Change in Development Trends of'Refractories in Japan in the Past Half Century

摘要

This paper presents the change in development trends of refractories in Japan in the past half century. The development trend is roughly divided into three period. The 1st period was "quality improvement", while the 2nd period was characterized by "change in quality" to cope with the change in the steelmaking process. In the 3rd stage, some new characteristics were added to products in order to differentiate them from imported refractories. And, the keyword for refractory development has shifted from "unit consumption" to "environment". Currently, labor productivity, raw material risks, and production energy for raw materials are pointed out as challenges faced by the Japanese refractory industry.