Reverberatory furnaces are commonly used for melting and refining large quantities of lower-grade copper scrap in a single unit. Furnace capacities range from 50 to 500 tons. New furnace designs include tilting furnaces for fast melting. Equipped with new burner technology, they are efficient for melting and refining with the use of tuyeres and stirring plugs. The tilting system aids in charging and deslagging operations.
Refractory selection in secondary copper includes fused-grain magnesite-chrome refractories like SUPER NARMAG® FG and magnesite-chrome brick like NARMAG® 60 CU and SUPER NARMAG® 142. These products are specially designed to handle the thermal cycling and corrosion resistance against the slags generated with lower-grade copper scrap. In the newer, tilting reverb furnace designs, HWI is using alumina-chrome products, such as AUREX® 30 SR, for greater corrosion resistance in these furnaces, along with fused mag-chrome brands, like SUPER NARMAG® FG. Monolithics include SHAMROCK® 493 CASTABLE, HP-CAST® ULTRA C10, and PLASTECH® RUBY® 20.