Volatilization Of Cuprous Chloride On Melting Copper, Containing Chlorine

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION Since cuprous chloride melts at 418° C., boils at 954° C. to 1033° C.,1 and is known to be volatile at a much lower temperature, the presence of chlorine in any form in or on copper to be melted has always been looked upon by copper refiners as a possible source of-serious copper loss. Although this fact has been known for some time, the copper literature contains little or no information regarding it and the field seems .never to have been properly investigated from a metallurgical standpoint. According to Greenawalt,2 cupric chloride, CuCl2, when ignited gives cuprous chloride; therefore cuprous chloride is always formed when copper enters into reaction with chlorine at a high temperature. Cuprous chloride melts somewhat below a dull red heat, and does not volatilize in closed vessels, even if strongly heated, but if heated in the air it goes off as a white vapor. Hofman3 gives the melting point of cuprous chloride