| Abstract: | Hot metal transfer ladles were historically lined with high alumina refractories because of compatibility of high alumina refractories with the highly acidic slag, which is transferred from the iron making plant along with hot metal. With the introduction of higher capacity ladles, technological advancement in the process and increased productivity, calls for a higher campaign life of hot metal ladles, which could not be performed by ordinary high alumina refractories. Resin bonded Al2O3-SiC-C(hereinafter ASC)bricks gradually developed which at present taking place replacing the conventional refractories. Considerable work has been carried out in developing the ASC refractory to reach the present state. However, for higher capacity ladles still there is a lot of scope for improvement The present paper deals with the newly developed ASC bricks, which was used in 165 ton capacity hot metal ladles in one European plant and has given a substantial increase in performance. But, the customer was not fully satisfied since the brick was reported to produce smokes during preheating of the ladle. In the subsequent supply the smoke generation problem was taken care by adjusting the binders and additives and eco-friendly bricks were re-engineered and supplied to the same plant, which also performed splendidly and created all time record in their plant history. |
