CODELCO, Chile Programs Its Copper-Smelting Operations

CODELCO’s Chuquicamata Copper Smelter, located in Chile, must meet an environmental standard established in 2002 that limits the sulfur emissions from the copper-production process. This regulation placed new restrictions on the production process, and consequently the heuristic criteria based on years of operator experience no longer resulted in high production levels. We developed a model to maximize production while respecting metallurgic, operational, environmental, and other restrictions. We created two methods of planning daily activities for the plant. We developed a client-server tool that displays optimization results graphically and numerically based on data on operational conditions recorded in real time and data input manually. The smelter has used the system since March 2003. We found an increase in the quantity of copper concentrate processed of 25.4 percent.