Progress and Perspective of Refractory Technology

Efforts have been made to enhance refractory technology to support stable production of high-quality steel at low costs. This is true especially in the field of steelmaking, where refrac tories are used heavily. The service life of MgO-C bricks for converters has been extended by use of high-purity materials and new additives and the development of a low-graphite type excellent in spalling resistance. For secondary refining vessels and molten steel ladles, mono lithic refractories have come to be used widely. In continuous casting, measures to prevent the clogging of submerged entry nozzles (SENs) have been developed on the basis of a study of its mechanisms, and anticorrosion material for the powder line of SEN has advanced. New refractory repair methods suitable for different applications, combined with diagnosis systems, have been developed to enhance the quality and accuracy of repair work.