#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The new domestic device Metavak-V – an analyzer of hydrogen in copper cathodes – has arrived at the Control and Analytical Department (CAD) of Nornickel’s Polar Division. The device will help to study the chemical composition of cathodes in more depth.
Cathode copper is the final product of the manufacture of purified copper from blister copper. The brand of the finished product directly depends on the content of impurities. In order to achieve their ultra-low concentrations in samples, CAD laboratory technicians use all the possibilities offered by modern scientific developments.
“Recently, our arsenal received a new domestically produced device developed by the scientific and industrial association EKSAN from Izhevsk. It will significantly improve the quality of finished products and allow us to meet high standards”, explained Yury Lobanov, head of the Nornickel PD’s CAD’s Balance Products and Geological Objects Testing Analytical Center’s Instrumental Analysis Methods Laboratory.
The presence of hydrogen in copper cathodes can lead to the formation of internal defects that reduce the strength and corrosion resistance of the material. Therefore, monitoring the hydrogen level is not just a formality, but a necessity to ensure high product quality and meet the demands of the modern metals market. Additional determination of hydrogen in copper cathodes will give Nornickel a competitive advantage in the Russian and global copper markets.
The Metavak-V device is a high-tech analyzer specially designed to measure the concentration of hydrogen in copper cathodes. The unique methods used in this device allow you to get accurate and reliable results in just a few minutes.
Olga Deyeva, lead engineer of the Nornickel Polar Division’s CAD’s Instrumental Analysis Methods Laboratory, explained that Metavak-V is capable of measuring up to four percent of hydrogen from the sample’s own weight with minimal error. However, the values obtained during the study of copper cathodes produced by the Nornickel Polar Division’s copper plant are in most cases negligible, which indicates the exclusivity of the products manufactured by the mining and metallurgical company.
Copper shavings from the copper plant arrive daily at the Testing Analytical Center for Balance Products and Geological Objects. Before conducting the analysis, chemists press the shavings using a special device for forming sample tablets. Then, using the Metavak-V analyzer, laboratory technicians measure the mass fraction of hydrogen in copper cathode samples using the gas analysis method. Data from the device is instantly transmitted to the computer.
Gulnur Iskhakova, an engineer at the Instrumental Analysis Methods Laboratory, told how the process of hydrogen determination is carried out by the domestic unit.
“First, a tablet pressed from copper shavings is placed in the loading device, and the crucible is placed between the upper and lower electrodes of the furnace. Then the crucible is heated in the furnace to a temperature of 2200 degrees. This starts the degassing process. The sample from the loading device is dropped into the crucible. At a temperature of 1600 degrees, an analysis is carried out based on the reducing melting of the sample in a flow of inert carrier gas – argon. This allows us to determine the quantitative content of released hydrogen in the gas mixture using a thermal conductivity detector”, explained Gulnur Iskhakova.
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Text: Polina Bardik, Anzhelika Stepanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko
