REFRACTORY

MATERIALS
• In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is
a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure,
or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at
high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline,
polyphase, inorganic, non-metallic, porous, and heterogeneous.
• They are typically composed of oxides or carbides, nitrides etc.
of the following materials:
• silicon, aluminium, magnesium, calcium, boron, chromium
and zirconium
• Refractory materials include natural ores and various products
made by certain purposes and requirements through certain
processes, which have certain high-temperature mechanical
properties and good volume stability.
• Refractory materials are used in various fields of the national
economy, such as iron and steel, nonferrous metal, glass,
cement, ceramics, petrochemical, machinery, boiler, light
industry, electric power, military industry, etc.
• It is an essential basic material to ensure the production and
operation of the above-mentioned industries and the
development of technology.
Types of refractory materials
• 1. Fired Refractory Products
• Fired refractory products are refractory materials obtained by
kneading, molding, drying and high-temperature firing of
granular and powdery refractory raw materials and binders.
 • 2. Non-Fired Refractory Products
Non-fired refractory products are refractory materials that are
made of granular, powdered refractory materials and suitable
binders but are directly used without being fired.
 • 3. Special Refractory
Special refractory is a kind of refractory material with special
properties made of one or more of high melting point oxides,
refractory non-oxides and carbon.
 • 4. Monolithic Refractory (Bulk Refractory Or Refractory
Concrete)
Monolithic refractories refer to refractory materials with
a reasonable gradation of granular, powdery refractory raw
materials, binders, and various admixtures that are not fired at
high temperatures, and are used directly after mixing, molding
and grilling material.
• 5. Functional Refractory Materials
• Functional refractory materials are fired or non-fired
refractory materials that are mixed with granulated and
powdered refractory raw materials and binders to form a
certain shape and have specific smelting applications.
• 6. Clay Bricks
• Clay bricks are aluminum silicate refractory materials
composed of mullite, glass phase, and cristobalite with an
AL203 content of 30% to 48%.
• Applications of Clay Bricks
• Clay bricks are a widely used refractory material. They are
often used in masonry blast furnaces, hot blast stoves, glass
kilns, rotary kilns, etc.
• 7. High Alumina Bricks
• High alumina bricks refer to refractory materials with an AL3
content of more than 48%, mainly composed of corundum,
mullite, and glass.
• Applications of High Alumina Bricks
• It is mainly used in the metallurgy industry to build the plug
and nozzle of a blast furnace, hot air furnace, electric furnace
roof, steel drum, and pouring system, etc.
• 8. Silicon Bricks
• The Si02 content of silicon brick is more than 93%, which is
mainly composed of phosphor quartz, cristobalite, residual
quartz, and glass.
• Applications of Silicon Bricks
• Silicon bricks are mainly used to build the partition walls of the
coking oven carbonization and combustion chambers, open-
hearth heat storage chambers, high-temperature bearing
parts of hot blast stoves, and vaults of other high-temperature
kilns.
• 9. Magnesium Bricks
• Magnesium bricks are alkaline refractory materials made from
sintered magnesia or fused magnesia as raw materials, which
are press-molded and sintered.
• Applications of Magnesium Bricks
• Magnesium bricks are mainly used in open-hearth furnaces,
electric furnaces, and mixed iron furnaces.
• 10. Corundum Bricks
• Corundum brick refers to refractory with alumina content
≥90% and corundum as the main phase.
• Applications of Corundum Bricks
• Corundum bricks are mainly used in blast furnaces, hot blast
stoves, refining outside the furnace, and sliding nozzles.
• 11. Ramming Material
• The ramming material refers to a bulk material formed by a
strong ramming method, which is composed of a certain size
of refractory material, a binder, and an additive.
• Applications of Ramming Material
• The ramming material is mainly used for the overall lining of
various industrial furnaces, such as open-hearth furnace
bottom, electric furnace bottom, induction furnace lining,
ladle lining, tapping trough, etc.
• 12. Plastic Refractory
• Plastic refractories are amorphous refractory materials that
have good plasticity over a long period of time. It is composed
of a certain grade of refractory, binder, plasticizer, water and
admixture.
• Applications of Plastic Refractory
• It can be used in various heating furnaces, soaking furnaces,
annealing furnaces, and sintering furnaces.
• 13. Casting Material
• The casting material is a kind of refractory with good fluidity,
suitable for pouring molding. It is a mixture of aggregate,
powder, cement, admixture and so on.
• Applications of Casting Material
• The casting material is mostly used in various industrial
furnaces. It is the most widely used monolithic refractory
material.
Radioactivity
• Radioactivity is a process by which certain naturally occurring
or artificial nuclides undergo spontaneous decay releasing a
new energy.
• This decay process is accompanied by the emission of one or
more types of radiation, ionizing or non-ionizing, and/or
particles.
• This decay, or loss of energy, results in an atom of one type,
called the parent nuclide, transforming to an atom of a
different type, named the daughter nuclide.
• The SI derived unit of radioactivity is the becquerel (symbol
Bq), which is defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive
material in which one nucleus decays per second; in other
words, Bq is equivalent to s−1.
Radionuclides (radioactive materials)

• Radionuclides (or radioactive materials) are a class of

chemicals where the nucleus of the atom is unstable.
• They achieve stability through changes in the nucleus
(spontaneous fission, emission of alpha particles, or
conversion of neutrons to protons or the reverse).
• This process is called radioactive decay or transformation, and
often is followed by the release of ionizing radiation (beta
particles, neutrons, or gamma rays).
List of Radioactive Materials
• Cesium
• Cobalt
• Iodine
• Ionizing Radiation
• Plutonium
• Radium
• Radon
• Strontium
• Thorium
• Uranium
• Radioactive materials are used for diagnostic radiology,
radiation medicine, and radiopharmaceuticals.
• Radiation hazards also exist wherever radioactive materials
are stored or radioactive waste products are discarded.