Light industrial products are closely related to people's lives, with a wide variety of varieties. Because of the good comprehensive properties of steel, it can be seen everywhere. Here are just a few examples:

※ air conditioners and freezers

The temperature control effect of air conditioners and refrigerators is mainly realized by the evaporation and condensation of the copper tubes of the heat exchanger. The size and heat transfer performance of the heat exchange tube determine the efficiency and miniaturization of the entire air conditioner and refrigeration device to a large extent. The special-shaped copper tubes with high thermal conductivity are used in these machines. Taking advantage of the good processing performance of steel, heat dissipation tubes with inner grooves and high fins have been recently developed and produced for the manufacture of heat exchangers in air conditioners, refrigerators, chemical industries, waste heat collection and other devices. The total heat transfer coefficient of the new heat exchanger can be increased to 2-3 times that of ordinary tubes and 1.2-1.3 times that of ordinary low-fin tubes. It has been used in China and can save 40% of copper, the volume of the heat exchanger is reduced by more than 1/3.

※ clock

Most of the working parts of the timepieces, timepieces and devices with timepieces currently produced are made of "clock brass. The alloy contains 1.5-2% lead, has good processing properties, suitable for large-scale production. For example, gears are cut out of long extruded brass rods, flat wheels are punched out of strips of corresponding thickness, and brass or other copper alloys are used to make engraved clock surfaces, screws and joints, etc. A large number of cheap watches are made of gunmetal (tin zinc bronze) or plated with nickel silver (white copper). Some famous clocks are made of steel and copper alloys. The British "Big Ben" uses a solid gun copper rod for the hour hand and a 14-foot copper tube for the minute hand.

A modern watch factory, with copper alloy as the main material, with a press and precise mold processing, can produce 10,000 to 30,000 watches a day at a very low cost.

※ paper

In the current information society, paper consumption is very large. The surface of the paper looks simple, but the papermaking process is very complicated, requiring many steps and using many machines, including coolers, evaporators, pulpers, paper machines, etc. Many of these components, such as various heat exchange tubes, rollers, batters, semi-liquid pumps and wire mesh, are mostly made of steel alloys.

For example, a fourdrinier machine is currently used, which sprays the prepared pulp onto a fast-moving mesh cloth with fine mesh openings (40-60 mesh). The mesh cloth is woven from brass and phosphor bronze wire. Its width is very large, usually more than 20 feet (6 meters), and it is required to be completely straight. The mesh moves on a series of small brass or copper rollers, and as it passes with the pulp sprayed on it, the moisture is sucked out from below. The mesh is simultaneously vibrated to bond the small fibers in the pulp together. The mesh size of large paper machines is very large, which can reach 26 feet 8 inches (8.l meters) wide and 100 feet (3 0. 5 meters) long. Wet pulp not only contains water, but also contains chemicals used in the papermaking process, which is very corrosive. In order to ensure the quality of paper, the mesh material is very strict, not only to have high strength and elasticity, but also to resist pulp corrosion, copper alloy is fully competent.

※ printing

Copperplate was used for photoengraving in printing. The surface-polished copperplate was sensitized with a photosensitive latex and then photographed and imaged thereon. Photosensitive copperplate needs to be heated to harden the glue. In order to avoid thermal softening, copper often contains a small amount of silver or arsenic to increase the softening temperature. Then, the plate is etched to form a printed surface distributed with concave-convex dot patterns.

On automatic typesetting machines, the layout of brass blocks is used to make versions, which is another important use of copper in printing. The block is usually made of leaded brass, sometimes copper or bronze.

※ winemaking

In the world of beer brewing, copper plays an important role. Copper is often used for the inner village of malt barrels and fermentation tanks. There are more than ten such vats with a capacity of more than 20000 gallons in some famous breweries. In the fermentation tank, in order to cool down, commonly used steel pipe water cooling. Steel pipes are also used to heat water and steam when brewing beer, and steel pipes are used to transport wine.

When distilling whiskey and other spirits, steel retorts are usually used. Whisky malt liquor needs to be distilled twice, using two large copper distillation pots.

※ Medicine

In the pharmaceutical industry, all kinds of steaming, boiling and vacuum devices are made of pure copper. Zinc copper is widely used in medical devices. Copper alloy is also a common material for spectacle frames and so on.