Functional refractory materials compared to regular refractory products

Compared with conventional refractory products, functional refractory materials are characterized by their specialized functional role in metallurgical processes during use. They are often used as individual components or in combination with some auxiliary refractory products. They are produced with specialized manufacturing processes, and the materials selected are almost always high-performance, high-grade refractory materials, such as magnesia-carbon, alumina-carbon, zirconia-carbon, corundum, and zirconia types. Currently, most functional refractory materials in use are carbon-containing refractory materials. Jinan Zhongye High-Temperature Materials Co., Ltd. has advanced process equipment from the 1990s in China, with production lines including one for quality stable-fired sliding boards, one for non-fired aluminocarbon sliding boards, and supporting sliding board mechanisms, as well as one refractory material production line. The company has six workshops and a refractory material research institute. It has an annual production capacity of over 10,000 tons of sliding boards and water nozzle series products, over 3,000 sets of ladle sliding mechanisms, and over 15,000 tons of other unshaped refractory materials.

The use conditions for functional refractory materials are quite harsh. For example, sliding boards undergo thermal shock from molten steel and wear on the sliding surface during flow control; long water nozzles, integrated stoppers, and submerged nozzles used in continuous casting face thermal shock from molten steel when poured and strong erosion from slag during casting; permeable bricks endure strong thermal cycles during operation and erosion from steel flow stirred by airflow, and so on.

With the continuous development and maturation of continuous casting technology, there are increasingly higher demands on the service life and functionality of functional refractory materials. Therefore, Kerry Furnace’s general requirements for functional refractory materials are to ensure safety, reliability, and long service life under harsh conditions. Continuous casting functional refractory materials need to have high thermal shock resistance, high spalling resistance, strong erosion resistance, and the specific structural features necessary for their intended functions.