Production Efficiency

Career Episode One – CE1

Developed a new Leaching process for recovery of Treated Roll Copper Foil (TRCF) scraps and convert into a renewable source of Copper raw material

1. Introduction

CE 1-1: I worked as Process Engineer-1 in JX Nippon Mining & Metals Philippines, Incorporated (JX-NMPH), a Japanese firm and the only company that manufactures Electrodeposited Copper Foil and Copper Sulfate powder in the Philippines. The company’s location is at #117 East Science Avenue, SEPZ, Laguna Technopark, Binan, Laguna, Philippines. I began working with this project on October 2009 and successfully completed and translated the results from Laboratory scale to Production scale on May 2011.

2. Background

CE 1-2.1: JX-NMPH produces two types of Copper Foil products: the Electrodeposited Copper Foil (EDCF) and the Treated Roll Copper Foil (TRCF). But unlike Copper Foil scraps generated from EDCF production which can be recycled back into the manufacturing process as Copper raw material, TRCF scraps cannot be recycled but instead sold to a third party buyer at a very low price due to its Cobalt and Nickel impurities acquired during its unique surface treatment process.

CE 1-2.2: The objective of the project is to recover a minimum of 32tons of Cobalt-and-Nickel-treated TRCF Copper Foil Scraps generated per month. Instead of selling these Copper foil scraps directly to a Scrap buyer, the goal of the project is to find a way to recycle these scraps in the back in the manufacturing process as a Copper raw material. The challenge then was how to effectively remove the Cobalt and Nickel deposits at the surface of the Copper foil scraps without losing much of the valuable Copper in the process.

CE 1-2.3: Technically, there are many approaches to purify Copper and remove the Cobalt and Nickel component from its surface but the best and most practical is a typical solid-liquid extraction or leaching...