Skip to content

INFINITY FOR CEMENT EQUIPMENT

 Home Page

 Contact US

 ATTENTION ATTENTION !!!!

 MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS IN CEMENT INDUSTRY !! Essential..

 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
CEMENT KILN REFRACTORIES
Leave a Comment / KILN REFRACTORIES / By admin
Previous Post
Next Post

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO

KNOW ABOUT CEMENT KILN
REFRACTORIES
 

Attention!! to Download Most Important Books in Cement industry reviewed from

more than two thousands people + Manuals and noted from big Cement
Companies like F L  S , Holcim Lafarge , Cemex , + Excel sheets for calculations
process Click here Now 
 

Contents [hide]
 1 Characterization of Refractories
o 1.1 Introduction
o 1.2 Refractory Materials
o 1.3 Refractory Properties
 1.3.1 Specific Gravity
 1.3.2 Bulk Densities
 1.3.3 Apparent Porosity
 1.3.4 Permeability
  1.3.5 Mechanical Properties
 [Link] Cold Crushing Strength (CCS)
 [Link] Modulus of Rupture
 [Link] Modulus of Elasticity, Poisson’s Ratio, Hardness
 [Link] Fracture
 1.3.6 Thermal Properties
 [Link] Pyrometric Cone Equivalent (PCE)
 [Link] Reversible Thermal Expansion (RTE)
 [Link] Permanent Linear Change (PLC) on Reheating
 [Link] Thermal Conductivity
 [Link] Heat Capacity (Cp)
 [Link] Thermal Diffusivity (D)
 1.3.7 Thermo-mechanical Properties
 [Link] Hot Modulus of Rupture (HMOR)
 [Link] Refractoriness Under Load (RUL)
 [Link] Creep
 [Link] Thermal Shock Resistance
 [Link] Structural Spalling
 1.3.8 Corrosion Resistance
 [Link] Static Test Method
 [Link] Dynamic Test Method
 1.3.9 Alkali Resistance Test
 1.3.10 Microstructure Study
 [Link] Optical Microscopy
 [Link] SEM and EDAX
 [Link] X-Ray Diffraction
 [Link] XRF
 2 Classification and Features of Different Types of Refractories
o 2.1 Classification of Refractories
 2.1.1 Basis of Classification
 2.1.2 By Basicity
 2.1.3 By Form
 [Link] Shaped Refractories
 [Link] Unshaped Refractories
 2.1.4 Insulating Property
 2.1.5 Special Chemistry
 3 Manufacturing and Properties of Refractories
o 3.1 Introduction
o 3.2 Shaped Refractories
 3.2.1 Aluminosilicate Refractories
 [Link] Fireclay Refractories
 [Link] High Alumina Refractories
 3.2.2 Basic Refractory
 [Link] Magnesia-Chrome Refractories
 [Link] Magnesia-Alumina Spinel
 [Link] Magnesia Hercynite
  [Link] Magnesia Zirconia
 [Link] Dolomite
o 3.3 Unshaped Refractories
 3.3.1 Castable
 [Link] Conventional Castable
 [Link] Low Cement Castable (LCC)
 [Link] Ultra-low Cement Castable (ULCC)
 [Link] No Cement Castable (NCC)
 [Link] Gunning Mass
 [Link] Shotcrete and Pumpable Material
 3.3.2 Ramming Mass
 3.3.3 Plastic
 3.3.4 Mortar
o 3.4 Insulation Refractory
 3.4.1 Insulation Shapes
 3.4.2 Calcium Silicate
 3.4.3 Ceramic Fiber Products
 3.4.4 Insulation Castable
 4 Cement Manufacturing and Process Control
o 4.1 Cement Manufacturing: Basic Process and Operation
o 4.2 Raw Material
o 4.3 Fuel
o 4.4 Different Plant Design
 4.4.1 Suspension Preheater (SP) Kiln
 4.4.2 Line Calciner Using Excess Air
 4.4.3 In-Line Calciner (ILC)
 4.4.4 Separate Line Calciner Downdraft (SLC-D)
 4.4.5 Separate Line Calciner (SLC)
 4.4.6 Separate Line Calciner with In-Line Calciner (SLC-I)
o 4.5 Rotary Kiln
o 4.6 Kiln Control Parameters
 4.6.1 Burning Zone Temperature (BZT)
 [Link] Pyrometer
 [Link] NOx
 [Link] Kiln Torque
 [Link] Secondary Air Temperature (SAT)
 [Link] Back-End Temperature (BET)
 4.6.2 Oxygen Control
o 4.7 Control Variables
 4.7.1 Fuel Rate
 4.7.2 Feed Rate
 4.7.3 Kiln Draft
 4.7.4 Kiln Speed
o 4.8 Chemical Parameters
o 4.9 Start-Up and Shutdown
 4.9.1 Heat Up
  4.9.2 Shutdown
 5 Selection of Refractory
o 5.1 Introduction
o 5.2 Refractory Selection
 5.2.1 Cyclones and Ducts
 5.2.2 Calciner
 5.2.3 Riser Duct
 5.2.4 Smoke Chamber
 5.2.5 Meal Pipes
 [Link] Insulation
 5.2.6 Kiln Hood
 [Link] Insulation
 5.2.7 Tertiary Air Duct and Cooler
 [Link] Grate Cooler
 5.2.8 Kiln
 [Link] Inlet Cone
 [Link] Preheating Zone
 [Link] Transition Zone
 [Link] Burning Zone
 [Link] Outlet Area (Retainer Ring and Nose Ring)
 [Link] Brick Shapes for the Kiln Lining
 [Link] Calculation of Combination of Two Different Brick Sizes
 6 Refractory Design, Installation, and Maintenance
o 6.1 Introduction
o 6.2 Refractory Lining in Rotary Kiln
 6.2.1 Storage
 6.2.2 Tools and Tackles
 6.2.3 Preview of Drawings
 6.2.4 Kiln Shell Inspection
 6.2.5 Reference Line: Longitudinal
 6.2.6 Reference Line: Circumferential
 6.2.7 Brick Shapes and Size
 6.2.8 Lining Thickness
o 6.3 Laying of Bricks
 6.3.1 Mortar Joints
 6.3.2 Expansion Joints
o 6.4 Vertical Wall Lining
 6.4.1 Basic Rules of Refractory Lining
o 6.5 Installation of Monolithics
 6.5.1 Conventional Castables
 6.5.2 Low Cement/Ultra-Low Cement /No Cement Castables
 [Link] recautions to Be Taken During Installation to Get Best
Performance
 6.5.3 Shotcreting
 6.5.4 Gunning
 6.5.5 Pumping
  [Link] Monitoring and Safety
 6.5.6 Joints
 [Link] Expansion Joints
 [Link] Separation Joints
o 6.6 Choice of Installation Method
 6.6.1 Location and Site Condition
 6.6.2 Environmental Condition and Equipments
 6.6.3 Volume of the Refractory That Need to Be Installed
 6.6.4 Ease and Speed of Installation
 6.6.5 Storage Condition
 6.6.6 Skill of Installation Team
 6.6.7 Budget
o 6.7 Anchor
 6.7.1 Anchor Construction Material
 6.7.2 Anchor Shape and Size Design
 [Link] Fixing of Metal Anchors
 [Link] Fixing of Ceramic Anchors
 6.7.3 Spacing
 [Link] Support Spacing Based on Strength of Anchors
 [Link] Support Spacing Based on the Strength of the Castable
o 6.8 Drying and Preheating
 6.8.1 Preheating of Bricks
 6.8.2 Preheating of Castable
o 6.9 Carbonation
 7 Refractory Performances and Mechanism of Damages
o 7.1 Introduction
o 7.2 Thermo-chemical Effects
 7.2.1 Aluminosilicate Refractories
 [Link] Interaction with Alkalis
 [Link] Interaction with Sulfur
 [Link] Interaction with Chlorides
 [Link] Interaction with Vanadium Oxides
 7.2.2 Basic Refractories
 [Link] Alkali Reaction
 [Link] Interaction with SO2 / SO3 /Cl
 [Link] Effect of Vanadium Oxides
 [Link] Hydration
 [Link] Redox Reactions
 [Link] Attack of the liquid phase
o 7.3 Thermal Load
 7.3.1 Overheating
o 7.4 Flame
o 7.5 Thermo- mechanical Aspect
 7.5.1 Ovality
 [Link] Determination of Ovality
 7.5.2 Cranking
  7.5.3 Creep and Migration of Tires
 7.5.4 Thermal Distribution
 7.5.5 Strain-Controlled Load
 7.5.6 Thermal Shock
o 7.6 Abrasion of Clinker and Dusts
o 7.7 Ring Formation and Buildup
o 7.8 Refractory Failure Due to Anchor
 7.8.1 Sigma Phase Embrittlement
 7.8.2 Schaeffler-De Long Diagram
o 7.9 Kiln Diameter
o 7.10 Lining Failure Statistics
 8 Coating and Burnability of Clinker
o 8.1 Coating and Its Function
o 8.2 Formation
o 8.3 Mechanism of Coating Formation
o 8.4 Coating Destabilization and Destruction
o 8.5 Test for Coatability
o 8.6 Effect of Composition and Microstructure
o 8.7 Coating Collapse
o 8.8 Burnability
 8.8.1 Burnability Test
 9 Heat Transfer
o 9.1 Introduction
o 9.2 Mechanism of Heat Transfer
 9.2.1 Conduction
 9.2.2 Convection
 [Link] Vertical Wall
 [Link] Horizontal Wall
 [Link] Vertical Cylinder
 [Link] Horizontal Cylinder
 9.2.3 Radiation
 9.2.4 Heat Loss Calculation
o 9.3 Combined Heat Loss by Conduction, Convection, and Radiation
 9.3.1 Energy Loss Norm Through Different Equipments
 9.3.2 Use of Insulation in Rotary Kiln
 9.3.3 Criteria of the Use of Insulation
 10 Management of Quality and Inspection
o 10.1 Introduction
o 10.2 Quality Management
o 10.3 Inspection Plan: General
 10.3.1 Inspection Plan for Procurement of Material
 10.3.2 Inspection of Materials
 [Link] Shaped Refractory Materials
 [Link] Unshaped (Monolithic) Refractory Materials
o 10.4 Inspection of Installation
  10.4.1 Inspection Plan for Installation of Refractory Materials
 [Link] Technical Documentation and Installation Manual
 [Link] Preliminary Inspection of the Construction Part
 [Link] Inspection of Incoming Material, Its Storage, and
Transportation to the Site
 [Link] Readiness of the Equipments and Utilities
 [Link] Qualification of Personnel
 [Link] Compliance with Engineering Requirements
 [Link] Compliance with Application Guideline
 10.4.2 Inspection of Preheating Arrangements
 10.4.3 Final Inspection and Acceptance

Characterization of Refractories
 

Introduction
In the journey of mankind from cave to skyscraper, the Portland cement played a very
important role. The modern civilization owe a lot to the contribution of cement and
concrete as a building material for construction of bridges, buildings, roads, dams, tunnels,
and tall structures which are being used by the people everywhere in every walk of life.

The Portland cement is manufactured by high-temperature reaction of clay or shale with

calcium oxide of limestone or chalk to form cementing phases like dical-cium silicate and
tricalcium silicate. This high-temperature reaction takes place inside a reactor called kiln. To
contain the temperature inside the kiln and various other accessory equipments, on a
continuous basis, to make the manufacturing pos-sible on industrial scale, the Refractories
play a very important role. A refractory lining inside the reactor maintains the temperature
range of the reactor metal struc-ture within a tolerable limit. The Refractory lining also
inhibits the heat flow from inside of the reactor to outside and thus helps conserving the
energy, which provides economy to the process. Without the availability of a proper
Refractory, it would have not been possible to produce cement in industrial scale,
economically.

Refractories are basically serving two purposes: firstly to contain the high tem-perature
required for the process to produce cement clinkers and secondly to insu-late the reactors
to inhibit the flow of energy out from the system. Two different types of Refractories are
used to serve these two different purposes. In the first case, the dense Refractories are used
to contain the temperature, and in the second case, the insulating Refractories are used to
insulate the energy flow out of the system conserving valuable energy.
In the metallurgical and process industries, the Refractory practices are continu-ously
getting changed, both, because of changing demand of technology at the users’ end and
the availability of advanced material, which gives better perfor-mances and better economy.
The cement industry is not an exception to that.

Refractory Materials
The Refractory materials are inert inorganic solid materials which are stable at high
temperature in contact with corrosive solid, liquid, and gas and can retain its physi-cal
shapes and structural strength at high temperature. These are mainly oxides, carbides,
nitrides, and borides of aluminum, silicon, alkaline earth metals, and tran-sition metals.
Table  1.1 furnishes a comprehensive chart of different refractory materials with very high
melting point.

Out of all these materials, very few qualify to be used in industrial scale, because of their
instability under normal atmospheric condition or because of the rare availability and high
cost. For example, barium oxide or calcium carbide and aluminum carbide react very fast
with atmospheric moisture. Vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, haf-nium, etc. are too
expensive to be considered for Refractory application. Finally, the oxides like Al2O3, SiO2,
MgO, CaO, Cr2O3, ZrO2, and carbon in different mineralogi-cal form, individually or in
combination (Fig. 1.1), are used most widely to manufac-ture refractories for all
metallurgical, chemical process industries and in other applications. The criteria of selection,
of the abovementioned materials, are their abun-dance in nature, stability, and ease of
processing to manufacture Refractory products.

The source of the raw materials can be natural or synthetic. The raw materials used for
Refractory manufacturing are mainly naturally occurring minerals like bauxite, magnesite,
clay, etc. which are mined and processed before being used for refractory manufacturing.
Some synthetic materials like mullite (3Al2O3·2SiO2), fused alumina (Al2O3), silicon carbide
(SiC), spinel (MgO·Al2O3), etc. are also being used widely in Refractories for cement
industry. Properties of the naturally occurring raw materials may vary considerably from one
country to another, because its geological formation and associated impurities vary.
Refractory Properties
 

Refractories are characterized by their chemical and physical properties and are used to
correlate its behavior in actual high-temperature application.

Specific Gravity
All different Refractory minerals have different densities, and it is a fundamental property of
the material. Refractory materials can be identified by their specific gravities. Specific gravity
can be determined by making powder of the sample of a specific size and using a specific
gravity bottle and a balance. Table 1.2 gives the specific gravity value of some Refractory
bricks and Refractory minerals.

Bulk Densities
It is the mass of the material per unit volume including pores. For same kind of Refractory,
the bulk density can vary. The higher is the bulk density, the lesser will be the porosity and
normally more will be the mechanical strength. Bulk density is different from the true
density in the way that the total volume considered in the calculation is the sum of the
volume of both material and pores. Therefore the value of true density is always more than
that of the bulk density.

Apparent Porosity
Refractories contain pores; some of the pores are open and connected and some are closed
(Fig. 1.2). Total volume of a refractory body = volume of the matter + vol-ume of the open
pores + the volume of the closed pores. The apparent porosity of refractory, expressed in %,
is defined as

It is a very important property and influences the mechanical strength, corrosion resistance,
and thermal conductivity of a Refractory. Porosity and bulk density of a refractory are
inversely related. The lower the apparent porosity, the more will be the bulk density,
mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, and corrosion resis-tance of the body. Besides
total pore volume, the pore sizes are also very important to influence the corrosion
resistance and thermal conductivity of the Refractory. The smaller the pore sizes, the better
is the corrosion resistance and the lower is the thermal conductivity. True porosity is the
total volume of open and closed pores. It is expressed in % and is defined as

The test for dense brick can be done as per the method ISO 5017.1988 of International
Standard Organization and for insulating shapes the test is carried out by the method given
in ISO 5016.1986.

The volume, size, and structure of the pores have close relationship with the penetration of
slag and the permeation of gases inside the Refractories. The pore diameter in dense and
fired refractory materials is in the range of 0.1–100 millimi-cron (μm). Larger pores are found
in insulating refractories. Refractory castables have high share of pores below 1 μm.

Permeability
It is the measure of flow of gases through pores within the Refractory body, and it indicates
the extent of pore linkage. Permeability of Refractories gives an indication on how well the
Refractory will stand up to molten slag, a melt or to a gas penetration.

Specific gas permeability is defined by the equation given below, with laminar gas flow:

The factor 2p/(p1 + p2) = 1 for small pressure differences.

The unit of gas permeability is m2. The value for the gas permeability of refractories is
usually very low and is normally expressed as μm2. The previously used unit was perm or
nanoperm and 1 μm2 = 10 nPm.

Gas permeability of the refractories is determined by the share of pores with diameter
greater than 10 μm. Gas permeability decreases substantially with increas-ing temperature
and the increasing viscosity of the gases at higher temperature. A decrease of 50%
permeability can be expected at 500 °C temperature. At higher temperature the closure of
microcracks also bring down the permeability.

The permeability of a Refractory to gas can be determined by ISO standard method 8841.
Mechanical Properties
At ambient temperature these properties gives an idea about the mechanical strength
required to transport and handle the Refractory-shaped products at work sites.

Cold Crushing Strength (CCS)

In this test, the cube of a specific dimension cut from the brick sample is subjected to
increasing load, until it gets crushed and the test result is reported as the value load per unit
area. It indicates the adequacy of firing temperature, for shaped Refractory products,
required for proper sintering and to develop the required microstructure and the quality of
hydraulic or chemical bond in case of unshaped Refractories. In the unshaped products, the
CCS does not remain same after heat treatment, and it decreases or increases with
temperature of heat treatment. The good cold crushing strength of shaped Refractories
protects them from damages during handling and also from mechanical abuses in service.
CCS can be deter-mined following the method given in ISO standard method 10059-1 and
10059-2.

Modulus of Rupture
The test is conducted by putting the bar of a specified size cut from the Refractory body on
two-point supports and applying load on the middle of two supports till the bar breaks (Fig.
1.4a). It is calculated as

Modulus of Elasticity, Poisson’s Ratio, Hardness

It defines the stress-strain relationship and is a fundamental property of material. Like any
other material, the Refractories also obey Hooke’s law, and, accordingly, it exhibits a linear
relationship between applied stress (σ) and the mechanical defor-mation (strain  =  ε). The
proportionality constant between the two is modulus of elasticity, E, when the stress is
compressive or tensile. If shear stress (G) or torsional stress (τ) is applied, the strain is γ, and
the proportionality constant is called shear modulus, G. Thus the mathematical relations are

Fracture
Refractories are composite brittle material at ambient temperature, and its frac-ture process
is different from that of high strength single-phased ceramic material with fine grain size.
Refractory lining is to withstand different mechanical and thermo- mechanical stresses
developed during its use. For example, mechanical stresses generated because of ovality in
the kiln shell or thermo-mechanical stresses generated during heating and cooling of
refractory lining.

The brittleness of a material can be visualized from the load-displacement curve of that
material under three-point bending as done in Modulus of Rupture Test (Fig. 1.4a). If the
load-displacement curve shows a pattern like that in Fig. 1.4b, it will be considered as brittle
material [3].

But it is to be borne in mind that Refractories are not very strong, by nature, and need not
to be very strong also, because it is not used to carry any load except its own weight. The
main purpose of Refractory lining is to protect the equipment steel casing or shell, from
high temperature. The strength of refractory at higher temperature is of more concern to
the Refractory engineers than its strength at ambient temperature. When the HMOR of
Refractory is plotted against the tem-perature, it exhibits a maximum value and then
decreases rapidly with increase of temperature.

The magnitude of the maximum strength obtained at a temperature between 600 °C and
1400 °C, depends upon the type of Refractory. The displacement curve of a Refractory if
plotted against load at high temperature shows a curve as in Fig. 1.4c, which shows no more
brittleness and plastic flow in the material. Thus, it is very important to understand that
Refractories are brittle material with low strength at low temperature and becomes still
weaker at elevated temperature, but it develops plasticity above 600 °C and becomes much
less brittle [4, 5].

Microcracks always exist in refractory body with coarse grains. When a stress is applied on
the refractories, some of the cracks may propagate to cause failure of the Refractory. The
strength of the refractory body depends on the dimension of the crack. The fracture
toughness KIC is proportional to the square root of the critical crack length (Eq. 1.4) [4]:

where σ is the critical stress, Y is a geometric factor, and C is the critical crack length. The
higher is the fracture toughness, the more difficult it is, to initiate and propagate a crack.
For Refractories the fracture toughness remains within the value 0.5–1.2 MPa·m0.5.

Wedge-Splitting Test

Technologists have devised a test called wedge-splitting test which gives the idea about the
toughness of a refractory or its resistance to crack under the influence of mechanical
stresses. The schematic diagram of the devise is shown in Fig. 1.5 [5]. A sample of
100 mm × 100 mm × 75 mm is cut out of the brick and is provided with a starter notch, and
two side-guided notches are taken and are put into the testing machine, and the load is
applied on the wedge vertically [6, 7].

The application of the vertical force Fv develops two horizontal forces FH and causes the
splitting of the sample. During the testing process, the displacement is recorded. From the
load-displacement diagram, the specific fracture energy can be determined by integration:

where δult is the ultimate displacement before splitting of the test sample, A is the area of
projection of the fracture surface, and GF is the specific fracture energy in N/m2.

where β = angle of the wedge in Fig. 1.5.

The higher the value of the GF, the tougher will be the Refractory for an applica-tion. The
same test can be carried out in higher temperature also. This test becomes very useful to
predict the behavior of basic Refractories in the application of burn-ing zone in cement
rotary kiln. The typical load-displacement graph of wedge- splitting test is shown in Fig. 1.6
[8, 9].

Abrasion Resistance
This test becomes important for the application where the Refractory lining is exposed to
moving gases, liquid, or solid. The higher is the velocity of the moving particles, the higher
will be the abrasion. Two standard testing methods are followed to com-pare the abrasion
resistance of Refractory body, namely, ASTM C704 or BS 1902.4 and EN 993-20 – the
grinding method according to DIN 52 108 or DIN EN 102.
The abrasion resistance of Refractories depends on the intrinsic hardness of the grains in
the bonded structure and also depends upon the microstructural features,

e., grain size, porosity, pore sizes, etc. Correlations exist between porosity, cold crushing
strength, and cold modulus of rupture, which can be utilized for the rough evaluation of
abrasion resistance. But the prediction of abrasion resistance, based on strength factor
alone, is insufficient, because the bond phase of the refractory, the abrasive media grain
size, grain morphology, and the angle of impingement of the grains have tremendous
influence on abrasion resistance [10–12, 14]. Abrasion gen-erally decreases in a fired brick
with increasing temperature [13, 15]. It can be zero when the brick surface attains a visco-
plastic state.

In monolithic Refractories, a general relation is known to exist between abrasion resistance

and the modulus of rupture; the higher is the modulus of rupture, the bet-ter is its
resistance to abrasion (Fig. 1.7) [11]. Abrasion loss is highest when the impingement of the
particles on the refractory surface is at right angle, but it does not hold good when the
impinging particles are much smaller compared to the aggregate size of the monolithic
refractory. When the size of the impinging particles are much smaller than the aggregates,
then the matrix of the monolithic refractory undergoes abrasion first, although the abrasion
resistance of the aggregate may be very good, and loosens the aggregates, which falls off.
Therefore, in that case, to withstand the abrasion of dust laden gases, the matrix must have
to be abrasion resistant, and use of abrasion resistant aggregate alone will not be effective.
If the impinging grains are larger than the average aggregate size, then both the aggregate
and the matrix are removed together and both need to be abrasion resistant.

Abrasion resistance of a refractory can be determined following ASTM C704-94 standard. It

is a comparative method to test the abrasion resistance of two or more products under
identical condition.

The abrasion resistance of a Refractory surface in service can change drastically as a result of
corrosion or by a coating on the surface. Extensive abrasion and ero-sion can also occur
when hot gases (even dust unladen) pass over the lining at high speed. Table 1.3 shows the
variations of abrasion of some of the refractories with temperature.

The abrasion results in the wear of the refractory lining. For a preheater kiln, the normal
wear rate is about 0.6 kg/ton of clinker produced.
Thermal Properties
Pyrometric Cone Equivalent (PCE)
Most of the refractories are made of the naturally occurring raw materials, which contain
some inherent impurities. Sometimes the presence of the impurities brings down the
softening point of the refractory. Refractory products are normally a com-bination of
different raw materials and do not have sharp melting point similar to pure crystalline
material. Depending upon the quality and quantity of impurities, the liquid phases are
formed at elevated temperature. The quantity of the liquid and its viscosity dictate the
softening behavior of refractory. The PCE test gives an idea about the softening temperature
and behavior of the Refractory material. From the idea of softening point, we can roughly
estimate the MST (maximum service tem-perature) which can be considered as 200 °C
below the PCE. The PCE value can also be used to compare the refractoriness of two
refractory products from different sources or two similar raw materials from different
sources. In this test the Refractory material is ground fine and made in the form of a cone of
a specific size. The cone is mounted on an alumina plate (Fig. 1.8) along with few standard
cones having a definite softening temperature and put in a furnace, and the temperature is
gradually raised till the test cone starts bending along with another standard cone. The
softening point of the test cone is reported as the cone number of the standard cone along
with which it bends. The test method in ISO528.1983 can be followed to determine the PCE.

Reversible Thermal Expansion (RTE)

Like all other materials, the Refractory also expands when heated and comes back to its
original dimension on cooling. The reversible thermal expansion values of different types of
Refractories are different. For construction of the furnace lining, this is an important
parameter to be taken into consideration, because the provision has to be kept for
expansion of the Refractories, during actual operation of the fur-nace, when the lining gets
heated up.

In the Refractory industry, it is expressed as % expansion from room temperature to a

certain temperature. For example, if the length of a Refractory bar of length L1, on heating
to a certain temperature, becomes L2, then the thermal expansion of the body at that
temperature is
If the provision for expansion is not kept in a lining, tremendous amount of stress can be
generated which may lead to collapse of the lining.

The thermal expansion is measured by the instrument dilatometer.

Permanent Linear Change (PLC) on Reheating

Refractory bricks, during the course of manufacturing, when fired at high tempera-ture,
generally change in dimensions. It either shrinks or expands. It is because of solid-state
reaction, forming liquid phases or because of some phase transformation. The kinetics of
the solid-state reactions, generally, are very slow and never attains equilibrium in the course
of the firing process, adopted during manufacturing. Therefore, the Refractories, when
exposed to high temperature for long duration in service, change dimension often, which is
irreversible and is known as permanent linear change (PLC). It is also expressed in %, similar
to RTE.  This property is determined by heating a bar, cut out from a Refractory body, at a
specified tempera-ture for specified time. Initial length and the length after the firing are
measured to determine the % PLC. Refractories, sometimes, are designed purposefully to
have a positive or negative PLC. The PLC of a refractory product can be determined fol-
lowing ISO standard method ISO2478.1987.

Thermal Conductivity
It is the fundamental property of a material and can give the estimation of heat flow
through a material. Heat energy flows from high temperature, inside the furnace, to low
temperature ambience, outside the furnace, through Refractory lining of the furnace. In a
steady-state operation of a furnace, after a part of the thermal energy is absorbed by the
furnace construction material, there is a steady outflow of energy from the system, and it is
a very important factor to decide the economy of the pro-cess. Thermal conductivity of
Refractory lining material is thus an important param-eter for designing the furnace lining.

The thermal conductivity is different for different material, and it is a function of

temperature and atmosphere. That is why the thermal conductivity at mean tem-perature is
used for design purpose. The major factors that affect the thermal con-ductivity of
Refractory material are the mineral composition, the amount of amorphous material, its
pore volume, pore size distribution, and temperature. Thermal conductivity also depends
upon the composition of the gases surrounding the refractory. The thermal conductivity of
an aluminosilicate Refractory is much higher in hydrogen atmosphere than what it is in
normal atmosphere. Thermal con-ductivity is a difficult property to measure in a steady-
state method, because it takes a very long time to attain steady state and to maintain it.
Therefore unsteady-state method which is easier and saves time is widely used, and one of
these widely used methods is hot wire method.
Thermal conductivity can be measured following the method given in ISO- 8894.2.1990 or
8894.1.1987.

Thermal conductivity of the refractories used in cement industry is important because the
cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive process. The heat loss due to radiation and
convection from the surface of the kiln shell is substantial, and if it cannot be controlled, the
energy cost will go up. Table 1.4 shows the heat loss from the surface of the rotary kiln shell,
per unit area per hour in case the ambient temperature is 21 °C and air velocity zero and 1.5
m/s, respectively [14]. The heat loss is quite substantial and can be calculated for the whole
kiln of a known diameter and length.

Heat Capacity (Cp)

It is a fundamental property of the material. This gives an estimation of the heat stored in
Refractory structure in a furnace. Cp value is important, when it is required to calculate the
heat required to raise the temperature of the Refractory to a certain temperature.

Thermal Diffusivity (D)

The thermal diffusivity is a measure of how quickly a body can change its tempera-ture. It is
defined as

Thermo-mechanical Properties
The refractory materials are used in high temperature and different types of com-pressive,
tensile, and shear stresses act on the refractory body at high temperature. The refractory
must be able to withstand those stresses at high temperature. The thermo-mechanical
properties of the refractory give an idea about the capability of the refractory to withstand
those stresses at elevated temperatures. The thermo- mechanical properties and some tests,
devised to measure those properties, will be discussed here.

Hot Modulus of Rupture (HMOR)

This is similar to three-point bending test performed in cold modulus of rupture, but it is
performed at higher temperature inside a furnace, and the HMOR value is calcu-lated using
same formula. HMOR value indicates the tensile stress the refractory can withstand at
certain temperature. It gives an idea about the bonding strength between the matrix and
the grains, in the Refractory body. It is influenced by the amount of liquid generated at the
test temperature, its viscosity, and the microstructure, i.e., the nature of porosity,
microcracks, etc., and their distribution in the Refractory body. This test can be carried out
following the method given in ISO 5013.1985.

Refractoriness Under Load (RUL)

Refractories deform when put under a compressive stress at elevated temperature. The
deformation is mainly due to the formation of liquid phases formed in the matrix of the
refractory body at elevated temperature. The extent of deformation depends upon the
temperature, the compressive stress, and the quantity and viscos-ity of the liquid phases
formed. The higher is the volume of the liquid phases formed and lower is their viscosity,
the higher will be the deformation at high temperature. Higher temperature and higher
compressive stresses lead to more deformation.

RUL measures the temperature at which a specific deformation of Refractory occurs and
gives an idea about the load-bearing capacity of the Refractory at high temperature. RUL
can be determined following the test method given in ISO1893.1989.

In this test the cylindrical sample of diameter 50 mm and height 50 mm is drilled out of the
Refractory body and is put into a vertical tubular furnace, on one of its flat side. A load of
0.2 MPa is applied on the surface through a graphite rod, and tem-perature is raised at a
rate of 5 °C/min. The change of length of the sample is mea-sured during heating and
plotted against temperature as a curve shown in Fig. 1.9. The temperatures at which
deformation of 0.2%, 2%, and 5% occurs are denoted on the temperature vs deformation
curve as T0.2, T2, and T5. The deformation shown in the figure is [{ΔH(in
mm)}/50] × 100% = 2ΔH %.

Creep
This property characterizes the time-dependent deformation of the refractory at high
temperature. When a refractory is subjected to a compressive stress for a long time, then its
deformation behavior over that period can be predicted by this prop-erty. In this test, the
cylindrical sample of 50 mm diameter and 50 mm height is drilled out of the Refractory
under testing. The sample is put into a cylindrical fur-nace and temperature is raised to test
temperature and a load of 0.2 MPa is applied. The temperature and the load are kept
constant. The deformation of the sample is measured against time over a long duration to
get its creep behavior. The creep in compression can be measured following the ISO
method 3187.1989.

Thermal Shock Resistance

Refractory lining faces temperature cycling during its campaign for various reasons, for
example, because of start-up and shut down of the kiln, because of variation in fuel rate, etc.
In most of the cases, because of exigency of production, the heating and cooling are made
fast. The fast temperature variation in the kiln or furnace causes the development of
thermo-mechanical stresses in the refractory lining.

Differential temperature in the lining results to differential expansion in the same body and
develops mechanical stresses, either compressive or tensile in nature, which ultimately
damages the refractory.

The Refractory lining develops compressive stress on fast heating and tensile stress on fast
cooling of the furnace. Normally the ceramic materials are weaker under tensile stress, and
therefore the fast cooling damages the Refractory more than fast heating.

The thermal shock resistance of a Refractory is related to its other properties like thermal
conductivity, thermal expansion coefficient, modulus of elasticity, and rup-ture strength. The
higher the thermal conductivity and rupture strength, the better is the thermal shock
resistance. Lower value of modulus of elasticity and thermal expansion coefficient make the
thermal shock resistance property of the body better.

Rapid temperature change on the surface of a refractory body causes large tem-perature
gradient that leads to considerable stress which can be expressed by the equation below [2].

This equation says that a refractory with high strength and high thermal conduc-tivity, low
modulus of elasticity and low thermal expansion the resistance to crack initiation is high.

To test the thermal shock resistance property in laboratory, normal Refractory samples of
definite shape are cut out of the Refractory bricks, and the samples are heated at a definite
temperature for definite time, and then it is quenched either in cold air or water for a certain
time and the total process is called one cycle. The same process is continued till the
refractory suffers a specified dam-age, and it is reported as the number of cycle under the
specified condition of heating and cooling. The thermal shock resistance testing is carried
out to compare between two or more refractory products. The PRE/R5 method of European
Federation of Refractories can be used for this comparison.
Structural Spalling
Many times, during service, an altered zone is formed in the refractory lining, near the
working surface. It is formed due to chemical reaction of the refractory lining, with the
different materials it remains in contact, during the operation of the fur-nace. The altered
layer tends to crack or fall off in the form of thin or thick layer called “peeling” or “slabbing,”
even due to the formation of an internal stress caused by the small temperature fluctuation.
The stress builds up, due to the mismatch of properties between the original and altered
zone of the refractory as a result of min-eralogical changes and liquid phase formation. The
major cause of the formation of altered zone is the chemical reaction of refractory at
elevated temperature, with dif-ferent gas, liquid, and solid phases remaining in contact with
refractory, forming different mineral phases. The overheating, which accelerates those
reactions and the formation of the liquid phases, causes densification of the refractory body
in the altered zone.

Corrosion Resistance
It is the property of the refractory which indicates its inertness to chemical reaction with the
specified solid, liquid, or gas at high temperature. Due to the chemical reac-tions
mentioned, the Refractory forms different products or phases which are not suitable as a
Refractory material, and the Refractory stops functioning for the pur-pose it is used. The
reactions are more prominent with liquid and gases, and the reaction rate increases fast
with increasing temperature. The process of corrosion is very complex in nature and is a
combination of chemical and physical processes. Besides the chemical reaction, the pores in
the refractory allow the molten liquid or gas to permeate inside and to react further [16].
The reaction products may develop stress because of its higher volume and cause cracks in
the body, which increases contact area with further enhancement of corrosion. For the
physical penetration of the liquid, the rate of penetration dl/dt is governed by the equation:

where r = radius of pore, γ = surface tension of liquid, η = viscosity of the melt, and
θ = wetting angle or contact angle (Fig. 1.10). Equation 1.17 shows that higher pore size of
refractory, lower wetting angle of the liquid on the refractory, and lower viscosity increase
the rate of penetration. The reaction rate increases fast with increas-ing temperature and
the type of flow of the fluid (laminar or turbulent) in contact.

It is very difficult to simulate the conditions of the refractory and melt reaction in the
laboratory. The corrosion resistance test is a qualitative test, designed to com-pare the
affinity of two or more refractory products, to react with a liquid, at a cer-tain temperature.
However, to get the idea of the compatibility of a refractory to a particular liquid phase at
certain temperature, tests are carried out. There are two different type of tests are normally
carried out, static and dynamic.

Static Test Method

In static test, a cube of 75 mm size is cut out of the refractory under testing. A drill is made
of 25 or 50 mm diameter and depth of 40–50 mm in one face of the cube. The cup made is
filled with the solid with which the reaction of the refractory is to be studied, when it is in
molten condition. The cube is then put in the furnace and fired till the desired temperature
is reached. The sample is allowed to reside inside the furnace at that temperature for a
specific time, allowing the reaction to happen, and then the furnace is put off and cooled.
The refractory cube is taken out, and the cup is cut vertically to observe the extent of the
reaction. It is a comparative test that is difficult to quantify. The judgment of corrosion
resistance is made by visual observation only, after a refractory is allowed to undergo
through a corrosion reac-tion at a specified temperature for a specified time.

Dynamic Test Method

In dynamic slag test, the melt remains in the furnace in a crucible, and an attachment holds
a small bar (cut out of refractory) of a specified dimension which rotates on its axis in the
melt at a desired test temperature for a specified time. Then the sample is taken out of the
melt, cooled, and is visually observed for the reaction happens.

Alkali Resistance Test

It is qualitative test and compares the alkali resistance of a Refractory with others. In this test
a 40 mm hole is drilled in a Refractory brick to form a cup. The cup is filled with potassium
carbonate, covered with a refractory lid and the test piece is put into a furnace, and the
temperature is raised to 1100 °C and kept for 2 hours. The furnace is put off and cooled. The
test piece is observed. The test piece develops crack if it is not resistant to alkali attack. The
extent of crack determines its resis-tance towards alkali attack. Figure 1.11 shows the test
samples after alkali resis-tance test. Different test methods are available to compare the
corrosion resistance of two or more Refractory products under identical condition. It can be
tested by C454-83 of ASTM standard.

Microstructure Study
Refractories are normally made of small grains bonded by a matrix of fines and glassy
phase. The key elements of the microstructure are the individual grain bound-aries, pores,
and microcracks. Microstructure tells about the grain sizes and mor-phology, pore sizes and
morphology, orientation and distribution of the grains, matrix and pores, presence of
different mineral phases, presence of microcracks, etc. All the microstructural features
influence the physical properties of the Refractory. The microstructure of the Refractory
cannot be seen in the naked eye and is revealed through different instrumental methods as
mentioned here.

Optical Microscopy
The polished section of the Refractory or thin section of the Refractory can be seen under
high-resolution microscope by either reflected light or by transmitting light. The photo can
be taken to record the microstructural features. It shows the grain sizes, pore sizes, and their
distribution along with that of matrix, the morphology of grains and pores, and different
mineralogical phases (Fig. 1.12).

SEM and EDAX
In this instrument electron beam is used in place of ordinary light. Magnetic field does the
function of lens in electron microscope. The resolution in this microscope is very high and
1000 times more than the optical microscope. It enables us to see the microstructure with
much larger magnification (Fig. 1.13). The different meth-ods of testing, using electron
beam, are scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elec-tron probe microanalyzer (EPMA), and
transmission electron microscopy (TEM).By EPMA, any point on the section of the refractory
can be chemically analyzed, and chemical map of a selected area on the sample under
microscope can be obtained which is very useful to have an idea of mineral phases present
and their distribution (Fig. 1.14).

X-Ray Diffraction
XRD pattern is unique for any mineral phase.
By exposing the powder of a Refractory sample to X-ray, a pattern is obtained. When that X-
ray pattern is analyzed, then different mineral phases present in the Refractory body can be
known by the presence of their characteristic peaks (Fig. 1.15). The presence of the peaks
indicated the presence of the particular min-eral, and the intensity of the peak gives an idea
about its quantity present.

XRF
It is used for the chemical analysis of any Refractory material. In this method the powder of
the test sample is used to form a pallet which is fed to the XRF machine, and on running the
machine, it produces a diffraction pattern (Fig. 1.14). The stan-dard X-ray diffraction pattern
is already there for different mineral. The produced X-ray diffraction pattern when matched
with the diffraction pattern of the known minerals and then the mineral phases present in
the sample under investigation can be known.

Classification and Features
of Different Types
of Refractories
Classification of Refractories
There is no rigid norm for classification of Refractories, and it can be classified in various
ways. The basis of classification of refractories in different ways is dis-cussed here.

Basis of Classification
Refractories are generally classified based on different parameters, e.g.:

(a) Basicity of oxides

(b) Form
(c) Manufacturing process

(d) Method of application

(e) Insulation property

(f) Special chemistry
Let us see the classification in details.

By Basicity
The oxide Refractories can be classified according to the basicity of the oxides. Refractory
oxide can be characterized by the electropositive character of the central atom in that oxide.
The more electropositive is the central atom, the more basic is the oxide, and the more
electronegative is the central atom, the more acidic is the oxide. Electropositive character
increases from right to left across the periodic table and increases down the column.

According to the position of the element in the periodic table, its oxide can be classified as
acidic, basic, or amphoteric in nature. Accordingly, the Refractories can be classified as
acidic, basic, or amphoteric as shown in Table 2.1. This classifi-cation has significance in
selecting Refractories to be used in contact with molten slag with a known basicity. For
example, basic Refractories should be selected where the basicity of the slag, in contact with
Refractory, is more than 1.0 to get a reduced corrosion rate, although many other factors
should be taken in consider-ation in selecting the right kind of Refractories for a certain
application.

By Form
The other classification of Refractories has been made on the basis of its form in which it is
produced, manufacturing process and application. According to form Refractories are
classified as shaped Refractories, commonly known as refractory bricks, and the unshaped
refractories as monolithic refractories. The shaped refrac-tories are delivered in the form of
definite geometrical shape, and unshaped Refractories are supplied as loose powder, which
is to be mixed with required amount of binder/water and applied at the site to take the
shape of the area, where it is used. Figure 2.1 shows the scheme of the classification of
refractories based on form.

Shaped Refractories
Shaped Refractories are made in different geometrical shapes according to the requirement
of the user. The shapes are designed depending on the geometry of the furnace or
equipment which is to be lined with refractory. Shaped Refractories are classified by the
process of manufacturing adopted and are termed accordingly.

Pressed Shape
Different size fractions of different Refractory raw materials are mixed with a liquid binder.
The mixture is pressed in a mold at high pressure in mechanical press, fol-lowed by drying
and firing to impart mechanical strength and volume stability at

Fig. 2.1 Classification of Refractories

high temperature to the body. These products are called pressed bricks. The bigger is the
dimension of the brick, the higher is the capacity of the press needed. Product with
complicated shape and geometry cannot be made by this process.

Hand Molded

Hand-molded shapes are made by mixing different size fraction of different Refractory raw
materials with a liquid binder and to give shape by pneumatic ram-ming in a mold followed
by drying and firing to impart mechanical strength and volume stability at high temperature.
These products are having lower density and strength than pressed products. This method
of production is much slower com-pared to production by pressing. Only very critical
shaped items are made in this method.

Precast

In this method different size fraction of refractory raw materials are mixed along with high
alumina cement and other additives followed by mixing with required quantity of water. The
mixture is then given shape in a mold by vibration casting or pouring. The cast body is then
allowed to set and cured followed by demolding and drying to form the precast Refractory.
Sometimes the cast body is fired at high tem-perature to meet the desired properties. This
is also a very slow process of produc-tion compared to pressing and used to produce
complicated and bigger shapes which cannot be made by pressing in mechanical press.

Fused Cast

The mixture of raw materials is melted in a high-temperature furnace and poured in a

graphite mold. The mold is cooled very slowly when the melt solidifies and takes the shape
of the mold. These are called fused cast Refractory shapes. Specialty of these products, are
zero porosity and these are used mainly where the corrosion is the main factor to destroy
the refractory, e.g., lining of the glass tank where the refractory remains in continuous
contact with highly corrosive molten glass. This kind of product is never used in the cement
industries.

Vacuum-Formed

This method is mostly used for making ceramic fiber insulation boards or similar products
with other shapes. In this process the ceramic fiber along with the organic/inorganic binders
are stirred in water at high speed to form a slurry, which is spread over a mold, fitted with
fine wire mesh, and the water is sucked out under high vacuum pressure to give the shape
of the body. The formed body can then be demolded and dried and heat cured to develop
strength in it.

Advantage and Disadvantage of Shaped Products

The advantages and disadvantages of using shaped Refractories are:

1-The bricks made under high pressure attain very good properties like high den-sity and
low porosity.

2-The laying of shaped Refractories does not demand very high skill of masons.

3-The laying process is normally manual and does not involve the use of expensive
machines, although in case of rotary kiln lining, the brick laying machines are being used
very successfully.

4-The total time of Refractory lining and preheating, i.e., starting of the installation to
furnace ready-to-use duration, is less compared to lining with unshaped Refractory.

5-Many different shapes are required in combination with line the equipment, and inventory
cost is higher compared to unshaped refractories. On nonavailability of even one shape, the
total lining process may come to a halt.

Unshaped Refractories
Unshaped Refractories are normally manufactured and supplied in bags as loose powder.
The manufacturing of unshaped Refractories is simpler than the shaped Refractories. In its
manufacturing the different ingredients in different size fractions are mixed thoroughly in a
mixer with required additives and bagged. During use, the bags are opened at the site and
the powder is mixed with required quality and quan-tity of water or supplied liquid binder,
in a mechanical mixer, and is rammed or cast or sprayed at desired place of installation. The
unshaped Refractories can be further classified based on its application method.
Mortars

Mortars are powder materials which are used for the purpose of joining the Refractory
bricks. The powder material is mixed with water or a liquid binder sup-plied along with the
mortar and applied as glue on the brick surface to join two bricks. The mortar can set and
harden either by chemical reaction (chemical-setting mortar) at ambient temperature or by
heating (heat-setting mortar) the joined brick. Mortar can be both of basic or
aluminosilicate type, used to join either basic bricks or aluminosilicate bricks. Mortar joints
in the brick lining acts as a cushion to reduce the thermo-mechanical stresses generated
during operation of the furnace.

Ramming Masses

Ramming masses are used in very less quantity and for very special purposes only, in
cement industries. It is a mixture of coarse aggregates and fine powder with some additives,
and it is mixed with water or liquid binder and rammed by hand or by pneumatic rammer at
the desired area. It is normally applied to fix up the gaps which are difficult to be filled
otherwise, for example, a small gap between the bricklayers and retainer plate. Ramming
masses can be made both in basic and non-basic composition, but in the cement industry,
the nonbasic ramming masses are used normally.

Plastic Refractories

Plastic Refractories are ready-made unshaped Refractories. These are supplied, in ready-to-
use form, of small blocks, wrapped in polythene sheet. The material is unwrapped at site
and put at the place where it is to be used and then stamped with wooden mallet or
rammer with flat-bottomed tool. Plastic Refractories are made with aluminosilicate material
only. This material is hardened fast after installation and can be dried and preheated faster,
compared to castable. Because it is a ready- mixed material and binder is mixed already, it
has got a low storage life, especially in hot climate of tropical countries. It has the advantage
that it is a ready-mixed material, so the chance of mistakes due to wrong addition of binder
or improper mixing of binder can be eliminated. It is a good material to use for lining the
roof of a furnace. Ceramic anchors are used, similar to castable installation, to hold the
material. Its installation is a slow process, but it can withstand fast heat up and does not
develop crack.

Castable

Castables actually are the major products in the unshaped Refractory category and are
made up of aluminosilicate aggregate and calcium aluminate cement (also called high
alumina cement) as binder, along with special additives to impart or modify certain special
properties in it. The calcium aluminate cement, like Portland cement, has hydraulic property
and sets to a hard mass in contact with water. In case of no- cement castables, the liquid
binders are supplied separately along with dry powder, and both are to be mixed during
application. Of course, recently the no-cement cast-able has also been developed in which
the water can be used for casting instead of any separate liquid binder.

Castables are the material which can be cast after mixing with water or other liquid binder
(in no-cement castable), and it set hard at ambient temperature. Castables can be installed
by different methods, e.g., by pouring, by vibration cast-ing, by gunning, and by shotcreting.
Two major steps in the installation processes are mixing of castables with water and the
method of consolidation of the castable. Mixing quality is very important, and the aim
should be to get maximum flow using the prescribed water or binder content. That is
possible only when the mixing is very thorough and intimate, done in high-shear mix.

The consolidation of the castable can be done by the following methods:

1-Pouring it as slurry or semi-slurry and to consolidate it with light vibration, called casting

2-Vibrating strongly a stiff thixotropic material when it starts flowing, called vibro-casting

3-Transporting and spraying of water-mixed slurry, called shotcreting

4-Spraying a dry material which is mixed with water at the spray nozzle tip, called gunning

Castables can have further classification depending upon its composition, method of
application, and flow behavior. The purpose of this classification is to distinguish the
difference between the products which are made out of same basic ingredients but differ
substantially in their rheological (flow behavior) character, drying behav-ior, etc. The
relationship of different categories of castables is shown in Fig. 2.2.

Conventional Castable

Conventional castable with higher content of calcium aluminate cement requires high
percentage of water to attain required flow character, and the mixing with water can be
done even on the floor, although not recommended, with the help of a shovel. The setting
can be controlled and modified with the addition of special addi-tives. The heat-up curve to
remove water is not very critical unless it is cured at a temperature below 10 °C.
In many occasions when a shutdown is taken at any plant, the refractory lining is first
inspected to check for any damage in the refractory lining. Then small patching work is
usually done to repair small areas of worn out brick or castable lining by troweling or
plastering the castable, mixed with water. Conventional castables are suitable for this
purpose.

Low and Ultra-low Cement Castable

The low and ultra-low cement castable, have almost the same ingredients as conven-tional
castable, but with lower content of calcium aluminate cement. It can attain the desired flow
character necessary for vibration casting, with almost half of the water

as required in conventional castable. But it is to be borne in mind that very intense mixing is
required to develop the desired flow property in the low cement castable and it is to be
mixed in a high-shear mixer. Mixing of low cement castable and water in ordinary mixer or
with shovels do not yield the desired flow property required for casting. This enhancement
in the flow property, made by engineering the particle size distribution and addition of
certain special additives, actually revolutionize the whole castable technology. Lower
content of the calcium aluminate cement, as sug-gested by the name, imparts better
properties to this type of castables at elevated temperature over the conventional castables
because of lower content of CaO in the mix. Low cement and ultra-low cement castables
develop a thixotropic property on mixing with water in high-shear mixer. The mix starts
flowing only when a shear force is applied on the mix and requires strong vibration either by
means of needle vibrator or form vibrator. This kind of castables forms a much denser body
on cast-ing and has lower permeability compared to conventional castable, and therefore
it’s drying and preheating are very critical. The casting may crack on preheating unless
proper care is taken.

A further development of low cement castable technology has made it self-flow type, which,
when mixed with low percentage of water, can flow very easily and requires very mild or
almost no shear force or vibration for its placement. It can be used at a place where the
vibration casting cannot be done and at the same time properties of low cement castables
are required. This is actually an extension of the technology, developed for low and ultralow
cement castable.

No-Cement Castable
No-cement castables either contains no calcium aluminate cement or a very low amount.
Calcium oxide, in the cement, acts as a flux towards aluminosilicate raw materials and brings
down the refractoriness of castable. Low and ultra-low cement castables were developed to
reduce the content of the cement and to overcome that drawback.

No-cement castables were developed to completely eliminate the calcium alumi-nate

cement and to replace it by alumina or silica sol as the binder. It is normally two-pack
system, and the powder component and the binder component (liquid) are supplied in two
separate packets. The user is to mix both powder and liquid at the site and apply. It can be
poured or cast similarly as calcium cement-based castable. It has an advantage over calcium
aluminate cement-based castable that it can be preheated at a much faster rate than
cement-based castable. A comparison of usual cement-bonded and no-cement castables is
given below in Table 2.2. Now further development has made possible, the availability of a
one-pack no-cement castable, in which the binder is used in the solid form and is available
commercially.

Pumpable

Further progresses were made in castable technology to make it (pumpable cast-able)

amenable for pumping as a water-mixed slurry, for easy transportation. By this, the mixing
activity of castable with water can be kept far off from the actual site, for ease of installation
job. Pumpable can be used for casting a horizontal section because the slurry can rest on its
own and set.

Shotcreting

In the shotcreting process, the castable in similar way is pumped and transported through
rubber hose and is sprayed through a nozzle with the help of compressed air on the target
wall. It is very useful for fast installation of a large volume of refractory at a difficultly
accessible site, like preheater cyclone, situated at a consid-erable height. Moreover, the
fixing and dismantling of steel former, used for cast-ing, involve manpower and take time
for fixing. The shotcreting method does not require any former and eliminates both time
and cost. To enhance the setting of the slurry on the target wall and to convert it to a gel, so
that it does not flow by its own weight, a gelling additive is added to the shotcrete material
at spraying nozzle. This helps to install a thicker lining, and because a thick layer can be built
up on a verti-cal wall, the requirement of former, as used in traditional casting process, can
be eliminated.
Gunning

Gunning material can be made both in aluminosilicate base and in magnesia base (basic)
composition. Basic gunning materials are used generally for the hot repair-ing of the
refractory lining in steel melting furnaces. There is no scope of use of basic gunning
material, and they are never used in the cement industries. For cement industry the gunning
materials are made using formulation similar to castable but modified by adding special
additives to suit the gunning process. In the process of gunning, dry material is conveyed
pneumatically through the rubber hose of the gunning machine, to the nozzle. At the nozzle
tip, water is added through a separate rubber pipe at high pressure and sprayed on the
target area. It must set fast, must get hard quickly, and must not crack on fast heating.
Gunning materials of varied speci-fications, based on aluminosilicate raw material and
calcium aluminate cement mix, are used in cement industries. This method can be very
effectively used for cold or hot repairing of an area inside the furnace without taking major
shut down. This method is not very effective for installation of large volume of material in a
short span of time. In gunning process there is always some loss of material due to rebound
of the material when the gunning material hits the wall. The rebound per-centage may vary
depending upon the material or the operator, but it is always there.

Special Features of Unshaped Products

The special features of the unshaped Refractories are as follows:

a)Although its manufacturing is easy, its installation requires very skilled and experienced
hands with much attention. Installation of monolithic refractory requires less labor and can
be automated to a large extent.

b)The unshaped Refractories are more environment-friendly materials because they do not
require any high-temperature operation for its production.

C)It is a semifinished material. It is partly finished at the premises of supplier, and the final
finishing is made at customer’s premises. Therefore, its quality of installation, including
consolidation, drying, and preheating, is very important, unlike shaped product.

d)Normally, from the beginning of the installation to ‘ready for use’, duration is much longer
in case of castable Refractories, because of longer time needed for (1) preparation (welding
of steel anchors to hold the Refractory) of the surface, over which the unshaped refractory
will be applied, (2) preparation of the mix and consolidation of the Refractory mass, (3)
setting of the Refractory to become hard, and (4) preheating the cast lining. The unshaped
Refractories comprise of large group of products with varied application method and pur-
pose to satisfy the particular technical requirement of a refractory lining.

Insulating Property
Refractories can be broadly classified by its purpose of use. As was discussed ear-lier, two
main purposes of use of Refractories are:

1. To contain the temperature and to withstand the abusive environment inside the
furnace or the process equipment
2. To conserve the thermal energy inside the furnace and not to allow it to flow out of
the system
Most refractory linings are composite in nature and made of the combination of dense
Refractories, in front, to contain the high temperature and to withstand the harsh operating
condition and insulating refractories, at back, to contain the heat and protect the energy
loss from the system.

Insulating refractories, like dense refractories, are available in shaped and unshaped form.
The main features of insulating Refractories are the high porosity and low bulk density
which leads to low thermal conductivity and low mechanical strength of the insulating
refractory. The main purpose of use of insulating refrac- tory is to preserve thermal energy.
But the insulating refractories cannot withstand abusive environment, and they are used
mostly as the backup layer along with the steel shell unless the furnace environment is very
friendly to it.

Insulating Refractories are made out of aluminosilicate range of materials because of their
inherent lower thermal conductivity compared to many other mate- rials. The insulation
product can be designed for continuous use up to a very high temperature (1600 °C). The
use of insulating products is gradually increasing because of the demand of conservation of
energy.

Special Chemistry
The refractories, which have very special chemistry, like carbides, nitrides, and borides
(Table 1.1) and are used for very special applications and not in bulk volume.

Manufacturing and Properties of
Refractories
Introduction
Study of the properties of Refractory is very important for the purpose of selection of
Refractories for an application. The properties of the Refractory both at the ambi-ent as well
as high temperature are important to design the lining details of a furnace or kiln. Here we
shall discuss the general manufacturing flow sheet and properties of different shaped and
unshaped Refractories.

Shaped Refractories
The manufacturing process of all shaped refractories is more or less similar. Refractory raw
materials are normally available as hard lumpy materials, which are crushed first in primary
crusher like jaw crusher (if the size of the lumps are above 50 mm) and then in the
secondary crusher like hammer mill. The crushed materials are screened to several size
fractions like (3–5) mm, (1–3) mm, and (0–1) mm and fines. The dif-ferent size fractions are
mixed together along with a binder (like molasses water mixture) and pressed in a mold of
desired size in high capacity press to form the brick. The brick is then dried to remove the
moisture inside and fired at high tempera-ture (1150–1750 °C) to impart the strength and
desired properties to the refractory.

Aluminosilicate Refractories
The main chemical constituents of this category of Refractories are alumina (Al2O3) and
silica (SiO2). If the Al2O3% is less than 50%, it is normally categorized as fire-clay Refractory,
and Refractory with more than 50% Al2O3 is called high alumina refractory, although this
categorization has got no authentic base.

Fireclay Refractories
The main raw material used for fireclay Refractories is calcined fireclay or cham-otte, along
with plastic fireclay. The flowchart given (Fig. 3.1) shows the manufac-turing process of
fireclay Refractories.

Fireclay refractories have alumina and silica as main constituents. The other oxides that
remain present as impurities are Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, K2O, and Na2O. All these oxides are
acting as flux and bring down the softening temperature of the Refractory. Although the
presence of these oxides is undesirable, they cannot be avoided because of their inherent
presence in the naturally occurring raw materials. Microstructure analysis of the fireclay
refractory reveals that it can contain up to 50% of glassy phase with embedded cristobalite
and mullite crystals. The percent-age of glassy phase increases with more fluxes and higher
firing temperature. In a fireclay brick with 40% Al2O3, using raw materials with low amount
of alkali and fluxes, the share of glassy phase can be reduced to 20% with mullite 55% and
cris-tobalite 20–25%. The presence of glassy phase and mullite crystals and their sizes
influence the thermo-mechanical behavior of the Refractory. Fireclay Refractories have good
volume stability at high temperature, fairly good abrasion resistance, good thermal shock
resistance, and very good resistance towards alkali attack at high temperature. Mullite is
always a highly desirable phase in fireclay and high alumina refractories.

Addition of silicon carbide (SiC) in the fireclay Refractory improves all those properties, to a
great extent. In reducing atmosphere, e.g., in CO gas atmosphere, the presence of Fe2O3
catalyzes the decomposition of CO to deposit C in the brick structure, and it becomes fragile
because of the expansion associated with the pro-cess. Fireclay Refractories find a wide use
in the cement industry in various equipments, e.g., tertiary air duct, cooler, kiln calcining
zone, preheater, etc. Typical properties of some fireclay-shaped Refractories used in cement
industry are shown in Table 3.1.

High Alumina Refractories

These are categorized as products containing 50–95% Al2O3. Different kinds of raw
materials are used in high alumina refractories to achieve the target properties. The major
raw materials used are sillimanite, andalusite, raw and calcined kyanite, cal-cined diaspore,
calcined bauxite, mullite, brown and white fused alumina, tabular alumina, etc. The Al2O3
content of high alumina Refractories, normally used in cement industry, hardly exceeds 85%.
The manufacturing flow sheet is same as that of fireclay Refractory. But there are some
qualities which are chemically bonded and do not require any high-temperature firing. The
high alumina Refractories can have varied properties depending upon their composition
and raw material used. The Refractory composition can be designed to attain particular
properties required to perform well in a particular application. Refractories for certain
application may demand high thermal shock resistance, and the other application may look
for very high abrasion resistance or resistance to alkali attack at high temperature. In all
those cases, the Refractory composition and properties will be different. Refractory
formulation is done looking to the operational conditions, where the Refractory will be put
in.

Mullite is one of the most important phases present in the high alumina Refractories, and it
is formed by the reaction of alumina and silica at high tempera-ture (above 1100 °C). Mullite
is chemically 3Al2O3·2SiO2. It contains 72% Al2O3. The presence of Mullite improves the
thermo-mechanical property and the thermal shock resistance of high alumina refractories,
and the higher is the Mullite content, the better are those properties. Mullite is also
available as a raw material which is made synthetically. The presence of higher percentage
of corundum phase increases the abrasion resistance of the high alumina Refractories. The
corundum phase is contributed by calcined bauxite, fused alumina, or tabular alumina. High
alumina refractories have poor alkali resistance at high temperature. It is found that higher
is the alumina content, lesser is the alkali resistance. At high temperature it reacts with alkali
oxides to form some felspathic compounds like leucite, kaliophillite, etc. asso-ciated with
high volume expansion which completely destroys the Refractory [1–4].

The properties of high alumina Refractories depend upon the raw material base. The
andalusite, sillimanite, and kyanite are converted to mullite easily at high tem-perature, and
the bricks made out of those raw materials show high thermal shock resistance, high creep
resistance at high temperature, and also good alkali resis-tance. Raw kyanite has got the
property to expand at high temperature and used to impart a positive PLC in the refractory.
The Refractory made out of bauxite shows pyroplasticity (plasticity at higher temperature).
By virtue of this property, bauxite- based high alumina Refractories can deform under an
applied stress at high tem-perature and can mitigate the effect of the stress. That is how
these Refractories show good performance in burning zone of rotary kiln with small to
medium diam-eter. High alumina Refractories in general and specially the bauxite-based
Refractories show a permanent linear expansion at high temperature, and this helps to keep
the lining tight at high temperature during the service. High alumina refrac-tories also are
found to take up a stable coating in the burning zone in the cement rotary kiln.

Phosphate-bonded high alumina Refractories show increased resistance to attack by liquid

phase in cement clinker and alkali and also have higher abrasion resis-tance. These
Refractories are normally fired at lower temperature during manufacturing.

The high alumina Refractories are used for lining various equipments in cement industry.
Typical properties of some high alumina-shaped Refractories, used in cement industry, are
shown in Table  3.2. In some quality of aluminosilicate Refractories, special ingredients, e.g.,
SiC (silicon carbide) and ZrSiO3 (zircon), are added to impart special properties like anti-
buildup behavior, thermal shock resis-tance, alkali resistance, etc.

Basic Refractory
In earlier days the burning zone of cement rotary kilns was lined with high alumina
Refractories. But as the technology has changed over time, from wet to dry process, and the
kiln diameter got bigger and bigger, the thermal load on the kiln burning zone increases,
and as a result the lining is changed from high alumina to basic.

The main raw material, for all the basic refractories, is dead burnt magnesia (MgO). It can be
obtained by high-temperature calcinations of naturally occurring magnesite (MgCO3) above
1700 °C. The processed material is called dead burnt magnesite (DBM), because of its
inertness towards hydration. MgO can also be synthesized from seawater [5]. Seawater
contains magnesium salts like MgSO4 and MgCl2, which when treated with lime, Mg(OH)2
is precipitated. Mg(OH)2 is then filtered, briquetted, and calcined above 1700 °C to obtain
DBM. In another method the magnesite rock is fused by electric arc at very high
temperature at about 3000 °C and allowed to cool very slowly when MgO gets crystallized
from the melt and forms fused magnesite with large crystals of periclase. It has been found
that the properties of basic bricks depend on the properties of the magnesite raw material
and source.

The important properties to characterize the magnesia raw material are:

1-Bulk density and grain porosity

2-The impurities and their distribution

3-CaO/SiO2 ratio

4-The boron content

5-The periclase crystal size

Table 3.3 shows the relation between the properties of magnesite raw material and their
influence on the brick properties. The purity of magnesia raw material acts in a different way
in the case of natural magnesia and synthetic magnesia [6–8], and a judicious blend of both
will be the best. The higher the periclase (MgO) crystal size, the better is the corrosion
resistance but lower is the coating formation. The magnesite with higher Fe2O3 is found to
have better plasticity etc [9].
Magnesia-Chrome Refractories
Magnesia-chrome refractory is used mostly in the burning zone of cement rotary kiln. The
raw materials used in this product are high purity dead burnt magnesite (DBM) or fused
magnesite or their mixture and high-grade chrome ore. The flow sheet of its manufacturing
process is shown in Fig. 3.2. The chrome ore contains MgO.Cr2O3 and FeO.Cr2O3 spinels.

Addition of chrome ore reduces the modulus of elasticity [10] and improves the thermal
shock resistance of magnesia Refractory and its resistance to acidic slag. Magnesia-chrome
Refractories are found to form a good coating of clinker on the brick-lining surface in
cement rotary kiln, which protects the brick lining from high temperature and thermal shock
and enhances the campaign life. But many countries have put a ban on the use of
magnesia-chrome Refractories because of environmen-tal pollution, caused by the disposal
of the used magnesia chromite brick lining. The Cr2O3 in the refractory reacts with alkalis at
high temperature, during its use, to form water-soluble hexavalent chrome containing alkali
chromate salts, which are carcinogenic in nature. The rainwater can leach out the Cr+6 and
can pollute the groundwater reserve causing health hazards. The typical properties of this
product are shown in Table 3.5.

Magnesia-Alumina Spinel
Magnesia-alumina spinel Refractory is used in both transition zones and burning zone of
cement rotary kiln [11]. The main raw materials for this product are high purity dead burnt
magnesite and spinel. Spinel is a mineral phase having a chemical formula MgO·Al2O3.
Spinel is not available in nature and is made synthetically by high-tem-perature reaction
between magnesia and alumina. The spinel has got a general formula AB2O4, where
A = divalent atom and B = trivalent atom. Other mineral phases, having similar crystal
structure as spinel, used in basic refractories for rotary kiln lining, are hercynite (FeAl2O4),
galaxite (MnAl2O4), and pleonaste (Mg-Fe-Al spinel) [12].

Addition of spinel reduces the modulus of elasticity of magnesia Refractories and makes it
more flexible to withstand thermo-mechanical stresses. The flow sheet for manufacturing
magnesia-spinel Refractory product is given in Fig. 3.3. The spinel can be added as
preformed spinel, or it can be formed in situ or as a combination.

TiO2 is added as catalyst for spinel formation at lower temperature [13]. TiO2 also improves
the coating forming ability of Spinel containing refractory. Addition of SnO2 is found to
improve the thermodynamic stability of Al2O3- MgO Spinel [13].
This product has got very high thermal shock resistance and performs very well in transition
zone lining where the coating formation is less and the thermal shock is very high. It has
also got a very high resistance to alkali attack and corrosion towards the cement liquid
phase at high temperature. The typical properties of this product are given in Table 3.5.

Magnesia Hercynite
Magnesia hercynite Refractory is made from DBM and hercynite. Hercynite is a synthetic
mineral with spinel structure having a formula of FeO·Al2O3. Addition of hercynite to
magnesia refractories reduces its modulus of elasticity and enhances flexibility. It also
reduces brittleness of magnesia Refractories towards thermo- mechanical stresses. The
magnesia hercynite Refractory has good ability to take up the clinker coating, and all the
said properties have made it a suitable candidate for burning zone lining of cement rotary
kiln. It has also got a very high resistance to alkali attack and corrosion towards the cement
liquid phase. It has the added advan-tage of being free from Cr2O3 and therefore more
environment friendly by nature. The flow sheet of manufacturing of this Refractory is similar
to magnesia spinel Refractory. The typical property of such Refractory is given in Table 3.5.

The spinels have lower thermal expansion than the periclase (MgO). As a part of the
manufacturing process, these brick are fired at high temperature (1580–1650 °C). Due to
mismatch of thermal expansion behavior, microcracks are developed in the refractory
microstructure, surrounding the spinel grains, which makes the Refractory more flexible and
improves its capability to withstand more thermo-mechanical stresses.

Figure 3.4 shows the typical thermo-mechanical behavior of a magnesia brick without spinel
and a magnesia brick containing a spinel [14, 15]. A pure magnesia brick shows an almost
constant Young’s moduli at a high level, but with the inclu-sion of spinel, the Young’s
modulus starts at a low level, increases slowly during heating, and shows rapid increase in
the first stage of cooling to 1000 °C. The flexi-bilization effect occurs during cooling at
temperature below 1000  °C, and the Young’s modulus is lowered significantly. The Young’s
modulus level provides an indication of the ability of an additive to flexibilize or elastify a
magnesia brick. Spinels are also called as elastifiers, when added to basic refractories [16–
21].

The effect of addition of different kinds of spinels on the basic Refractory [14] is shown in
Table 3.4, and it is clearly evident that the fracture toughness has been increased
significantly by addition of the spinels. It has also been found that forster-ite (MgO·SiO2)
phase, developed in the basic bricks, can also act as an elastifier [22]. But the chemistry and
the microstructure of the brick are to be engineered properly to get the best effect.

Magnesia Zirconia
Magnesia-zirconia Refractory is made out of high purity dead-burnt magnesia or fused
magnesia and monoclinic or stabilized zirconia [23–25]. This Refractory body contains
periclase and stabilized zirconium oxide (ZrO2) or calcium zirconate (CaZrO3). Uniform
distribution of ZrO2 in the brick structure improves thermal shock resistance due to
microcrack formation. During the partial or total stabiliza-tion of ZrO2, diffusion takes place
between MgO and ZrO2, and this helps to form direct bond and increases the hot strength
which helps to withstand the mechanical stress at high temperature. Magnesia-zirconia
bricks have high corrosion resistance against alkali and against basic slag at high
temperature. The addition of ZrO2 in Magnesia Spinel bricks has been found to improve
both coating formation and cor-rosion resistance [26]. The simultaneous addition of
MgAl2O4 and CaZrO3 to small volume percentage (4%) is reported to improve its corrosion
resistance and its coat-ing property [27]. The flow sheet of manufacturing is the same as
magnesia spinel brick. Typical property of magnesia-zirconia brick is shown in Table 3.5.

Dolomite
Dolomite Refractory is made out of naturally occurring dolomite which is a solid solution of
MgCO3 and CaCO3. The pure grade of dolomite is calcined at very high temperature to
reduce its affinity to react with atmospheric moisture and to make itstable. The dead burnt
dolomite is the basic raw material for manufacturing the dolomite Refractories. There are a
number of unique properties in dolomite brick that make it well suited for use as a
Refractory lining for burning zone of a cement rotary kiln [28, 29]. A high degree of
refractoriness allows the dolomite brick to withstand the temperature and involved stress in
the burning zone. The corrosion resistance to alkalis and a reducing atmosphere, as well as
excellent ability for coat-ing formation, make it a good candidate for the lining of burning
zone of cement rotary kiln. A good coating formation is the most important property of a
basic brick. In practice, a coating will form if the conditions in the kiln are appropriate. The
biggest difference between different types of bricks used in this context is how well they will
hold onto the coating, once it is formed.

In practice, the clinker coating on the refractory lining is not always present dur-ing
campaign of the lining. Some or all coating loss may be caused by thermal shock. When the
coating on the lining is destabilized, the brick underneath is sub-ject to a sudden
temperature change, which will expose the brick to severe thermal shock. For a long period
of time, standard dolomite was limited to the area where stable coating existed over the
refractory lining, and shutdowns were minimal.
However, the thermal shock resistance of the dolomite brick has been improved significantly
by the development of zirconia-enriched dolomite refractories [25, 29]. Zirconia was chosen
because it is relatively nonreactive with dolomite, and addition of special grade of Zirconia
imparts high thermal shock resistance. Finally, the environmental safety of the used
dolomite bricks is outstanding. One of the greatest disadvantages of dolomite Refractory is
its susceptibility to react with atmospheric moisture. The process is called hydration, in
which the CaO of dolo-mite reacts with water vapor to form Ca(OH)2 and causes
destruction of the brick lining. In coating-free area, dolomite reacts with kiln gases to form
CaCO3, CaSO4, or CaS [30, 31].

The phenomenon is more prominent in tropical countries with high level of humidity.
Table 3.5 furnishes the typical properties and specification of dolomite Refractories.

Unshaped Refractories
Various types of unshaped Refractories are available for different applications in different
industries. These includes castables, ramming masses, plastics, and mor-tars. Out of all
these, castables and mortars are the main types of unshaped Refractories used in the
different applications across the cement industry. Castables can be of different types, meant
for different applications. Castables are basically a dry mixture of Refractory aggregates,
calcium aluminate cement [32, 33], and some small but very important additives. The
Refractory aggregates can be chamotte, andalusite, sillimanite, calcined diaspore, calcined
bauxite, brown fused alumina, white fused alumina, tabular alumina, silicon carbide, etc. of
different sizes, varying normally from 10 mm to superfine material. The different ingredients
in different sizes and in different proportion as per the design of the formulation are mixed
together along with high alumina cement as binder to make the castable ready for packing
and dispatch.

Castable
The castables can be applied in different ways like pouring, vibration casting, gun-ning,
shotcreting, ramming, troweling, etc [34]. Depending upon the place of appli-cation and
method of application of the castable, the aggregate quality and the percentages and
quality of calcium aluminate cement and additives are decided to engineer its rheology or
flow property, to make it suitable for a particular applica-tion method mentioned before
[35].
The most important properties of castable, which are ignored sometimes by the
manufacturer, are its properties related to installation, e.g., flow property, duration it
remains workable, setting time, scope of installation method and preheating arrange-ments
available. If the installation is sound, half of the battle is won. Many a times desired
campaign life is not obtained, because of improper installation. If the prop-erties mentioned
before, necessary for a good quality of installation, do not match with the actual properties
of the castable, the installation quality will not be sound, and it will not perform well. The
supplier must design the castable recipe taking into consideration the installation method
to be employed and the operational condition that prevails (e.g., ambient temperature, etc.).
Similarly, during the installation of the castable, the installer should have prior knowledge of
the earlier mentioned properties of the castable required for sound installation. The same
castable, when installed in a country in Europe in winter and in a country in the Middle East
in summer, will not behave similarly because of different ambient conditions. Both the
manufacturer of the castable and the user must bear this in mind during manufactur-ing
and installation of castable refractories, and proper attention should be paid.

Castables can be installed by different methods, e.g., by pouring, by vibration casting, by

gunning, and by shotcreting. Two major steps in the installation pro-cesses are mixing of
castables with water and the method of consolidation of the castable. Mixing quality is very
important, and the aim should be to get maximum flow using the prescribed water or
binder content. That is possible only when the mixing is very thorough and intimate, done in
high shear mix.

The general flow sheet for manufacturing of castable is given in Fig. 3.5. The characteristics
of different types of castables are discussed below.

Conventional Castable
This is a mixture of Refractory aggregates with 15–25% high alumina cement. These
castables are required to mix with prescribed quantity of water and either cast, poured, or
rammed. In castable the aggregates used are normally aluminosili-cate type, but in some
special cases, SiC or zircon is also used. Conventional casta-bles can be rammed, vibrocast,
or poured. These are also good materials for patching by troweling.

The special feature of these castables is the loss of strength, with rise of tempera-ture, till it
reaches a minimum value at a temperature range 800–1000 °C and then there is a rise of
strength with increased temperature. The initial loss of strength with rise of temperature is
because of the disintegration of the hydraulic bond formed, and later the increase of
strength is due to sintering process. Typical speci-fication of this type of castables used in
cement plant is given in Table 3.6.

Low Cement Castable (LCC)

This is a mixture of Refractory aggregates and 5–8% high alumina cement with other minor,
but very important, additives which helps to get the desired flow prop-erty and enables
installation by vibration casting with much lower water percent. Good flow property of the
castable mix with low water content ensures better pack-ing lower porosity higher
mechanical strength and high volume stability at elevated temperature. The low cement
castable should always be mixed with water in mechanical mixer and is to be installed by
vibration casting. Ordinary mixing with water does not develop the desired flow property in
the mix, and vibration casting with low water content is not possible. Addition of higher
percentage of water will be disastrous and will impair setting and strength of the castable.

Ultra-low Cement Castable (ULCC)

These products are very similar to the low cement castables except further lower content (2–
4%) of high alumina cement. Its features are similar to that of the LCC, but the high-
temperature tensile strength is better than that of LCC with similar Al2O3 content because
of lower flux content (CaO) due to the lower content of high alumina cement.

The very important differences in the behavior of the low cement and ultra-low cement
castables from that of conventional castables are:

Obtaining required rheological property with addition of much lower amount of water,
compared to conventional castable.
Increased strength with increasing temperature (Fig. 3.6).
Having higher density, lower permeability, and high sensitivity to method of pre-heating
because of the low water requirement for casting. Faster preheating may lead to explosive
spalling and crack in the body, although the addition of special additives reduces its
sensitivity towards heating rate.

No Cement Castable (NCC)

In these products silica or alumina sols are used as binders, and a gelling agent (high
alumina cement up to 1%) is used to set the castable.

These products are mostly two-pack products. Refractory aggregates are supplied loose in
bags, and the binder liquid (silica sol) is supplied in drum. The two compo-nents are mixed
at site and are cast. But recently the solid powder is developed which forms sol when added
to water, and one pack product of no cement castable can be produced using that binder.
The special features of these products are:

1. These products are to be applied by vibration casting.

2. The strength increases with temperature.
3. These can be preheated at a much faster rate compared to the cement-bonded
castables (Fig. 7), and therefore total preheating time is much less which is a major
advantage of chemically bonded castable [36].Recommendations for mixer type,
mixing time, and application methods for dif- ferent types of castables are given in
Table 3.7.
 

Gunning Mass
Gunning mass is supplied in powder form, and it is made out of aluminosilicate raw material
and calcium aluminate cement mixed with other additives [37]. Gunning machine is used to
spray the material on the place of installation. After charging the material in the hopper of
the gunning machine, the material is transported through a long rubber hose, connected to
a steel nozzle at the other end, by pneumatic pres-sure. The gunning material is mixed with
water at the junction of rubber hose and steel nozzle, through a separately connected pipe,
and ultimately sprayed on the application area.

It is used for both installation of new lining and for repairing a worn-out lining. Gunning
installation is a very specialized job, and the quality of the installation depends largely on
the skill of the operator (gunman).

Portion of the gunning material sprayed, rebounds from the target wall and falls down and
is called rebound loss. The lesser is the rebound loss, the better is the quality of gunning.
The rebound loss depends upon the material quality, the water percentage used for
gunning (controlled by operator), distance of the Gunning noz-zle from the target surface,
and the angle of nozzle with the wall to be gunned.
Shotcrete and Pumpable Material
Shotcreting is normally done in an installation where large quantity of Refractory needs to
be installed. It is very convenient to use this process when the installation is to be done at a
height, for example, in preheater cyclone. In shotcrete installation, the shotcrete machine is
kept at ground level. The castable material is mixed with recommended amount of water in
the shotcrete machine to make slurry, and the slurry is then pumped through the rubber
hose to the installation point and is sprayed on the target surface by compressed air. Before
the material comes out through the nozzle, a setting agent is mixed with the slurry to
accelerate the setting. The rheological property of shotcrete is very important towards its
successful use. The differences in the installation process of castables by gunning and
shotcreting are given in Table 3.8.

As it was discussed in Sect. 3.3.1, basically, the castable with the same chemical specification
can be modified to install by different methods, e.g., by pumping the slurry, by self-flow
technique, by gunning or shotcreting, depending upon the demand of the user. The basic
ingredients of the castable remain the same, but the rheological or flow property is
modified by addition of small amounts of additives [38] and control of particle size to
achieve the desired flow property as the selected installation method demands. The
properties of 50% alumina castable installed by different methods described are given in
Table 3.9.

Ramming Mass
This is a combination of Refractory aggregates and some additives as binders. It is supplied
in powder form. The powder mass is mixed with prescribed quantity of water or any other
specified liquid binder to get a semidry consistency and then installed by pneumatic
ramming or by hand ramming. These products are recom-mended for small repair jobs or
to fill up some cavity or gaps, in the new brick-lined construction in cement plant
application. Typical property of a Ramming mass is shown in Table 3.10.

Plastic
This is manufactured and supplied in ready to use form, in small blocks, wrapped in
polythene packet with stiff mud consistency. It is to be unpacked and to be installed either
by ramming or tamping in the place of application. This is normally available in
aluminosilicate range. The advantages of this product are it is available in ready condi-tion
saves time. Quality consistency of the installed refractory lining is ensured because the
water or the binder need not to be added at site. It gets set and hardened when it gets
temperature. The preheating of this product can be done at a much faster rate compared to
castables. Typical property of a plastic material is shown in Table 3.10.

Mortar
Mortars are used to join the bricks in the refractory lining. Mortars used to have almost
similar chemical composition as the bricks to be joined. Mortars are gener-ally supplied as
dry powder which is to be mixed with water or other specified liquid binders to form a paste
which is trowelable and can be spread over the brick surface to act as glue to fix another
brick. The mortars can be heat set, air set, or chemical set, depending upon the
development of strength of the mortar on heating or in the presence of air or by its own.
The heat-set mortars develop their strength after heat-ing the lining, whereas the chemically
set or air-set mortars develop their strength at ambient temperature itself, by chemical
reaction. The mortar should have the prop-erty of good workability when mixed with water
and should not get dried up fast, because of absorption of water in the brick pores, when
applied on a brick surface.

Insulation Refractory
Cement industry is an energy-intensive industry. Consumption of more energy is
uneconomic, and it has got a negative impact on the environment for liberation of more
greenhouse gases. Because of this reason, the use of insulation refractory in cement
industry is becoming more and more important. The thermal insulation can be provided by
both shaped and unshaped refractories. The insulation refractories have high porosity, low
strength, and low abrasion resistance, and due to this reason, the insulation refractories are
used always as backup lining. The different insulation materials have different properties
and have different applications. The different types of insulation refractories are classified in
different groups according to the ASTM standard as given in Table 3.11. The classification is
based on the bulk den-sity and the reheat change of the brick.

The main features of the insulating refractories are high porosity and low bulk density. The
pores are deliberately created in insulating refractories to entrap air, which provide very
good thermal insulation and impart low thermal conductivity to the body.
All the thermal-insulating materials are basically oxides, because compounds other than
oxides have innate higher thermal conductivity. The service temperature of insulating
refractory and its volume stability at that temperature is also important to design a
refractory lining.

Insulation Shapes
Insulation refractory shapes can be manufactured from porous raw material, e.g., molar clay
or exfoliated vermiculite, or from fireclay by introducing some organic combustibles in the
mix which leave behind the pores on burnout. The properties of the fireclay insulation bricks
are given in Table 3.12.

Calcium Silicate
This is available as boards of 25, 50, and 100  mm thickness and with different length and
breadth. Calcium silicates are very light and efficient thermal-insulating material and are
used in large quantity in cement industries. They are produced synthetically by
hydrothermal reaction between lime and silica. The calcium sili-cate blocks are available in
two different grades suitable for application tempera-tures up to 800 and 1100 °C. The
thermal stability is based on the amount of calcium

silicate hydrate shares (tobermorite 5CaO·6SiO2·5H2O and xonotlite 6CaO·6SiO2·H2O), due

to their different shrinkage behavior and removal of bonded water. The calcium silicate
blocks can be sawed and drilled as per the need. The properties of these materials are given
in Table  3.13. Calcium silicate insulation blocks can be used as backup lining for both brick
lining and for castable lining.

Ceramic Fiber Products

Ceramic blanket and ceramic papers are used widely as insulation material in dif-ferent
equipments during the refractory lining. These products are made from ceramic fibers.

Ceramic fibers are manufactured by melting aluminosilicate material at very high

temperature in electric arc furnace, and the pouring stream of the melt is blown at, by jet of
high pressure steam, when the molten aluminosilicate material will form fluffy fibrous
material. These fibers are woven or processed to form ceramic blan-ket, ceramic papers, and
ropes. The products are available with different grades according to the service
temperature, density, and shrinkage value. The character and properties of these products
are shown in Table 3.14.
Insulation Castable
Insulating castables are made from porous refractory aggregates and mixed with calcium
aluminate cement as binder. The content of high alumina cement used in insulating
castables is normally much higher than dense castables to get the desired

mechanical strength. The insulating property of the castable depends upon the type of
aggregate used and the composition of the castable. The properties of the insulat-ing
castables are shown in Table  3.15. Insulating castables require much higher percentage of
water to attain the consistency required for its placement.

Cement Manufacturing
and Process Control
Cement Manufacturing: Basic Process
and Operation
To design the Refractory for the lining of different equipments in a cement plant, it is
necessary to understand the total operational process of a cement plant in depth. It is
necessary to know the conditions prevailing in different equipments and the physical and
chemical parameters the Refractories will be exposed to during opera-tion. The physical
parameters are temperature, pressure, air velocity, abrasion, mechanical stress, content of
liquid phase generated at the operating temperature, liquid viscosity, surface tension, etc.,
and the chemical factors include chemistry of solid, liquid, and gas in contact with the
Refractory. Once these information are available, the right kind of Refractories, which can
withstand best under those con-ditions, can be designed.

The common raw materials used for manufacturing of cement include limestone, shell, and
chalk or marl combined with shale, clay, slate, blast furnace slag, silica sand, and iron ore.
These ingredients, when heated at high temperatures, form a rock-like substance that is
ground into the fine powder that we commonly call as cement.

The early manufacturing process of cement was through wet process, in which slurry, made
of ground raw material and water, used to feed the rotary kiln. But this process requires a
high amount of energy, mainly to evaporate the water in the slurry and become
uneconomic and largely abandoned. The energy requirement to pro-duce cement in dry
route is approximately half of the energy required to produce it through the wet process.

The most common way to manufacture Portland cement is through a dry process. The first
step is to quarry the principal raw materials, mainly limestone, clay, and other materials.
After quarrying, the rock is crushed. This involves several stages. First, crushing reduces the
rocks to a maximum size of about 6 inches. The rocks then go to secondary crushers or
hammer mills for reduction to about 3 inches or smaller. The crushed rocks are combined
with other ingredients, such as iron ore or fly ash, and are ground, mixed, and fed to the
cement kiln.

In the cement kiln, all the ingredients are heated to about 1400–1500 °C in huge horizontal
cylindrical steel tubular vessel called rotary kiln, lined inside with special Refractory material.
Kilns are as much as 3–7 m in diameter and about 60–75 m in length. The kilns are mounted
on two or three supports with the axis, inclined slightly from the horizontal. The finely
ground raw material is fed into the higher end. The lower end is fitted with a concentric
burner producing a strong flame, by controlled burning of powdered coal, oil, alternative
fuels, or gas under forced draft. As the material moves through the kiln, the materials react
among themselves at high temperature and form a new substance called clinker. Clinker
comes out of the kiln as dark gray balls, about the size of 0–50 mm.

Clinker is discharged red-hot from the lower end of the kiln and generally is brought down
to handling temperature in various types of coolers. The heated air from the coolers is
returned to the kilns, a process that saves fuel and increases burn-ing efficiency.

After the clinker is cooled, it is ground and mixed with small amounts of gypsum and
limestone. The cement is now ready for use in construction projects. The flow sheet of
cement manufacturing is given in Fig. 4.1. Kiln feed is subjected to succes-sive physical and
chemical reactions as its temperature rises gradually as shown in Table 4.1.

Raw Material
The major raw materials used as a source of CaO for cement manufacturing are limestone,
chalk, marl, etc. These raw materials by virtue of their natural occurrence contains other
mineral impurities e.g, MgO, SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, alkali compounds, and sulfides. These
impurities play an important role to influence the cement manu-facturing process as well as
Refractory performance. Similarly, as a source of SiO2, clay minerals and shale are used,
which also contain similar kind of impurities and affect the performance of Refractory.

Fuel
Different fuels like coal, oil, petcoke, gas, etc. are used as the source of heat energy to carry
out the reactions inside the cement rotary kiln. The fuel cost is about 50% of the total
energy cost and 10% of the total cost for cement production. Therefore a continuous effort
is going around the globe in search of cheaper source of fuels. As a result, a lot of other
fuels are being found and used more and more to replace the conventional fuels, and these
are called alternate fuels. The cement kilns are being used in developed countries as an
incinerator, and all kinds of industrial and domestic wastes are used as source of energy.
The common alternate fuels used are petroleum coke, shredded tires, plastics, waste oil and
solvents, animal meat, bones and fats, municipal wastes, agricultural wastes, etc. Some of
these materials contain high percent of alkali, sulfur and chlorine, for which some special
cares are to be taken in the manufacturing processes to maintain smooth operation and
these impu-rities again affect the Refractory performances to a great extent. The acidic
gases, formed because of burning of alternate fuels, permeate through the Refractory and
corrode the kiln shell and anchors which hold the monolithic lining.

Different Plant Design

Energy is the major cost in clinker manufacturing process. The energy means the
combination of thermal energy from the fuel and the electrical energy required to rotate the
kiln and to run the cooler and the number of ID fans.

In the cement plant, the preheater system functions as heat exchanger. The hot gas
generated in the kiln to burn the clinker leaves the kiln and moves up the pre-heater to heat
up the raw meal falling vertically through the preheater system. The thermal energy cost of
the cement manufacturing depends upon the heat exchange efficiency of the system. The
electrical energy requirement depends on the kiln length, the electrical power of the ID fans,
and the electrical power used to run the cooler.
The different kiln system designs are developed over the years to improve the energy
efficiency and to take care of ever-increasing capacity of the cement plants. The feature and
advantages of different designs are discussed here [1–3].

Suspension Preheater (SP) Kiln

This system is suitable for plant with capacity up to 4500 TPD of clinker. It has low specific
power consumption and simple operation and is well suited for manual control. The extent
of calcination at the kiln inlet is 30–40%. This process can accept higher input of chlorides
than pre-calcining system with tertiary air duct (without bypass). The ratio of firing in riser
duct is 0–15%.

Line Calciner Using Excess Air

It is suitable for plant with capacity up to 5500 TPD clinker. Ratio of firing in cal-ciner is 10–
25%, and the calcination at the kiln inlet is 50–70%. The advantage of this system is low
coating tendency in kiln inlet and riser duct. The coating in burn-ing zone is stable, and it is
less sensitive to chloride and sulfur. The kiln dimension is smaller than SP system.

In-Line Calciner (ILC)

In this system the capacity can be made up to 6000 TPD and with multiple strings up to
10,000 TPD clinker. High material and gas retention time is obtained in cal-ciner due to its
large volume and moderate swirl. Ratio of firing in calciner is 55–65%, and calcination at kiln
inlet is 90–95%. Bypass of kiln gas is 0–100%. This system is well suited for low-grade fuels.
Refractory life is long because of low thermal loading and stable coating.

Separate Line Calciner Downdraft (SLC-D)

Normal capacity is up to 6000 TPD and up to 10,000 TPD with multiple strings. Firing in
calciner is 55–65% and calcination at the kiln inlet is 90–95%. The pro-cess is very well suited
for all types of fuel, especially low volatile fuels. The combustion in the calciner takes place
in hot atmospheric air, and the combustion temperature can be controlled independently of
the temperature of the calcined material which is fed to the kiln. Low NOX operation is
possible in this design.

The tower dimension can be made smaller as it can be installed separately from the cyclone
tower.

Separate Line Calciner (SLC)

With this system the normal capacity can be up to 7000 TPD clinker, and with two strings it
can go up to 12,000 TPD. The firing in calciner is 55–60%, and the calcination at the kiln
outlet is 90–95%. The other features are very similar to SLC-D system.

Separate Line Calciner with In-Line Calciner (SLC-I)

With this system normal capacity can be up to 11,000 TPD clinker. Firing in kiln string ILC is
10–15% and in calciner string SLC is 40–50%. Calcination at the kiln inlet is 90–95%. Long
refractory life is obtained due to low thermal kiln load and stable coating. Other features are
same as SLC system.

The ILC-I and SLC kiln systems allow bypassing up to 100% of the kiln gas, while the other
kiln systems can be equipped with a bypass carrying a maximum 25–60% of the kiln gas,
which in most cases will suffice to ensure smooth opera-tion, even with low-grade raw
materials.

Figure 4.2 shows the typical temperature and pressure profile of the cyclone preheater
system.

In the SLC configuration, the hot tertiary air from the cooler enters the calciner through the
central inlet in the bottom cone and leaves through either a side outlet or through an outlet
cone connected to a central outlet pipe. In the SLC-I configura-tion, a SLC calciner is built
parallel to the kiln riser duct, and a second ILC calciner is built into the kiln riser duct. A
unique feature of the high-temperature calciner system is the fact that the temperature
inside the calciner is independently con-trolled by the position of the gate that divides the
raw meal flow to the calciner and to the kiln riser duct, respectively. So, by feeding a
relatively larger amount of raw meal to the kiln riser duct and keeping the fuel input to the
calciner constant, the mean temperature in the calciner vessel can be brought up to 950–
1050 °C. The temperature of the exit gas and the degree of calcination of the raw meal
leaving the calciner will increase accordingly. However, when mixing with the kiln exhaust
gas that contains uncalcined raw meal, the temperature of the gas/particle suspension falls
to approximately 900 °C. So a normal temperature level is maintained in the calciner
cyclone. Similarly, a normal degree of calcination of 90–95% is maintained for the raw meal
supplied to the kiln. The higher temperature in the calciner ensures effective combustion of
even low reactive fuels and helps to greatly minimize fuel NOx formation. The calciners of
the SLC and SLC-I systems are characterized by a vortex formation in the bottom cone,
ensuring effective mixing of raw meal, fuel, and tertiary air for a high particle-to-gas
retention time ratio.
Rotary Kiln
The rotary kiln is the heart of the cement plant. The raw meal, which is a mixture of finely
ground limestone and clay or shale, is fed to the system at the top of the pre-heater tower.
The material flows down to kiln. In the kiln the solid-state reaction occurs between the CaO,
SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 to produce the liquid phase required for nodulization of clinker and
formation of different mineral phases like C3S, C2S, etc. The kiln operation is monitored by
several physical parameters as given below:

(a) Production rate, tons per hour clinker

(b) Operating hours

(c) Involuntary downtime hours

(d) Total fuel rate, tons per hour

(e) Proportion of fuel in pre-calciner/riser

(f) Specific heat consumption, kcal/kg

(g) Secondary air temperature
(h) Kiln feed end temperature

(i) Preheater gas exhaust temperature

(j) ID fan draft in mm of water column

(k) Kiln feed end oxygen

(l) Downcomer oxygen

(m) Kiln feed end material, loss on Ignition (LOI), and SO3

(n) Kiln drive power

(o) Specific kiln volume loading %
(p) Specific heat loading of burning zone, kcal/h/m2
(q) Temperature, pressure, and oxygen profile of preheater

Kiln Control Parameters

The measured values of those parameters that are the most important for kiln opera-tion
are herein called the control parameters. To keep the control parameters close to a certain
target, control variables (or actuators) are manipulated. These parame-ters have immense
effect on the refractory performance. During any prematured refractory life, these
parameters help to analyze what kind of stresses the refracto-ries were loaded to. For
example, if the burning zone temperature exceeds the norm, the Refractory in burning zone
is definitely thermally overstressed. The measure-ments of parameters like increase in NOx
or the change in torque of the kiln give an indirect indication of increased burning zone
temperature (BZT).

The most important control parameters that are looked at during operation of any type of
kiln system are:

 Burning  zone  temperature  (BZT)  as  an  indicator  for  the  produced  clinker
quality.
 Back-end temperature (BET), as an indicator for the raw meal preparation, which is
mainly the degree of drying, heat up, and calcinations
 Oxygen concentration of the kiln exit gas (as an indicator for the efficiency of
combustion)
 In case of pre-calciner systems: temperature and oxygen concentration at pre-
calciner outlet
 In case of grate cooler: bed height of the clinker layer on the grate
The location where the different control parameters are measured and some typical target
values are given below. The control variables, which are adjusted, to keep the parameter
close to target, are shown for preheater and pre-calciner kiln design (Figs. 4.3 and 4.4). The
most important control parameters that are looked at during kiln operation are:

Burning Zone Temperature (BZT)

The BZT determines how well the clinker is burned and how complete the transfor-mation
from C2S to C3S is. When the clinker is leaving the burning zone, it should not have more
than ~1.5% and not less than ~0.5% of uncombined CaO or free lime (which roughly
corresponds to a liter weight of about 1250–1350 g/l). The periodi-cally measured free CaO
is the main indicator to state, if the actual BZT target is adequate or it needs to be made
higher or lower. Due to changes of the raw meal composition, an alteration of the BZT
target can be required often, since burnability of the raw material changes with fluctuations
of the LSF, SR, magnesia, and alkali content among other factors. A change in the flame
characteristics, which can result from the use of multiple fuels or varying combustion
conditions, has a similar impact and therefore may also require an alteration of the BZT
target.

Variations of the BZT target are made only over a long-term period, and the actual BZT
must be measured to determine, if a deviation between the temporary target and the actual
BZT exists. Since kiln operation is a dynamic process, devia-tions are quite frequent and of a
short-term character. Several indicators are used to determine the BZT, and they are listed
next. Most of them do not explicitly express an absolute temperature, but they give
sufficient information to establish, if the BZT is increased or decreased compared to an
earlier defined target. This means they give the short-term trend of the control parameter
BZT.

Pyrometer
Any hot body emits a radiation which is related to its temperature. The color and the
intensity of the radiation depend on its temperature (Table 4.2). An optical tempera-ture can
be used to measure the temperature by matching the color of a glowing filament against
the radiation emitted by a hot body.

NOx
The NOx produced during combustion varies according to the temperature of the flame and
of the gases of the burning zone. The hotter is the flame more NOx is produced during
combustion and vice versa.

When BZT is deduced from the NOx content of the exhaust gases, the oxygen and CO
concentration in the exhaust gases have to be considered also, since CO reduces and
oxygen promotes the formation of NOx. A further factor influencing NOx formation is the
type of fuel burned. If the fuel mix changes, the quantity of NOx produced may change too
(especially when burning alternative fuels).

Kiln Torque
A higher burning zone temperature produces more liquid phase in the clinker, and if BZT
rises, the burning zone gets longer and shifts upwards. The diameter of the clinker balls
increases, and the granulation of the raw meal in the kiln starts earlier. Therefore more and
bigger clinker balls have to be moved inside the kiln when the BZT is increasing. At the same
time, the material bed in the kiln is lifted up more, which moves the center of gravity away
from the kiln axis (Fig. 4.5). The different granulation of the clinker and the changing angle
of repose increase the required torque to turn the kiln, if BZT rises.

A changing coating situation in the burning zone strongly influences the kiln torque (as
more as lower the L/D ratio of the kiln). As a result the kiln torque can change significantly
on a long-term basis without any change of the BZT. Therefore the kiln torque signal in
most cases only serves as a short-term indication of the BZT. Short term is defined as up to
12 h. Torque is a very useful indicator of kiln conditions relative to its trend.

Secondary Air Temperature (SAT)

Kilns with grate cooler, which are equipped with a reliable SAT or TAT measure-ment device,
often use SAT or TAT as an indicator for the BZT.

The higher the BZT, the hotter is the released clinker and the higher is SAT or TAT (and vice
versa). Nevertheless SAT and TAT are influenced by a number of other effects (clinker
granulometry, cooler operation, etc.); therefore not in all kilns can a clear correlation
between BZT and SAT or TAT be established.

Back-End Temperature (BET)

The term BET refers to the temperature of the exhaust gas at the kiln inlet in case of kilns
with a preheater and to the intermediate gas temperature (before the chain sec-tion), if the
kiln is equipped with chains. The BET depends on the type of system and the L/D ratio of
the kiln. It ranges from ~800 °C in wet kilns (before the chain section) up to ~1200 °C in air
separator pre-calciner kilns.

If a reliable temperature measurement at the kiln inlet (kilns with preheaters) or before the
chain section (kilns with chains) is not available, frequently the preheater exit temperature
(kilns with preheaters) or the kiln inlet temperature (kilns with chains) is used.

The BET is an indicator of how well the hot meal is prepared, when entering the kiln.

Before the meal is finally clinkerized in the burning zone, it has to undergo dry out,
calcination (release of CO2), structural modifications and formation of interme-diate
products like C12A7.
The higher the energy demand for intermediate reactions in the kiln, (which depends mainly
from the type of process), the more important is a proper control of the BET. Hence, the BET
in a wet kiln is more critical (90–100% calcination miss-ing) than in an air separate pre-
calciner kiln.

The BET reacts slower to any control variable adjustment as the kiln is longer (higher L/D
ratio) and as more energy is consumed in the kiln for the intermediate reactions before
clinkerization. Ideally the material should always have the same degree of preparation, but
due to the kiln operation itself and normal fluctuations of the raw material properties, fuels,
ambient conditions, and others, this is not the case.

Variations in the raw material are first observed through the BET, thereby indi-cating early
the future impact on the BZT.

If all other parameters remain constant and the BET drops, then it is an indication that all
reaction zones shift downwards and vice versa.

If the zones within the kiln shift either down or up, the BZT will decrease or increase
consequently afterwards also, if no counter measures are taken earlier.

Oxygen Control
For a good combustion of the fuels, a certain amount of excess air is required. The quantity
of excess air is determined by measuring the oxygen content of the exhaust gases. Proper
control of the oxygen level is crucial for good combustion and a high thermal efficiency.

Typical oxygen ranges (at the kiln inlet) for the most common kiln systems are given in
Table 4.3. The required oxygen level depends on the type of kiln system but also strongly on
the type of fuel being used (e.g., gas needs less excess air than coal or solid AFR).

In most kiln systems, the required amount of excess air is slightly above the point where the
flame temperature would be highest due to sulfur, chlorine, or alkali situation.

Therefore a slight reduction of the amount of excess air increases the flame tem-perature a
little. Extremely low excess air (or oxygen) reduces the flame tempera-ture, which lengthens
the flame (post combustion) and lowers the fuel efficiency. Additionally sulfur and alkali
volatilization is enhanced, which may lead to buildup and incrustation problems within the
kiln system.

Too much excess air (or oxygen) cools the flame too and leads also to a poor thermal and
fuel efficiency, due to the deteriorating heat transfer. Since the total gas flow is increased,
the kiln internal and external dust cycles also increase.

Hence lower oxygen levels are chosen, if sulfur volatilization is not problematic.

A general rule applies that at the minimum permissible oxygen level, no notable CO is
formed (i.e., <0.05% at kiln inlet).

Control Variables
In order to run the kiln in a smooth and efficient manner, the control parameters must be
kept in a narrow range close to target. To keep the control parameters close to target, it is
generally necessary to make adjustments to the main control variables which are:

 Fuel rate to the kiln

 Material feed rate to the kiln Kiln draft
 Kiln speed
 In case of pre-calciner systems: fuel rate and draft in the pre-calciner
 In case of grate coolers: grate speed
The effect of the control variables, on the operational parameters, mentioned before, is as
follows.

Fuel Rate
When the fuel rate into the kiln is increased:

 Burning zone temperature increases

 Back-end temperature increases
 Oxygen concentration decreases
A decrease of the fuel rate has the inverse effect.

If more energy is introduced into the system, the BZT and the BET rise and oxy-gen level
drops, since part of the excess air is consumed for the combustion of the extra fuel if the
combustion does not take place under reducing conditions.
Feed Rate
When increasing the material feed rate into the kiln:

 BZT decreases
 BET decreases
 Oxygen concentration decreases
A decrease of the feed rate has an inverse effect.

When more feed is introduced into the kiln system, the temperature starts to drop first at
the back end. After the higher amount of feed has reached the burning zone, the BZT starts
to decrease also.

The extra feed releases additional H2O and CO2. The additional amount of gas from the
meal reduces the quantity of combustion air (and thus of excess air), since the amount of
exhaust gas remains (almost) constant. This leads to a decrease of oxygen in the exhaust
gas.

Kiln Draft
When increasing the draft in the kiln:

 BZT decreases
 BET increases
 Oxygen concentration increases
A slight decrease of the draft has an inverse effect. If combustion takes place under
reducing conditions (too little excess air), the BZT drops again and BET rises.

When the kiln draft rises, more (slightly colder) secondary air is pulled into the kiln through
the burning zone. This decreases the flame temperature, and as a result the BZT drops.
Although the amount of heat supplied to the kiln system is somewhat higher (more
secondary air), less heat is released in the burning zone (lower flame tempera- ture results in
reduced heat transfer); thus the BET rises. The higher kiln draft increases both the oxygen
concentration and the volume of the exhaust gases.

Kiln Speed
When the speed of the kiln increased:

 BZT decreases (temporarily)

 BET decreases (temporarily)
  Oxygen decreases (temporarily)
A decrease of the kiln speed has the inverse effect.
When the kiln speed is increased, the meal advancement is faster. All reaction zones shift
temporarily downwards, which cause the BET and the BZT to drop.

Since more meal enters temporarily in the drying and the calcining zone (same effect as an
increased feed rate), a higher amount of H2O and CO2 is released, which leads to a drop in
the oxygen concentration.

Those effects are only temporary, since a higher kiln speed at a fixed feed rate reduces the
filling degree in the kiln. Once the kiln filling degree has been lowered in the entire kiln BZT,
BET, and oxygen concentration gets recovered. In almost all kiln operation the kiln speed
depends on the kiln feed rate. The objective is to keep the filling degree in the kiln constant.
Thus the kiln speed which under normal oper-ation conditions is not an independent
variable, is adjusted in tandem with the kiln feed rate.

Chemical Parameters
The quality of cement clinker produced is controlled by many chemical parameters,
developed through the long year of experiences of the cement technologists. Some of these
factors are discussed here [4, 5]. On raw mix basis

based on the raw meal chemistry. If the value is 30%, the coating will be dense and firm, and
if it is 20%, the coating is loose and porous.

Start-Up and Shutdown
The start-up and the shutdown of a kiln system are the most critical phases during kiln
operation. Most serious equipment failures and accidents, which are caused by the
operation itself, happen usually during these two periods. Therefore special cau-tion and
attention have to be paid to the kiln system before and during start-up and shutdown.

Heat Up
The heat up of the kiln is done following a preset time – temperature schedule, which is
determined mainly by the kiln dimension and the type of refractory lining. The other factor
to be taken into consideration is how much of the old lining is replaced. Heating rate is
slower in case of complete new lining and slower if it is a part lining. The kiln is periodically
turned 90 degrees during preheating, in order to avoid unbalanced heating of the kiln shell.
The rotation schedule should be aligned with the preheating curve. The kiln should be
turned continuously once the BET has reached 750 °C and should be done earlier in case the
kiln is exposed during rain. The time-temperature curve for heat up is shown in Fig. 4.6.
Occasionally introduc-ing small amounts of kiln feed during preheating will help the bricks
to set during heat up (especially, if the bricks are just installed). This will also help to prevent
brick migration during periods of continuous kiln rotation.

Shutdown
In case of short shutdown, all fuel input to the system is to be shut off and the draft in the
kiln to be reduced to a minimum (to avoid overheating of the back and to maintain the
burning zone hot). However in some plants, a maintenance flame is re-established in order
to help maintain kiln temperature.

In case of a long-term shutdown, a certain draft in the kiln is to be maintained, but

overheating of the back (cool the system as fast as possible) is to be avoided. In case of
heavy rain, the kiln with the auxiliary drive is to be turned on for minimum 30 min. Later the
kiln should be rotated gradually by 90 degrees, in order to avoid unbalanced cooling of the
kiln shell. Unless requested for a kiln relining, the kiln should never be run empty.

Unnecessary haste during preheating and shutdown of the kiln may lead to severe
refractory problems and may outweigh the time and production saved because of fast
preheating and cooling down of the kiln.

Selection of Refractory
Introduction
Refractories should always be designed and installed to provide, wherever possible, a
balanced and predictable economic life. There are many reasons for the shutdown of the
kiln, but the reparation, if due to Refractory problem, needs the total cool down of the kiln
which is very problematic and expensive. It is therefore important to get a Refractory life
which coincides with the scheduled maintenance of the plant, and normally it is 12 months
or 24 months, rather than 14 months or 26 months [1].

Because of wide variation in the size, capacity, raw materials, fuels used, and the operational
practices, it is not possible to provide a standard recommendation for Refractory use, which
any plant can adhere to. But it is desirable to follow a general guideline which will improve
the Refractory performance in each zone of the kiln and in all other ancillary equipments
with minimum cost and minimum failure of Refractory lining [2].

Refractories are mostly tailor-made products. A Refractory, performing well in any particular
equipment, in a particular plant, does not always guarantee the simi-lar performance in the
same equipment in another plant. Therefore, it demands a careful and thorough study of
the conditions prevailed in individual plant before selecting the suitable Refractory lining.

Although qualitative rather than quantitative, a hypothetical relationship can be proposed

(Table 5.1), indicating the physical and chemical properties that exert an influence on the
rate of wear by common mechanical, thermal, and chemical factors [3]. This table can be
utilized to compare the suitability of a refractory compared to others for a certain
application where the factors responsible for the damage of the Refractories are identified
to a certain extent.

The overall use and consumption pattern of shaped, unshaped, and insulation Refractory in
different areas of application in a cement plant is shown in Fig. 5.1.

Refractory Selection
Refractory selection in different equipments is done taking into consideration the
operational condition prevailing in that equipment and the target campaign life. It is also
essential and important to understand the flow of solids and gases through the entire
cement kiln system as shown in Fig. 5.2.

Cyclones and Ducts
The cyclone system is a very important element in the cement manufacturing pro-cess. Each
cyclone system is unique in its design and operating characteristics and is decided by the
factors such as raw meal composition, the nominal and peak throughput, and the type and
quality of the fuel burnt in calciner or smoke chamber. The cyclones are designed always to
meet the objective to achieve higher thermal efficiency and greater kiln capacity which place
high demand on Refractory lining and anchor system.

The criteria for a good Refractory for lining in the cyclone and ducts are:

 It must be able to withstand high temperature.

 It must be able to withstand the chemical attack of alkali, chlorides, sulfur oxides, and
transition metal oxides at elevated temperature.
 The Refractory must meet the construction requirements of increasing size of
cyclones to form a stable lining.
 The Refractory surface must not support the buildups on its surface.
 The Refractory surface must be smooth to reduce the resistance to gas flow inside
the cyclone.
Higher operating temperatures, particularly in the lower cyclones, require use of refractories
with high refractoriness and high strength. With higher temperature, corrosive vapors can
penetrate high into the cyclone Refractory system, so alkali- and chloride-resistant
refractories should be used [4].

Buildups are usually caused by chemical attack, in combination with Venturi effect in the
cyclone’s complex design, and can also be caused by rapid temperature drops. Buildups
reduce cyclone efficiency, and their removal ultimately requires a production stop.
Regardless of the method used, removal is a risky job. In the most severe cases, explosives
are used. Several mechanical alternatives exist, none of which is particularly satisfactory.

Chemical attack in the form of alkali penetration is unavoidable in cement pro-duction. The
worst damage occurs in lower cyclone stages and riser ducts, kiln inlets, and even recliners.
Alkali and acid vapors infiltrate the refractory linings and attack the binding phase at
temperatures as low as 600–700 °C, thus endangering the lining. When these gases
penetrate behind the refractories, the effects are even worse because Cl2 and SO2 combine
with condensing steam to form acids that cor-rode anchors and kiln shell. If proper
attention is not paid, this can lead to lining collapse. The safest, most cost-effective method
to deal with this is to reduce the amount of insulation used, in order to move the vapor’s
“dew point” outside the shell of the cyclone. If refractory and cyclone external shell
temperatures remain above 100 °C, ambient moisture and chemical vapors will not
condense, and acid formation will be prevented.
The temperature varies from 300 °C to 900 °C from cyclone 1 to cyclone 5. The same quality
of refractory can be used in all the cyclones with different thickness of working lining and
insulation lining to achieve the skin temperature as per the design.

Some properties of the bricks and castable suitable for the lining of the cyclones are given
in Table 5.2.

The prevailing operating temperature and atmosphere inside the cyclones sug-gest the
suitability of dense aluminosilicate Refractories with 40–50% alumina, low porosity, and high
alkali resistance and do not allow high buildup. As an insulation material, calcium silicate
board will be most ideal. Where buildup and alkali attack are the major problem,
aluminosilicate refractories containing SiC (silicon carbide) or zircon help to reduce the
buildup and alkali attack. SiC reacts at high temperature with atmospheric oxygen to form a
glassy layer of SiO2 on the refractory surface which prevents buildup; similarly the zircon at
high temperature decomposes to form SiO2, which forms a glassy coating over Refractory
surface. Zircon is better,

because it has lower thermal conductivity than SiC which helps to save anchors from
overheating [5].

The ideal lining thickness for any area of the preheater is the minimum thickness required to
attain the specified shell temperature. In the case of monolithic lining, if it is too thin, the
anchor may get overheated which can accelerate corrosion, scale formation, fatigue, etc.
and may lead to collapse of the lining. If the lining is too thick, then sharp temperature
gradient inside the lining may cause crack and spall-ing of the lining.

In the preheater the fine dust behaves like fluid, and very often the red-hot dust infiltration
behind the refractory lining causes failure to the lining. The failures are caused by,
sometimes, shearing of anchors or the shrinkage of insulation due to sintering in contact
with red-hot dusts or by bulging of the brick lining due to push-ing of the lining from
behind.

The Refractory used can be both in shaped or unshaped form, but which one is more
preferable is a controversial matter. Performance wise both are good and both have some
merits and demerits. The advantages and disadvantages of brick and monolithic lining are
shown in Table 5.3.

The installation of monolithic lining is faster and easier than brick lining. But the installation
of monolithic Refractory is more critical than brick lining. Brick is a finished product, but
castable is a semifinished product and needs much attention and care during installation.

In the brick lining, the shape of the brick is important, especially when the diam-eter of the
cyclone is more. The brick shape and size must be designed to have an interlocking
arrangement to avoid bulging out of the lining. In the case of mono-lithic lining, the anchor
design is very important to attain the stability of the lining.

The common mistake made during selection of Refractory is to put the speed of installation
ahead of the lining stability. If the preheater lining life is 2–5 years with-out repair, then
installation time should never get the priority.

Calciner
The thermal efficiency of the cyclone system improves a lot when the recycled hot air from
the cooler is delivered to the calciner through the tertiary air duct. Fuel cost is also reduced
by using the cheaper alternate fuel in the calciner. At higher operat-ing temperature,
chemical attacks are more severe in calciner compared to cyclone. The suitable refractory for
the calciner must have high refractoriness, high thermal shock resistance, and high
resistance to chemical attack by alkali, chlorides, and sulfur oxides. The refractory in calciner
also should have high abrasion resistance because large volume of dust-laden gas is
delivered in calciner at high velocity through the TAD. The selection of right kind of
insulation is also very important to prevent energy loss. The use of alternate fuel like
plastics, municipal wastes, etc. may pose serious problem like early wear in central pipe.

Besides reacting with the refractory material itself, alkali vapor penetrates inside Refractory
lining and attacks the metallic parts like anchors, and the stability of the lining may be
greatly reduced.

Three main areas of the calciner are cone, wall, and roof. Both the shaped and unshaped
refractories can be used to line all these areas of the calciner, but the Refractories must have
the desired properties as mentioned before to ensure satis-factory performance. It is better
to line the roof with castable which has lower per-meability compared to brick lining.

The typical properties of the Refractories, suitable for calciner, are shown in Table 5.4.
Riser Duct
It recycles hot air from the lower stage cyclones to kiln improving the thermal effi-ciency of
the process and reduces the fuel cost. Riser duct lining often faces the problem of buildup
especially in the curved sections.

The closer the duct is to the hot end of the cyclone system, the greater is the alkali
penetration and spalling of the Refractory. The alkali vapor penetration can cause severe
alkali bursting, where the Refractory volume can increase by ten times from normal volume
[6]. The typical properties of the Refractories, suitable for riser duct lining, are shown in
Table 5.5.

Smoke Chamber
It experiences the worst possible exposure to high temperature (1300  °C), alkali attack,
buildup, anchor corrosion, etc. The Refractory selected for lining inside this equipment must
have low porosity and low permeability, and the best choices are dense bricks or low
cement castables. The typical properties of the Refractories, suitable for smoke chamber
lining, are shown in Table 5.6.

Meal Pipes
It connects the cyclones and has smaller diameters. The meal pipes are made in small
sections. They are lined in ground level and then are transported to the area of installation.
The main property required here is to withstand the continuous abra-sion of the meal
material. It can be lined with both bricks and castables. The typical properties of the
Refractories, suitable for meal pipe lining, are shown in Table 5.7.

Insulation
The total heat loss by radiation in the preheater is less than 2% of the total heat input. Most
preheater vessels and ducts are insulated to protect the steel shell. The use of refractory
fiberboard as insulation, in the hotter sections of the preheater, may induce premature
lining failure, if the fiberboards fail behind the dense lining. Fiberboard contains a certain
amount of organic matter that, when exposed to mod-erately high temperatures, burns out
with emission of fumes and loses both its mechanical strength and insulating property. The
loss of insulating property exposes both the steel shell and the anchor stem to higher
temperatures resulting in relative movement and damage of the anchoring system and
inducing cracks on the dense lining.

To avoid such problems, an insulating material with the minimum amount of loss on
ignition, e.g., calcium silicate, diatomaceous earth, or vermiculite boards, or insulating
castables that can be cast, gunned, sprayed, or pumped in place should be selected.

Kiln Hood
The kiln hood for lining purpose can be divided into two halves. The upper half, consisting
of the ceiling and sidewall, experiences high-temperature radiation, abra-sion, exposure to
alkali vapors and sulfur oxides from secondary air, and thermal shock, when there is kiln
shutdown. It is best to line the area by 50–75% alumina bricks or dense low cement
castables. There is report of good result of silicasol-bonded castable in this area [7–9]. If the
temperature of the secondary air is above 900 °C, then magnesia-spinel refractory can be a
good choice also.

Another interesting alternative, finding more and more acceptance in cement plants, is the
modular lining which offers the advantages of both bricks and casta-bles. In this alternative
the castable is precast and pre-fired into blocks that have the insulation and the anchoring
system pre-attached.

The lower half of the hood towards the cooler side can be lined with silicon car-bide or
zircon-containing high alumina Refractories. The buildup of coating occurs in this area, and
the said Refractories will repel the coating. The typical properties of the Refractories,
suitable for kiln hood lining, are shown in Tables 5.8 and 5.9.

Insulation
The kiln hood lining must use the insulation at the back with the steel shell. When the
working lining thins down by wear, the insulation will save the steel shell from overheating
and warping. The integrity of the insulation is critical to the working lining integrity. If hot
clinker dust penetrates the insulating layer behind the dense castable or brick, it quickly
damages the anchoring system and pushes the lining away from the shell until it collapses.
Most insulating materials shrink at hood temperatures and make the situation even worse.
The insulating material for application in hood is chosen such that it contains no organic
binders and its limit of service temperature is above 1000 °C to retain its full integrity at that
temperature. Either calcium silicate of 1100 °C grade or insulating castable is the best choice
for that area of application.

Tertiary Air Duct and Cooler

TAD recycles the heat from the hot clinker to the kiln. Air from the grate cooler, laden with
highly abrasive clinker dust, travels through the TAD at a very high velocity (25–30 m/sec) at
high temperature (about 1000 °C) and poses a very high abrasion on the refractory lining
especially at bends and dampers. Therefore the selected refractory to line the TAD must
have very high abrasion resistance and alkali resistance.

Grate Cooler
Clinker enters the cooler at a temperature of around 1200 °C and heats up the grate and
surrounding refractories rapidly. High refractoriness, high abrasion resistance, and resistance
to thermal shock are necessary, especially at the clinker downfall area and bullnose. The
cooler walls directly above the grate are also subjected to extreme wear. The partition wall,
designed to limit the inflow of cold air to the kiln system, must withstand the abrasive effect
of clinker dust entering the tertiary air duct as well as the temperature fluctuations, resulting
from its exposed position.

The cooler is effectively divided into two zones – the “hot” zone and the “cold” zone. The
first zone is from the clinker downfall to the bypass duct and partition wall. The purpose is
to exchange the heat from the hot clinker and route it back to preheater via the tertiary air
duct. The function of the second zone is to ensure a uniform reduction of temperature of
the clinker body from 800 °C down to ambient. The Refractories to be used here must have
high abrasion resistance and high ther-mal shock resistance.

Both bricks and monolithic can be used to line the kiln hood. To get good refrac-tory life
and the fastest possible installation at the clinker downfall, bullnose, front sidewalls, and
roof, precast refractory blocks, which can be quickly bolted into place and just as quickly
removed, can be used.

Kiln
Kiln is the heart of the cement plant where the clinkerization takes place at high
temperature. The kiln is a cylindrical horizontal tube with a very little inclination of 1–2
degree. The kilns have diameter 3–7 m and length 50–100 m. The kiln rotates on its
horizontal axis at a speed of 1.5–4 RPM.

The Refractory lining of a modern cement rotary kiln is performing different specific
functions at different zones of the kiln, which include:

1. Protection of the kiln shell and tires from attaining an excessive temperature which
can deform the shell
2. Protection of the kiln shell from the corrosive gases and liquids
3. Protection of the kiln shell from mechanical abrasion by the feed material and
the clinker

3. Reduction of the thermal energy loss to keep it within tolerable limit

4. Increase of heat exchange between the hot gases and the feed material
 

The kiln can be divided into several zones depending on its temperature at different zones
and also function being performed. Table 5.10 shows the length norms of different zones in
different types of kilns.

Refractory selection for different zones is done based on the operational environ-ment. The
temperature profile and the refractory practices followed for different zones in the kiln are
shown in Fig. 5.3 [10, 11].

Inlet Cone
The most important considerations for the bricks here are that those must be able to
withstand high abrasion, thermal shock, and alkali attack. Therefore 40–50% alu-mina
fireclay refractories are found to work best in this area. Both shaped and unshaped
refractories can be used in this area. The typical properties of the refrac-tories suitable for
lining are given in Table 5.11.

Preheating Zone
The Refractories in this zone must be able to withstand high mechanical abrasion by the
moving calcined feed material and alkali attack. Fifty to sixty percent alumina refractory
bricks are the best lining material for this area. The typical properties of the aluminosilicate
refractories suitable for lining different zones of the Kiln are given in Table 5.9.
 

Transition Zone
Here the Refractory lining is exposed to:

1. High temperature and also cyclic temperature fluctuations, because there will be no
coating or unstable coating
2. Radiant heat of the flame
3. Attack by alkali salts and alkali vapor
4. Attack by the liquid phase in the cement which will start and attack by other cor-
rosive gases if alternate fuels are used
5. Redox reaction cycles when there is variation in oxygen potential due to change in
fuel
Magnesia alumina-spinel refractories are the best material to line this area, espe- cially
when the furnace is with large diameter. The magnesia-alumina refractories have the
property to withstand high thermal shock. It has low MOE to withstand high thermo-
mechanical stresses, and it can withstand the chemical attack of alkali salts, corrosive gases
at high temperature, and cyclic oxidizing and reducing conditions.

With smaller diameter kiln, normal high alumina refractories and phosphate- bonded high
alumina refractories with 70% alumina also work well. High alumina refractories because of
their pyroplastic property can withstand the high deforma-tion without getting crack. It has
also a good thermal shock resistance. High alu-mina Refractories also take up good coating
which protects it from all abuse.

Burning Zone
It is the most important area in a cement plant where the clinkerization takes [Link]
zone experiences:

1-Highest temperature.
2-Reaction with the liquid phase formed in cement.

3-Continuous temperature fluctuation between when the lining is in contact withthe clinkers
at the bottom and when it is at the top farthest away from the clin-kers. The temperature
fluctuation gets further aggravated, if the coating becomes unstable.

4-Reaction with the sulfur oxides and other gases, e.g., chlorine, generated from alternate
fuels.

5-High abrasion from the clinkers.

6-Different kinds of thermo-mechanical stresses.

Fortunately a thick coating of the cement clinker is formed on the refractory lining in the
burning zone, which minimizes the damaging effects of the said factors on the lining and
enhances its campaign life. The process people in the cement plant always pay attention to
maintain a stable and thick coating on the burning zone refractory lining. The stability of the
coating depends on many factors which will be discussed later.

Thermal load is one of the most crucial parameters to decide the lining quality. The thermal
load (TL) is defined as the heat consumption per hour per unit cross section of the kiln, and
usually it is expressed in terms of GJ/m2h:

where Fi = fuel burning rate per hour (kg/hr), NHV = net calorific value of the fuel (KJ/kg),
and Di = effective internal diameter of the kiln after Refractory lining.

With increasing production per net kiln volume (ton/dm2), the thermal load increases, and
lining material must be designed accordingly to be able to take up that thermal load.

It is found through experience that the normal thermal load of cement kiln remains in the
range 14–22 GJ/m2h, whereas the recommended maximum thermal load in the burning
zone is 24.3 GJ/m2h. It is found by experience that up to a ther-mal load of 13 GJ/m2h, high
alumina bricks are working satisfactorily, when other operational parameters are within
tolerable limit. Beyond this value of thermal load-ing, basic refractories, e.g., magnesia
spinel, work much better, and if the thermal loading exceeds 21 GJ/m2h, special care must
be taken in selecting the refractory. In such case very pure grade of magnesia alumina or
magnesia-zirconia lining should be used.
For large diameter kilns where the thermal loading is high and alternate fuels are used, the
basic refractories are preferred over high alumina products, but the Bauxite based high
alumina Refractories are also used very successfully in smaller diameter kilns. The raw
material chemistry, fuel used, and operational discipline play a major role in deciding the
refractory lining life in burning zone. The selection of the refractory for the burning zone
depends upon the kind of stresses the refractory lining is exposed to. The operating
conditions that prevail in different cement plants are not same.

The typical properties of some basic Refractories for the transition and the burn-ing zone
are shown in Table 5.12.

Before selection of the Refractory, one should know the actual operating condi-tions in the
cement plant, under consideration. Table 5.13 shows the suitable quality of basic bricks
under different kinds of stresses. To enhance the life of the basic lining in the burning zone
Magnesia-Spinel castable has been developed which has shown very promising result in
actual field trial where the material was applied by gunning on the worn out lining in the
burning zone to build a thickness of 60 mm [12].

Outlet Area (Retainer Ring and Nose Ring)

This is a very critical area in the kiln and highly stressed. The thrust of the whole kiln lining is
borne by the retainer ring, and the refractory in contact with the retainer ring is to withstand
it. Besides the thrust in this area, the bricks are to withstand high abrasion of the clinkers,
and the bricks also experience high thermal shock due to temperature fluctuation. Various
designs are tried to minimize the thrust, e.g., to put two retainer rings or to make a conical
design to transfer part of the axial thrust in radial direction, but none is found to be a
foolproof solution.

The stress generated on the lining in this zone, because of thermal expansion, was computer
simulated and modeled. It shows that the deformation of the lining caused by thermal
expansion depends upon the temperature profile across the brick height and the brick
quality [13]. During initial lining the cardboards are used as expansion joints. It was found
that in the initial heat up, the highest stress produced was confined to one third of the brick
height from hot face [13] and the stress pro-duced was lower than the crushing strength of
the bricks. But a completely different situation was encountered after kiln shutdown and
reheating. The expansion joint provided during initial lining is lost due to downhill
movement of the lining. Moreover all the open joints are filled up with clinker dust and the
residual expan-sion of the lining made it further worse. The brick next to the retainer ring is
sup-ported. Only 70 mm of the brick height, next to the retainer ring, is supported by the
retainer ring, and a high shear force is generated which is much higher than the brick
strength resulting in crushing of the brick (Fig. 5.4).

To combat this problem, RHI has developed a design to increase the contact sur-face area
by providing slanting surface as shown in Fig. 5.5. Because of higher surface area, the force
per unit will be lower to save the bricks from getting crushed [14].

In the nose ring area, the main factors, which make this area critical, are high abra-sion of
the falling clinkers and high thermal shock as it is exposed to atmosphere.

The material to be used in the nose ring must have high volume stability, abra-sion
resistance, and thermal shock resistance. The properties of some ideal material used for
lining this area are shown in Table 5.14. Silica sol-bonded or no cement castable is also tried
in this area with great success [7].

Along with the castable quality, the design of anchors is also very important for the
successful performance. It has been found that specially designed precast refractory blocks
with very high content of stainless steel fiber work very well in this area [15].

Brick Shapes for the Kiln Lining

The brick shape used for lining of the rotary kiln is side arch bricks. Normally the kilns are
lined with brick shapes with two different tapers. Two different systems of refractory sizes
are very popular, one is VDZ and the other is ISO, shown in Fig. 5.6. Two shape bricks system
fit better in the rotary kiln lining because often the kiln shells are not perfectly circular. By
changing the ratio of two different bricks, the distorted area in the kiln can be lined better.
Some practical thumb rules used for the lining are:

1. Basic bricks should be lined in the VDZ shapes because VDZ bricks are thinner
compared to ISO sizes and the lining with VDZ shapes has more joints which can
accommodate the higher thermal expansion of the basic refractory.
2. Kiln lining with larger diameter needs bricks with more taper, and preferably ISO
shapes should be used.
3. At the kiln tires because of the higher shell ovality, VDZ brick shapes should be used
because of their flexibility with more number of radial
 4. Handling of ISO bricks is more stressful for lining crews because of their greater
weight compared to VDZ shapes.

There is no proven corelation between the brick lining thickness and its cam-paign life.
Sometimes lining with 160 mm brick thickness gives better refractory life than 220 mm thick
lining. Actually the radial stress, which crushes the brick, increases with lining thickness. The
ideal thickness of the lining should be the mini-mum thickness of the lining which will not
allow the shell temperature to exceed the acceptable limit. The normal recommended lining
thickness is given in Table 5.15.

It is to be borne in mind also that the key effect of the bricks in the lining becomes more
prominent with higher length of the bricks and in bigger diameter kiln the brick lining with
longer bricks is more stable.

Calculation of Combination of Two Different Brick Sizes

The number of bricks of each size used in the lining can be calculated by using the
mathematical formula given below.

If Na and Nb are the number of pieces required of shapes A and B to form a ring in a kiln
with inside diameter D, Xa and Xb are the a and b sides of shape A, and Ya and Yb are the a
and b sides of brick B, then

Refractory selection in burner pipe must take into consideration the following

factors:

1. High temperature
2. Thermal cycling
3. Alkali attack
4. Sulfur attack
 5. High abrasion of clinker
6. Low thermal conductivity to protect the steel pipe inside
It is not possible to get the best of all these properties in one material, and there- fore a
balance is struck to optimize the different properties to get a best suitable material.
Castable is the type of Refractory used to line the burner pipe.

Since the main requirement of a burner pipe lining is to protect the metal pipe inside, so an
insulation cloth or paper must be wrapped on the pipe and then casting is done. The lining
thickness is normally 100 mm. The front 1.5–2 m of the burner pipe is the most vulnerable
area where damage takes place in service. In order to reduce the cost, the zone lining can
be done in the pipe. In zone lining 2 m from the tip is cast with the best castable, and
beyond that lining can be made with normal castable with lower price.

The main reason for damage of the castable lining of the burner pipe is the dif- ferential
expansion and contraction of the castable and the anchors [16]. To mini- mize this effect,
the anchor design is very important. The anchor must be designed in such a way that it can
accommodate the expansion of the castable lining material [17]. The anchors are to be
covered with bitumen paint or wax, which when burns off, creates a gap for the play of the
castable. Instead of rigid anchors, the floating anchors, which can accommodate the
movement of castable, enhance the perfor- mance. The stainless steel fiber reinforcement in
the castable resists the abrasion and thermal shock better and improves the performance.
Properties of some cast- able suitable for lining the burner pipe are given in Table 5.16.

Silica sol-based castable has been tried successfully in the burner pipe lining [9, 18].

The report is also there that specially developed magnesia-spinel castable shows very
promising result in the lining of the burner pipe [19].

Refractory Design, Installation,

and Maintenance
Introduction
Refractories can be a substantial investment for a cement industry, either in new
construction or in repair work. Installation of refractories may comprise a small part of the
entire budget, but it protects the equipment, protects the people, and protects the
production, and their value is greater than its cost. Refractory performance depends on the
quality of installation to a great extent. The best quality of Refractories does not ensure the
best performance, unless the Installation quality is sound. Installation techniques are
different for different types of Refractories. Installation methods of shaped and unshaped
products are quite different. Complete knowledge on the character and properties of the
refractory products under installa-tion is required for good installation. Refractory lining
inside each equipment in a cement plant like calciner, cyclone, TAD, cooler, Kiln, etc. needs
proper planning and utmost care and precaution. Any premature Refractory failure needs a
shutdown to set it right and causes huge loss in profit because of production loss.

General methods and principles followed in Refractory installation are the same as followed
in civil engineering construction, and it is the same irrespective of the equipment. But the
major difference is that the whole refractory lined structure will remain at an elevated
temperature during operation. Therefore some special tech-niques are followed to take care
of stresses generated because of higher operational temperature. Installation of Refractories
in some of the equipments, for example, Rotary kiln, because of its geometry and of its
dynamicity, needs special care.

Refractory Lining in Rotary Kiln

Rotary kiln is the heart of a cement plant and single most important equipment in a cement
industry. Most of the unplanned shutdowns for refractory maintenance, in cement plants,
are due to the refractory problem in rotary kiln. It is to be borne in mind that Rotary kiln is
huge in size and mass and is not stationary but dynamic in nature, which has made it very
special from other static furnaces. A kiln of 6 m diameter and 60 m length, for example,
including Refractory lining and feed weigh about 1100 MT [1]. When such a huge structure,
with huge mass, rotates on two or three supports, different types of thermo-mechanical
stresses are generated in the Refractory lining, and therefore lining perfection is very much
needed to reduce the effect of those stresses. The following points must be taken into
consideration before starting refractory installation, in any rotary kiln or in any other
equipment as well.

Storage
The refractories for lining must be kept under covered space so that the bricks do not get
wet, especially in case of basic bricks and monolithics. In case of lining basic brick along with
other nonbasic refractories, all the products must be used in dry condition to avoid any kind
of hydration of the basic bricks. Wet basic bricks should not be exposed to a temperature
above 50 °C.

Tools and Tackles
All tools must be inspected before starting the lining job. The common tools used for
installation are:

(a) Rubber or plastic hammers of different sizes to align the laid bricks and to close the
joints

b) Brick cutting machine to cut the bricks as per requirement, specially to close a ring or a
lining wall
(c) Trowels to apply and spread the mortars on brick surface

(d) Measuring tapes

(e) Spirit level
(f) Plumb
(g) Chisels, etc.

A pneumatic or hydraulic jack is preferred to assist in the jacking and closing out of each
brick ring. The jack should have a pressure dial capable of reading up to 4000  psi.
Automatic lining machine (Fig.  6.1) is also used largely for lining which makes it faster
because the kiln need not to be turned after lining the lower 180 degree [2].

Preview of Drawings
A thorough review of the installation drawings, with the customer, installer, and refractory
supplier, should be made, before installation begins.

Kiln Shell Inspection

Both internal and external appearance of the kiln shell must be inspected thoroughly before
the lining starts. For any abnormalities in kiln shell, special care must be taken. The kiln shell
inside must be clean and free of any debris. The brick must be seated firmly on the shell
with tight brick-to-brick contact.
Reference Line: Longitudinal
As a first step to start the kiln lining, longitudinal reference line should be estab-lished on
the lowest part of the shell (6 o’clock position) along the length of the kiln, to be brick lined.
A bar is kept horizontal inside the kiln with the help of a spirit level (Fig. 6.2) [3]. A string,
with a weight at one of its end, is hung from the center of the bar. The point, where it
touches the shell, is noted. The similar readings are taken at several points along the length
of the kiln. The points obtained are joined to get accurately the longitudinal line. This
longitudinal reference line must be parallel to the axis of the kiln shell and will be used to
start laying brick for each ring. Construction of these lines can also be done with the help of
a long spirit level kept in a similar way as the wooden bar is kept. The level is adjusted and
the center is marked on the kiln shell. Longer is the spirit level better is the accuracy.

Additional parallel lines at 1.5  m intervals should also be drawn on the shell (Fig. 6.3).
Nowadays, more sophisticated method is available using laser to con-struct the longitudinal
reference line (Fig. 6.4).

Reference Line: Circumferential

In the next step of the construction, circumferential reference lines are drawn. These lines
are constructed perpendicular to the longitudinal reference lines made earlier. Obviously the
circumferential reference lines are perpendicular to kiln axis also. The reference lines
(Fig. 6.3) are essential to ensure the accuracy of the installation and to help keep the rings
straight and to maintain the joint tight [3]. The bricks are laid on this mark, and the bricks
are now put on both the sides of this line one by one to form the ring which will be
perpendicular to the axis of the kiln. Nowadays more advanced method has been developed
to fix the axial line by laser beam, shown in Fig. 6.4. Existing weld joints may be used as
circumferential reference line. If the rings are not laid perpendicular to the axis of the kiln,
there will always be a chance that lining gets spiraled or skewed during running of the kiln.
This causes the loos-ening of the ring and falling down of the bricks from the ring and
finally lead to the shutdown of the kiln.

Brick Shapes and Size

Side arch bricks of two different shapes following ISO or VDZ standard (Fig. 5.3) are used for
lining rotary kilns. If the kiln diameter is known, then the ratio of two different shapes, to
form a ring, can be determined from the available table (Appendix).

Some kilns still use refractory blocks (cupola shapes) having a curved surface to match the
contour of kiln shell. Bricks are always installed starting at the downhill end of the section to
be lined. During lining the bricks must be tapped with a leather hammer to ensure the
proper contact with the shell.

Lining Thickness
The thickness of the refractory lining depends upon the kiln diameter. The standard norm is
to use 200 mm thickness for up to diameter 4.2 m, 220 mm thickness for 4.2–5.2 m
diameter, and 250 mm thickness for diameter above 5.2 m. The purpose of increasing lining
thickness is to insulate the kiln shell from overheating. But it has been found, in actual
practice, that with good and stable coating on the brick lining, lower refractory thickness
also can be used without any problem.

Many other factors, besides the kiln diameter, should be taken into consideration while
deciding a lining thickness. The rigidity of the kiln shell is very important factor. It is defined
by its thickness. The thicker shell flexes less with the same grade of steel and same
operating temperature. The rigidity of the kiln shell becomes very low above 350 °C because
of the decrease of metal strength with increasing tem-perature. A flexible shell with high
ovality poses compressive stresses on thick lin-ing and higher risk of brick detachment when
the lining gets thinner (Sect. 7.5.1).

The relationship between lining thickness and radial stress on the brick [4] can be expressed
as

where σL = radial stress, E = modulus of elasticity of the brick, Ws = shell ovality, TL = lining
thickness, and D = kiln diameter.

Equation 6.1 shows that other factors remaining constant, increasing the lining thickness,
will increase the radial stress on the lining and the radial stress is higher for small diameter
kilns than for large diameter kilns. Therefore, larger kilns should have fewer problems with
thick linings than smaller kilns.
Laying of Bricks
How the bricks are positioned, in two adjacent rings, is important. The joints of bricks in two
adjacent rings should never come in a line because it makes the lining weak. The bricks in
two adjacent rings are therefore lined in such a way that the joints get staggered. From the
reference line at the bottom of the kiln, bricks are laid up, with bonded joints, both the
sides. Depending on the diameter of the kiln and the condition of the shell, the general
guidelines are a 1:1 ratio for ISO brick and a 2:1

or 3:1 ratio for VDZ brick as shown in Fig. 6.5. Dramatic deviations from these ratios may
happen, because of the following reasons:

(a) The shell is not perfectly circular.

(b) The brick’s dimensions are not as per the specification.

(c) The wrong combination of bricks is used.

Each brick used for the lining has two different thicknesses. The side with higher thickness
rests on the shell. For easy understanding, a notch is provided on one end of the brick to
indicate the hot face. All bricks are to be installed with the notch fac-ing towards the center
of the kiln. Any brick installed upside down needs to be removed and replaced in the
correct orientation.

Brick rings should be measured to the nearest circumferential reference line at least every
1.5 m of kiln length. Minor corrections should be made with mortar in subsequent rings to
compensate for deviations greater than 12 mm [3, 5].

If step forms, during the lining, then correction is needed in the ratio of the two different
shapes. The lining must fit very tightly on the kiln shell, and the refractory lining must rotate
at the same speed along with the kiln shell. If the brick ring remains loose, there may be a
relative movement between the kiln shell and the brick ring of the lining. In that case, the
lining gets worn out on the cold face, adja-cent to the shell, because of friction between kiln
shell and the brick (Fig. 6.6).

Mortar Joints
The bricks in a ring of the kiln remain tight because of the key effect of the brick as is found
in arch construction. Mortars are normally not required to join the bricks in the lining of
rotary kiln. But mortar joints are very useful to take care of the kiln shell defect [3, 5] and
dimensional inconsistency of the refractory bricks (Fig. 6.7). Mortar lining is more
appropriate in the case of basic lining because high thermal

expansion of the basic refractories keeps the lining tight. The mortar joints may shrink at
high temperature and may loosen the lining if the thermal expansion coef-ficient of
refractory is not high and is never recommended in case of lining with fireclay or high
alumina refractories. Mortar’s specification is decided looking into the quality of bricks to be
joined. The mortar composition should be close to the brick composition. The mortar is to
be mixed with water to get the trowelable con-sistency and should have sufficient
workability when applied on the brick surface.

Expansion Joints
This is a very important aspect of all refractory installations. The refractory expands when
gets heated up in service. A provision is to be kept to accommodate the ther-mal expansion
and to relieve the stress, without which the lining may collapse. It is to be borne in mind
that during the operation of a kiln or furnace, the whole refrac-tory lining maintains a
temperature profile across its thickness. Therefore the expan-sion will be more at working
face and minimum at the cold face. Moreover, the refractories attain plasticity at high
temperature and mitigate the compressive stress generated due to restricted thermal
expansion. The provision for expansion can be kept in different ways. For example, in case of
constructing a ring with refractory bricks in a cylindrical vessel, the total expansion of hot
face is calculated consider-ing the circumference of the vessel and operating temperature.
Then the expansion per brick is calculated, and the cardboard of required thickness is put
after every 5 or 10 bricks.

Calculation of expansion joint – if the diameter is D, the thermal expansion coef-ficient is α,

the operating temperature is T, and the number of bricks per ring is N. Then the expansion
per brick,
If the brick interval, for providing expansion joint, considered is 5, then the thickness of
cardboard to be used to provide expansion joint should have a thickness of
5 × 3.14 DαT/N = 15.7 DαT/N.

In cement rotary kiln, no expansion joint is provided in the rings to keep them tight during
operation. During the closure of a ring in the lining, 1–2 steel shims are struck in the joints,
and those during high temperature operation of the kiln soften or melt taking care of the
thermo-mechanical stress due to expansion. The expan-sion joints are more important in
axial direction because of larger length provided in the axial direction of the lining after
every 1–2 m length. The thermal expansion joint is, especially, very important for the lining
of basic refractories, which have high thermal expansion.

Let us consider the lining of basic refractory over a length of 15 m. Basic bricks have thermal
expansion of about 1.2% at 1000 °C. Steel has the thermal expansion coefficient of 12 ×
10−6/ °C. If we consider the lining working face temperature is 1000 °C and the steel shell
temperature as 350 °C, then the relative expansion of the lining hot face compared to steel
shell will be 15000 × [0.012 – (350 − 30) × 0.000 012] = 122.4 mm. The ambient
temperature is considered 30 °C. That means the lining hot face will expand 122.4 mm on a
length of 15 m of the lining compared to the steel shell. If the required space is not allowed
to expand, the tremendous com-pressive stress generated can be calculated easily (Eq. 6.11)
which can crush the top portion of the bricks at the plane, parallel to kiln axis. Figure 6.8
shows the damage of 70% Al2O3 refractory bricks in a kiln due to insufficient expansion
joints given in the lining in the axial direction. The phenomenon becomes more prominent if
the preheating is made faster, when the stress does not find time for relaxation (Eq. 6.12).

But fortunately, in actual practice, a temperature profile exists across the lining thickness,
and the temperature of the cold face of the brick remains at a much lower temperature
compared to working face, and the effect of thermal expansion is minimized.

Vertical Wall Lining

In case of vertical lining in a straight or circular wall, steel retainer plate is put after every 15–
20 layers, so that the load is distributed on the retainer plates. In that case, ceramic blanket
is used to fill up the gap between the topmost brick layer and the retainer ring above to
accommodate the expansion (Fig. 6.9).

In any Refractory lining, a temperature profile exists across the Refractory lining between
hot face and cold face. In case of cylindrical lining, when the refractory lining is heated up, it
starts expanding, and initial stresses are nullified by the read-justment of lining material and
compression of mortars, in case of mortar joints in the brick lining. At still higher
temperature, stress starts to build up, because there is no further space to expand for the
brick. In refractory, fortunately, like many other materials, there is a transition from the
brittle to plastic behavior with rise of tem-perature, which mitigates the effect of stress build
up.

In case of flat wall, when it receives the heat at one face of the wall, the Refractory bends
towards the heat, as a result of the thermal gradient through the lining. Due to the higher
operating temperature, the hot face will thermally expand (elongate) more than the cold
face, causing the wall to curve or bend towards the heat. The result is a tendency for
refractory linings to pull away from backup linings and steel shells, creating voids and,
ultimately, leading to lining failure (Fig. 6.10).

To prevent this bulging of wall, flat brick walls must be tied back to the steel shell, to resist
the pull away from the shell. For brick linings, this is normally accom-plished by utilizing
“holder brick” that is secured to the steel shell by a stainless steel anchor (Fig. 6.11).

Basic Rules of Refractory Lining

Certain basic rules must be followed to get a sound lining:

(a) Refractory bricks must be laid horizontally unless the design of the lining demands an
inclined lining as in the case of arch construction.
(b) The construction dimensions in the design drawing must be followed taking in
consideration the dimensional tolerances. The first layer must be installed with extreme care,
and then, “go ahead” must be given, checking dimensions and alignment.

(c) Brick joints must be made with prescribed mortar and joints must not be more than
2 mm thick.
d)If due to size tolerance of the brick, the prescribed joint thickness cannot be maintained,
the decision should be made to deviate from the prescribed joint thickness or to sort out
the bricks.

e)If the steel wall of the furnace is not level, then the brickwork must be adjusted to the
shape of the steel wall in case the deformation is not too big.

F)The brickwork must be kept clean specially the expansion joints.

G)Already laid bricks can only be aligned in the direction of the bed or vertical joint.

H)Readjustment is not possible if the mortar has started to become hard, and bricks not laid
correctly must be removed, cleaned, and installed again with fresh mortar.

I)Bricks with cracks can only be used if the cracks are insignificant or it is in the rear side of
the brick which will remain on the cold face of the lining.

J)The brickwork must be designed and made in such a way that no gaps or hollow spaces
are formed, because the deposition of dust in the hollow space can develop an
uncontrollable buildup of pressure resulting into the destruction of the lining.

Installation of Monolithics
Monolithic Refractories encompass a large category of products, namely, conven-tional
castables, low cement castables, gunning and shotcreting material, and mortar. Monolithic
refractories are semifinished Refractories, part of which is manufactured in the premises of
supplier and the final finishing is done at application site. The monolithic refractories are,
mostly, a combination of coarse aggregates and fine pow-ders, supplied as dry powder to
the user. The loose powder is to be mixed with water or a specified liquid binder at site
before application. Its consolidation and compac-tion, drying, and preheating ultimately
influence its properties to a great extent. The application of monolithic products, of different
categories, e.g., conventional cast-able, low cement castable, gunning, shotcreting, etc., is
quite different. The accuracy of its installation largely influences the performance of these
products.

Conventional Castables
Conventional castable products contain relatively higher percentage of high alu-mina
cement and require higher percentage of water, compared to low cement cast-able. The
mixing of castable with water, preferably, is to be done in a mechanical mixer. These
castables can be installed by casting, pouring, or ramming. The water, to be mixed, depends
upon the method of installation. Least percentage of water will be required in case of
ramming. Conventional castables are also used largely for patch repairing of existing worn
out lining by troweling. During installation of fresh castable over an insulating castable as
back up lining, the backup layer must be suf-ficiently wetted beforehand or a waterproof
coating must be made on it, to prevent the backup layer from absorbing moisture from the
freshly applied castable. Similarly in the case of application of castable over an insulating
board like calcium silicate, the board is to be coated with a waterproof paint like bitumen,
before instal-lation of castable.

Low Cement/Ultra-Low Cement /No Cement

Castables
These castables contain high alumina cement up to 6%. These are to be mixed with water,
only, in a high shear mechanical mixer. Without a high shear mixing, the desired flow
property will not be developed in these castables, with low water per-centage. The quality of
mixer is very important in determining the water content required to get a desired level of
flow. The castable mix can be installed only by vibration casting, and the intensity of
required vibration may vary depending on the flowability of the castable.

recautions to Be Taken During Installation to Get Best

Performance
 Castables are to be stored in a cool dry area. Castables are to be used on first-in-
first-out basis.
 Mixers and tools must be clean and free of any old castable residues, cement, or
foreign material, adhered to it, that may contaminate the mix and may affect the
setting time and the ultimate strength of the castable.
 Only clean drinkable water is to be used for mixing castables. The dissolved
contamination in water may affect the flow and setting of the castable. In cold
weather, warm water can be used to raise the temperature  of  the  mix  to 15–20 °C.
In hot weather, the water or castable should be cooled so the tempera- ture of the
mix does not exceed 30 °C. Cold water can retard setting time and warm water
accelerates the set. After placement the temperature of the casting should be
maintained between 5 and 35 °C.
 The use of excess water, than required, reduces the strength of the castable lin- ing.
The water quality is an important factor to influence the flow behavior of the mix, the
setting behavior, and the final strength of the cast body. The recom- mended quality
of the water (Table 6.1) should always be used to get the best results [6]. Castable
should be mixed only long enough to produce a uniform mix (approximately 3–5
minutes). Mixing for longer time generates heat and speeds up the setting time.
 When a castable has been mixed to the desired consistency, it is to be placed into
the forms as rapidly as possible. The recommended consistency for cast installations
is the ball and hand test. A ball of properly mixed castable, when tossed 6–12 inches,
should adapt to the shape of the hand when caught, but should not flow through
the fingers.
 When forms are used, they should be coated with oil or grease or liquid sodium
silicate, to prevent moisture loss from the castable and to aid easy removal of the
forms. A form vibrator or pencil vibrator of rating 10,000 to 12,000 vibrations per
minute should be used to consolidate the castable mix. The vibration removes air
pockets and air bubbles and increases the density of the castable. Over vibra- tion
causes segregation of the castable mix and weakens the casting. The outer casing
can be drilled with 2–3 mm diameter hoes (weep holes) to aid in dissipa- tion of
moisture during the drying and firing process.

 After placement and vibrating, the castable should be cured for 18–24 hours.
Allcalcium aluminate bonded castables generate heat while curing. The casting
should be covered with polyethylene sheets, damp sacks, or sprayed with cold water
periodically to prevent moisture loss and promote uniform curing. After the above
procedure is completed, it is to be uncovered for air drying for 12–24 hours. At no
time during the casting, curing, or drying process, should the castable reach freezing
temperatures. In addition, at no time during the curing process should the casting be
moved or shaken; vibration will interrupt the bonding process thus greatly reducing
the ultimate strength of the casting.

Shotcreting
Shotcreting is most modern technique of installation of a castable, although the con-
ventional castable recipe is to be modified to get the desired flow and setting property.
Initially, this technique was developed and was largely used for the civil engineering
construction of roadways and railways tunneling through mountainous regions. This
method is, specially, useful for an installation of Refractories, to be made at a height. The
basic principle of the installation of this type of product is to mix it with water to obtain a
pumpable slurry, which is pumped by high capacity pump at the desired height, where the
installation is to be made. The slurry is conveyed through steel pipe and rubber hose
connected at the end with a steel nozzle (Fig. 6.12). At the nozzle high pressure air line is
connected which sprays it to the target to be lined with cast-able. The nozzle design is very
important part of the machine.
The nozzle diameter is generally 50 mm and the nozzle tip is made of special rubber.
Shotcrete installation requires compressed air of sufficient quantity with sufficient pressure.
A typical value is 300 kg per minute or 5–10 tons per hour at a pressure of 4.5–5.5 kg/cm2
at an ejection velocity of 45–60 m per second required for proper compaction [7–9].

Accelerator is introduced to the mixing ring by a high pressure (7 kg/cm2) low- volume
dosing pump. The pump may be electric or air powered and typically capa-ble of metering
the additive at a rate of 100 liter per hour. The additive type and amount may vary from
product to product. The additive gels and the castable are set within a few seconds [10, 11].
The common additives used are lime, sodium silicate, aluminum sulfate, or sodium
aluminate dilute solution. The extent of dilution is important to maintain proper dispersion
and atomization of the additive. Mixing of the castable below temperature 5 °C may affect
the gelling property of the castable and may need higher percent of additive. The
adjustment of the dosage of accelera-tor is very important. The lower addition will cause
slumping, and the higher addition will reduce working time and may form lamination.
During the installa-tion, the nozzle distance from the gunning surface is kept 2–4 ft.

The nozzle should be kept in constant circular motion during installation. The gunning
should not be done on an area that has set for more than 5 minutes. If the flow of the
castable gets interrupted, the flow of dispersant is to be stopped immediately.

The installation of castable by shotcreting on a vertical wall does not require any shuttering
as is used in vibration casting or pouring of castable mixes. Thus it is a very fast and cost-
effective method for installation and saves a lot of manpower, although the machine is very
expensive. This method is suitable for large installa-tion only and is not suitable for small
patch repair, etc. It is a convenient method to line in cyclone preheaters in cement plants,
which are at a height, because transport-ing and storing refractory material to that height
are very difficult and sometimes unsafe.

Gunning
This method is used normally for small installation and cold or hot repairing. In this process
the gunning material is poured dry in the hopper of the gunning machine, and the material
is conveyed dry by the pneumatic pressure through a rubber hose to a nozzle. High
pressure water is added at the nozzle tip, where the water gets mixed with the castable
before it gets sprayed on the desired target (Fig. 6.13). The gunning machine can be of
batch-type or continuous-type machine. The air pressure needed is 4–5 kg/cm2 for a 100 ft
gun hose. For additional 50 ft length, the pressure is to be increased by 0.5 kg/cm2. The
water booster pump must be able to supply 20 liters of water per minute at a pressure of 7
kg/cm2 [12, 13]. The ideal placement temperature is 15–35 °C. Pre-dampening of the
castable, before feeding the gunning machine, helps in better installation. Quality of the
installed lining depends on the distance, angle of nozzle with the target, adjustment of
water content, and finally the skill of the operator. Depending upon the machine capacity, it
can place 1–100 kg material per minute at a nozzle velocity of 30 m per second [14].

Pumping
Pumping the castable mixed with water can be done for placement of large quantity of
castables [15]. The equipments required are a paddle-type mixer with a capacity of 1 ton.
The high pressure piston pump is used to pump the castable slurry. The slurry is pumped
through 65–75 mm diameter pipeline. A combination of hard pipe and rubber hose is used.
Rubber hose should be used for the final section to distrib-ute the slurry, because rubber
hose significantly increases the resistance to [Link] line diameter reduction should be
done at the pump outlet with reducer section as long as possible to minimize the resistance
to flow and pipe jam. The elbows used must have larger radii to reduce to minimize the
resistance. Adequate personnel must be engaged to handle the hose filled with material,
which is very heavy and weighs 30–50 kg per 3 m of 75 mm diameter pipe depending upon
the material quality.

Monitoring and Safety
For job safety, installation efficiency, and quality of job, an audio system should be used for
communication between the pump operator and placement crew. Prior to mixing and
pumping the castable, the pipeline must be lubricated by pumping slurry of bentonite or
any good plastic clay. The first batch of castable, to be pumped, is generally mixed slightly
“wetter” than optimum. This ensures that it will pass through the pipeline with no leaks or
restrictions. Once this is established, subse-quent batches are mixed and pumped at the
desired placement consistency, at nor-mal pump pressure. Once pumping of castable mix
begins, it is important that the pumping operation be as continuous as possible. Refractory
castable, even those designed especially for pumping, can have a relatively short working
time. Exposure of pipeline, conveying slurry, to the sun or hot ambient condition, can cause
acceler-ated stiffening or setting. If a significant work interruption occurs or the pumping
pressure increases (indicating the castable is stiffening in the line), the pipeline and pump
hopper should be purged and cleaned.

Joints
Different kinds of joints need to be provided for the sound lining of castables. The joints are
provided to take care of expansions or shrinkages of the refractory lining during its use.
Expansion Joints
Joints must be provided to accommodate the thermal expansion in monolithic refractories
those are not supported by anchors. Size of the joint is usually com-puted by multiplying
the average temperature of inside and outside of the refractory lining with the coefficient of
thermal expansion of the refractory and the dimen-sions. From this value the shrinkage of
the refractory due to drying and the PLC of the refractory at the operating temperature are
subtracted. If the value is negative, no expansion joint is required.

Separation Joints
Monolithic refractory usually shrinks during post installation drying or when cooled after
heating. To protect the lining from damage due to shrinkage, joints are pro-vided at
appropriate intervals which can absorb the shrinkage. These joints are made by sectional
installation of the lining or by inserting thin sheets of millboard or ceramic paper into the
lining during installation. Cuts made halfway through the thickness of lining, called scoring,
can also be used as a separation joint. The fol-lowing methods are used to provide
expansion joints:

 Castable refractory is poured in alternating segments between the expansion joints.

After the castable sets, foam styrene is fixed to both joint surfaces of the lining, and
castable water mixture is poured in remaining segments
 Foam styrene of 3 mm thickness is fixed on veneer boards, and the boards are fixed
firmly on the form at the required spacing so that it will not be displaced during
installation. Castable is poured on both the sides of the partition to neu- tralize the
pressure of the castable.

Choice of Installation Method

For a furnace or equipment construction if it is decided to use castable refractory, then the
question arises that which method of installation will be the best. There are essentially four
different methods by which the castable refractory can be installed, namely:

(a) Vibro-casting

(b) Gunning

(c) Shotcreting
(d) Pump casting

But the decision of the method to be used depends on the following factors:

 Location and site condition

 Environmental condition and equipment
 Volume required to be installed
 Ease and speed of installation
 Storage conditions
 Skill of the installation team
 Curing and drying requirements
 Budget
Refractories are not commodities, and the selection of proper installation method needs a
careful evaluation of the detail project requirements. Any installation method may work, but
the best will be the easiest and accurate one. The decision can be made considering each of
the points mentioned before, e.g.:

Location and Site Condition

The important points are:

 Accessibility of the location, where the installation is to be done inside the

equipment
 Height of that place from ground level
 The obstacles on the way to reach that place
 The space around for the movement of people and equipment
If the place is at a height, then it will be easier to use shotcreting or pump casting where
there is no need to carry the material at that height. In that case the machine and the
material can be kept at zero level.

Environmental Condition and Equipments

The points that are important here are:

 How clean does the environment need to be around the application area?
 What kind of safety measures are required?

Volume of the Refractory That Need to Be Installed

The important considerations are:
  How much materials are to be installed in how much time. If a large volume of
castable is to be installed in a short time, then shotcreting or pump casing should be
the choice. If a small quantity is to be installed, then casting or gunning should be a
better method.

Ease and Speed of Installation

Some method of installation are much faster, for example, shotcreting installation is much
faster because it does not require any former to install as is required in case of casting.
Therefore the time required for fixing of the formers, greasing it, and removal of the formers
can be saved. A comparison of typical time requirement for installation of castable by
various techniques [16, 17] is made (Fig. 6.14).

Storage Condition
If there is no storage space available around the area of installation to keep the mixer or
required equipments, then instead of vibro-casting, shotcreting will be a better method,
because the shotcreting equipment can be placed far off from the installa-tion point. The
material to be installed, also, will be stored, naturally, near the shot-crete machine,
eliminating the requirement of space around the installation area.

Skill of Installation Team

Gunning, shotcreting, and pump casting require more trained and experienced crew
members than that by vibro-casting.

Budget
Many a times, though, the cost of the materials (considering equal properties) is the same,
but the size of the project can make the difference because of wastage. In pumping or
shotcreting application of 100 tons of castable, the wastage due to mate-rial in the hose
pipes may not be significant but will be a very significant cost factor for installation of 5 ton
material for which gunning is a better choice. The main cost-differentiating factors are
equipment cost and labor cost.

Anchor
For a complete monolithic lining of any equipment, anchor system is an integral part of
refractory design and largely responsible for achieving desired campaign life of the lining.
The anchor system includes the selection of anchor construction mate-rial, anchor design,
anchor spacing, and the fixing of anchors. The anchors can have multitude of sizes and
shapes.

Anchor Construction Material

Metal anchors are used where the service temperature does not exceed 1200 °C. At high
temperature the mechanical strength of the metal decreases, and it is corroded fast.
Different grades of alloy steels are used for making anchors, and the choice of material of
construction depends upon the actual temperature the anchor is to with-stand. In selecting
the anchor material, the temperature of the tip of the anchor embedded in the lining must
be taken into consideration. This should be predicted from the temperature profile of lining.
Table 6.2 shows the steel grades and alloys, suitable for different temperatures [18–20].

Anchors are made normally of steel rod and plates. Above 1200  °C, ceramic anchors are
used, which are basically refractory shapes of alumino silicate quality, with Al2O3 content
varying from 30% to 80% depending upon the application temperature.

During selection of the anchors, the temperature profile across the lining is a very important
factor to be taken into consideration [21]. Higher operating temperature can lead to carbide
precipitation in the metal that changes the original properties of the metal, causing rapid
oxidation and premature failure of the anchor and lining. The atmosphere prevailing in the
furnace can change the temperature profile in the lining. It has become more important
today because of more and more use of alter-nate fuels. The high nickel content (without
any special additive in the alloy) makes the steel highly sensitive to sulfidation [22].

Reducing, sulfurous, and nitriding environment can severely affect the metallic anchor, and
care must be taken in the choice of metal alloy. This led to the develop-ment of new alloys
that contained specially added components. Additional corro-sion resistance is provided by
the rare earth elements (e.g., cerium, lanthanum). In the environment of a cement plant, the
first micro alloyed commercialized steel grade 253MA is found to work better than SS 304
and SS 309. The composition of 253MA is given in Table 6.3 [18, 19].

Anchor Shape and Size Design

Flat anchors, made from steel plates, are cheap, simple to manufacture, and readily
available. Therefore these anchors are often used, but those have some major disad-
vantages. The surface area of flat anchor is more, compared to rod anchor with similar
mechanical strength. Because of higher surface area, corrosion rate is higher in flat anchors
[19]. The steel rod anchors are mostly in the shape of “V” with the angle of 60 degree. The
arms of the “V” are sometime twisted to provide an extra surface area and better holding.
The arm lengths of the “V” are normally 25 mm less than the lining thickness. Sometimes
the arms of the “V” are of different lengths to prevent spalling in layers. The selection
criteria of diameter of the anchors are shown in Table 6.4.

The said anchors are suitable for lining up to 230 mm thickness. Different designs of
anchors are shown in Figs. 6.15 and 6.16. During use at high temperature, the metallic
anchors will expand, and if the space is not provided for expansion, the lining will develop
crack. The plastic caps are put on the tips of the “V” arms, and the bitumen paints are
brushed on the anchor rods. At high temperature, these will burn out, leaving a space for
the expansion of the anchors.

For dense monolithic linings with thick cross sections (greater than 230 mm), the use of pre-
fired refractory anchor is the preferred method of anchoring the structure. Ceramic anchors
have several advantages over other types of anchoring systems. They have more holding
power than metal anchors due to their design and greater

surface area. They also extend through to the hot face providing extra retention of the
lining. Also being ceramic material, those can withstand much greater tempera-tures and
tougher atmospheric conditions than standard metallic anchors.

Fixing of Metal Anchors

Quality of fixing of anchors on metal shell of the furnace or equipment determines the
soundness of installation. The whole load of monolithic refractory is transferred on the
anchors. The anchors must be able to hold that load for long duration at a high
temperature. Therefore the welding joints of the anchors on metal shell of the furnace must
be very sound, and it is to be tested by hammering the anchors after welding.

In some design the anchors are not fixed rigidly on the metal shell but are fixed through a
support (Fig. 6.17) so that it remains free floating and can have movement in three
dimensions to take care of any movement of refractory lining at high tem-perature. The
anchor support should be in the shape of inverted U with tips bent 90 degree and welded
upon the metal shell.
The support diameter should be 2 mm more than the anchor diameter. V anchor should be
positioned at the middle of the support and just tack welded to the sup-port. The welding
should not be rigid. It should be such that welding can be broken by hand. After fixing the
anchor arms should be coated with bitumen paints or plas-tic tape to create provision for
expansion.

Fig. 6.17 Design of floating anchor

Fixing of Ceramic Anchors

Ceramic anchors cannot be welded like metal anchors and are fixed to the vertical metal
shell or roof of the furnace or equipment through metal holders of different designs. The
metal holders and clips must be able to withstand the load of the lining. Some of the
designs of the holders and anchor bricks are shown in Fig. 6.18. The metal holders hang
from the steeI section beam as shown in Fig. 6.18b. In case of fixing ceramic anchors on
vertical wall, C-clips are mostly used (Fig. 6.18c).

Spacing
 The spacing and orientation of the anchors are also very important. The following
factors determine the spacing between anchors:
 Strength of anchor
 Strength of refractory Thickness of the castable Furnace operating temperature
 Position of the lining(vertical, horizontal, inclined) Lining shape
 Existence of pressure Method of installation
 Mechanical movement of the furnace or related equipment and the external force on
furnace lining
The spacings between the anchors can be determined in two different ways:

 Considering the tensile strength of the support or anchor

 Considering the strength of the Refractory

Support Spacing Based on Strength of Anchors

Spacing between the anchors can be calculated on the basis of the strength of anchor at the
operating temperature and the weight of the refractory that are supported by the anchors.

1. Horizontal lining (ceiling) in single layer

If t1 is the ceiling thickness, la = the spacing between the anchors, d1 = the bulk density of
the Refractory lining, a  = the area of cross section of the support, σm = the permissible
tensile stress of the support material at operating tempera- ture, then

2. Support spacing in a three layer refractory lining If the first, second, and third layer
thicknesses are t1, t2, and t3 and their bulk densities are d1, d2, and d3, then

Support Spacing Based on the Strength of the Castable

The support spacing calculated separately based on the support strength and the anchor
strength is related to each other as shown in Fig. 6.19 [6, 23]. Table 6.5 gives the general
norm of selection of anchors and spacing.

The anchors’ positions are kept in a regular manner, and the orientation of the anchors is
made in such a way that two adjacent anchors in one row form an equi-lateral triangle with
the nearest anchor in the other row (Fig. 6.20).

Drying and Preheating
This is one of the most important steps in Refractory installation. The part of the water used
during installation of castable remains within the lining. In brick lining also, some physically
absorbed moisture remains, and the extra moisture comes from the mortar used. The
internal moisture inside the lining will get evaporated and removed during the operation.
But the main idea of preheating is to remove the physically and chemically bound moisture
in the castable or in the brick lining slowly and in a controlled manner. Fast removal of water
from the system may develop crack in the refractory lining and may cause explosion in
castable lining. Besides the moisture removal, the other major function of preheating is to
achieve a thermal equilibrium to stabilize the whole system, including refractory lining. In
case of rotary kiln, especially, because it is a moving structure, the bricks, of the lining,
rearrange themselves during the preheating period accompanied by its move-ment and the
lining attains stability. In a cement plant, where several thousand tons of refractories are
used to line different equipments, this thermal equilibrium is to be attained slowly. The plant
runs smoothly once it is established. In cement plants, drying and preheating of refractories
in all the equipments, e.g., cyclones, kiln, TAD, hood, and cooler, are needed. The hot air
generated for drying purpose must have sufficient volume to create turbulent flow for more
efficient heat transfer. The additional burners very often are required to be installed in kiln
inlet or preheaters to increase drying efficiency. Refractory lining, very often, consists of
various quali-ties with different drying characteristics. During the drying of such lining, the
heat-ing curve, for the material with lowest permissible heating up curve, is to be chosen. It
is widely accepted that truly effective means of drying out Refractories, is, to deploy some
form of convective heat source, passing large volume of hot gases over the refractory
surfaces.

This creates a “scrubbing” action on the object under drying, which hastens the heat transfer
process through the refractory thickness. It ensures that both physically and chemically
bonded moistures are rapidly and safely driven off.

The burners, with very high turndown ratio (100:1), are used enabling tempera-tures to be
accurately controlled at all stages from 80 to 1000 °C. The burners with fully adjustable
output generating up to 2.5 million kilocalories per hour through hot gases, when
connected to its combustion air fan, are used. These hot gases are emitted at an outlet
velocity of some 150 m per second [24]. This creates a turbulent atmosphere, promoting
highly effective scrubbing action necessary to drive off moisture rapidly. The quick
conversion of residual moisture to steam may cause explosive spalling, if the lining material
is very dense and impermeable.

Besides the drying, slow preheating is a requirement to stabilize the refractory lining.
Refractory lining always experiences more abuses on its hot face rather than cold face.
When preheating starts, the hot face receives the heat, first. Heat is then conducted through
refractory lining from the hot face to the cold face.

When preheating starts, temperature of refractory rises much faster than the steel shell. As
temperature rises, Refractory tries to expand, but the steel shell, behind, not yet heated up,
resists the expansion of the refractory lining. Under such condi-tion, Refractory at the hot
face will experience a high compressive stress. Refractories readjust themselves to mitigate
the causes responsible for the development of such stresses.

In a similar way, during shutdown, when the heat source is put off, the furnace is on cooling;
the Refractory hot face starts losing temperature fast, by radiation and convection of heat.
As the refractory hot face is becoming cool, it will try to con-tract, but the refractory face in
contact with steel shell, still hotter, will not allow it to contract, and thus the hot face will
experience a strong tensile stress. Stresses developed inside the refractory lining, which
appear as a result of rapid temperature changes, can be calculated [25–27].

However, a slow temperature change does not give an effect of thermal stress growth,
because of stress relaxation effect [26–28]. The stress disappears with the course of the time
according to the equation,

Preheating of Bricks
The slow preheating of the brick lining is done for stress relaxation at high tempera-ture.
Preheating of the kiln is done following the heating curve shown in Fig. 6.21 [29]. In case of
complete new lining, the time-temperature schedule will be longer than that in the case
where a repairing or partial lining is done. In case of high alu-mina refractory lining, the time
required for heat up is lesser because of lesser ther-mal mass. The preheating can be done
faster also because lower thermal expansion coefficient of high alumina refractories
develops lesser thermo-mechanical stresses. Moreover the stress relaxation starts at lower
temperature in case of high alumina refractories. In case of basic refractories, because of
higher thermal expansion coef-ficient and onset of stress relaxation at higher temperature,
it needs to be preheated at slower rate.

Too fast heating of the refractory lining can cause high compressive stress on the working
surface of the brick because the expansion occurs on the surface only when the brick inside
or steel shell still at much lower temperature. This can be identified by typical convex
surface of the brick after cracking. Figure 6.22 shows a high alu-mina brick lining in the
upper transition zone cracks due to fast preheating [30].

The fuel used for preheating can be either gas or liquid fuel. Basic refractory lin-ing is
sensitive to reaction with water vapor, generated from the evaporation of moisture in the
lining, as well as the water from the combustion product of fuel (natural gas or oil),
especially in the temperature range 60–295 °C. This is a critical temperature zone, where the
MgO in the basic bricks tends to react with the water vapor to form Mg(OH)2. The reaction
MgO + H2O = Mg(OH)2 is associated with a volume expansion and causes crack in the
lining. This phenomenon can happen when the water vapor condenses on the Refractories.
In practical application, when natural gas or oil is used for preheating, the care is to be taken
to pass the critical temperature range 60–295 °C as quickly as possible to prevent hydration
reaction of basic lining to occur [31]. The reaction tendency decreases with increasing
temperature.

Preheating of Castable
The main purpose of preheating of the castable lining is to remove the water from the
system. Castable sets and gets hard because of the formation of different hydrated
compounds of calcium aluminates. These hydrates, e.g., CaO.Al2O3.10H2O (CAH10), CAH6,
C3AH6, and AH3, decompose when heated. The decomposition temperatures of these
hydrates are different.

The water gets released during the thermal decomposition of the hydrates and is to be
removed slowly. The fast preheating of the castable lining may lead to sudden

formation of steam inside and generates a very high steam pressure (Table 6.6) [32]. This
may cause crack, even explosive bursting of the lining. This is more relevant and important
for low cement castables, which, in general, have low permeability to hinder the liberation of
water vapor on heating. The water remains in castable both as physically bonded and
chemically bonded water. The physical water gets removed within 200 °C, but the chemically
bonded water gets dissociated at a temperature of about 550 °C. The higher the content of
cement in the castable, the more the amount of chemically bonded water. The relationship
between the heat-up rate of a castable lining and the percentage of the elimination of
moisture depends upon the lining thickness. The addition of organic fibers in castables
helps a lot for easy removal of water vapor formed in preheating. Whatever is the thickness
of the lining, it is the surface of the lining that is immediately affected by the initial heating.
The castables generally have low thermal conductivity, and therefore the lining cold face is
pro-tected by the thickness of the lining. One sided heating actually makes the thing more
complex because of continuous heat and mass transfer, continuous chemical dehydration
reactions, change of thermal conductivity of the lining with continuous removal of moisture
along with internal changes in steam pressure and development of mechanical stresses.

Experiment shows that a thickness of 100  mm from the heating surface gets affected by the
initial heating up. Too slow rise of temperature is safe, but uneco-nomic and too fast rise of
temperature may cause explosion and crack in the lining to damage it. In the most desirable
heat-up schedule, the time vs temperature and the time vs moisture removal curve should
go very close. The type of castable refractory has got a bearing on the temperature rise and
the moisture removal per-centage. Below given is a heat-up curve (Fig. 6.23), which is safe
and efficient and is commonly applicable to different types of castables [6].

The castable lining, after the shuttering is removed, should be allowed to get air dried at
ambient temperature for 24 hours before the starting of preheating by hot air.

Carbonation
If the refractory lining, especially made of the conventional or insulating castables, is left
without preheating for long time, it starts deteriorating because of efflores-cence and
carbonation reactions.

Soluble oxides, in castable, from used raw material or water, leading to diffusion of Na ions
in the solution, react with aerial CO2 to form sodium carbonate. This sodium carbonate
reacts with calcium aluminate hydrates of the castable to form CaCO3 as shown in reactions
below.

Although the equation shows sodium carbonate as anhydrous material, it remains

associated with 1,7, or 10 molecule of water of crystallization which varies in terms of
density (Table 6.7) [33].

Depending on the quantity and occurrence, it can destroy the castable structure because of
volume expansion as evident from Table 6.6. Formation of Na2CO3.H2O can cause surface
efflorescence (Fig. 6.24) without affecting the structure but with loss of strength of the
castable.

In absence of alkali, the aerial carbon dioxide reacts with calcium aluminate hydrates to
form calcium carbonate and alumina hydrates, as per the reactions below [34].

The rate and extent of the reaction depend upon the type of calcium aluminate hydrate with
the order CAH10 > C2AH8 > C3AH6.

 The practical observations of refractory castable reveal the following tendencies:

 Carbonation occurs easily in lightweight castables, but hardly at all in dense
castables.
 Carbonation occurs easily in not dried products and hardly at all in dried castables.
 Carbonation  occurs  easily  in  an  environment  with  high  temperature  and
humidity.
 When not dried products are exposed to rain, the carbonation rate is highly
accelerated.
Therefore the lining made with conventional or insulating castables should not be allowed
to remain without drying and preheating for long time, especially where the humidity and
temperatures are high [35]. The drying and preheating of the cast-able make it stable, and it
does not deteriorate further.

Refractory Performances
and Mechanism of Damages
Introduction
Refractory performances in cement industries, similar to its performances in other process
industries, depend largely on many other factors, besides the quality of Refractories as
shown in Fig.  7.1. The diagram clearly shows that quality of Refractory, quality of its storage
and installation, and kiln’s mechanical features and operating condition, e.g., chemistry of
the feed to the kiln and the thermal parame-ters, play a very important role in deciding the
Refractory performance. The selec-tion of right kind of Refractory also is very important, and
selection sometime is made by the user by providing a specification, and sometimes the
quality is sug-gested by the refractory supplier, and in some occasion it is decided jointly.

It clearly indicates, that, factors, those govern the performance of Refractories, are mostly in
control of the user of Refractories, rather than in control of supplier of Refractories. The best
Refractories also cannot provide desired performance, if the installation is improper or the
operating conditions prevailed are not friendly to Refractories. The storage quality of the
Refractories is particularly important for basic bricks and monolithic refractories. The
influence of the chemistry of raw meal and different thermal and mechanical parameters of
the kiln operation on the refrac-tory performance are shown in Fig. 7.2 [1, 2].

Experience shows that in the overwhelming majority of cases, there is never one, definite
cause but instead a “chain of events” that lead to the “failure.” In other words, there were
multiple variables that impacted the refractory material in service [3].

The refractory material is only one component in the overall design of process equipment
and industrial furnaces. It is sensitive to (and influenced by) time, tem-perature, and
operational factors. The experiences say the culprit will likely be one (or a combination) of
the following:

1-Improper combustion (fuel, ratios, atmospheres, flow, etc.)

2-Flame impingement (flame geometry, improper setup, etc.)

3-Improper furnace controls (PLC’s controls, circuitry, thermocouples, dampers, etc.)

4-Operational change (cycling, throughput, load, etc.)

5-Operational procedures

6-Maintenance practices

7-Shell and lining movement due to a difference in expansion rates

8-Mechanical stresses
9-Environmental factors

10-Feed

From a refractory perspective, all these factors have an impact on refractory and can cause:

 Excessive temperatures (shrinkage, etc.)

 Hot spots
 Excessive cracking due to spalling, thermal shock (a result of temperature fluc-
tuations), mechanical shock or compressive forces, linear change, bending, etc.
Structural issues
 Erosion and abrasion of the refractory lining Anchor failure
 Failure of the steel shell which supports the refractory Mechanical damage
All of the above factors can cause the refractory material to end its campaign life sooner
than originally expected. As variables do change, the selection of the refractory used may
need to be reconsidered. If there are new variables that the prod-uct must face, then an
upgradation or change in refractory lining may be warranted. Statistical analysis of the
refractory-related problems and performances, on a large number of cement kilns
worldwide, shows (Table  7.1) the frequency of problems occurring in different application
areas of the kiln system [4]. The table also shows the effect of different factors, e.g., thermal
load, thermal shock, clinker liquid phase infiltration, salt infiltration, redox condition,
mechanical stress, and ring formation on the refractory performances in different major
areas of the total kiln system.

The most vulnerable area in the rotary kiln is the burning zone, where the Refractory wear-
out is much more than that in other areas of the kiln, because of higher temperature, cyclic
temperature fluctuation, and the presence of clinker liquid phase. Although the factors
responsible for refractory performances are shown as discreet entities but they are all
interdependent and overlapped with each other. Analysis of the Refractory wear-out and
failures in the rotary kiln alone shows that about 35% of the problems are because of
reasons thermo-chemical in nature, 28% due to thermo-mechanical in nature, 19% due to
thermal overloading, 3% due to redox reactions, and another 15% attributable to reasons
other than those mentioned here.

Thermo-chemical Effects
Primarily kiln temperature is the most important operational parameter to decide the
refractory performance, and higher operational temperature initiates more problems with
refractory lining.

Rate of chemical corrosion increases exponentially with rise in temperature, and similarly the
thermo-mechanical stresses also increase with temperature. Therefore to get clinker of
desired quality, optimization of operational tempera-ture is very important, and achieve
that, control of composition of feed material is most essential. Some very proven tool to
control the feed chemistry vis-à-vis the firing temperature of the kiln, is different cement
moduli which are given in tabular form (Table 7.2).

At high temperature, especially, the refractories in the burning zone of the kiln, reacts with
different input materials in the system through the feed and fuel. The reaction takes place in
solid-solid, solid-liquid, and solid-gas phases which ulti-mately causes the refractory wear
and reduces the campaign life of Refractory lin-ing. The mechanism of degradation of
Refractory varies with the type of refractory and its place of use. The reactions responsible
for degradation of refractories are mainly due to solid-liquid and solid-gas phase reaction.

The chemical impurities enter into the kiln either through the raw meal or through fuel and
take part in different chemical reactions with the refractory lining at high temperature. The
increasing use of alternative fuels in cement manufacturing aggra-vates the situation and
puts lot of chemical stress on refractory lining [5–9]. Table 7.3 [10, 11], shows the different
impurities enter into the kiln system and their sources. The reaction of refractory and the
liquid phases, formed in the kiln during clinker-ization process of the raw meal, can be
divided into three different stages for a better understanding of the reaction, namely:

where r = pore radius, ν = clinker liquid surface tension, θ = contact angle of clinker liquids
and the refractory, η = viscosity of the liquid phase, and t = time.

The penetration of the liquid phase can be suppressed by increasing the viscosity or the
contact angle and the decrease of the surface tension of the liquid phase. The values of the
variables, i.e., η, θ, and ν, change as the reaction progresses. The reaction products can be
solid, liquid, or gas. The reaction products may stick to the solid surface to form a barrier for
further attack of the liquid phase, or if the reaction products are liquid and gas and get
removed from the surface of reaction easily, the solid surface is easily available for further
reaction. The reaction may progress very fast when the reaction products are soluble in the
liquid phase. The corrosion rate is the function of many factors including temperature, solid-
liquid interface composi-tion, and liquid density, viscosity, diffusivity, and degree of
turbulence.

Aluminosilicate Refractories
Aluminosilicate Refractories are used mainly in the preheating and calcining zone of the kiln
and also used widely in the burning zone of the kiln, especially in the kilns with diameter
below 5 m. The damage of the high alumina refractory in cement kiln burning zone may be
due to chemical corrosion of the refractories by reaction with CaO, the liquid phases in the
cement clinker, alkalis, etc. Considering that the cement raw mix contains mainly four
oxides, i.e., CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, the liquid phase starts appearing at 1338  °C, i.e.,
the eutectic point of the C-S-A-F system.

At this eutectic temperature, the liquid which is formed has got a chemical analy-sis of CaO
(55%), SiO2 (6%), Al2O3 (23%), and Fe2O3 (16%). This liquid can take more SiO2 in solution,
and therefore it can attack the refractory containing SiO2 and can corrode it, taking it into
solution. The impurities in the raw mix like MgO, Na2O, K2O, and SO3 can further bring
down the liquidus to 1280 °C and make it more corrosive.

Normally, the liquid phase in the cement clinker in burning zone is maintained between 23%
and 30% [14, 15]. This liquid penetrates through the brick pores and cause densification of
the refractory, which increases its modulus of elasticity and makes the refractory brittle.

Moreover, the densification changes the physical properties, e.g., thermal expan-sion
coefficient of the densified portion of the refractory from the rest of the brick, and during
heating and cooling of the bricks, crack develops because of dissimilar α value.

As shown in Eq. 7.1, the viscosity of the liquid melt is a very important param-eter to
determine the extent of infiltration of the refractory by the liquid phase, and the lower is the
viscosity, the more will be the infiltration. The viscosity decreases rapidly with temperature
rise. It is found that increase of temperature by 93  °C reduces viscosity of the clinker liquid
phase by 70% [16]. Presence of MgO, alkali sulfates, fluorides, and chlorides in the clinker
also helps in reducing the viscosity. For example, a regular clinker liquid phase has got a
viscosity of 0.16 N.s/m2 which is reduced to 0.05 N.s/m2 in presence of 2% SO3 in the
clinker [17]. Free alkali and phosphorous increase the viscosity of the melt but are offset by
presence of MgO and SO3. The liquid phase viscosity is found to increase linearly with
increasing alumina/iron ratio.

Another important property of the liquid is its surface tension which indicates its ability to
wet the refractory surface. A liquid phase with higher surface tension has lesser ability to
wet the refractory surface and to corrode it.

Interaction with Alkalis
Alkalis enter into the kiln system through the raw meal and the fuels, especially through the
alternative fuels (Table 7.3). Then the alkali gets circulated inside the kiln and gradually its
concentration increases (Fig. 7.3). The alkali gets vaporized from the burning zone and is
carried to the calcination zone, where it gets con-densed and again is carried to the burning
zone with the feed and gets evaporated and this cycle continues.

The mechanism of destruction of refractories on interaction with alkalis can be shown

schematically in Fig. 7.4. The alkali in the kiln combines with chlorine and oxides of sulfur to
form alkali chlorides and sulfates, and their mixtures form low- melting liquid phases
reacting with Refractories at high temperature, as shown in Table 7.4.

These liquids get infiltrated inside the pores of the refractory and form a densi-fied layer,
with altered thermal properties, which during heating and cooling forms crack at the
junction with unaltered layer causing gradual destruction of the lining [17].

The alkali salts in the vapor phase get infiltrated the brick pores and get con-densed inside
the pores of the bricks in colder zone. Thermal expansions of these salts (Table 7.5) are
much higher than the refractory body, and during heating and cooling, they exert pressure
on refractories causing cracks [18–23]. These salts and the liquids get infiltrated in the brick
pores and alter it physically to reduce its MOE and to change its coefficient of thermal
expansion to make the refractory more brit-tle and prone to thermal spalling.
The photo (Fig. 7.5) of the used high alumina bricks from the burning zone of a cement
rotary kiln shows the color variation from cold face to hot face. The porosity and density of
the hot face and cold face are shown in the figure.

There is a difference in the density of the solid and molten alkali salts, accompa-nied by a
volume change (Table 7.6). As a result when the refractory lining, contain-ing the solid salts
deposited in the pores, is heated and cooled, the melting and solidification of the salts exert
a pressure on the refractory body, and repetition of this phenomena causes crack to the
body.

The alkali salts react with alumina, silica, and mullite at high temperature with formation of
different feldspathic compounds associated with large volume expan-sion which ultimately
destruct refractory (Table 7.7). If alkalis are very high and are not balanced by sulfur, it will
be very difficult for them to exit the kiln. The alkalis will therefore continue to recirculate
within the kiln/preheater system and increase the probability of kiln rings and preheater
buildups. Clinker quality may suffer because free alkalis can enter into solid solution within
the clinker minerals affect-ing their reactivity.

Interaction with Sulfur
The major source of sulfur in the clinker manufacturing is petroleum coke and coal from
some origins. The lower price and higher calorific value have made petcoke a very attractive
fuel for cement manufacturing. The obvious effect of using petcoke as fuel is the
disturbance of the alkali/sulfur ratio, and the raw meal formulation needs to be changed to
maintain the desired ratio.

Once the amount of alkali sulfates that can be produced is exhausted, excess sulfur needs to
be removed from the system with free lime as calcium sulfate which is promoted at higher
oxygen levels. Most plants burning petcoke have severe sulfur buildup problems revealing
the sulfur is not being adequately removed from the system. The most obvious effects of
the high concentration of sulfur are in the amount and hardness of the coating, sulfur ring
formation, and tower buildups. All these contribute to a reduction in gas flow, which,
without adjustment, causes reduced oxygen levels and a worsening effect. It is estimated
that a minimum of 15% flow is required to the bypass to reduce the sulfur compared to only
about 2% to reduce chlorides to a “refractory” acceptable level. The removal of the buildup
by mechanical means damages the refractory lining. The prevention of buildup requires
control in alkali/sulfur ratio and oxygen level, and minimum availability of chlo-rides helps
to prevent buildup [24]. The reducing condition in the kiln increases the volatility of sulfur,
and excess oxygen decreases it.

The variation of the fuel compromised with the stability of coating on the refrac-tory lining
and the life of the refractory lining in transition and burning zone is directly proportional to
the stability of the coating. Every instance the coating is dropped from an area of lining, the
bricks are subjected to an instant thermal shock, resulting in compressive stress shock wave.
Also when the coating falls, the brick is directly exposed to the process heat and
environment. This allows the volatiles (sul-fur/alkali) to condense on the surface and
penetrate deeper into the brick. Due to the higher temperature at the brick hot face and the
additional elements available to react with, a liquid phase will result on the brick surface and
destroy the brick prop-erties in all affected areas. Upon repeated exposure the liquid phase
will penetrate deeper into the brick. It is also possible that if a liquid phase is formed and
then quenched, a slick glass layer will form making the surface unable to adhere to fur-ther
coating.

Because of higher alkali percentage in the raw meal, where petcoke is used as fuel, the
normal high alumina refractories in the burning zone are prone to alkali attack and are not
very suitable. In those kilns phosphate bonding to high alumina refractories imparts a lower
permeability to the refractory and reduces the alkali attack. Moreover, petcoke also contains
some heavy metals like vanadium and nickel which reacts with Refractory at high
temperature, and phosphate bonding retards those reactions. Thus the phosphate-bonded
high alumina refractories are a better choice over the normal high alumina refractories in
the burning zone in the rotary kiln using petcoke as fuel.

Interaction with Chlorides
Chloride contained in the raw mix as well as in the kiln gas and water vapor (in the kiln gas)
increases the volatility of the alkalis. If chloride is very high in the system, it will first combine
with all of the alkalis present forming alkali chlorides which will recirculate in the kiln and
increase the probability of buildups in the preheater [24]. Any remaining chloride will then
combine with CaO to form CaCl2 which has a very low melting point (770–780  °C). This will
make the hot meal extremely “sticky” at this temperature and increase the chance of
buildups higher up the pre-heater. Chlorides also form eutectic mixtures with sulfates of
potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium. These eutectic mixtures have melting points
much lower than that of the pure compounds, further increasing the likelihood of rings and
buildups. Above 0.015%, in the raw meal, chloride recirculation is so strong that blockages
in the preheater are eventually inevitable.
Interaction with Vanadium Oxides
Vanadium is also an impurity which remains in fuel oil and petroleum coke. Vanadium reacts
with oxygen to form vanadium oxides, V2O5, which melts at 690 °C. When the availability of
oxygen is less, V2O3 and V2O4 are also formed, having melting points 1970 and 1634  °C. 
The vanadium oxide V2O3 reacts with Na2O to form Na2O·3V2O5 and Na2O·6V2O5.
Melting temperature of both these materials decreases as the partial pressure of oxygen
increases [25].

Presence of small amount (0.1% by weight) of V2O5 can cause grayish green coloration to
aluminosilicate refractories. The combustion products, V2O5 and NaVO3, react with
aluminosilicate refractories including insulation. Fibrous refrac-tory insulations are more
prone to this reaction because of its larger surface area than dense refractory products.

Vanadium pentoxide forms a low-temperature eutectic 650  °C with Al2O3. In comparison,

the eutectic temperature of V2O5 and silica is 649 °C. Mullite exposed to sodium vanadate
may decompose according to the following reactions:

Vanadium pentoxide in the combustion ash will reduce the amount of free Na2O available
to react directly with the refractory because the V2O5 reacts with Na2O to form sodium
vanadate. However, sodium vanadate, acting both as a flux and a min-eralizer, may react
with the Al2O3-SiO2 compositions at much lower temperatures and generate more liquid
phase than would either Na2O or V2O5 alone. Indeed, in the presence of both Na2O and
V2O5, nepheline is formed at 800 °C, whereas it is not formed even at 900 °C when Na2O
alone is present. Albite, which also is not formed in the presence of Na2O alone, is formed if
NaVO3 is present with Na2O because of the powerful mineralizer action of NaVO3.

The binary system CaO-V2O5 has a series of eutectics and intermediate com-pounds
(Fig. 7.6).

The castable refractories contain the hydrates of the different calcium aluminate phases like
CA, CA2, etc. which may react with sodium vanadate at high temperatures.
Basic Refractories
Basic refractories are chemically more compatible with the cement chemistry and found to
perform very well, especially in kilns with higher thermal load. Magnesia refractories are very
prone to crack by thermal shock, and that is why the basic refractories are made always
combined with different spinels, as an elastifier, e.g., chrome ore, mag-alumina spinel
(MgO·Al2O3), hercynite (FeO·Al2O3), galaxite (MnO·Al2O3), etc., which lowers down its
modulus of elasticity and improves dras-tically its thermal shock resistance. The thermal
expansion coefficient of the dead burnt magnesia and the elastifying spinels are quite
different. Due to mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficient, microcracks are developed
in the brick body dur-ing the high-temperature firing of the bricks, as a part of its
manufacturing process. These microcracks in the body act as crack arrestors and do not
allow a crack to propagate and improve its thermal shock resistance and its ability to
withstand more thermo-mechanical stresses.

Whenever the crack develops in the body due to thermal or mechanical stresses, these
microcracks do not allow the generated crack to propagate further and improve the
thermo-mechanical property to withstand more stresses and improve the resis-tance to
thermal shock of the basic bricks.

Alkali Reaction
The major ingredients of basic refractories react with alkalis to form low-melting liquid
phases. These liquids penetrate inside the brick pores and densify the brick hot face.
Table 7.8 shows the composition and temperature of melting of the liquid phases.

The eutectic of MgO-K2SO4 is 1067  °C and eutectic temperature of MgO-K2CO3 is 895 °C .

Therefore the MgO-based Refractories are not really alkali resistant [26]. Ingredients of basic
refractories react with alkalis, and some reac-tions are associated with considerable volume
changes (Table  7.9) causing destruction of the refractory [21]. Basic Refractories with
addition of hybrid Spinels has been developed to withstand the effect of alkali much better
[27, 28].

Interaction with SO2 / SO3 /Cl

Free SO2 and SO3 in presence of O2 when exposed to basic Refractories at different
temperatures for different time periods, it is found to react with grains and matrix to form
CaSO4, MgSO4, and CaMg3(SO4)4 [29]. The brick’s microstructure, before and after
reaction, were studied, and Fig. 7.7 shows the SEM photographs of the brick before and
after reaction. When both excess SO3 and chlorides are available, the K2O present reacts
preferentially with chlorides, and the SO3 reacts with CaO partly available as free lime and
Ca-silicates to form CaSO4. That is why the basic bricks with lower content of CaO are an
advantage [30].

Magnesia-spinel refractory exhibits excellent performance in most rotary kilns. However,

premature wear can occur due to fluctuations in operating conditions. The main wear
mechanisms are infiltration by volatile compounds and infiltration by the clinker liquid
phase and mechanical stress. In the case of infiltration by the clinker liquid phase, CaO from
peritectic decomposition of C3S (C3S  → C2S  +  CaO at 1250 °C) reacts with Al2O3 of the
spinel, forming mayenite phase (C12A7) in the temperature range between 1000 °C and
1350 °C, with the probable mechanism indicated in Eq. 7.10 [31].

The mayenite has low refractoriness and deteriorates the refractory property.

The free SO2/SO3 attacks the CaO-containing silicates of basic refractory bricks in the
burning zone. By this, the highly refractory silicate, belite (C2S), decomposes to low-melting
silicates, merwinite (C3MS2) and monticellite (CMS), as CaO is released and MgO from the
basic Refractory is absorbed. The released CaO reacts with SO3 to form the sulfate salt
CaSO4 anhydrite (CaSO4 = + Volume of 27.5%), which densifies the brick structure in
deeper brick zones. This type of reaction leads to a corrosion of the brick structure and to
lowering of refractoriness as well as structural changes within the affected brick zones. The
wear mechanism can be shown by the following equations:

The MgO of the basic bricks are also attacked by the chloride to form MgCl2 to destroy the
brick structure.

Hercynite grains (Fig. 7.8) in magnesia-hercynite product, composed of the solid solutions of

FeAl2O4 and MAF dispersed in the matrix, underwent dissolution by the cement clinker
components [32]. Similarly, magnesioferrite surrounding peri-clase crystals is also found to
be dissolved by clinker.

In the image of the after-corrosion magnesia-hercynite product (Fig. 7.9), the solid solution
C2 (A, F) can be observed as light gray areas between MgO crystals (dark gray areas) [32].
This intermediate phase is additionally enriched with mag-nesium and silicon oxides.
Moreover, crystals of alite, C3S, can be found, which are enriched with the admixtures such
as MgO and Al2O3, that constitute components able to stabilize β- and α’-C2S. In the larger
distance from the contact zone of the MH product, the areas between the isometric crystals
of MgO are filled up by aluminate- ferrite phase of C4AF type that was enriched with SiO2.
This phase con-tains admixtures of MAF solid solution with small amounts of SiO2 and CaO
as well as the crystals of belite, C2S, stabilized by Fe2O3, Al2O3, and Na2O.

Effect of Vanadium Oxides

The presence of V2O5 increases the amount of the liquid phase, in the pseudo- ternary
system CaO-MgO-SiO2, which becomes glass upon quenching. Dicalcium silicate and
C3MS2 will be converted by V2O5 to liquids at 1450 °C [25]. The liquid phase between
grains will lead to grain growth, reduction in hot strength, and consequent failure of the
refractory. For magnesite bricks containing forsterite with low lime content, the forsterite
will act as a stable second phase that will limit the liquid pen-etration and the grain growth
and will promote bonding of the grains. The corrosion, when both V2O5 and Na2O present
together, will be more prominent in basic bricks. Sodium vanadate may react with the
dicalcium silicate (2CaO·SiO2), monticellite (CaO·MgO·SiO2), and 2CaO·Al2O3·SiO2
according to the reactions:

Hydration
The storage of basic refractories is very important. Basic bricks are prone to hydra-tion.
MgO in basic refractories reacts with moisture in atmosphere to form magne-sium
hydroxide according to reaction 7.19.
This reaction is associated with volume increase, which results in crack forma-tion in the
brick as shown in Fig. 7.10.

The hydration reaction of basic bricks is influenced by the following factors [33–35]:

 Temperature of storage – The higher is the temperature, the higher is the speed of
the hydration reaction. It has been seen that even rise of 10 °C in the ambient
temperature increases the hydration reaction speed by 60%. Therefore storage
should be done at a place where temperature remains low. Impact of temperature on
the rate of hydration [34] is shown in Fig. 7.11.
 State of occurrence of water – The hydration reaction proceeds faster, when the
water, as reactant, remains in vapor phase rather than in the liquid phase. It means
the atmosphere with high humidity is not good for storage of basic bricks.
 The nature of the base raw material of the magnesite refractory – The higher is the
processing temperature of the periclase, used in the brick, the higher will be its
hydration resistance.
 The composition of the impurity phases – In the basic bricks, besides periclase, other
impurities are present, like forsterite (Mg2SiO4), merwinite (Ca3MgSi2O8), dicalcium
silicate (CaO·2SiO2), etc. It has been found that when the matrix or the periclase
grains contain dicalcium silicate or tricalcium silicate as impurity, the rate of
hydration is much faster.
The basic bricks, if found, have a whitish coating on the surface; it indicates the hydrated
layer on the surface. To check the penetration of hydrated layer, the brick should be broken
to see if there is whitish coating inside also. If there is any indica-tion of hydration found,
the bricks should be checked for its suitability for use by the method described below.

A portion of the brick having weight of about 2–3 kg is taken and dried at 110 °C for
4 hours. The weight is noted. The brick sample is then heated at 1050 °C for 12 hours. The
brick sample is cooled and weighed. The difference between the two weights is the
indication of hydration. If the weight loss is below 0.2%, the brick is in good condition. If the
weight loss is up to 0.6%, it can be used, but the preheating should be done immediately
after the installation, and during preheating, it must be maintained at 1200 °C for 24 hours.
The bricks having weight loss more than 0.6% should not be used [36].

Redox Reactions
At a given temperature and standard pressure (ambient, 1 atm), the stability of a pure metal
and oxide depends on the partial pressure of oxygen or CO2/CO ratio in the atmosphere.
The main reaction involved is

Reducing and oxidizing or redox operating conditions are mostly linked to a not optimum
combustion of the utilized secondary fuels. These conditions are mainly locally limited to
kiln sections where coarse fuel material is burning directly on the lining. As a consequence,
local overheating of bricks occurs, and depending on the oxygen, partial pressure elemental
carbon condensation in deeper horizons of the lining may take place. Fundamental signs of
thermal overload are wavy, concave surfaces or surfaces, which appear to have melted and
solidified. Significant low oxygen partial pressure activates the Boudouard reaction:

Due to presence of CO in a reducing atmosphere on the hot side, elemental car-bon may
deposit in lower horizons of the lining in a temperature range below 600 °C. Carbon
deposits in form of soot on the internal shell are also observed. Damage to the brickwork by
extensive spalling may occur with this so-called car-bon disintegration.

In practice, the stability of a metal or oxide is studied by considering three chem-ical

reactions of oxidation: metal into metal oxide, carbon into carbon monoxide, and carbon
monoxide to carbon dioxide. The oxygen partial pressure and CO2/CO ratio (at equilibrium)
can then be determined by using thermodynamic calculations. As with any chemical
reaction, prediction based on purely thermodynamic ground, the oxide with the more
negative ΔG will be formed, and the one with less ΔG will be reduced. The Fe2O3, Mn2O3,
or Cr2O3 in different types of Refractories can be reduced by CO2/CO gas mixture, and for
each oxide there are specific temperature and ratio of CO2 and CO in the mixture when the
reduction reaction takes place. Magnesioferrite (MgFe3+2O4), contained in the magnesia
brick, is reduced to mag-nesiowustite ((Mg, Fe2+) O), and this involves a significant
reduction of volume (>20%). If redox burning cycles get repeated, there are frequent
changes between magnesioferrite and magnesiowustite, resulting in the structural
weakening of the affected brick lining. This can lead to a premature wear as a result of
spallings of the redox-subjected brick lining.

If infiltrated sulfate salts are present in the structures of the refractory lining, and particularly
under the influence of sulfur, sulfide compounds can be formed from these, under strongly
reducing conditions. Potassium sulfide (K2S), oldhamite (CaS), K2S3, and KFeS2 are found in
analysis of used brick samples. When oxidiz-ing conditions predominate again, an oxidation
of the sulfides takes place, accom-panied by a significant volume increase. This leads to
expansion of the brick structure, resulting in the destruction of the brick.

Some of the reactions, occurring in burning zone, in reducing condition are as follows [37]:

Under oxidizing condition some of the reactions occurring are as follows:

The basic bricks are also affected by the alternate oxidizing reducing environ-ment of the
kiln. Bricks, containing high Fe2O3, are particularly affected, because of transformation of
Fe2+ to Fe3+ and vice versa. For example, magnesioferrite (MgFe2O4) under reducing
condition gets converted to MgO·FeO, which under oxi-dizing condition reverts back to
MgFe2O4 as per the reaction given below:

The repeated redox burning cycle causes frequent changes between magnesio-wustite
(MgO·FeO) and magnesioferrite (MgO·Fe2O3), resulting in weakening of the brick structure
and destruction of the lining Dolomite bricks are found to be very stable under redox
condition up to 1800 °C [38].

Attack of the liquid phase

The presence of the liquid phase in clinker is a very important parameter related to cement
manufacturing. The liquid phase plays a very important role in nodulization and mineral
phase development to determine the cement properties. The four major compounds taking
part in cement production are CaO-SiO2- Al2O3-Fe2O3 (C-S-A-F). The eutectic temperature
of this system is at 1338 °C. The composition of the liquid formed at this temperature is C,
55%; S, 6%; A, 23%; and F, 16%. The liquid with this composition is unsaturated in respect to
SiO2 and can take more SiO2 in solution. Therefore when such liquid comes in contact with
aluminosilicate refrac-tory, it takes SiO2 from the refractory and corrodes it. The cement raw
mix contains the impurities like MgO, Na2O, K2O, and SO3. Presence of any or all of these
impu-rities acts as flux and can bring down the eutectic to 1280 °C. Both the quantity and
the rheological property, of the liquid, are very important to cement manufacturing. For
most commercial clinkers, the amount of liquid phase present in the clinker is 23–30%. The
higher percentage of liquid can damage the refractories badly in absence of a stable
coating. As the bricks are infiltrated and saturated with the liq-uid, its modulus of elasticity
increases, densification at working face happens, and the refractory may spall.

Liquid phase calculations can be used to predict where in the kiln the stable coat-ing will
form. The volume of liquid phase is calculated and plotted day-wise both for 1338 °C and
1450 °C, and the closer the two lines are to each other, the longer will be the stable coating
zone [16].

Property of the liquid phase – Temperature has got a very pronounced effect on the
viscosity of the liquid. It has been found that increase of temperature in burning zone by
93 °C will reduce the liquid viscosity by 70% [16]. Lower viscosity of the liquid will infiltrate
faster into the refractory leading to premature failure of the refractory. MgO, alkali sulfates,
fluorides, and chlorides also reduce liquid phase viscosity. For instance, a regular clinker at
1450 °C has a viscosity of 0.16 N.s/m2. Adding 2% SO3 to the clinker reduces that viscosity
to 0.05 N·s/m2.

The surface tension of the liquid phase is also an important parameter. High sur-face
tension of the liquid helps in better nodulization, but it will have lesser ten-dency to wet the
refractory surface, and it may hamper the coating formation. Alkali, MgO, and SO3 reduce
the surface tension of the liquid phase in the clinker, and they are good coating promoters.
Therefore only the upgradation in refractory quality will not give desired performance of
refractory lining, unless we look into the things in totality.

Thermal Load
Beside the normal factors affecting thermal load, the operation of the burner and the
protective coating formation are very important to influence the refractory perfor-mance.
Misaligned burner or badly controlled power output of the burner can cause critical
temperature peaks in parts of the lining, leading to mismatched thermal expansion. The
coating is a very effective insulation and protection for the lining. In the production of
cement clinker, the coating formation is vital for manufacturing the clinker economically.

It is found by experience that up to a thermal load of 13 GJ/m2h, high alumina bricks are
working satisfactorily, when other operational parameters are within tol-erable limit. Beyond
this value of thermal loading, basic refractories, e.g., magnesia- spinel, work much better,
and if the thermal loading exceeds 21 GJ/m2h, special care must be taken in selecting the
refractory. In such case very pure grade of magnesia- alumina or magnesia-zirconia lining
should be used.
Overheating
Overheating is one of the important factors which cause severe damage of Refractory lining
in rotary kiln. The overheated refractory lining can be recognized by its look as if it is
washed out in plane or concave pattern.

The ability of a refractory to withstand certain temperature is judged by its refractoriness or

PCE value (refer to Sect. [Link]). Although this test gives the idea of its softening behavior,
this test does not simulate the actual operating condition to which the refractory is exposed
during operation. The laboratory test sample is generally pure and not infiltrated, there is no
mechanical stress, and the heat up is slow. The risk factor of a refractory lining to get
damaged through overheating in a rotary kiln can be assessed by risk factor which is
defined as.

The risk increases with higher thermal load, decreasing kiln speed and decreas-ing feed rate.
It is easy to control the fuel burning rate and tangential speed of the kiln, but it is beyond
the control of the kiln operator that how the feed material will flow along the length of the
kiln. Ring formation, variations in fuel chemistry, excessive coating, massive coating losses,
variation in fuel properties, variation in kiln feed properties, kiln slowdown, and burner pipe
deformation are just a few fac-tors that can cause fast and localized brick overheating. The
best tool to prevent brick overheating is the NOx analyzer, because of its fast response. For
a given fuel chemistry, the burning zone temperature is a linear function of NOx
concentration. Shell temperature scanners are also powerful tools provided the alarms are
set on trends, not maximum shell temperature.

Flame
In rotary kiln, the heat exchange between the burner and the material in the burning zone
takes place by three principal mechanisms: radiation, conduction, and convec-tion. The
objective is to maximize the transfer of heat generated by the flame to the incoming
material in the burning zone. The most important mechanism of heat transfer from flame to
the clinker is radiation, and in the burning zone, about 95% of the heat transfer is through
radiation. Radiation between two materials takes place when the materials are not in contact
with each other. The flame, refractory, and coating radiate heat to the feed in the kiln.

The mathematical expression for heat transfer by radiation is

The heat is transferred from the flame to the bed of material mainly by radiation. Heat
transfer in the burning zone is a very quick process because the gas velocity is high. In the
formula for radiation, the heat transferred is proportional to the fourth power of the
temperature of the flame. Therefore the flame temperature has got a very strong influence
on the heat transferred. For example, a temperature increase by 10% gives a radiation,
increased by (1.1)4 = 1.464, i.e., 46%. This gives a clear idea about the strong influence of
temperature increase on radiation [39].

Flame temperature can be approximated by the mathematical formula [40]

The mathematical relation shows that the radiation depends upon the emissivity of the
flame which is different for different fuel. The emissivity of the flame from gas, oil, and coal
is as given in Table 7.10 [39].

The burner design and the flame quality have got profound effect on the perfor-mance of
refractory, besides the quality of cement clinker produced. The effect is more prominent in
case of larger diameter kilns using multichannel burners. For better and uniform burning,
the desired flame must be hot and convergent.

When the flame is short and divergent, it cuts the refractory lining like the knife cuts butter.
An index, called swirl number, can be used to measure the damaging effect of the flame. If
the swirl number exceed 0.8, there is a chance that even the best quality of refractory lining
will get damaged. The flame impingement occurs because of high quantity of swirled air,
high velocity of the flame, and the distorted burner tip. The ideal flame must be stable and
short. When the primary air quantity, speed, and swirl increase, the flame becomes short.
Increase in temperature of secondary air, increase in fineness of solid fuel, and lowering of
ash content and its volatile matter make the flame short.

Impingement of partially burned fuel upon the feed bed or kiln wall must always be avoided
when a kiln is fired by coal or oil. The impingement of the flame, on the kiln wall, causes
damages to refractory lining, reduces the fuel efficiency, and affects the kiln stability.

Thermo- mechanical Aspect

Kiln shells are made with structural rolled steel plate, such as ASTM, A 36. The properties for
this type of steel are:

Carbon – 0.25%

Manganese – 0.80–1.20%

Phosphorus – 0.04%

max Sulfur – 0.05%

max Silicon – 0.40%

The mechanical properties of this type of steel at room temperature are:

Tensile strength – 345–550 MPa

Yield strength – 250 MPa Min
Elongation – 20% Min
Linear thermal expansion coefficient – 11.7 × 10−6/°C Elastic modulus – 207 GPa
Poisson ratio – 0.3 in the elastic range, 0.5 in the plastic range

Steel loses its mechanical strength at elevated temperature. At 430 °C, the ulti-mate
strength of the steel drops from 517 MPa to 345 MPa, with a hefty 33% loss. Some
investigators report a 50% strength loss for the same temperature range. Thermo-
mechanical stress generated in the kiln, during the operation of the kiln, is because of
various factors, e.g., the ovality of the kiln shell, the restricted expansion of the refractory,
etc. Thermal expansions of the Refractory lining, the rotary kiln shell, and the tire are
fundamental issues related to the stress development. The developed thermo-mechanical
stresses have got direct effect on the refractory per-formances, and it appears in different
forms like falling of bricks from the ring, crushing and slabbing of refractories, etc [41]. The
gap between the tire and the chair pads has to be sufficient for the thermal expansion of
the steel shell. Too tight riding tire can inhibit thermal expansion of the steel shell, leading
to the failure of the lining or even the tire. On the other hand, the gap cannot be too large
as it affects ovality negatively.

Ovality
The shell of the kiln is made of mild steel plate as given in Sect. 7.6. Steel is the only viable
material for the purpose but presents the problem that the maximum tempera-ture of the
feed inside the kiln is over 1400 °C, while the gas temperatures reach 1900 °C. The melting
point of mild steel is around 1300 °C, and it starts to weaken at 480 °C, so considerable
effort is required to protect the shell from overheating.

Brick lining is tightly fitted to the steel casing of the kiln. During the usage of the kiln (starts,
stops, and rotation), the steel casing and therefore the lining are subjected to radial and
longitudinal bending, vibrations, and torsion. Additional stresses can typically arise from
misalignment of the kiln or other abnormalities. This results into different stress-controlled
loads in the lining. Here, stress-controlled loads define external loads such as gravity load,
pressure load, or any type of mechanical load. Different kinds of deformation of the kiln are
caused by the dif-ferent loads mentioned and can be identified by regular inspection of the
kiln [42]. Radial bending of the kiln, known as the ovality of the kiln, traditionally belongs to
one of the most important load generators in the refractory lining and directly affects its
campaign life. Ovality is an elastic distortion of the kiln shell that arises due to the gravity
force. The weight of the casing, the lining, and the coating over kiln’s hollow shape makes
the shell somewhat oval rather than circular (Fig. 7.12).

The difference (δv and δh) between deviations of vertical and horizontal diameter of the kiln
from the actual shell diameter generally amounts to 0.3%, and for an old and large diameter
kiln, it can go up to 0.6–0.7%.

Due to the ovality of the steel shell, the lining will experience load oscillations during
rotation of the kiln. This may lead to the formation of cracks and eventually to the slabbing
of the refractory lining (Figs. 7.15 and 7.18).

Additionally, bricks in the lining are forced to shift their relative position to each other due
to the ovality. By that, opening up of the joints leads to worsen the integ-rity of the brick
lining and may cause unhealthy stress concentrations.

Ovality is commonly presented in percent, as relative deformation to the nominal diameter.

If the deformation is known, then relative ovality (ωr) is found by equation
has been established, suggesting that the ovality of the steel casing should not exceed 10%
of the nominal inner diameter. For example, a kiln with a nominal inner diameter of 6 m
should not have relative ovality of more than 0.6%. The ovality of the kiln shell increases
with diameter of the kiln (Fig. 7.13).

The magnitude of ovality is mainly dependent on the thickness of the steel shell, the gap
between the tire and the pads, and the operating temperature (Fig. 7.14a) [43]. The relation
between the ovality along the kiln length is shown in Fig. 7.14b. The increase of ovality in
the tire region is clear from the figure. The ovality is sig-nificantly higher on the tire close to
burning zone. The chances of ovality will be more in old kilns in which the shell thickness
gets reduced due to corrosion over long time period.

The ovality is highest near the tires, and statistically most of the repair jobs of the lining are
done close to the downhill tire. Additionally, the ovality of kiln does not remain permanent
but changes with operating conditions. When the lining is newly installed, the ovality tends
to be at its lowest point and increases after some time. Wear of chair pads gradually
increases ovality. If the lining is covered with clinker coating, the effect of temperature is
lowered, and therefore the ovality is lowered as well.

The understandable fact is that cross section of a rotary kiln shell is not perfectly circular but
flattened due to gravity force. The influence of gravity is schematically represented in Fig. 
7.12. The under-tire shell’s sections are the places, where it occurs. In these places the elastic
shell, mounted with the tire ring, changes (self- adjust) its shape to quasi-circular inside
diameter of ring (Fig. 7.16a). It happens under the influence of shell’s self-weight and the
weight of the internal lining.

The compression and relaxation in the lining are shown by arrowheads in Fig. 7.16a.
Magnitude of compressive stresses in the lining, induced by the ovality of the kiln, can be
expressed by the following equation [44]:

Here, σL = compressive stress induced on the inner wall of the lining due to ovality of kiln
shell, Er = Young’s modulus of the Refractory used for the lining, and tr = the thickness of
the refractory lining. According to this expression, the stress increases with increased ovality,
Young’s modulus, and lining thickness. The compressive stress increases sharply with
increasing ovality and with increased lining thickness (Fig. 7.16b).

A kiln having three rotations per minute will produce 13,000 cycles of alternat-ing
compression and relaxation per day per brick. Such alternating forces can lead to the brick
falling out or chipping out and can have a fatigue effect. Typical mecha-nisms of lining
degradation are shown in Fig. 7.17. A perfect lining situation, that is, when the shell is not
deformed and bricks correctly adjoin each other, is shown in Fig. 7.17a. The distribution of
forces in the contact areas between the bricks is shown. Figure 7.17b shows a situation,
when, during rotation of the kiln, the radius of curvature increases excessively, the load on
the surface of the bricks decreases, and even the gaps between them become wider. When
the shell radius becomes large enough, the bricks may move downwards or even fall out
totally.

When a brick falls out, the adjacent bricks become loose, so subsequently it might lead to
falling of other bricks, thus exposing the steel shell to high tempera-tures. If a loosened
brick does not fall out but stays in place (Fig. 7.17b), then dur-ing rotation of the kiln at the
same circumferential position of the shell with a reduced radius of curvature, the bricks will
experience a compressive stress (Fig. 7.17c) [45].

Such a situation might cause the breaking of the downwardly moved brick, in the cross
section, compressed by the edges of adjacent bricks and the chipping out of a large portion
of this brick. The remaining part will resume its original posi-tion, but the lining in this area
already becomes significantly thinner. In case of smaller radius changes or better fit of the
bricks (smaller initial play at installa-tion), the movement of the brick is limited, but chipping
can be observed (Figs. 7.15 and 7.18).

There is a linear relationship between the ovality and the wear-out speed of the lining [43],
and the higher the ovality, the more is the speed of wear-out (Fig. 7.19).

Determination of Ovality
This can be estimated by introducing a parameter shell ovality ratio. The definition of this
parameter is based on assumption that a deformed cross section of the shell can be
sufficiently approximated by an ellipse [45]. Then the degree of flattening (ovality) of an
ellipse can be described by the formula, ω = 2(a-b), where 2a and 2b are the major and
minor axis of the ellipse (Fig. 7.20).

where r is the radius of the kiln without any flattening and rmax and rmin are the maxi-mum
and minimum radii during flattening of the shell. In actual practice, it is very difficult to
measure the ovality using this equation. For practical determination of ovality, a shelltester
device (Fig. 7.21) is used, which works on the principle based on Rosenblad formula below,
with reference to the diagram, shown in Fig. 7.22:

The value of l is the length of the shelltester (Fig. 7.21) and do is the diameter of undistorted
shell. The δ (deformation) value can be measured with the shelltester, and the kiln ovality at
any point on the kiln can be measured using Rosenblad formula (7.33). The variation of the
ovality depends upon the kiln diameter, and the relation of kiln diameter, kiln ovality, and
the central angle is shown in Fig. 7.23.

The maximum allowable amount of shell flexing or ovality which is an empiri-cally derived
value based on decades of experience and studies is 1/10 of the inner diameter in percent.
For a kiln of diameter 4 m, with ovality 0.4%, the absolute ovality is 0.4/100 ×
4000 = 16 mm, which is the difference between the largest diameter, presumably the
horizontal one and the smallest diameter, presumably the vertical one, while the kiln rotates.

During the turn of the kiln, every point connected with the surface of the shell migrates not
on the circle but over the distorted outline, whose radius of curvature has different values
for every next circumference position of this point. The relative changes of the radius in
respect to the function of the angle of the kiln’s rotation are shown in the Fig. 7.24.

The pattern of the graph of shell deflection vs rotation tells about the condition of the kiln
with respect to alignment, load distribution on piers, the tire shell gap, etc. as shown in
Fig. 7.24. The proper interpretation of the graph (Fig. 7.25) and taking necessary step to
rectify the problems can improve the refractory performance.

Cranking
Different type of stresses act on the kiln shell which disturbs its axial alignment in vertical or
in horizontal plane and this is termed as crank [46, 47]. This alignment must be checked
regularly for better refractory life. There are two types of cranks, thermal cranks and
permanent or mechanical cranks. A thermal crank is caused by the process, e.g., from
uneven coating or refractory thickness inside the kiln, which causes an uneven
circumferential temperature distribution in the kiln shell. The areas with different
temperatures have different thermal expansions and bend the kiln slightly. A permanent or
mechanical crank can originate from an error during assem-bly, overheating (hot spot), or
loss of rotation in hot conditions. Both local deforma-tion and the eccentricity have a
significant effect on the performance and campaign life of refractories. Those can cause
displacement of the brick from its original posi-tion and may cause falling and crushing of
the bricks.

Laser range finders can be used to measure such deformations. The falling of bricks further
overheats the shell, causing incremental cranking. The problem is also known as the
formation of banana of the kiln. Figure 7.26 shows the cranking of the kiln.
It has been found that kiln crank causes refractory failures happening in between the piers
and the refractory failures on tier region are associated with kiln shell oval-ity and tier gap.
In the actual production process, the offset of the kiln axis cannot be allowed to exceed
3 mm. Practice proved that the accurate control of the kiln axis at the hot condition reduces
the refractory wear.

Creep and Migration of Tires

The riding rings provide substantial strength to the kiln shell by maintaining shell
roundness. Because the shell naturally flattens out at the 12 o’clock position, the riding ring
system must maintain shell integrity by minimizing flex. Tire is much thicker than the kiln
shell, and its average temperature rise is less than that of the shell. Thermal expansion,
therefore, increases the diameter of the shell by a greater amount than it does the tire. If
this differential expansion is not carefully accom-modated, the tire may restrict shell
expansion, distorting it permanently, and the refractory in this area can be crushed, yielding
undesirable results. Hence the tire must be loose on the shell. To accommodate any
difference in the thermal expansion rate of the shell and the tire, there is a difference in the
shell outside diameter and the tire inside diameter, and the tire inside diameter is bigger
than the shell outside diameter. As the kiln warms to operating conditions, the shell
circumference grows to more closely match the tire. Because of this difference, the tire
rotates a little bit slower than shell. This can be observed on each revolution by linear
movement between both surfaces (Fig. 7.27). This relative movement is called “tire
migration,” or “creep,”

If undeformed tire has inside diameter Do and outside diameter of undeformed kiln shell,
above chairs, is do and theoretical clearance between the two perfect cylinders is C, then
during each revolution, there is a relative movement U between the tire and the shell, which
is equal to the difference of the circumferences and is called as creep and is defined as

The cyclic changes of the radius of the shell‘s metal plate also have the influence on
durability of the kiln’s internal lining.

The creep value can be determined by measuring the separation of the chalk mark (Fig.
7.27) for ten revolutions and then by dividing it by 10 and 3.14. It has been found from the
experience that 10–15 mm is the ideal creep per revolution [48].
For smaller diameter kiln (<5 m) and cold stations, it should be 10 mm, and for larger
diameter kiln and hot stations, it should be 15 mm. The creep should be mea-sured on daily
basis. If the creep is close to 30 mm/rev, then tire shimming is the most wanted solution. A
look at the refractory performance history is very impor-tant. Fallen bricks are the sure sign
that tire shimming is needed. The cross-check for ovality is also suggested because higher
creep value implies a high ovality.

For most kiln producers, tolerance for under-tire clearance is between 3 and 6 mm in hot
condition. Under-tire parameter value is directly linked with tempera-ture changes and also
with kiln axis position in vertical plane. The sudden tempera-ture change decreases or
increases the creep value. It is strongly recommended to keep shell temperature stable
around whole kiln circumference. There are many problems given below that can be caused
by excessive tire migration:

1-When creep is bigger, wear gets accelerated.

2-Higher ovality of the shell can create problems like refractory lining failure, shell crack and
deformation, stopblock welds, or chair pad cracking.

3-Stopblocks or retaining ring wear is faster and can create undercut of tire.

4-Tire axial runout (wobbling).

There are two different methods of fixing the rider ring and shell, namely, (1) loose tire
fixation and (2) splined tire fixation (Fig. 7.28).

The kiln can be divided into three sections regarding its alignment, and the per-fection of
alignment is very important for good refractory life. The three sections mentioned above
are:

1. The position of the fixed elements such as rollers and the pinion gear
2. The position of the tires and the girth gear over these fixed elements
3. The position of the shell

Thermal Distribution
Thermal distribution on the kiln shell is very important. If there is coating inside the kiln, it
will keep the material inside hot for longer time, and the shell will be hotter than expected.
It will lead to increase in the thermal expansion of the shell. If this happens to any pier, the
shell will stop migrating at that pier. The expanding shell will force the tire to expand, and
the whole load distribution on the roller in that pier will be changed and will ultimately
develop stress on refractory lining inside.

Riding rings, with splined tire fixation, provide much better support of the kiln shell. Because
the kiln shell is laterally suspended in adequately designed carrying bars, ovality is much
reduced, resulting in noticeably better refractory lining life. There is a direct connection
between number and type of supports and its ability to distribute the unit load to the shell.
The tires guarantee necessary strength to the shell by keeping its roundness. Due to its
design, the kiln shell, naturally, flattens at the top position, and the tires must maintain the
shell integrity by preventing flex. When the chair pads are worn out, the under-tire gap
exceeds the tolerance. This causes bigger shell ovality. Higher value of gap and ovality leads
to faster wear of rotating components (chair pads, stopblock, tire side surface, tire outer
diameter), and wear is increased with each revolution of the kiln. Beside this the bigger
value of creep can lead to crack on the shell segments.

Excessive wear also allows shell to move through the tire which mismatches the tire to the
roller and the gear pinion and increases hertz pressure which leads to Refractory spalling at
the surface.

In the rotary kiln, thermal expansion up to the skin temperature of 450 °C changes all
measurements. If all the rollers are in their correct positions and are keeping the kiln on
center line, the deformation and cracks on the shell create eccentric rotations and change
the load distribution on the rollers which ultimately affects refractory life.

Strain-Controlled Load
Some part of the expansion of the Refractory lining is compensated by the expan-sion of
the steel shell. Additionally, some part of the expansion is compensated by the natural joints
between the bricks. However, a part of the expansion is leading to increased stresses,
experienced by the lining. The advantage of the expansion is the increased stability of the
lining. However, it is important that the expansion is within the technical limitation of the
material to withstand the stress. Some additional flex-ibility to a brick lining can be provided
by installing the lining with mortar or steel shims between the radial joints. The steel shims
and mortar shrink during heating up and create additional expansion space to the lining, by
lowering that stresses. However, in cold state, the lining becomes loose than normal after
erosion of steel shim or mortar, which might be problematic, if cooling and reheating of the
kiln has to be done. The expansion rate of the kiln shell is very important since the
Refractory lining is heated faster than the steel shell and the shell is heated faster than the
riding tire. The opposite is applicable during cooling. If the heating or cooling is made too
fast, kiln shell and the lining risk seizure, due to mismatch in thermal expansion. Typical
heating and cooling procedure requires 24–36 h. In addition to the thermal stress due to
expansion, the hot face (face of the lining exposed to the flame) of the lining also
experiences thermal load oscillations during rotation. This can be due to different factors,
e.g., relatively fixed flame direction and gas flow and the cooling effect on the lining when it
passes below the bed of material. The thermal oscillation leads to local stresses which risk
spalling of the lining.

When the kiln is in operation and reaches an equilibrium regarding the heat flow, a
temperature gradient is established across the lining. If the lining is too thin or the lining
material has got very high thermal conductivity, the shell may attain a high temperature.
The thermal expansion of steel is much more than refractory material. If the thermal
expansion of the shell is more than that of refractory, it will exert a tensile stress on the
refractory, and the refractory lining may get loosened. On the other hand, if the lining is too
thick or the lining material has got low thermal con-ductivity, the steel shell cannot attain a
high temperature and cannot expand much,but the refractory lining at high temperature will
try to expand, and the lining will experience a high compressive stress.

Thermal Shock
The rotary kiln takes less than a minute to complete one rotation. During this rotation, once
the kiln lining comes in contact with the hot kiln gases and the other time it is covered and
insulated by the kiln feed. This periodic temperature fluctuation of the lin-ing can go as high
as 400 °C and may take its toll on refractory performance, unless the refractory is resistant
to thermal shock. The resistance to thermal shock also becomes very important during
heating and cooling of the kiln. Faster cooling is more detrimen-tal to the life of refractories
specially the basic refractories, than faster heating.

Abrasion of Clinker and Dusts

In the cement kiln system, there is a continuous countercurrent flow of gas and solid
material. The flow of high-velocity dust-laden gases and the solid materials in the kiln
system has got a very abusive effect on the refractory life, because of the con-tinuous
abrasion. Table 7.11 shows the gas velocity in the different application areas in a cement
plant.

Inside the kiln, wherever the coatings are formed over the refractory lining, the refractory
does not come in direct contact with flow of gas or solid. But at the other places, there can
be a very severe abrasion, caused by the flow of solid particles or high-velocity dust-laden
gases. The abrasion of TAD lining by the high-velocity dust-laden gases and abrasion of
refractory lining by flow of solid material in cal-cining zone of the kiln are shown in
Figs. 7.29 and 7.30, respectively.

Ring Formation and Buildup

Volatile components such as alkalis, sulfur, and chlorine introduced with raw mate-rials and
fuels may give rise to problems in kiln operation when present in high concentrations.
Buildup formation in the preheater cyclones or rings in the rotary kiln inlet zone may lead to
reduced kiln availability and [Link] on their volatility, alkalis, sulfur, and
chlorides evaporate in the sin-tering zone of the rotary kiln and recondense at cooler parts
of the system either on the raw meal particles or on the surrounding walls. With the raw
meal, they are reintroduced to the sintering zone again, thus establishing a permanent
“internal cycle” of volatile “circulating” elements (Fig. 7.31) [49].

When equilibrium is reached between input and output, a major part of the vola-tile
component finally leaves the system and gets incorporated in the [Link] of the volatile
components, however, may form new compounds such as alkali chlorides or alkali sulfates
and other intermediate phases such as spurrite which will then contribute to the buildup
phenomena by producing a sticky raw meal adhesive to the walls of the cyclones, the ducts,
or the kiln tube.

Buildup inside kiln is a regular problem in many cement plants, specially, where the raw
material or fuel contains more sulfur than normal. It is a nightmare to the kiln operator and
reduces the production drastically, forcing for a kiln shutdown and removal of the buildup
material, which is not a very easy task (Fig. 7.32).
The buildup and ring formation cause the restricted flow of feed in the kiln, the increase in
pressure drop of the flue gas inside the kiln with extra power consump-tion in ID fan to
maintain the required flow, and the increase of gas velocity in the ring area causing more
dusting which enhances further buildup. Removal of the buildup material needs the kiln to
cool down and exertion of mechanical force, which causes damage to the refractory lining
besides huge production loss [50, 51].

The analysis of the material from the formed ring shows that the mineral respon-sible for
ring formation is sulfospurrite. When the molar ratio of sulfur to alkali is more than 1.2,
there is considerable amount of excess SO3 remains in circulation in the kiln. This SO3 reacts
with the free lime to form CaSO4 which reacts with the K2SO4 to form Ca-langbeinite
(K2SO4·2CaSO4). Langbeinite reacts with C2S and forms sulfospurrite (C2S·CaSO4) as per
the reaction given below:

Ca-langbeinite and other alkali compounds like K2SO4 form low-temperature eutectic with
MgSO4 and CaSO4 which melts at low temperatures (700–800 °C), and these liquid phases,
along with sulfospurrite, form the solid ring.

It has been found that some Refractories like SiC (silicon carbide), zircon, etc. can help in
reducing the buildup. These refractories on heating form SiO2 which reacts with
sulfospurrite, because of its affinity to react with SiO2, and form C2S as per the reaction
given below:

High alumina Refractories impregnated with silica sol were also found to work very good to
prevent the ring formation.

With excessive input of volatile elements, the installation of a kiln gas bypass system may
become necessary in order to extract part of the circulating elements from the kiln system.

Refractory Failure Due to Anchor

Many a times the Refractory lining fails because of anchor failure. Beside the proper design,
the material of the anchor also plays a very important role. It has been found that iron-
chromium-based steel anchors are commonly used for high-temperature service conditions.
Unfortunately, these alloys are susceptible to embrittlement, when held within or cooled
slowly through the temperature range 400–980 °C. There are in fact two significant
embrittlement phenomena that occur within this tempera-ture range: the first one is known
as 475 °C embrittlement (400–550 °C), and the second one is known as sigma (σ) phase
embrittlement (565–980 °C).

The 475 °C embrittlement phenomenon only occurs in ferritic and duplex stain-less steels
and not with austenitic stainless steels and can be reversed by heating to 675 °C or above.
Therefore 475 °C embrittlement phenomenon is not expected to cause problems for
austenitic stainless steel refractory anchor systems.

Sigma Phase Embrittlement

Sigma phase embrittlement occurs because of long exposure of anchors to temperatures in
the range 565–850 °C, although this temperature range varies with the composition and
processing of the stainless steel. Sigma phase is an iron-chromium intermetallic phase that
is extremely hard and brittle [52, 53].

Sigma phase forms more readily in ferritic than in austenitic stainless steels. Elements such
as silicon, molybdenum, and to a lesser degree aluminum, tungsten, vanadium, titanium,
and niobium all promote σ-phase formation. Large additions of Ni and Mn retard σ-phase
formation. Nitrogen, which is now used extensively in the austenitic and duplex stainless
steels to stabilize austenite, also helps to retard σ-phase formation. Carbon additions
decrease σ-phase formation.

Sigma phase reduces steel’s toughness, creep resistance, and fatigue strength. Although it is
not always solely the cause of degradation of properties, therefore each situation must be
evaluated to optimize the performance.

In a typical refractory lining, there is always a thermal profile that exists between the hot and
cold faces (Fig. 7.33). There are nearly always a portion of the lining and any support
anchors, exposed to temperatures within the range of sigma phase formation.

In many common austenitic steels, it is impossible to avoid the formation of this phase
entirely. What is possible, however, is to choose a steel or alloy, to minimize the formation
of the phase to a level, where the effect does not significantly compro-mise the mechanical
properties required by the lining design.

Schaeffler-De Long Diagram

One of the tools available to the design engineer, for that purpose, is the Schaeffler-De
Long diagram, which scans the range of alloys and steel by their nickel and chromium
equivalents [54, 55]. By plotting these parameters for the common steels/alloys, their
susceptibility to σ-phase formation can be assessed to a preliminary degree.

In Fig.  7.34, several common steels have been plotted by these parameters. Resistance to σ-
phase formation can be assessed by the “ferrite number” ascribed to the area of the chart in
which the steel is plotted. In general, steels occupying the upper left zone of this diagram
can be expected to show better resistance to sigma phase formation.

The best selection of the anchor quality for an application is always a compro-mise between
the different metal qualities and the operating conditions to minimize the chance of sigma
phase formation as shown in Table 7.12.

Kiln Diameter
Very common failures in cement plants are falling down of bricks from the rings of rotary
kiln, which leads to development of hot spots in the kiln (Fig. 7.35).

This kind of problem occurs mainly with aluminosilicate Refractories and mainly in the
calcination zone to kiln entrance end where temperature is comparatively less. The reason of
this failure is insufficient tightness of the bricks in the ring.

During the rotation of the kiln, the bricks in the ring, not tightened properly, may come
down slowly and fall down. Aluminosilicate refractories, because of the lower thermal
expansion coefficient, compared to basic Refractories, are prone to this problem.

High thermal expansion keeps the bricks tight in the lining ring. This phenome-non happens
after the upper transition zone to kiln entrance, because no clinker coating forms there,
which can hold the bricks together from falling down. After the installation of a brick ring,
the insertion of two to three steel shims, in the ring, is very essential. The problem is also
more frequent in case of kilns with large diam-eter, because with larger diameter, the key
effect of the side arch bricks gets less-ened. The frequent stoppage of the kiln aggravates
the problem, because the jerk, in stop and start of the kiln (especially the bigger one),
further helps the slippage of the brick from the ring.

Lining Failure Statistics

The studies on the contribution of different factors, e.g., Refractory quality, opera-tional
parameters, etc., on the refractory failure in cement rotary kiln were analyzed [56, 57], and
the result is shown in Fig. 7.36.

It clearly shows that 77% of the failure or the 3/4 of all the refractory failures in the cement
rotary kiln are due to improper operation or improper lining of the refractories. If these two
factors are taken well care of, then 3/4 of the all refractory failures can be avoided.

Coating and Burnability
of Clinker
Coating and Its Function
Coating over the refractory lining, especially in the burning zone, plays a key role in
prolonged operation and reduced energy consumption in cement production. The
performance of Refractory lining in burning zone and transition zone of the kiln largely
depends upon the soundness of coating on the refractory lining. The burning zone area of
the kiln lining, while in operation, is to withstand (1) high temperature, (2) clinker liquid
infiltration, (3) flame impingement, (4) thermal cycling, and (5) redox reaction.

The stable coating formation on the refractory lining provides:

1-Protection to the refractory lining from overheating and temperature fluctuations.

2-Protection to chemical attack of the alkali vapors and fuel ash.

3-Protection to abrasion from the moving clinkers and the high-velocity dust-laden gases

4-Protection to kiln shell from the overheating.

5-Improved thermal efficiency and reduction of heat loss from the kiln shell. It hasbeen
found that 20 mm thick coating can reduce the heat loss from kiln shell by 50% when the
inside bed temperature is 1450 °C [1, 2].

In addition, the unevenness of the coated surface provides proper blending of the feed
material and clinker. Experience shows that the importance of coating on refractory surface
is more significant in case of large diameter kiln.

The effect of severity of prevailing condition, inside the kiln, can be mitigated by the
formation of a stable coating on the refractory surface. Three different condi-tions related to
coating formation may arise, namely:

1-Stable coating formation of normal thickness, with minimum stress on the Refractory
lining.

2-The coating is unstable with high stress on the refractory lining. Wear of lining takes place
discontinuously when the portion of the brick falls down along with the coating material.
This happens more in the case of transition zone.

3-Little coating formation, because of low temperature and subsequently continuous wear
because of high abrasion and thermal shock. This happens generally in lower transition
zone. But no coating formation can also be due to operational trouble of kiln or improper
chemistry of the feed material.

Formation
The formation of coating is determined by the quantity and quality of the liquid phase
generated during the chemical transformation of raw meal to clinker at high tempera-ture.
The quality of the liquid is meant by its characteristics related to viscosity, surface tension,
and wettability onto the refractory surface.

There are different oxides present in the feed material, i.e., CaO (C), SiO2(S), Al2O3(A),
Fe2O3(F), MgO(M), and K2O(K). Depending upon the presence and proportion of these
different constituents in the feed material, each system has an eutectic temperature (Te) at
which the melt starts appearing and the tempera-ture of the melt remains constant till all
the liquid, which is supposed to be formed at that temperature, forms and then the
temperature of the melt rises very slowly (Fig. 8.1).

The amount of melt at a given temperature in C-S-A-F system can be derived assuming
negligible solid solution of C3S and C2S. For example, as per Lea and Parker formula, the
amount of liquid at 1400 °C can be calculated from the for-mula, % Liquid = 2.95% A + 2.2%
F. The presence of minor constituents lowers down the Te.

Mechanism of Coating Formation

Refractories in the burning zone play an important role by reacting in a controlled way with
the feed material liquid phase, to develop the coating fast, during star-up of the kiln. A
suitable refractory should be able to maintain the coating all along under the changing
operational condition, and if the coating is lost for any reason, it should be able to build the
coating fast. The coating formation on the refractory involved the following steps:

 Chemisorption of the liquid phase in clinker on the refractory surface.

 Infiltration of the liquid in the brick pores to form a continuous film with the liquid
on surface.
 Adhesion of the dust and clinker on the refractory surface and buildup of the
coating.
 Solidification of the infiltrated liquid in the pores depending on the temperature
profile of the brick across the thickness. This forms the mechanical anchoring of the
coating.
 The buildup of coating continues till its gravitational pull exceeds the force of
adhesion of the coating to the refractory surface.
 The part of destruction of coating due to impact, thermal shock, etc. and rebuild- ing
of the coating are a continuous process, while the kiln remains in operation.
It is also common experience to find that the coating on the refractory is notequally strong
everywhere, somewhere it is strong and somewhere it is weak.

The most important clinker mineral C3S (alite) requires the presence of liquid for its
formation. In the absence of liquid, alite formation is extremely slow and difficult. During
alite formation both C2S and CaO dissolve in the liquid, and the Ca ion migrates to C2S by
chemical diffusion, and then C3S is formed and crystallized out of the melt. Without the
presence of the liquid phase, the diffusion of the Ca ions towards C2S is almost impossible.
It is important to mention that Na2O and K2O decrease the mobility of the Ca ion, whereas
MgO and sulfates increase the mobility considerably. That is how the addition of gypsum
promotes the alite formation. The studies show the relation between the quantity of the
liquid phase and the coating formation as shown in Fig. 8.2. Theoretical estimation of
coating thickness by mathematical mod-eling from different variables, like the outer shell
temperature, coating surface tem-perature, air temperature etc. and it was established that
to have an acceptable coating thickness the satisfactory outer shell temperature should be
200–250 [3].

Coating Destabilization and Destruction

The coating becomes unstable and gets destroyed because of the following factors [4, 5]:

 The differential thermal expansion of the refractory and the coating formed.
 The composition of the clinker and coating is almost the same. The coating contains
C3S. The C3S is a metastable phase. At a temperature below 1250 °C, C3S transforms
into C2S and CaO. This destroys the adherence of coating to the brick surface.
 Change in fuel and drastic change in thermal profile. For example, in a kiln run- ning
under steady state, if the fuel is changed from high ash coal to natural gas, the flame
will be repositioned, and the coating may drop in certain areas. Moving the burner
pipe in or out of the kiln can also destroy the coating.
 Change in the composition of feed. For example, increasing the silica ratio by
progressively adding silica to the raw mix will gradually remove the coating.
 Thermal shock due to stoppages and fast cooling of kiln.
 A heavy rain falling on the uncovered kiln will destroy the coating.
Destabilization of coating affects the refractory performance very strongly. A shift from a
stable to intermittent coating can increase a brick’s susceptibility to thermal shock,
infiltration by alkali sulfates and chlorides, and abrasion by clinker.

Test for Coatability
Although it is a well-established fact that coating protects the refractory in the burning zone
and to some extent in the transition zones, any established method has not been devised
yet to test the suitability of a refractory for developing coating on its surface.

A good approach to design a test, to determine the coatability of basic Refractory, by the
cement clinker, was made by Zongqi Guo [6]. The different test methods were designed, and
the methods were tested with statistical tools like design of experiment, ANOVA, etc. to find
the response of the test methods towards the dif-ferent factors related to cement
manufacturing process and operation. It was found that the sandwich test was quite reliable
and rugged and can be applied to compare the bricks for its suitability towards the same
feed material.

In this method the refractory under test is cut to prepare the test samples of size 50 × 50 ×
50 mm. Two samples together make a set of test sample. Three sets of samples will be used
in the test. The raw meal which is to be used for the test is to be calcined at 1000 °C in an
alumina crucible in a muffle furnace for 4 hours. It is then cooled to room temperature and
pulverized to fine powders, and 50 grams of these pulverized materials are used for three
sets of test samples. Fifty gram of the powder is to be mixed with 42 cc of water and mixed
well in a mortar. It is an exo-thermic reaction, and the mix will be hot after 3–5 minutes of
mixing, the paste is applied on one face of a sample. Before applying the paste, the surface,
used for the sandwich test, is brushed with slurry of the mix, made of 33% powder and 67%
water. The paste made earlier is spread 4–5 mm thick on the surface brushed with slurry.
Then the other sample, of the set, whose one surface is brushed with the slurry, is
superimposed on the surface of the first sample, covered with the paste, and pressed to
make the paste thickness 2–3 mm.

The sandwich test samples are then put into the electric furnace. A dead weight of 1325 gm
is put on the sample (Fig. 8.3), and the temperature is raised at a rate of 4 °C/min to
1550 °C. The furnace temperature is maintained at 1550 °C for half an hour. The furnace is
put off and is cooled at a rate of 4 °C/min to room temperature. The modulus of rupture of
the fired sample is done as per ASTM standard C133-97 on 90 mm span using three-point
bending with a strain rate of 1.0 mm/min.

The significance of different factors on the test methods is established by statisti-cal

methods and findings obtained are as follows:

 The compressive load on the samples, the nature of the raw meal, the test tem-
perature, and holding time are found to be the most significant factors which
determine the adherence strength of the coating.
 Silica ratio of the raw meal is found to have very significant influence on the
adherence strength of the coating.
 The effect of heating rate is only significant in the case of magnesia-spinel
refractories.
 Particle size has got a very significant effect on the adherence of the coating. The
finer is the raw meal, the higher is the adherence.
The ruggedness of the test method to assess the affinity of a refractory towards a feed
material was tested statistically, and the results are as follows:

1. It is concluded that the sandwich test method is rugged and is insensitive to many
minor external factors like the paste thickness, method of making the paste, etc.
2. The sandwich test is repeatable and reproducible with small variability.
3. The sandwich test is able to differentiate the coating development ability of vari- ous
basic The result is found in agreement with the actual perfor- mance of the refractory
in the cement rotary kiln.

Effect of Composition and Microstructure

The composition (chemistry) and the microstructure of the Refractory used are also
important to decide the quality of the coating. Magnesia-chrome or magnesia- hercynite
refractory is found to develop coating much better, compared to magnesia- spinel
refractory. The volume of the pores and the pore size distribution are very important
parameters to decide the strength of adherence of the coating.

Coating Collapse
Sometimes the large parts of this coating break away from the refractory in big lumps, due
to excessive weight, large temperature changes in the burning zone (especially sharp
temperature drops), fluctuations of the raw material properties, inadequate operation, and
others, and the phenomena is known as coating collapse.

A coating collapse is detected primarily through the kiln amperes. A sharp increase in the
average kiln ampere indicates that suddenly a higher amount of material has to be moved
in the kiln. Constant spiking of the kiln amps may also indicate an uneven loss of coating in
one area of the kiln.

Burnability
Burnability is a measure of the ease of formation of clinker from the raw meal. Coatability of
a raw meal is related to its burnability also. With hard burning mate-rial, the coatability is
also low. It is actually measured by the free or nonreactive CaO % in the clinker. Burnability
depends on the following factors:

1. The chemistry of the kiln feed

2. Mineralogy of the kiln feed
3. The particle size distribution of the kiln feed

Burnability Test
Different attempts have been made to draw a relation between the chemistry of the kiln
feed and the burnability and to quantify it.

Burnability of different kiln feed can be compared in the laboratory following a test method.

In this method the sample of the kiln feed is taken and mixed with the coal ash in the same
proportion as the coal is used per ton of clinker produced. The mixture of kiln feed and the
ash is nodulized and burned at 1500 °C, and then the free lime is checked in it. The lower is
the quantity of the free lime, the better is its burnability. The chart of the free lime vs
burnability is shown in Table 8.1. The attempt has been made also to map the burnability in
respect to silica modulus (X-axis) and alumina ratio (Y-axis), and it has been found that for a
kiln feed with silica modulus 2.5 and the alumina ratio 1.6, the burnability property is the
best (Fig. 8.4). In some cases the mineralizer is added to improve the burnability of the kiln
feed. But it is very important for refractory lining to have a good and stable coating over it,
to get a good performance of the refractory lining.

Heat Transfer
Introduction
Cement manufacturing is a very energy-intensive process and requires both thermal and
electrical energy. For a modern cement plant, the thermal energy requirement is 3–4 GJ/ton
of clinker [1–3]. The calculation shows that about 15% heat is lost in the total manufacturing
process through convection and radiation [3]. Heat loss from any equipment surface is
proportional to its surface area, and for a modern kiln of 6 m diameter and 70 m length, the
surface area is 1320 m2 which is a large value and hence the heat loss is also high. Similarly
heat is lost through the surfaces of all other equipments.

The heat energy is kept confined in different equipments to use that energy to carry out the
desired chemical and physical processes in cement manufacturing. The Refractory acts as a
barrier to restrict the flow of energy from the container (the equipment) to the ambience.
The thermal energy flows inside the equipment through combustion of fuel, and at the
beginning the process remains in an unsteady state. Part of the energy is utilized to heat up
the equipments and accessories, part is con-sumed for different physical and chemical
changes taking place in manufacturing process. Part of the energy leaves the system
through radiation and convection from equipment surfaces and part through different
materials, e.g. flue gas, clinker etc, which leave the system with sensible heat, e.g., clinker,
flue gas, dusts, etc. The whole system gradually tends towards attaining a steady state or a
state of equilibrium, when the sum of heat input and the heat energy evolved in chemical
processes will be equal to the sum of heat energy absorbed in the chemical reaction and the
heat lost through the system. To prevent the heat loss from the surface, the surface
temperature must have to be low. To keep the surface temperature low, the refractory
design must be done very judiciously, within permissible limit of thickness and weight. The
insu-lation refractories play a major role to conserve energy from being lost.

Mechanism of Heat Transfer

The heat energy from inside the kiln or any other equipment is transferred by con-duction
through refractory wall and gets lost in ambience from surface through the process of
convection and radiation. Although the overall heat transfer process cal-culation is quite
complex, but for design purpose some basic mathematical equa-tions and expressions can
be used.

Conduction
Conduction is the process of heat transfer from a body at higher temperature to a body at
lower temperature when there is physical contact between the bodies. Temperature
difference between two bodies is the driving force behind the heat transfer process.
Conduction occurs on the molecular scale, and the energy of par-ticles having higher
energy is transferred to particles with lower energy till they arrive at a state of equilibrium.
Conduction of heat through a composite wall is shown in Fig. 9.1; the Fourier equation can
be used to determine the heat transfer across the composite wall. If QCond is the heat
conducted through the refractory wall of surface area A, comprising of refractory of quality
B with thickness D1 and qual-ity C with thickness D2, and if the temperatures at hot face
and cold face of the wall are Th and Ts and the thermal conductivities of the refractories B
and C are K1 and K2, and the junction temperature is Tj, then the following mathematical
expression indicates the relation between temperature drop across the thickness of the
refrac-tory lining:
In case of a cylindrical vessel of radius R with inside temperature Th lined inside with
refractories B and C, as shown in Fig. 9.2, with thickness D1 = (R–R1) and D2 = (R1–R2), and
outside temperature is Ts, then the heat transfer due to conduction over a surface area of A
will be expressed as

K1 and K2 are the thermal conductivities of the material B and C.

Nowadays the softwares are available to calculate the cold face temperatures. If the
software is fed with refractory thickness, density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity
values, it can calculate the heat transfer across the wall, junction tem-perature, and the
temperature on the outside wall.

The same can be determined manually by trial and error method also. At steady state, the
heat flux conducted from hot face to cold face of the lining is equal to the total of the heat
lost through convection and radiation from the refractory lining surface.

Convection
It is the mode of heat transfer between a solid surface and the adjacent liquid or gas that is
in motion, and it involves the combined effects of conduction and fluid motion. Convection
can be of two types, free or natural convection and forced convection, depending on how
the fluid motion is initiated. In forced convection, the fluid is forced to flow over a surface by
external means such as a pump or a fan. In natural convection, any fluid motion is caused by
natural means such as the buoyancy effect, which manifests itself as the rise of warmer fluid
and the fall of the cooler fluid.

Here the heat transfer process due to free convection will be discussed. The heat transfer
due to free convection Qcon is expressed mathematically as

where L is the characteristic length of the body and Kf is the thermal conductivity of
surrounding fluid, which is air in this case. The Nusselt number can be related through
empirical data to other properties of the convective fluids.
There are two different kinds of fluid (air) flow around the object from which the convective
heat transfer occurs. The flow may be laminar or turbulent. The laminar flow is an orderly
flow of fluids where the fluid layers are parallel to each other, and turbulent flow is a
disorderly flow where the fluid layers cross each other and are never parallel. The laminar
flow generally occurs with fluid flows at low velocity, and turbulent flow occurs when the
fluid moves at high velocity. Figure 9.3 shows how the laminar and turbulent flow looks like.
The type of flow can be characterized by the Rayleigh number: for laminar flow, the Rayleigh
number is below 109, and for turbulent flow it is above this figure.

The calculations of free convection and Nusselt number for objects with different
geometries are as follows.

Vertical Wall

Horizontal Wall

Vertical Cylinder
The equation for vertical plate is applicable if the thickness of the free convection boundary
layer is much smaller than the cylinder diameter. The cylinder may be considered as vertical
wall of breadth equal to the circumference of the cylinder.

The criteria are given quantitatively as D/L ≥ 35/ (GrL)1/4, where D and L are the diameter
and length of the cylinder.

Horizontal Cylinder
Characteristic length is the outer diameter of the cylinder, Do:

If we want to calculate the heat loss per square meter, due to convection from the outer
surface of the rotary kiln of diameter 6 m, whose outer shell temperature is at 350 °C in the
burning zone, then we can calculate it with the help of the different equa-tions shown
earlier. We can calculate the value of RaD using Eqs. 9.8 and 9.9, where we have to consider
the value of L (characteristic length) as the outer diameter of the shell. If we consider the
ambient temperature as 30 °C, then the average temperature of kiln shell and ambience is
190 °C. We must consider the values of β, α, and ν at that tempera-ture which are available
in standard literature. Putting the values we get RaD = 4.72 × 1011, which is less than 1012;
therefore Eq. 9.14 will be applicable here.

We can now get the value of NuD from Eq. 9.14, putting the value of RaD and Pr, which
comes as 835.38. Putting the value of NuD in Eq. 9.5, we can calculate the value of hc as
5.012, and using the value of hc, the value of the convective heat loss can be obtained from
Eq.  9.4, as 1603 watt per square meter. This calculation, although, an approximate one,
because in actual operation the kiln is not a static body and rotates slowly which changes
the heat transfer coefficient, but gives a fair idea about the heat transfer taking place. For
more accurate treatment on this subject the technical paper on this subject [4] may be
consulted.

Radiation
Any substance at temperature above absolute zero emits thermal radiation indepen-dent of
external agencies. This radiation moves in straight line. Thermal radiation moves through
the empty space and is not transformed into heat till it meets the matter on its path. Part of
the radiation is reflected by the body, part is transmitted through the body, and the part is
absorbed by the body. It is only the absorbed energy that appears as heat. Heat transfer
from a body by radiation does not need any medium unlike conduction and convection.
Radiation heat exchange happens between two bodies at two different temperatures. The
heat is exchanged from both, the body at high temperature to low temperature and from
body at low temperature to high temperature, with net transfer of heat energy from the
body at high tempera-ture to low temperature. Thermal radiation occurs from the surface of
the body and is a function of the surface temperature and surface characteristic. Heat loss
from a process equipment due to radiation becomes very significant, when its temperature
is considerably higher from the ambient.
If the surface temperature of a body is Ts and the ambient temperature is Ta, then the heat
transfer from the surface is given by the equation below:

where εs is the surface emissivity and σ is Stefan-Boltzman constant and A is the surface
area available for heat transfer.

All objects at temperatures above absolute zero emit thermal radiation. However, for any
particular wavelength and temperature, the amount of thermal radiation emitted depends
on the emissivity of the object’s surface. Emissivity is defined as the ratio of the energy
radiated from a material’s surface to that radiated from a blackbody (a perfect emitter) at
the same temperature and wavelength and under the same viewing conditions. It is a
dimensionless number between 0 (for a perfect reflector) and 1 (for a perfect emitter). The
emissivity of a surface depends not only on the material but also on the nature of the
surface. For example, a clean and pol-ished metal surface will have a low emissivity, whereas
a roughened and oxidized metal surface will have a high emissivity. The emissivity also
depends on the tem-perature of the surface as well as wavelength and angle. Table 9.1
gives the emissiv-ity values of some material.

Heat Loss Calculation

Let us calculate the heat transfer per square meter through radiation from a rotary kiln shell
at 350 °C to ambience and at 30 °C using Eq. 9.15.

Qrad = 0.79 × 5.669 × 10−8 × [(350 + 273)4 – (30 + 273)4] = 6369 Watt, where Stefan-

Boltzman constant = 5.669 x 10−8 w/m2K4.

Combined Heat Loss by Conduction,

Convection, and Radiation
In industrial furnaces the heat loss from the furnace takes place through combined heat
transfer process where all three different forms of heat transfer work simultane-ously. As per
this process, as shown in Fig. 9.4, the heat from inside the furnace or any process equipment
comes to the outer shell by conduction through Refractory lining, and then the heat is lost
from the surface both by convection and radiation.
If the inside temperature of the furnace is Tf and the shell temperature becomes Ts, at
steady state or at equilibrium, then, Qcond = Qconv + Qrad, where Qcond is the heat
transferred, from furnace inside to outside shell, Qconv is the heat transferred by con-
vection from outside shell to ambience, and Qrad is the heat lost from outside shell by
radiation. Therefore we can write it, as This equation is used to calculate the refractory
thickness and the outside shell temperature in the actual practice. In this equation Ts
depends upon D1, D2, K1, and K2 which are all variables. For this reason, it is not possible to
solve this equation to know Ts. However, for a certain combination of quality and thickness
of refracto-ries, Ts (shell temperature) can be found out by a trial and error method.

In the calculation process, first the refractory qualities are to be decided, and then certain
values of D1 and D2 are to be decided. A probable value of Ts is to be decided, ambient
temperature Ta is to be considered, and then it is to be seen whether the value of the left
side of Eq. 9.16 equals to the right side of Eq. 9.16, and thus, by trial and error, the right
value of Ts is to be chosen which will satisfy Eq. 9.16. Nowadays softwares are available
which on putting the values of different variables give imme-diately the value of Ts, heat
flux, etc.

The above discussion shows that if the surface temperature of the kiln and its other
accessories, wherever possible, can be reduced, then heat loss both due to con-vection and
radiation can be minimized. Study shows that kiln temperature does not remain constant
and fluctuates. The degree of fluctuation gets reduced with higher rotation speed of the kiln
and the fluctuation is independent of kiln diameter [5].

Energy Loss Norm Through Different Equipments

A detailed energy audit was made on a 3.60 m diameter dry process kiln, and the total
energy consumed or lost through different equipments is given in Table 9.2 [6].

The below data indicates a good amount of energy is lost through the radiation and
convection from the kiln shell. Figure 9.5 shows the actual heat loss map along a rotary kiln
length, from inlet to discharge end [7].
Use of Insulation in Rotary Kiln
To reduce this energy loss, the use of backup insulation lining is not suggested, because, if
the backup insulation refractory is used, the temperature profile across the working lining
brick thickness will become flatter compared to the lining with-out insulation (Fig. 9.6). The
result will be deeper penetration of the clinker liquid phase, before the liquid phases cross
the temperature zone, where those freeze to solid phases.

Because of this change in temperature profile, the corrosion of refractory will get enhanced
when insulation is used as backup lining in kiln and the lining life will come down, which will
ultimately result in kiln shutdown. The deeper infiltration of liquid also causes the alteration
of structure leading to failure due to thermal shock.

Moreover when the backup insulation will be used in the burning zone, because of the
changed temperature profile (Fig. 9.6), the viscosity of the infiltrated liquid phases will
remain low, and as a result the coating will be thin and unstable, and the advantage of using
insulation will be offset by the less coating thickness. Another problem may be encountered
is the relative movement of the two layers of refracto-ries during rotation of the kiln.

When insulation brick is used as a backup lining, if the kiln preheating is done fast, the
insulation brick at the backup lining will experience a very high compres-sive stress
generated from the expansion of working lining, which may crush the insulation layer to
make the lining unstable.

In the calcining zone, the high strength insulation bricks can be used. These bricks are
aluminosilicate Refractories with Al2O3 ranging between 30% and 35% and have higher
porosity, lower density, and fairly good resistance to abrasion. The aluminosilicate material
has inherent low thermal conductivity, and because of higher porosity, the thermal
conductivity becomes further less, which helps to retain the heat inside and conserve
energy. Moreover because of lower bulk density, these bricks store less energy in heating up
the process and reduce the energy require-ment. The property of this kind of refractory is
given in Table 9.3.

Criteria of the Use of Insulation

Although a relatively small portion of the heat is lost from the preheater and cooler because
the cement manufacturing is made in a very large scale, the small propor-tion of energy
saved amounts to a large quantum of energy over a long period of operation. This is the
reason that large amount of insulation Refractories are used in the other equipments also
like preheater cyclones, cooler, etc. in the cement plant.

The effectiveness of insulation refractory follows the rule of diminishing returns. The use of
more amount of insulation refractory may not be economical. If, for example, more
insulation thickness is used inside the cyclone, its effective volume will be reduced.

Therefore to keep the inside volume same, the cyclone diameter must be made higher,
which involves more cost, and that may not be proportional to the benefit obtained by
increasing the thickness of the insulation (Fig. 9.7).

A portion of the gas, inside the furnace, permeates through the pores, fine cracks, and gaps
to reach up to the steel shell. When the furnace atmosphere contains the corrosive gases
like SO3, HCl, etc., care must be taken to control the shell tempera-ture above the dew point
of the gas, because if any condensation takes place on the shell, it will corrode the shell
because of the acid formation due to dissolution of SO3 or HCl in water and may pose
serious problem. Therefore during the use of insulation, care must be taken to see that the
temperature of shell does not fall below the dew point of the gas [8, 9].

Therefore to determine the economic and technically viable thickness of insula-tion, the
following points must be taken into consideration:

 Cost and calorific value of fuel

 Insulation refractory, quality, and price
 Surface temperature targeted
 The thickness and quality of working refractory
 Duration of operation on annual basis
 Ambient temperature
 Surrounding wind velocity
 Dew point of the gas inside
 The equipment where it will be used
All the previous calculations are based on the assumption that the ambient temperature is
30 °C and wind velocity is zero. But in actual practice the ambient tem-perature varies. The
lower is the ambient temperature, the more will be the heat loss. On the other hand, the
more will be the wind velocity, more is the heat loss. Table 9.4 gives the comparison of heat
loss when the air is still and when its velocity is 1.5 m/sec [10].

The painting of low-emissivity paint on the outside kiln surface can reduce the heat loss due
to radiation. A study [11, 12] showed that the painting of a kiln outside surface, with a paint
of emissivity 0.5, reduces the radiation losses by 9%. But the surface temperature is
increased by 59 °C, over 332 °C for an unpainted surface. Due to this increase of
temperature, heat loss due to convection will increase, but heat loss due to radiation will
decrease, and the net effect is the reduction in thermal loss and fuel saving.

Management of Quality
and Inspection
Introduction
The refractory is a very important part of a new cement project. The successful com-
missioning and running of the project depend to a great extent on the design and selection
of the refractory, the quality management of the products [1], and its instal-lation. The
execution of the process of refractory procurement and installation varies from country to
country. In some country, the design of refractory lining is made by the technology provider
or the consultant or a third-party service provider, and sub-sequent procurement is made
by the user company, who procures it directly, and the installation service is outsourced. In
other countries the refractory design, procure-ment, and installation are outsourced
through a Refractory engineering company.

There can be different models for execution of the refractory lining job suiting to work
environment and work culture of a particular country.

Quality Management
This covers the management of the quality of the refractory from the handling of the inquiry
to the termination of the warranty period as shown in Table 10.1 (as a sam-ple), and these
activities are applicable for project execution.
All procedures during this period to achieve the successful performance of the refractory are
reviewed and included in the quality management. The total activities of quality
management system for Refractories can be subdivided under different headings and can
be elaborated as given in Table 10.1. The total activities of quality management system for
Refractories depend upon the volume and complexity of specific project as shown in
Table 10.2.

Inspection Plan: General

A test/inspection plan helps to assist planning and documentation of the inspection

procedures. It is required to record these activities in a suitable manner to provide the

understandable and reliable documents. The more detail are the information kept, better it
is to analyze and rectify any problems faced later. The details may be as follows:

1. Documentation to track flow of

2. Drawings with records of revision updates.
3. Proof of inspection of incoming materials with test reports.
4. Construction site report to track on-site acti
5. Inspection plans and related inspection reports.
6. The inspection plan should also contain instruction on the procedure to follow if
defects are noticed.

Inspection Plan for Procurement of Material

During the design stage, refractory lining material, for any equipment, is already

specified, both by quality and by design. Based on the technical data provided in the design,
the refractories are procured. Therefore, before the inspection, the following information
must be available:

1. The refractory design and drawing

2. Specifications of the refractory
3. The test methods to carry out tests against the different specification parameters
4. Specification of packaging
5. Sampling plan to be followed
The purpose of inspection is actually to inspect the procured material for accep- tance. The
quality inspection is done to determine if and to what extent the products fulfill the quality
requirements. For quality inspection, the sample is drawn from a population, called lot. The
tests are conducted to check if the quality characteristics are being achieved, as agreed
upon between the supplier and the buyer.

Inspection of Materials
The quality inspection is done to determine if and to what extent the materials fulfill the
stipulated quality requirements. Quality inspection is conducted based on the samples taken
from a finite population called lot. Two different types of inspections can be there, one is by
attributes and the other by variables. For the inspection by attribute, the countable
inspection parameters, e.g., corner breakage, body crack,etc., in the inspection lot are
determined. It is required that manufacturer and con-sumer agree on the definition of the
defects and acceptable quality level (AQL).

The inspection by variables is based on the measurable quality parameters, e.g., bulk
density, porosity, cold crushing strength, etc.

Inspection for acceptance of the shaped Refractory materials always involves inspection by
both attributes and variables, whereas unshaped Refractories are inspected by variables.

Shaped Refractory Materials

For shaped refractories ISO 5022 provides sampling and inspection procedures both by
attributes and variables according to which samples can be drawn to get the best uniformity
of the refractory materials being supplied. For inspecting a lot, there are two inspection
procedures, independent of one another.

– Inspection by attributes which is a nondestructive test.

– Inspection by variables which is a destructive test.

The following information must be recorded during sampling and accepting check:

 Description of materials
 Number, designation, and the size of the lot Date and location of sampling
 Number of pallets per brick item
 Number  of  samples  for  inspection  by  variables,  with  indication  of  item
designation
 Random sampling plan evaluation criteria, for the agreed properties
  Agreed  properties  and  guaranteed  values  of  the  same  as  the  criteria  for
evaluation
 Documentation of all results for inspection by attributes and acceptance report.
Inspection by Attributes

The process adopted here is a nondestructive test, and the sample plans are as per
statistical procedure because the sample size is large. The following parameters are checked
while inspected by attributes.

Sonic – Inner defects, like lamination, can be found out by hitting the bricks with a suitable
steel hammer with wooden handle. The sound is usually different and dull when there is
defect like lamination or crack inside.

Edge strength – Edges and corners of the bricks must be strong and tight. The grains must
not come out when rubbed with thumb. The number of edge damage must not exceed an
agreed limit.

Burn cavities – Although it has no technical significance, bricks with large cavi-ties, area-wise
and depth-wise, are not acceptable.

Cracks – Bricks, which only have surface cracks and generate good sound on hammering,
are not treated as defective. The fine surface cracks are the result of firing behavior of that
specific product, out of coarse-grained ceramic material. The brick may be cut in case of
doubt to see the penetration of the crack. The small crack on the surface opposite to the
non-working surface may be ignored.

Brick texture – The texture of the brick can be assessed by observing the frac-tured surface.
Usually the breakage of the coarse grains suggests the matrix is strong and the brick is fired
well. The texture must not contain any defects such as inner cracks or void areas.

Dimensional accuracy – The dimensional accuracy must be checked keeping in mind its
installation procedure. Any warpage in the brick must also be checked which may pose
serious problems during installation and service. Sometimes the bricks may be lined to see if
proper circle is made, e.g., in case of kiln bricks.

Sampling for nondestructive tests

When a material is offered for inspection, the total material of the same quality and size,
having a comparable properties and characteristics, is called a lot. A portion of the lot is
called sample. The sampling procedure is very important and the sample must represent a
lot. Normal sampling procedure is, for example, to draw few bricks, without any justification
to the number, from a certain lot, and to test those bricks to see whether the test result
matches to the specified values. But the sam-pling should be done scientifically with a
purpose. Acceptance sampling procedure is a scientific method of sampling and involves
the interest of both producer and consumer. Consumers need acceptance sampling plan to
limit the risk of rejecting good-quality materials or accepting bad-quality materials. Two
levels of quality are considered in the acceptance sampling plan.

The first is the acceptable quality level (AQL), or the quality level desired by the consumer.
The producer of the item strives to achieve the AQL, which typically is written into a contract
or purchase order. The producer’s risk (α) is the risk that the sampling plan will fail to verify
an acceptable lot’s quality and, thus, reject it. Most often the producer’s risk is set at 0.05, or
5 percent.

Although producers are interested in low risk, they often have no control over the
consumer’s acceptance sampling plan. Fortunately, the consumer, also, is interested in a
low, producer’s risk, because sending good materials back to the producer

1. disrupts the consumer’s progress of project or production process and increases the
likelihood of shortages in materials, 2. adds unnecessarily to the lead time for
finished products or services; and 3. creates poor relations with the
[Link] consumer’s risk (β)  is the risk that the sampling plan will fail to verify
a rejected lot’s quality and will accept it. A common value for the consumer’s risk
is 0.10, or 10 percent.
All sampling plans are devised to provide a specified producer’s and consumer’s risk.
However, for the interest of the consumer, it is best to keep the average number of items
(properties) (ANI) inspected to a minimum, because that keeps the cost of inspection low.

Sampling plans differ with respect to ANI. Three often used attribute sampling plans are, the
single sampling plan, the double sampling plan, and the sequential sampling plan.

But for refractory products, single sampling plan is most appropriate. When the lot is very
large, it can be subdivided into few smaller lots to minimize the risk of rejection.

Sampling plan
In this method the samples are drawn to test defects, like cracks, dimensional intol-erances,
firing defects, etc.
AQL (acceptable quality level) is the acceptable proportion of defective items in a lot and is
fixed by agreement between the supplier and the consumer. Table 10.3

gives the sampling plans [2] for AQLs of the order 1.5, 4.0, and 6.5 as per ISO-5022. This
table also gives in column 4 the probability of acceptance P for different pro-portions “p” of
defective units in the lot.

The number y of defective pieces in the sample, having size n, is determined. If y < c, the
batch is in conformity. If y > c, the batch is not in conformity.

When the lot size is big, it can be divided in smaller sublots to avoid the risk of rejection of a
good lot or accepting a bad lot.

For example, a consignment of total mass of 120 tons comprises of 15,000 pressed bricks.
The consignment can be divided into three lots, say:

Sublot 1 – 2000 Pcs

Sublot 2 – 1000 Pcs

Sublot 3 – 9000 Pcs

As indicated in Table 10.3, in case of sublot 3, for example, the sampling plan used provides
AQL 1.5%.

For the producer the risk of having a batch which contains 1.99% of defective pieces
erroneously declared not to be in conformity is equal to 5%.

For the consumer the risk of having a batch which contains 5.89% of defective pieces
erroneously declared to be in conformity is equal to 10%.

The inspection process is given in table below (Table 10.4).

Inspection by Variables
By this inspection method, the measurable refractory properties are inspected. During
selection of the properties to be inspected, it is preferred to select a property whose testing
is easy, can be done quickly, and is inexpensive. If more than one property is to be
measured, then it is to be seen that the selected properties are inde-pendent of each other.

ISO 5022 offers several sampling plans to assess the uniformity of a product. These are:

1- Inspection in case of guaranteed value for the mean value and a known standard
deviation

2. Single sampling plan with a fixed limit for individual values and a known standard
deviation
3. Single sampling plans in the case of a guaranteed value for the mean and an
unknown standard deviation
4. Single sampling plan with fixed limit for individual value and an unknown stan- dard
deviation
Sampling for  Destructive Tests
Refractories are heterogeneous material made out of mixing of ingredients in solid state,
followed by forming and normally high-temperature firing in case of shaped products.
Refractory quality specification comprises of both chemical specification and physical
specification, and during inspecting a product, the con-sistency of its chemical as well as
physical properties needs to be checked. When product batches are manufactured over a
small period of time, the chemistry does not change much, and it remains within fairly close
limit. Therefore the variation in chemistry due to raw material, during manufacturing a lot
over a small period of time, is not significant.

The consistency of physical properties of refractory shaped products depends on many

factors, e.g., the uniformity of mixing of ingredients and the consistency of forming and
firing. If those process parameters are consistent, the properties of the refractories, also, will
be consistent. For checking the consistency of properties, one need not to check all the
properties like porosity, density, RUL, thermal conductiv-ity, thermal shock resistance,
permanent linear change, etc., because it takes time and will be expensive also. The
consistency of products can be very well ascertained by the density and porosity check,
which are very easy and fast. The soundness of the forming process and high-temperature
firing process is reflected in its density and porosity. If the products are made with
inconsistent forming and without main-taining proper firing process parameters, the density
and porosity values will also be inconsistent. The other properties can be checked by
drawing random sample and carrying out the tests, and if the density and porosity values
are consistent, then those values also will be consistent over the whole lot.

The Sampling Plan

The sampling plan is applicable when the guaranteed value of the mean value (μG) and
standard deviation (σ) value are available. The producer and consumer must agree to those
values. A single sampling plan is characterized by the sample size n, and the acceptance
factor KPRE and the figures are available in Table 10.5 [3].In this method the test of n
samples yields n individual values, and the mean (Xm) of those values is calculated.

Example
Let a 300 ton batch of refractories to be inspected for acceptance with respect to bulk
density. Let μG = 3.00 gm/cc be the guaranteed mean value agreed upon. In view of the
given data as per Table 10.5, sample size is 18 and the acceptance factor KPRE = 0.39. The
mean of the 18 test results is Xm = 2.99gm/cc, and standard devia-tion is determined as
0.05 gm/cc.

The following is the calculation method to conclude whether the lot conforms the
guaranteed mean value.

Low values of bulk density is unfavorable to the refractory quality; therefore the value of μG 
– KPRE.σ is to be determined, and this will be equal to 3.0–0.39 × 0.05 = 2.98. Since
Xm ≥ μG – KPRE.σ, the batch conforms the quality.

In this sampling plan, the producer’s risk of having a batch, the true mean value of bulk
density of which would be 3.00 gm/cc, declared not to be in conformity is 5%.

The consumers’ risk of having a batch, the true mean of which would be μG –(Δμ/σ) = 3.00–
0.69 × 0.05 = 2.96 gm/cc erroneously to be declared to be in confor-mity, is 10% (β).

Unshaped (Monolithic) Refractory Materials

For unshaped Refractories only an inspection by variable is done. Sampling of monolithic
refractories is described in several standards like DIN EN 1402-2 and ISO 8656-1. The
procedure can take much time and is often expensive. Let us describe the sampling
procedure as per DIN EN 14402-2.

Before starting the sampling procedure, the following points must be recorded:

 The inspection lot must be determined.

 The type and weight of the packaged item must be established. For example,
whether it is small bag, big bag, carton, block materials, cans, etc.
 Form of delivery of packing, for example, pallets. The number of pallets must be
determined and they are numbered.
The method of sampling will depend on the type of packing. It will not be same for 25 kg
bag and 1 ton big bag.

The properties for assessing uniformity of the product must be determined beforehand. In
cement industries the monolithic refractories mostly used are con-ventional castables, low
and ultra-low cement castables, insulating castables, gun-ning, and shotcrete materials and
mortars.

The typical properties to be investigated for castables are:

– Water requirement to get the desired consistency

– Workability and setting time after casting with desired amount of water

– Bulk density of the castable after casting and drying at 110 °C

– Cold crushing strength after casting and drying at 110 °C
– Permanent linear change after heat treatment at a certain temperature

And for Refractory mortars, the typical properties to be investigated are:

– Sieve analysis
– Main chemical constituents

– Setting behavior

The criteria for acceptance or rejection of an inspection lot must be agreed upon
beforehand by both producer and consumer. The agreed guaranteed value for the specific
property, for example, the mean value or the one-sided limit for the indi-vidual property,
must be decided.
The total inspection process consists mainly of four steps:

1. Drawing the sample

2. Reduction of testing sample from the main sample by coning and quartering
3. Making the specimen samples of bars or cubes for testing
4. Evaluation
Drawing the  Sample
Before the start of the sampling, the inspection lot must be determined. It must be decided
that whether the whole of the supplied lot will be considered as inspection lot or it is to be
divided into smaller lots for inspection purpose.

Sampling from the sacks is to be done by an awl. For fine-grain products, an awl is to be
used. The diameter of the awl should be at least three times larger than the maximum grain
size of the product. For coarse-grain products, small hand-size sam-ple shovel is to be used.
Sampling from the big bags is done by emptying the big bag.

Reduction in  Sample Size

The amount n of individual samples from the packaged products, which make up the
sample for testing, is to be determined. For items with packing below 35 kg, the sampling
plan according to ISO 5022 can be used. The amount n will depend upon a guaranteed
mean value, with known or unknown standard deviation, for a particu-lar property, as shown
in Table 10.5.

For items having packing more than 35 kg, however, it is recommended to deter-mine the
sample size on the basis of statistical inspection plan, for example, accord-ing to ISO 8656-
1. The amount n of single samples from packaged products will depend on the magnitude
of the variation coefficient v of the property to be inspected as per plan given in Table 10.6.

The value of v is determined from the relation, v = 100 σ/m in %. Here σ is the standard
deviation and m is as per the column 4 of Table 10.6. If several properties are examined,
then the property with the highest variation coefficient is decisive for determining the
amount n of single items from packaged products. If v is unknown, then the amount is
chosen according to Class 3.

The single samples from packaged products are formed from p elementary single samples.
In practice six elementary single samples per packaged item have proven sufficient. The
minimum amount of single samples from packaged products is determined according to
the maximum grain size as described in ISO 8656-1 (Table 10.7). According to DIN EN 1402-
2 and ISO 8656-1, a sack of 35–50 Kg is a single sample of a packaged product. This
however leads to huge sampling amount and is of no sense, for example, for a lot size of
100 tons, the sample will be 0.5 ton.

The collective samples therefore are homogenized and then divided up with a splitting cross
or riffle sampler into a lab collective sample. With this smaller amount, the test samples are
prepared for inspection.

The samples of refractory castables test pieces are made by vibrating, self-flowing, or
poking depending on its type and actual use.

The samples can be made following ISO, DIN, or ASTM standards. Steel molds are used to
give the shape to the castable after it is mixed with water.

For gunning mixes, the gunning is done inside a steel former as shown in Fig. 10.1 [4]. After
gunning the castable is allowed to be cured for 24 hours. Then the test sample bars are cut
out of the gunned mass as given in Fig. 10.2. The physi-cal properties of castables are
inspected according to DIN EN 1402-6 or DIN EN 1402- 7, and physical properties of
mortars are done according to PRE/R43 or DIN1089- 3. It is to be borne in mind that some
properties of refractory castables, for example, CCS, are dependent on the size of the
sample.

Evaluation
The evaluation procedure for making a decision in favor of acceptance or rejection is done
following the method shown in the sampling plan for destructive testing (page no 214–215).

Mortars
For mortars a limit value Xmax or Xmin is agreed upon to assess the conformity of the
product under inspection. The lot is accepted if a single individual value of the col-lective
sample does not exceed or fall below the agreed limit value Xmax or Xmin.

Inspection of Installation
In previous sections the inspection plan of refractory materials is discussed which ensures
quality of materials to be installed.

But properties of refractory lining do not depend on the refractory quality alone. It is also
very important that the instructions for the material preparation and lining methods are
followed meticulously to get a sound lining. The inspection plan shown in Table 10.8
provides a framework for the quality assurance of the refractory installa-tion work. Specific
aspects of the inspection plan are discussed in further detail below.

Inspection Plan for Installation of Refractory

Materials
Test and inspection connected to installation of refractory materials are very com-plex, and
a great amount of experience is required to set up effective inspection plan. It is to be
framed looking into the particular situation prevailing at the site. Table 10.8 shows the
content of a sample inspection plan.

An inspection plan can be outlined as follows:

 Preliminary inspection or the check before the start of the work

 The checking of the technical documentation
 The  measurement  and  checking  the  appearances  of  the  supporting  steel
construction
 The inspection of incoming refractories, material, storage condition, and
transportation arrangement to the construction site
 The availability and readiness of equipment, machinery, scaffolding, etc. The
qualification of the work force
 The safety measures

Installation inspection or the inspection during installation work

 The observance of engineering requirements, e.g., dimensions, arrangement to fix

the forms, expansion joints, etc.
 The observance of the instructions for the preparation and use of the refrac- tory
material, especially when installing the unshaped refractory materials
 The records and measures to trace back, proof of installation
 The inspection after the installation work
 The evaluation of results for sampling procedure
  The acceptance by the customer
For each part of the construction, preparation of an inspection plan is recom-mended
keeping the points mentioned above in consideration. The entire inspection plan for the
installation of the refractory materials is based on a list of all the construction parts. For each
construction part, an inspection plan is to be made which will be connected to the
inspection reports.

Technical Documentation and Installation Manual

All technical information pertaining to the material specification and instructions for
installations should be collected and put in a file as an installation manual. This manual
should be with the manager in charge of installation at the site. The instal-lation manual
must contain the following information:

– The detail drawing of the refractory lining of the equipment

– The list of all the parts of the equipment
– All material data sheets
– General installation instructions, with requirements of machineries, tools and tackles,
design and arrangements of joints, lining around retainer plates, etc.

– Installation details with details of expansion joints

– Any specific working and installation instructions with installation sequences, local
condition, etc.
– Details of installation with details of castable curing and drying up and preheat-ing
procedure
– Quality inspection plan for material and installation job including anchor weld-ing, anchor
spacing, and orientation

The completeness and revision updates of the documents must be checked by the site
manager upon the receipts of documents.

Preliminary Inspection of the Construction Part

The inspection of the supporting steel construction deals with the measurements of length,
height and width, ovalness, design of openings, and the arrangements of anchors.

The anchor strength, spacing, orientation, and the surface must be checked for dirt, coating,
rust, etc. Table  10.9 shows the way the inspection of welding of anchors is to be recorded.

Inspection of Incoming Material, Its Storage, and Transportation

to the Site
Based on the technical documentation, the site manager checks the supplies arriving at the
construction site. Next important issue is to mark the material properly and to store safely
till those are used. The incoming and outgoing material should be docu-mented separately.

Readiness of the Equipments and Utilities

It is to be checked before start of the work that which things are in the scope of the
contractor and which are in the scope of the customer and accordingly the arrange-ments
for scaffolding, power, water, compressed air, etc. are done. Safety measures to be taken are
also to be reviewed.

Qualification of Personnel
It must be ensured that the personnel engaged at the site are well trained and are familiar
with the work to be carried out. For example, for gunning installation of the castable, a man
should be engaged having good experience in that job.

Compliance with Engineering Requirements

The engineering requirements for installation of a Refractory lining are of special
importance for successful campaign life of a refractory lining, and the proper records of
those are to be kept. For example:

– Wall thickness of the individual layer and the quality of refractories are to be used.
– Measurements of expansion joints.
– Coating over anchors.
– Insertion of joint material.
– Placement of separation layers.
– Inspection, measurements, and method of fixation of forms before casting of castable
lining.

Compliance with Application Guideline

The observation and compliance with instructions for preparation and use, applica-tion, and
working must be carefully checked and recorded, especially when mono-lithic refractories
are installed. The personnel in charge of installation of the monolithic refractories must be
equipped with special instructions. The following mixing records must be maintained:
– Ambient temperature and humidity
– Temperature of the mixing water
– Quantity of the material and the mixing water

– Mixing time
– Pot life
– Setting time

If the material is installed by gunning, a gunning experiment should be con-ducted before

the actual start of installation.

Inspection of Preheating Arrangements

Preheating is a very important part in the whole installation process of the refrac-tory.
Preheating schedule of temperature vs time is the first document required to start the
process. The following must be checked and set up as a part of the prepara-tion to start
preheating:

– The supply lines for oil or gas as fuel.

– Fan and blowers of required capacity.
– Pumps of required capacity in case of use of fuel oil.
– Number of burners and the defined openings where those are to be fitted.

– The total heat input required to heat up the equipments and the heat delivered by the
burners should be checked beforehand.
– Specified location points for installing the thermocouples. The thermocouples must be
projected about 80–100 mm inside the equipment chamber.
– The tightness of the oil or gas lines must be checked thoroughly to ensure no leakage.

Final Inspection and Acceptance

The completed installation job, done by the principal contractor or subcontractor, must be
inspected thoroughly before acceptance by the customer. The inspection must be
continuous along with the progress of the installation job, especially in case the
construction job is very big. The quality report of inspection of installation job can be
summarized in Table 10.10 which is very handy, and the whole installation job can be
monitored at a glance. Refractory lining is done, normally, at the last stage of
commissioning of a new Greenfield Cement project or a new line in the existing plant.
Normally, at the end of the project the activities are completed in haste to meet the target
date of commissioning. The Refractory lining process usu-ally falls victim to that. But, when
a plant is supposed to run for next one year with-out any major shutdown due to refractory,
an unnecessary haste may cut short the smooth running of the plant. It is to be
remembered that 10% of the refractory fail-ures are due to improper installation. Therefore
in the Refractory installation no compromise should be allowed with the quality of
installation. Let us remember the old adage that all’s well that ends well.

References
Modern Cement Kiln Refractories – Related Insurance risks and Perspective – David
Shepherd,

The Refractories Engineer, March 2010.

ISO-5022-79, Shaped refractory products – Sampling and acceptance testing – International

Standard Organization, [Link].
ISO-8656-1, 1988, Refractory products – Sampling of raw materials and unshaped products-
Part1, Sampling scheme, [Link].
Refractory Engineering – Tech book International, New Delhi, India.

Glossary
Andalusite  It is also naturally occurring aluminosilicate mineral containing about
58% Al2O3. Kyanite, sillimanite, and andalusite have almost same alumina con- tent, but
they differ in their crystal structure.

Bauxite It is a sedimentary rock containing hydrated aluminum oxide. Refractory- grade

and metallurgical-grade bauxites have different characteristics. Bauxite is one of the major
raw materials for production of high alumina refractories.
Calcium-aluminate cement Calcium aluminates like CaO·Al2O3, CaO·2Al2O3, etc. have
hydraulic properties, and they set and become hard when come in con- tact with water at
ambient temperature. These compounds are used for construc- tion purposes.
Chromite It is an iron chromium oxide, FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the
spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid
solution to form magnesiochromite (MgCr2O4); substitution of aluminum  occurs, leading
to the formation of herceynite (FeAl2O4).
Clinkerization The process of clinker formation when the raw meal in cement
rotary kiln is rotated along with kiln shell at high temperature because some liquid
formation at high temperature which binds the powder to form cement clinkers.
Cold face In a refractory lining, the face in contact with steel shell or away from the hot face
is termed as cold face.
Contact angle The contact angle  is the angle, conventionally measured through the liquid,
where a liquid-vapor interface meets a solid surface. It quantifies the wettability of a solid
surface by a liquid.
Cristobalite It is a high-temperature polymorph of silica. Chemical formula is SiO2. The
difference from quartz or other polymorphs is in its crystal structure.
Emissivity The emissivity  of the surface of a material is its effectiveness in emitting
energy as thermal radiation. Quantitatively, emissivity is the ratio of the thermal radiation
from a surface to the radiation from an ideal black surface at the same temperature as given
by the Stefan-Boltzmann law. The ratio varies from 0 to 1.

Eutectic point The point in a phase diagram indicating the chemical composi-

tion and temperature corresponding to the lowest melting point of a mixture of
components.

Granulometry It is the measurement of the size distribution in a collection of grains.

Hexavalent chrome  Chromium can occur in different mineral and chemicals with different
valencies. The chromium with +6 valency is called hexavalent chrome.
Hot face The working face of the lining which is in direct contact with furnace atmosphere
and environment is called the refractory hot face.
Kyanite  It is a naturally occurring aluminosilicate mineral with about 58% Al2O3.
Liquidus  It is the lowest temperature, at which a multicomponent system of solid
metal or its compounds remain in liquid state.

Mullite It is a mineral phase developed in aluminosilicate refractories during its treatment at

high temperature. Alumina and silica react at high temperature to form mullite.
3Al2O3  + 2SiO2  = 3Al2O3  ⋅ 2SiO2.

Periclase  It is the major component of dead burnt magnesia or fused magnesia.

Chemically, it is a magnesium oxide  (MgO) with cubic crystal habit.
Pore size distribution It is the volume percent of pores with different diameter in a
refractory body.
Redox reaction Redox reactions are reactions in which one species is reduced and another
is oxidized. Therefore the oxidation state of the species involved must change.
Rheological property The flow behavior.
Sillimanite It is also a naturally occurring aluminosilicate mineral containing about 58%
Al2O3.
Surface tension Surface tension  is the elastic tendency of a fluid surface  which
makes it acquire the least surface  area possible. The net effect is an inward force at
its surface  that causes the liquid to behave as if its surface  is covered with a stretched elastic
membrane.
Thixotropy It is a process of isothermal gel to sol transformation under the influ- ence of a
shear stress and the retransformation to gel on withdrawal of the shear stress.
Torque It is a rotational force. Torque is a measure of how much force acting on an object
causes that object to rotate
Viscosity Viscosity  is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. It describes the internal
friction of a moving fluid.
 

Attention!! to Download Most Important Books in Cement industry reviewed from

more than two thousands people + Manuals and noted from big Cement
Companies like F L  S , Holcim Lafarge , Cemex , + Excel sheets for calculations
process Click here Now 
 

 
Previous Post
Next Post
Post navigation
← Previous Post
Next Post →
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published.

Type here..

Name*

Email*

Website

Post Comment »

click to buy All the books and reports

Plugin Service Payment

Copyright © 2020 INFINITY FOR CEMENT EQUIPMENT |

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”