SYNERGY OF ENERGY RESOURCES OF COPPER PYROMETALLURGY IN RTB BOR-SERBIA

Copper production is a significant consumer of energy, consisting of almost all fossil fuels, and also including electricity. This work presents a comparison of the specific energy consumption of several metallurgical copper producers in the world, with the installed different technological processes, in comparison to the production of copper in RTB Bor (Serbia). An important place is dedicated to the quantitative participation of energy fuels in the production of copper. In addition to this, an analysis of cost structure for energy fuels was shown in the production process of copper. This work particularly emphasizes the aspect of use the secondary (waste) heat energy as a prerequisite to improve the energy efficiency and economy of pyrometallurgical copper production. Using the waste heat of pyrometallurgical process, the protection of working and life environment is improved Selection and development of new metallurgical processes in order to achieve the best economic effects is achieved selecting the optimum technology, on one side, and selection of energy system with the best performances with the full utilization the secondary heat energy of the process. Concretization of this aspect also relates to the modernization of the Copper Smelter in RTB Bor installing the new technology for smelting of copper concentrates.