In the field of nonferrous metals extraction, copper sulfate electrolysis process is experiencing
a deep change of intelligent transformation. With the penetration of advanced technologies
such as Internet of Things and edge computing, the traditional copper electrolysis production
mode has been injected with new vitality, realizing leapfrog breakthroughs in purification
efficiency, energy consumption control and environmental protection benefits, and promoting
the industry's accelerated evolution in the direction of precision and greening.
Construction of intelligent monitoring system for electrolyte
The modern copper sulfate electrolysis system has formed an all-element data sensing network. In
the key points of electrolysis tank, copper ion concentration sensor (detection accuracy ±0.5g/L),
multi-channel temperature monitoring module (temperature range 20-90℃) and adaptive PH probe
are deployed to collect 12 types of process parameters at a frequency of 3 times per second. The
data is pre-processed by the edge computing node and uploaded to the central control system to
build a dynamic digital mirror of the electrolysis process.
The intelligent replenishment system calculates the dynamic consumption of copper sulfate solution
in real time by establishing a mathematical model of copper ion concentration and current efficiency.
When the Cu²+ concentration in the anode area is lower than the set threshold (usually maintained
at 40-50g/L), the quantitative replenishment device is automatically triggered to control the fluctuation
of solution concentration within ±1.2%. This technology stabilizes the current efficiency at more
than 95%, which is 6-8 percentage points higher than the traditional manual regulation.
Innovation in Polar Plate Control Technology
The cathode deposition intelligent regulation system integrates machine vision and electrochemical
analysis technology. Equipped with 50 megapixel industrial camera, it captures the microscopic morphology
of copper foil growth at a speed of 30 frames per second, and recognizes 7 types of abnormal morphology
such as branch crystals and holes through convolutional neural network. Within 0.5 seconds of detecting
crystallization defects, the system automatically switches to pulse current mode (frequency 50-100Hz) to
reduce the surface roughness of copper cathode to below Ra0.6μm, reaching the standard of Grade A copper.
The anode passivation early warning system constructs an anode loss prediction model by monitoring the
tank voltage fluctuation (sensitivity ±5mV) and polarization curve change. When the thickness of passivation
layer is detected to be more than the critical value (usually 150-200μm), it automatically triggers the
mechanical polishing device, which, together with the dynamic adjustment of electrolysis parameters,
reduces the anode consumption rate by 22% and saves the anode material cost of more than 3 million
yuan annually.
Energy Optimization and Equipment Management
Intelligent rectifier system adopts Silicon Carbide power device (SiC-MOSFET) with adaptive resonant
topology, which improves the power conversion efficiency to 98.5%. The dynamic power factor correction
module tracks the grid load in real time and automatically adjusts in the range of 0.92-0.98, which
reduces the DC power consumption of tons of copper to 2,080kWh, reaching the international
advanced level. The waste heat recovery unit converts 65℃ electrolyte waste heat into heat energy
for crystallization process through plate heat exchanger, saving 15,000 tons of steam consumption
annually.
The equipment health management system integrates 9-dimensional sensor data such as vibration,
temperature, electrolyte permeation, etc. to build a digital twin model of the mechanical stress of
the pole plate. Adopting acoustic emission detection technology, it can warn the risk of cracks in
the pole plate 48 hours in advance, with an accuracy rate of 93%. The automatic lifting unit is
equipped with laser positioning and flexible clamping device, which compresses the operation
time of pole plate replacement to 4 minutes/group, with a positioning accuracy of ±0.15mm,
and increases the equipment utilization rate to 97.6%.
Green Production and Recycling
The intelligent wastewater treatment system adopts a combination of electro-flocculation-membrane
separation process, which stabilizes the copper ion concentration of the discharged water at below
0.05mg/L, better than the national level emission standard by adjusting the pulse voltage (20-50V)
and flow rate parameters. The crystallization mother liquor reuse device enhances the recovery rate
of copper sulfate to 99.3% through the evaporation-cooling coupling technology, and reduces the
generation of hazardous waste by 800 tons per year.
The anode sludge treatment line introduces microwave roasting technology, which, together with the
intelligent sorting robot, realizes the precise extraction of precious metals such as gold, silver and
palladium, etc. The X-ray fluorescence on-line analyzer (accuracy of 0.01%) monitors the metal
grade in real time and automatically optimizes the leaching parameters, so that the comprehensive
recovery rate of precious metals exceeds 98%. The waste gas treatment unit adopts two-stage
alkaline washing + activated carbon adsorption process, and the efficiency of sulfuric acid mist
capture reaches 99.8%.
Safety Protection and Standardized Control
The three-layer protection system sets up 89 safety interlock nodes, covering 18 types of risk scenarios
such as hydrogen accumulation and solution leakage. Explosion-proof gas monitor (response time ≤ 0.3s) is
linked with the emergency exhaust system to ensure that the hydrogen concentration in the workshop is
always lower than 25% of the lower explosion limit. Intelligent power failure protection module adopts fiber
optic current transformer, which can cut off the circuit and start emergency cooling within 10ms when
short circuit between poles is detected.