By NICK STEWART
Having recently patented a new preparation system for copper refineries, the co-owner of a Sudbury engineering and manufacturing firm says the company has unlocked the next phase of technological progress for the industry.
“We’ve developed the highest-capacity system in the world,” says Steve Matusch, co-owner, Ionic Engineering.
“It’s pretty much better in all respects than anything anybody else produces. It’s smaller, faster and more productive than what’s out there right now.”
During the refining process, copper is converted into 800-pound cast slabs, known as anodes. These anodes must undergo a special treatment process in preparation for final refining operations, and the systems that perform such processes range hundreds of feet across while handling 500 anodes per hour. With the ability to process up to 600 anodes per hour, Ionic’s new 120-ton system is 20 per cent faster, 50 per cent lighter and 60 per cent smaller.
By shrinking the size of the unit to 60 feet across by 20 feet wide, Ionic is also shrinking the time required to install a newly purchased system into the plant. While such systems typically take three months to install as crews assemble it piece by piece, the reduced size of Ionic’s system allows it to be shipped in a nearly complete state. The majority of the construction and quality control is even performed in-house prior to delivery. This reduces the installation time to four weeks, freeing up manpower which could be used elsewhere, Matusch says.
“This ensures that companies are purchasing equipment rather than a construction project. This is especially important in foreign markets where language can be a barrier to proper assembly.”
Rather than work from the basic anode preparation system design that has been recycled for decades, Matusch says Ionic decided to create its new system from scratch. This involved implementing some of the newest robotic technologies seen in the automotive manufacturing sector. Replacing the hydraulic systems with industrial robots is the key difference and makes ionic the biggest robotics integrator north of Barrie, Matusch says.
“In this industry, a lot of the technology being used was developed 30 years ago,” he says. “For a lot of companies, it’s convenient to keep reproducing the same kind of equipment, and I can understand that. So we’re introducing technology to an industry where technology has not really been applied yet.”
As robotic systems allow for a greater range of movement and versatility, they can perform the same tasks as hydraulic-driven systems at a much faster rate, and reducing power consumption by nearly 60 per cent.
This use of robotics also simplified the design process, Matusch says. Designing traditional systems often requires extensive changes such as cutting and re-machining metal, while robotics can be repositioned or reprogrammed as needed.
“It’s the same as the difference between a PC and a typewriter,” he says. “If you’re writing an essay on a typewriter, you have to restart entire pages if you make a mistake, whereas a PC lets you make changes much more easily.”
No units have yet been sold, but Matusch says this is not unusual in the early stages of new technologies as many companies need time to understand a systems’ various characteristics, to know how reliable it may be and how it might fit into their company. Given that a single malfunction can create costly delays, there is an industry-wide tendency to work with older, well-proven technology, Matusch says.
“There’s a certain fear to adopting new technologies, so you have to work with clients to build a comfort level within them. There’s big dollars at stake, so that hesitation is completely understandable.”
