Under the double pressure of global carbon neutrality and resource recycling,
the non-ferrous metal industry is experiencing a historic leap from “high
energy consumption and high emissions” to “green manufacturing”.
Traditional smelting process energy consumption accounts for more than
40% of the total cost of the industry, per ton of electrolytic aluminum
carbon emissions up to 16 tons, and the depth of application of non-ferrous
automation technology, is rewriting this number - through intelligent
control, energy efficiency optimization and clean production technology
integration, to promote the industry's energy consumption by 15% -30%,
carbon emission intensity Down 40%, opening a new era of sustainable
development of the metal industry.
I. Technology Matrix: Four Automation
Systems Reconstruct Green Production Chain
1. Intelligent Process Control System
Accurate smelting model: Based on machine learning, the company
builds digital twins for copper flash smelting, zinc oxygen pressure
leaching and other processes, and optimizes 300+ parameters in real
time, such as oxygen ratio and temperature profile, so as to increase
the metal recovery rate by 2.5 percentage points and reduce the
energy consumption of tons of ore by 8%;
Adaptive electrolysis control: deploying current efficiency closed-loop
system in aluminum electrolysis tanks, reducing the effect coefficient
from 0.3 times/tank-day to 0.05 times through anode effect prediction
algorithm, and saving 140,000 kWh of electricity per year in a single tank;
Exhaust gas dynamic management: integrating SO₂, NOx concentration
online monitoring and ammonia spraying control system, realizing
the desulfurization efficiency to be increased from 92% to 99.5%
and ammonia escape to be reduced by 60%.
2. Energy flow synergy platform
Multi-energy complementary optimization: connecting waste heat
boilers, air compressors, photovoltaic power stations and other
equipment through industrial Internet of Things to build a plant-level
virtual power plant, with waste heat power generation increased
to 25% of the total process energy consumption;
Load flexible regulation: utilizing digital twins to predict production
fluctuations, automatically switching energy-consuming processes
during low electricity prices, whereby a copper smelter saves 27
million yuan in annual electricity costs;
Carbon footprint tracking system: modeling carbon data along the
whole chain from ore mining to finished metal products, supporting the
generation of ISO 14067 certified carbon labels for each batch of products.
3. Intelligent sorting of waste recycling
Multi-spectral sorting robot: adopts XRF+Laser Induced Breakdown
Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology to identify the content of copper,
aluminum, nickel and other elements in scrap metal in 0.2 seconds,
with a sorting purity of 98%;
Smelting slag resourcing system: through AI visual identification of
slag phase composition and automatic matching of recovery process,
the recovery rate of silver, antimony and other valuable metals in lead
and zinc smelting slag is increased from 72% to 91%;
Electrolyte self-purification device: real-time monitoring of the
concentration of arsenic and antimony ions in copper electrolyte,
triggering automatic regeneration of ion exchange resin, reducing
the amount of hazardous waste liquid generated by 35%.
4. Low-carbon operation and maintenance system for equipment
Predictive maintenance system: deploying acoustic emission + infrared
thermal imaging sensors in the smelting furnace, warning the risk of
furnace lining erosion 14 days in advance, and extending the overhaul
cycle from 12 months to 20 months;
Energy Efficiency Digital Twin: constructing 3D efficiency models of fans,
pumps, valves and other equipment, AI recommends the best operating
parameters, and the overall energy efficiency (OEE) of the equipment is
increased by 18%;
Hydrogen substitution program: developing natural gas-hydrogen mixing
and burning control system, realizing 30% hydrogen substitution in
aluminum processing heating furnace and reducing carbon emission by 22%.
II. Carbon reduction effectiveness: green
revolution driven by automation technology
1. Breakthrough reduction of energy consumption intensity
The intelligent control system of copper flash melting reduces the
comprehensive energy consumption of tons of copper from 650kg
of standard coal to 520kg;
The optimization of all elements of aluminum electrolyzer reduced
DC power consumption from 12,900kWh/t-Al to 12,500kWh,
reaching the international leading level;
The energy management system (EMS) of the whole plant realizes
millisecond response of energy consumption data, and the annual
energy-saving benefit exceeds RMB 50 million.
2. Comprehensive upgrade of clean production
Heavy metal wastewater treatment automation system increased
the reuse rate from 75% to 95%, and fresh water consumption
decreased by 40%;
Dust intelligent capture device controls the concentration of
disorganized emission from 15mg/m³ to below 5mg/m³ in copper
smelting workshop;
The automated production line of biometallurgy for low-grade ores
reduces the discharge of beneficiation wastewater by 60%, and the
cost of ecological restoration of tailing ponds is reduced by 55%.
3. Scale-up of circular economy
The robot system for dismantling scrap cars realizes the processing
of 12 whole cars per hour, and the recovery rate of aluminum alloy
parts is increased from 82% to 97%;
The automated line for precious metal extraction from electronic
waste has increased the amount of gold recovered per ton of waste
circuit boards from 200g to 350g;
Red mud comprehensive utilization intelligent factory, which
transforms alumina production waste residue into low-carbon
cement raw materials, with a resource utilization rate exceeding 85%.
Third, the future picture: digital technology
empowers zero-carbon metallurgy
1. Hydrogen-based smelting automation
Developing hydrogen reduction iron smelting-nonferrous cogeneration
system, which reduces carbon emissions from zinc smelting by 90%
through multi-metal synergistic reduction model;
Intelligent coupling of high temperature Proton Exchange Membrane
Electrolysis for Hydrogen Production (PEMEC) and Molten Salt
Electrolysis to realize green aluminum production.
2. Carbon management of the whole industrial chain
Blockchain technology opens up the carbon data flow of
mining-smelting-processing-recycling and builds a carbon
asset trading platform for the non-ferrous metal industry;
AI carbon consultant system provides enterprises with full life
cycle decarbonization solutions from process improvement to
CCUS (carbon capture).
3. Smart Microgrid Revolution
Millisecond response of plant-level wind, light and storage
integrated microgrid with electrolysis process, renewable
energy consumption rate increased to 95%;
The virtual power plant based on digital twin participates in
power market trading, and obtains demand response revenue
of over 20 million RMB annually.
4. Biometallurgy breakthrough
Automated strain cultivation and leaching process control system,
shortening the bioleaching cycle of low-grade copper ore from
180 days to 90 days;
Gene editing microorganisms + AI metabolic model, realizing the
green extraction efficiency of rare earth elements by 3 times.
Industry restructuring: automation technology
generates new competitiveness
According to the prediction of the International Metal Research Institute,
the global non-ferrous industry will produce the following changes due
to automation technology by 2030:
Cost structure subversion: Intelligent transformation to reduce the production
cost of tons of metal by 18% -25%, the industry's average profit margin
increased to 12%;
Business model innovation: the birth of the “metal as a service” (MaaS)
platform, customers can order on-demand to meet the carbon footprint
of the product;
Iteration of technical standards: ISO released the certification system for
smart low-carbon factories, and enterprises that fail to meet the standards
will lose their international market access;
Upgrading of talent structure: demand for new positions such as AI trainers
and digital twin engineers has surged, and the transfer rate of
traditional operators has reached 60%.
Conclusion
In the historical process of green and low-carbon transformation, non-ferrous
automation technology has evolved from an auxiliary tool to a core driving
force. It is not only a technical means to reduce energy consumption and
emissions, but also a strategic pivot to reconstruct the industry value chain
and cultivate new quality productivity. With the deep penetration of 5G, AI,
digital twin and other technologies, a new ecology of zero-waste, negative
carbon emission and full cycle of the non-ferrous metal industry is accelerating.
This green revolution led by automation will drive human civilization
to make solid progress towards a future of sustainable resource utilization.