1. Furnace Selection for High-Grade Scrap Copper (Over 90% Cu)

High-grade scrap copper has a high copper content and relatively few impurities, so the fire refining process is short. In production, a fixed reverberatory furnace or a tilting reverberatory furnace can be used for direct fire refining, without the smelting and converting stages. The process is simple, the equipment investment is relatively low, and it is suitable for processing high-grade scrap copper raw materials with relatively pure composition.

2. Furnace Selection for Low-Grade Scrap Copper

Low-grade scrap copper contains many impurities and has a complex composition. If treated directly in a reverberatory furnace, impurities are difficult to remove efficiently, energy consumption is high, and metal recovery is low. Therefore, it is usually necessary to first use a bath smelting furnace (such as a horizontal top-blown furnace or a side-blown furnace) for smelting to produce black copper or blister copper, which is then gradually purified through converting and refining stages. Bath smelting furnaces have strong adaptability to complex materials and can effectively process low-grade scrap copper with high impurity content.

3. Summary of the Key Differences in Furnace Selection

The core difference is this: high-grade scrap copper can be fire-refined directly in a reverberatory furnace in a "one-step" process, while low-grade scrap copper requires "smelting first, then refining" — using a bath smelting furnace to produce black copper or blister copper before entering the converting and refining stages. Reverberatory furnaces cannot directly and efficiently process low-grade complex materials, so furnace selection must be reasonably determined based on raw material grade and impurity composition.

Conclusion

Rational furnace selection is key to improving quality and efficiency in scrap copper processing. High-grade materials are best refined directly in a reverberatory furnace, while low-grade materials are best smelted first in a bath smelting furnace — only then can both efficiency and recovery be balanced.