GET – GREEN EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES – English Language

Components
Radar sensor
VEGA sensors ensure reliable supply
Copper is the new gold
The processing of copper scrap involves
many precisely coordinated processes.
This is the only way to ensure
that the recycled copper can be used
effectively later on. When it comes
to level instrumentation, Montanwerke
Brixlegg relies on radar technology
from VEGA.
Very few companies can look back on
over 550 years of company history.
The Brixlegg copper-silver smelter
appeared in documents for the first
time in 1463. Copper and silver ores
were mined there and refined into
pure metals up until the 20 th century.
Since 1890, secondary materials containing
copper have been increasingly
used as raw materials instead of
ores. “While the challenges back then
were for the most part exclusively
mining problems, today they are
Fig. 1: Highly reliable: VEGAPULS radar sensors
for continuous level measurement.
(All photos VEGA Grieshaber KG)
much broader. We are now responsible
for maintaining a positive interplay
between people, the environment
and the economy,” explains
the Head of Electrical Engineering at
Montanwerke Brixlegg in Tyrol.
Today, with more than 350
employees, the company is a 100 %
upcycling operation and one of the
most important industrial operations
in western Austria. The plant in
Brixlegg is considered a specialist in
copper recycling and the associated
copper refining. But there is more to
it: The Tyrolean company is also rushing
ahead in the area of climate protection
– the world’s most climatefriendly
copper is produced here. The
plant generates the lowest CO 2 emissions
of any comparable industry,
and uses 100 % recycled raw materials
as well as 100 % renewable energy
for electricity requirements. “In this
way, we are not only doing pioneering
work for today’s needs, but as
the first in the value chain, we are
laying the groundwork for absolutely
climate-neutral manufacturing in the
future,” says the Head of Electrical
Engineering.
Scrap turns into valuable
raw materials
The raw materials used are copperbearing
dust, ash, shredded materials,
sludge and return slag with a copper
content of between 15 and 60 %,
as well as alloy scrap such as brass,
bronze and gunmetal with a copper
content of between 60 and 80 %.
Refined materials and chopped and
sorted electrical cables have a copper
content of around 80-99 %. Highpurity
scrap retrieved from semi-finished
product manufacturing, on
the other hand, is used directly in
the foundry without refining. Beside
these solid raw materials, copper
chloride solutions from the electronics
industry are also processed.
In addition to copper, numerous
other metals such as nickel, zinc, tin
and precious metals are extracted
from the raw materials. The copper
cathodes, round billets, rolled plates
and precious metals produced in this
way become valuable raw materials
for various applications in the electrical
and construction industries, in
mechanical and plant engineering,
in the high-tech sector as well as in
electroplating and agriculture.
The sensor withstands harsh
ambient conditions
Without reliable and robust measurement
technology, the finely tuned production
processes would not be possible.
VEGA instruments have been
in use here for a long time already;
however, collaboration between the
two companies has intensified greatly
since 2016. “In my opinion, VEGA’s specialisation
in pressure and level measurement
has brought huge benefits.
We’re absolutely thrilled with the
Fig. 2: A radar sensor monitors the uniform
feed of the scrap packages in the combustion
chamber.
quality and handling of the sensors,
which is why we rely on VEGAPULS
for continuous level measure ment,”
says the Head of Electrical Engineering.
“Since the market launch of the
compact sensor series in 2020, we’ve
installed almost 50 of the units.”
These are used in vari ous sensitive
chemical applications, like the measurement
of acids, alkalis, milk of lime,
etc. One example is the continuous
measurement of acidic liquids in the
electrolysis sector, which is of utmost
importance for optimal use and control
of the pumps.
Numerous level switches of the 61
and 63 series have also been installed
as overfill protection. Recently,
more NAMUR versions have been
installed, as the periodic function
test using the test key on the control-
36 GREEN EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES 2022