2.

2 TYPES OF REFRACTORY BRICKS

The wide variety of high-temperature processing across various industries demands diversity in the refractory
materials. The diversity requirements may arise from application temperatures, atmospheric conditions that
prevail during the processing, mechanical, thermal, chemical and wear conditions and so on. This variety of
refractories can be classified as per various groups or classes based on certain specific properties. These
different categories of refractory classification are given below:
1. Chemical Nature – As per the chemical nature of refractories
a. Acidic Refractory
b. Basic Refractory
c. Neutral Refractory
2. Manufacturing Process – As per the manufacturing technique used to make the refractory bricks
a. Pressed and Fired Refractory
b. Fused Cast Refractory
c. Hand Molded Refractory
3. Physical Shape – As per the physical form of refractory brick
a. Shaped refractory bricks having definite shape and size
b. Unshaped refractory bricks, which are well mixed granular mass and does not have any specific shape and
dimension during manufacturing.
4. Porosity – As per the amount of porosity which describes the density of brick,
a. Dense Refractory
b. Insulating Refractory
5. Main Constituent – As per the chief constituent of refractory bricks
a. Silica Refractory, when the main component is silica
b. Alumina Refractory, when the main component is alumina

The primary classification of refractory bricks is done according to its chemical nature. As mentioned above,
there are three types of refractory bricks according to its chemical nature. They are discussed in detail below,
I I. Acidic Refractories
II • Acidic refractories are those that are resistant to any acidic conditions like slag, fume and high-
temperature gases. In the presence of any basic components, these acidic refractories will react with it rapidly,
causing a massive corrosion in the refractory lining and resulting in a very poor life of the lining. These
refractories are used only in areas where slag and atmosphere are acidic.
III • Silica (SiO2) and Fireclay are most commonly used acidic refractories. Both of them contain silica as
a main component and in any basic environment at high temperature, they will react and form various silicates.
These silicate compounds have low melting points and they further react with solid refractory structure,
causing wear of refractory and drastic deterioration of refractory lining.
IV • Hence, any acidic refractory performs best in an acidic environment, say in glass melting tank
application.

I II. Basic Refractories

II • Basic refractories are those materials that are attacked by acidic components but are stable against
alkaline slag, dust, fumes and environments at high temperatures. Since they do not react with alkaline slags,
they are of considerable importance in basic steel-making processes, non-ferrous metallurgical operations and
cement industries.
III • Magnesia (MgO) and Doloma (Cao. MgO) are the most common components in basic refractories.
They are never to be used in acidic environments.

I III. Neutral Refractories

II • Neutral refractories are chemically stable to both acids and bases and are used in areas where slag and
atmosphere are either acidic or basic. Hence, these types of refractories are most commonly preferred, but are
very expensive as compared to acidic and basic refractories.
III • Carbon (Graphite), Alumina (Al2O3) and Chromia (Cr2O3) are the most commonly found main
components in neutral refractories. Out of these,
• graphite is the least reactive and is extensively used in metallurgical furnaces where the process of
oxidation needs to be controlled. They are not able to withstand very high temperatures as compared to acidic
and basic refractory bricks.