Investigation of the milling route for the development of colloidal suspensions to be used as binder in refractory castables

Abstract

Refractories castables bonded with CAC (calcium aluminate cement) have a limitation when they are used at high temperature in micro-silica containing system and/or in acidic corrosive environments. The CAC binder reacts with the micro-silica and/or acidic components to form liquid/viscous compounds deteriorating the refractory material.Refractory castables bonded with HA (hydratable alumina) perform better in these environments. However, the drying step of such materials needs time and energy for the water evacuation to avoid the lining cracking.The use of CS (colloidal silica) as binder seems to hinder the drawback of CAC and HA binders. However, the presence of free amorphous silica in the castable composition limits their uses in basic environments by forming liquid/viscous phases at high temperature with a reduction of castable refractoriness.In this context, new colloidal bonding systems that could improve the high performances of refractory castables such as boehmite and spinel colloidal suspensions, were developed.

Keywords

• Cement free refractory castables
• Colloidal binders
• Sol-gel