Copper Granulator Machine

The global metals and minerals market is enormous, projected to grow steadily from USD 8.43 trillion in 2024 to nearly USD 10.7 trillion by 2029. Copper, iron ore, and steel represent the largest market segments, with copper demand closely tied to the global transition toward clean energy and widespread electrification.

Within this broad context, the metal granules and nanoparticles market shows strong growth potential as a high value-added niche sector. For example, the metal oxide nanoparticle market size is expected to increase from USD 137 million in 2025 to USD 276 million by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.07%. This clearly reflects the growing demand from downstream industries for ultra-fine, high-performance, and morphology-controlled materials, indicating that the metal powder market is evolving toward a more technology-intensive and high-end direction.

The production of metal granules requires precise alignment with raw material characteristics, process standards, and capacity requirements. The varying demands of different metals directly determine the technological direction of granulator machines:

1. Core Raw Material Requirements
Purity classification and matching:

• Copper granules: industrial grade (≥99.5%), electronic grade (≥99.99%).

• Gold granules: typically ≥99.99%, reaching 99.999% for high-end medical and electronic applications.

• Silver granules: industrial grade ≥99.9%, electronic/photovoltaic applications require ≥99.99%.
  Granulators must be equipped with refining modules (such as smelting impurity removal and electrolytic refining) to prevent impurities from affecting granule performance.

Raw material pretreatment:
Metal raw materials (such as scrap copper, gold ingots, silver blocks, etc.) must be transformed into molten or solid billets. The granulator’s melting module must have precise temperature control (Copper 1083 °C, Gold 1064 °C, Silver 961 °C) to ensure complete melting and uniform composition.

2. Process and Precision Requirements
Shape control:
Spherical granules (sphericity ≥0.9) are preferred in electronics and new energy industries, while irregular shapes are acceptable for mechanical processing. For example, metal powders used in additive manufacturing (3D printing) must be spherical to ensure optimal flowability, packing density, and layering precision. Granulators must utilize atomization technologies (gas or water atomization) or mechanical crushing and classification processes to achieve precise morphology control.

Particle size tolerance:

• Copper granules: commonly 50–500 μm (electronic grade ≤10 μm).

• Gold granules: 1–100 μm (medical nano-grade as small as 50 nm).

• Silver granules: 20–50 μm for photovoltaic use; 1–10 μm for electronic pastes.
  Additive manufacturing requires extremely strict particle size control, typically 15–45 μm. Granulators should include a grading and screening system ensuring particle size tolerance within ±5%.

Low loss and environmental protection:
Production loss for precious metals (gold, silver) must be ≤2%, while copper granule production must minimize dust and energy consumption. Granulators should feature optimized sealing and recovery systems to maintain dust emission levels ≤10 mg/m³, meeting environmental standards.

3. Capacity and Automation Requirements
Small-batch customization: Jewelry manufacturing and laboratory R&D require batch capacities of 10–100 kg, with the granulator capable of switching parameters such as particle size within 1–2 hours.
Mass production: Electronics and new energy sectors demand over 1 ton per day, requiring fully automated, continuous production systems with daily output ranging from 5 to 50 tons, and large-scale production lines exceeding 100 tons. For instance, industrial-grade granulation systems can process up to 1,000 kg (1 ton) of copper per hour.

The three types of metal granules—copper, gold, and silver—cover a wide range of applications thanks to their unique physicochemical properties. Their differing requirements are driving the segmentation and technological advancement of granulator machines:

1. Copper Granule Applications

2. Gold Granule Applications

• Electronics and Semiconductors:
  Used in micro-sensor electrodes and chip bonding wires; requires ultra-high purity (≥99.999%) and micro/nano particle size (1–10 μm). The gold powder market is expected to reach USD 2.3 billion by 2032, and granulators must adopt vacuum atomization technology to prevent oxidation.

• Jewelry and Luxury Goods:
  Used as casting material for gold jewelry, requiring ≥99.99% purity and 50–100 μm particle size. The jewelry metal powder market is projected to grow at a 7% CAGR between 2025 and 2033. Granulators must ensure particle density control.

• Medical and Biotech Applications:
  Used in drug carriers and wound dressings, requiring excellent biocompatibility and particle sizes between 50 nm–5 μm. Granulators must be equipped with sterile production environments.

3. Silver Granule Applications

• New Energy (Photovoltaics):
  Used in PV cell silver paste and EV battery electrodes; requires high purity (≥99.99%), sphericity ≥0.95, and particle size 20–50 μm. Solar cells account for 40% of silver powder demand. Granulators must improve atomization pressure stability.

• Electronics Industry:
  Used in electronic pastes and RFID tag antennas, requiring particle size 1–10 μm. Semiconductor applications account for 30% of silver powder demand. Granulators should integrate laser classification systems.

• Chemical and Medical Applications:
  Used in antibacterial coatings and medical dressings; requires high surface activity and particle size 50–200 μm. Granulators must optimize surface roughness treatment processes.

As the core equipment for metal granule production, granulator machines deliver value across the manufacturing, application, and industrial levels:

1. Manufacturing Value: Breaking Traditional Bottlenecks and Enabling Standardized Mass Production

• Efficiency Innovation: Traditional equipment typically produces only tens of kilograms per day, while large-scale fully automatic granulators can achieve outputs exceeding 50 tons per day, improving efficiency by 100–1,000 times to meet industrial-scale demands.

• Precision Control: Reduces traditional particle size tolerance from ±15% to within ±5%, supporting multi-spec production from nano to millimeter scale to meet diverse industry requirements.

• Cost Optimization: Precious metal loss rates are reduced from 5%–8% to below 2%.

  • Example: For a daily gold granule output of 1 ton (≈1,000,000 g, at USD 55.00/g), this translates to annual savings exceeding USD 4.09 million.

  • Copper granule energy consumption is reduced by over 30%.

2. Application Value: Empowering Innovation and Unlocking New Scenarios

• Supporting Emerging Industries: Through technologies such as vacuum atomization and laser classification, granulators enable mass production of high-sphericity silver granules for photovoltaic pastes and micro/nano gold granules for semiconductors—driving technological upgrades in related sectors.

• Compliance and Standardization: Equipped with sterile production and high-purity treatment modules, granulators help manufacturers meet international regulatory standards in medical and electronics industries (e.g., U.S. FDA, China GB/T 3249-2017).

• Lowering Entry Barriers: Small-scale semi-automatic granulators (priced USD 27,000–135,000) reduce investment costs for small and medium-sized jewelry manufacturers and laboratories, supporting customized small-batch production.

3. Industrial Value: Driving Transformation and Enhancing Global Competitiveness

• Promoting Industrial Upgrading: The industry is transitioning from semi-automatic mechanical crushing to fully automatic intelligent atomization with AI-based classification. This shift is transforming the metal granule sector from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, breaking Western monopoly on high-end equipment, and boosting the global market share of domestically produced electronic-grade copper and silver granules from 15% to 40%.

• Strengthening Supply Chain Synergy: Leading manufacturers provide integrated “Equipment + Material Adaptation + Maintenance” solutions, shortening the commissioning cycle of specialized production lines for new energy companies from 6 months to just 2 months, fostering coordinated development across the entire value chain.