Ultra-Low Cement Castables - A New Generation of Trough Bodies for Increased Cast House Life

摘要

In recent years blast furnaces have undergone several changes in operating practice. Furnace capacity has been increased by incorporating better quality bricks, hot metal temperature has been increased, blast pressure and temperature increased with a simultaneous increase in the tapping cycle. The cast house, used for distribution of hot metal into transport vessels, has also undergone improvement to cater to the needs of the improved blast furnace. In order to improve the service life of cast-house refractories, several new generation materials have come into the market. The use of all these newly developed materials have improved the life of the cast house to a great extent. In this paper, aspects such as thermal shock resistance vis-a-vis grains and additives of indigenously developed ultra-low cement castables (ULCC) are discussed.