The majority of large coke ovens over 5 m height in Japan were built in the latter half of the 1960's~1). They have been in operation for over 20 years and soon will be approaching 30 years. Most of them will be gradually replaced within 10 years, but it is very important to be able to support their existing state as long as possible.No.1 coke oven (4 m height) of Wakayama Steel Works, which was placed in operation in 1960, was the first coke oven operation in Sumitomo Metals Industries Ltd. Later, 5 m class coke ovens were built in Wakayama and started up in September of 1969. Ovens of the 7 m class, which were the firs tin the 1971. Up to the present, investigations of refractories for repair systems have been carried out~(2)3)4)).The analysis of the alteration of silica bricks in operating coke ovens provides a guide for systematic oven repair and maintenance and basic data to diagnose with certainty the oven life. This information is also important for designing new ovens.Accordingly, several findings obtained by organizing the results of investigations completed up to now concerning the alteration of silica bricks in coke ovens are described in this paper.
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