Aplicações de fibras vegetais na secagem de concretos refratários (Use of natural fibers to speed up the drying step of refractory castables)

The drying of refractory castables is a critical step during application due to the possibility of spalling. In order to decrease these risks and improve the drying rate, polymeric fibers have been added to the castables’ formulation. The type of fiber is an important aspect to be studied. Authors’ previous works indicated that vegetable fibers can be good candidates. This fact, associated with its wide availability and low cost, suggests that these fibers can be interesting substitutes to synthetic ones. In this work, vegetable and polypropylene fibers had their performance evaluated as drying agents. The results of permeability measurements and hot air permeametry were related with the thermogravimety of the fiber-containing castables. The fibers were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry.