-3379-3
Cover photo of Bronze statue of Amita-Buddha, “Diabusu” of Great Buddha, cast in 1252 A.D. by
Ono-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo, is used with permission of Ms. Michiko Sato, manager of the
Koutoku-in-temple, Japan.
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
©2003 Springe r Science+ Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2003
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording
or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception
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and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. The life cycle perspective 1
1.2. Historical background 6
1.3. Geology of copper 14
1.4. Geology of lead and zinc 18
CHAPTER 2. COPPER: SOURCES AND SUPPLY 21
2.1. Physical properties and chemistry 21
2.2. Copper production 22
2.3. Process technology 23
2.3.1. Mining 27
2.3.2. Beneficiation 30
2.3.3. Leaching 33
2.3.4. Cementation and solvent extraction (SX) 34
2.3.5. Roasting, and smelting 35
2.3.6. Converting 37
2.3.7. Electrowinning 38
2.3.8. Fire refining and electrolytic refining 38
2.3.9. Future trends in primary processing 39
2.4. Exergy and exergy flows 40
2.5. Sulfur recovery 44
2.6. Production-related wastes and emissions 46
2.6.1. Mining wastes 46
2.6.2. Beneficiation wastes 48
2.6.3. Leaching (acid) wastes 50
2.6.4. Smelting wastes 51
2.6.5. Wastes from finishing operations 54
2.6.6. Recycling (secondary recovery) wastes 54
2.6.7. Toxic releases 54
2.6.8. Global estimates of airborne emissions 54
2.7. Optimal extraction/production 56
CHAPTER 3. COPPER: DEMAND AND DISPOSITION 59
3.1. Consumption patterns and trends 59
3.2. Accumulation of copper stocks in the anthroposphere 70
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vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.3. Dissipative uses and losses of copper 80
3.4. The future of demand for copper 83
CHAPTER 4: LEAD, ZINC AND OTHER BYPRODUCT
METALS 101
4.1. Context 101
4.2. Physical properties and chemistry of lead and zinc 101
4.3. Lead process technology 103
4.3.1. Ore mining and beneficiation 103
4.3.2. Sintering 105
4.3.3. Smelting 105
4.3.4. Drossing and final refining 106
4.3.5. Exergy and exergy flows 106
4.4. Lead sources and uses 109
4.5. Zinc processing 112
4.5.1. Ore mining and beneficiation 112
4.5.2. Roasting and sintering 112
4.5.3. Smelting and refining 114
4.5.4. Exergy and exergy flows 114
4.5.5. Recycling old zinc scrap 117
4.6. Zinc sources and uses 117
4.7. Lead and zinc wastes and emissions 120
4.8. Other byproduct metals 127
4.8.1. Antimony 130
4.8.2. Arsenic 131
4.8.3. Bismuth 135
4.8.4. Cadmium 135
4.8.5. Germanium 140
4.8.6. Gold 141
4.8.7. Indium 142
4.8.8. Rhenium 142
4.8.9. Selenium 143
4.8.10. Silver 143
4.8.11. Sulfur 143
4.8.12. Tellurium 147
4.8.13. Thallium 147
CHAPTER 5. THE FUTURE OF RECYCLING 149
5.1. Background 149
5.2. Recovery and recycling of copper from old scrap 153
5.3. Recovery and recycling of electronic scrap 157
5.4. Copper as a contaminant of recycled steel 159
5.5. Copper recycling wastes and emissions 161
5.6. Recovery and recycling of lead 162
5.7. Recovery and recycling of zinc 164
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
5.8. Recovery and recycling of byproduct metals 165
5.8.1. Antimony 165
5.8.2. Arsenic 165
5.8.3. Cadmium 165
5.8.4. Germanium 166
5.8.5. Gold 166
5.8.6. Indium 166
5.8.7. Selenium 167
5.8.8. Silver 167
5.8.9. Tellurium 167
5.9. Further comments on losses and potential recoverability 167
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS AND QUESTIONS 169
6.1. Introduction 169
6.2. Copper availability 169
6.3. Copper demand: the continuing electrification of the global
energy system 171
6.4. Lead, zinc and byproduct metals availability and uses 173
6.5. Concentration, reduction and refining technology 174
6.6. Sulfur recovery and acidification of the environment 174
6.7. Copper, lead and zinc recycling 175
6.8. Emissions and accumulation of copper and zinc in
agricultural soils; probably a non-problem 177
6.9. Accumulation of arsenic, cadmium and other toxic
metals in the terrestrial environment: A real problem 177
6.10. The threat of ‘toxic time bombs’ 180
6.11. The long-term prospect 180
REFERENCES 183
APPENDIX A: THE EXERGY CONCEPT 193
A1. Definition and description of exergy calculations 193
A2. Exergy as a tool for resource and waste accounting 195
A3. Composition of mixtures, including fuels 197
APPENDIX B: THE BEHAVIOR OF COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC
IN SOIL 201
B1. Metals in soils 201
B2. Aqueous phase speciation 203
B3. Solid phase constituents and complex formation 204
B4. Summary 210
APPENDIX C: GLOBAL COPPER MODEL 211
C1. Introduction 211
C2. A model of the global copper system 211
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
C3. Calibration of the model 219
C4. Copper consumption scenarios 227
C5. Copper system scenarios 232
APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY 253
INDEX 257
FOREWORD
Achieving the goals and objectives of sustainable development requires better
information about the consequences of proposed actions. Partial information
accounts for many failed efforts in the past. The financial implications for
the proponent of the projects have often been more thoroughly analyzed than
the implications for other actors. The impacts on biological diversity, or on
the social fabric of local communities, have often been ignored. Decision-
makers may also focus more on the short-term consequences instead of longer-
term impacts, creating negative unintended consequences.
It is clear that better decision-making processes are needed. Making better
decisions requires identifying, obtaining, synthesizing and acting on larger
and more diverse data sets, including information that has previously been
overlooked in development decisions. The good news is that better processes
are being developed and are becoming available.
If the goal is to reach decisions that are broadly understood and accepted,
affected communities need to be consulted. Early public participation in
defining problems is a prerequisite to effective decision-making. There is no
universal formula or checklist of information applicable to every proposed
project. The scope of information required should not be determined from
the start by small cadres of experts. It is unlikely that any individual or small
group processes all of the expertise to achieve the kind of profound inter-
disciplinary synthesis that is needed.
Determining the kind of information needed for decision-making is an
important start. However, the practicalities of gathering the information are
often daunting. Existing processes have serious limitations. The standards of
reporting vary. Often the information gathered is based more on past neces-
sities, or on what is inexpensive to gather, than on the demands of a holistic
decision-making process for sustainable development. Information from
different sources is often not comparable. Companies, governments or others
frequently hold useful information in confidence. In some cases it is deliber-
ately distorted or concealed. And it is not surprising that high quality infor-
mation is more frequently gathered about the concerns of the rich and powerful
than those of the poor and dispossesed.
Synthesizing available information also presents an enormous challenge.
Access to information alone is insufficient unless there are effective ways of
sorting and synthesizing the data. Sustainable development will be hindered
rather than helped by compilation of masses of undifferentiated and poorly
digested information.
Life cycle approaches to the materials used in national or world economies
show considerable promise in helping to elaborate the architecture of decision-
ix
x FOREWORD
making for sustainable development. As practitioners better understand and
work with life cycle analysis as a practical decision-making tool, they help
define the kinds of information that is needed, learn to tap into sources for
obtaining it, refine methods of synthesizing it more effectively, and how it
can be used to make better decisions.
This book, and the research and workshop on which it was based, identi-
fies some of the key issues in the use of life cycle approaches in support of
sustainable development.
Life cycle approaches to better decision-making require access to reliable
data at a level of detail not generally publicly available outside companies.
Many companies are reluctant to share this information, particularly where
their competitors refuse to folow suit. Those who are given access to this
information are often asked to disguise the origins, or to present it in the aggre-
gate. This makes the processes of peer review and quality assurance diffi-
cult.
As a result, life cycle approaches have made more headway inside com-
panies as an aid to company decision-making than in public bodies to help
public policy formulation. A key to gaining greater acceptance of life cycle
tools in the public policy arena is greater confidence in underlying data, which
can only gained through broader access to the data and more rigorous use of
peer review.
The pursuit of greater eco-efficiency is a necessary but not a sufficient con-
dition for sustainable development. Life cycle analysis has in general focused
on the material: consumption of water and other resources, levels of emis-
sions, energy consumption and the like. While this is very useful, decision-
making for sustainable development requires balancing these with other factors
such as employment and livelihoods, equity, and the needs of developing
countries. Bluntly, the most modern and eco-efficient industrial technology
is concentrated in the richest countries. Criteria and policies that make deci-
sions only on eco-efficiency grounds without integrating these other factors
might well wind up creating yet more barriers to the products of the global
South, and yet more concentration of wealth in the countries that already have
the most. As just one example, the wealthier countries consume more of most
materials. The post-consumer material available for recycling therefore tends
to be concentrated in the countries that do the most consuming; a drive for
higher levels of recycling could, without some compensating mechanisms,
create empoyment principally in the richest countries.
It may be possible to develop life cycle approaches that better reflect values
such as poverty alleviation, global equity and livelihoods, though these will
require considerable thought. And they are likely to be hampered by the fact
that data on the factors most important to the developing world may not be
as available or usable as data relevant to the physical eco-efficiency factors.
There are some areas very important to public policy, such as current rates
of recycling, where data are often sketchy and hard to obtain. Better data on
recycling should be a high priority for better public policy in the metal sector.