Energy Management Systems in Copper Smelting: The Atlantic Copper Case Study

Abstract

Copper smelters play an important role in the extractive metallurgy of copper, with 80% of mining output processed in primary smelters to produce copper cathodes, while the remaining 20% is refined at hydrometallurgical plants at the mines. Energy represents more than one-third of operating costs for copper smelting and refining, so good energy management is of vital importance to guarantee energy sustainability in an increasingly competitive economic setting, not to mention the ever-increasing demands for environmental protection. In 2009, Atlantic Copper launched a new energy management strategy for its copper smelter and refinery with the implementation of an Energy Management System, and it became the world’s first copper smelter to receive the ISO 50001 (Int Organ Stand 16, 2011 [1]) certificate. This system can accurately monitor consumption, and shapes production planning in accordance with energy criteria in order to achieve continuous improvement in all company processes, based on the following:

• Integration of energy efficiency in the organization’s scorecard.

• Assimilation of energy criteria in daily work decisions.

• Implementation of projects that can reduce specific energy consumption.

• Investment in projects that recover and utilize residual heat from the metallurgical processes.

This policy carried out between 2009 and 2014 enabled Atlantic Copper to become one of the copper smelters with the lowest specific energy consumption worldwide, achieving reductions of over 20% of the energy consumption, together with cuts in direct greenhouse gas emissions of more than 30%.