AISTech 2019 — Proceedings of the Iron & Steel Technology Conference

6–9 May 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA

DOI 10.1000.377.294

Advanced Cold Isostatic Press MgO-C Brick

Masayoshi Kakihara1, Shohei Kaneko1, Hisashi Tomiya1, Atsuhisa Iida1 and Hiroki Yoshioka2
1
Shinagawa Refractories Co., Ltd.
707 Imbe, Bizen-Shi, Okayama-Ken, Japan, 705-8577
Phone: +81-869-64-2461
Email: kakiharam@shinagawa-ref.com
2
Shinagawa Advanced Materials Americas Inc.
3555 Gilchrist Rd., Mogadore, OH, USA, 44260
Phone: +1-330-628-1118
Email: h.yoshioka@shinagawa-usa.com

Keywords: CIP, MgO-C brick, Tuyere, Tap-hole sleeve, EBT tube, Fracture toughness, Low carbon

INTRODUCTION
Cold Isostatic Press, CIP is being used for the manufacturing of various kinds of ceramic products including refractories as
the method of press. The largest advantage of CIP is that CIP made it possible to manufacture large size mono-block products
without a joint compared with uni-axial press such as hydraulic press and friction press. Fig. 1 shows the schematic image of
CIP and uni-axial press.

CIP equipment
Uni-axial press

Water

Pressure

Metallic mold

Rubber
mold
Pressure

Fig. 1 Schematic image of CIP and uni-axial press.

Since uni-axial press can give only uni-axial load to the molded body, it is hard to make a large size molding due to the
shortage of pressure. Whereas, CIP can press the molded body by isostatic pressure and it makes possible to manufacture a
large size molding.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 2825

We have developed the high durability CIP products such as the tuyere and the tap-hole sleeve by utilizing the advantage of
CIP. The detail of the improvement of CIP products including material improvement will be described in this paper.

STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT

Work lining of steel-making furnaces

MgO-C brick is widely used as the work lining refractory for steel-making furnaces such as BOF, EAF, steel ladle and so on
because MgO-C brick has high erosion resistance against basic slag and high thermal spalling resistance. In addition to these
characteristics, some extra characteristics are required for several parts of lining such as a bottom tuyere brick of BOF, a tap-
hole brick of BOF and an eccentric bottom tapping tube of EAF. These bricks play an important role for steel refining and
tend to show high wear under special environment compared with the general parts. The detail of each item will be explained
from next section.

Required characteristics for tuyere of BOF

Fig.2 shows the outline of the bottom tuyere and schematic wear mechanism. A bottom tuyere brick is a refractory to blow
gas into the furnace for steel refining and it is fixed to the bottom of furnace. The bottom tuyere contains a stainless steel tube
buried within a refractory, for which various kinds of structures have been suggested and used1).
While the hot face of bottom tuyere is exposed to high temperature of molten steel, the inside of the refractory is cooled by a
high flow velocity of gas. Therefore, the temperature difference or gradient occurring in the refractory becomes large, and the
refractory receives strong thermal stress. In addition, a sudden change in temperature occurs when the molten iron is charged,
and the tuyere, which is blown with gas and is cooled during standby, receives extremely large thermal shocks. Due to these
thermal stresses, cracks develop and propagate inside the tuyere refractories, causing intermittent peeling.
Furthermore, the metal penetration can occur around the tuyere because the joint around tuyere can be opened due to cooling
by gas blowing.

Gas

Metal penetration
Large thermal gradient

Cracks

Surround bricks

Bottom tuyere
Gas blowing tuyere

Fig. 2 Outline of bottom tuyere for BOF and schematic wear mechanism.
In order to prevent these wear, we have developed the large size mono-block tuyere. The joints around the tuyere were
reduced and it is possible to extend the distance from crack propagation to the peeling surface by increasing the size of the
tuyere refractories. Fig. 3 shows the schematic image of ordinary bottom tuyere and developed large mono-block bottom
tuyere.

2826 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

In the ordinary bottom tuyere structure, the segmented surround bricks are installed along the tuyere brick and the joint
between the tuyere brick and the surround brick is generated. On the other hand, there is no joint in the developed mono-
block tuyere by using an integrated CIP that presses both the tuyere brick portion, which contains a stainless pipe buried
within MgO-C brick for gas blowing, and a surround bricks portion together. Fig. 4 shows the appearance of the large mono-
block tuyere. The standard sizes of our mono-block tuyere are approximately 300 mm square and 1400 mm length in the
multi-hole plug (MHP type), and 400 mm square and 1500 mm length in the single hole tuyere. Depending on the detailed
dimensions, there is a possibility that the size can be increased furthermore.

Ordinary Developed

Joint less

Tuyere brick

Surround bricks

Fig. 3 Schematic image of ordinary bottom tuyere and developed large mono-block bottom tuyere.

Fig. 4 Appearance of large mono-block tuyere for BOF.

Required characteristics for tap hole brick of BOF
Fig. 5 shows schematic image of tap hole for BOF. The tap hole is the path through which refined steel flows for discharging
into steel ladle and it is installed to the hole leading to outside of furnace in the upper part of furnace. From such a role and
installed position, the risks of oxidation damage, abrasion wear by the molten steel and the molten steel leakage are pointed
out. In view of preventing the molten steel leakage, applications of large blocks for tap hole lining have been extended to
reduce number of joints. In addition to the preventing of the molten steel leakage, the joint less structure can reduce the
oxidation damage from the joint by eliminating the joint wear. From such consideration of required characteristics for tap

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 2827

hole refractory, we have developed the large size mono-block tap hole brick by using CIP. Fig. 6 shows the schematic image
of wear mechanism of tap hole and the developed mono-block tap hole brick.
Thanks to reducing the joints, the risks of the molten steel leakage and the oxidation from joint can be prevented in the
developed mono-block tap hole brick. This will improve the durability and the stability of tapping as well as the installation
time.
The standard sizes of our mono-block tap hole brick are approximately 400 mm square and 1400 mm length. The diameter
and length of sleeve can be adjusted in accordance with operational condition. Fig.7 shows the appearance of the mono-block
tap hole brick.

Fig. 5 Schematic illustration of BOF tap hole sleeve and block.

Wear mechanism in ordinary tap hole Developed mono-block tap hole brick
Block

Oxidation Joint wear Joint less

Molten steel

Sleeve

Monolithic
refractory
Molten steel leakage through joints
Fig. 6 Schematic image of wear mechanism of tap hole and the developed mono-block tap hole brick.

Driver of golf
club

Fig. 7 Appearance of mono-block tap hole brick

2828 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

Required characteristics for electron bottom tapping tube of EAF
As for the tapping systems from EAF to ladle, there are tilting spouts and bottom tapping types. There are Concentric Bottom
Tapping (CBT) and Eccentric Bottom Tapping (EBT), and EBT systems have begun to expand. Fig. 8 shows the installation
image of EBT and the schematic image of the ordinary segmented EBT tube. An application of EBT allows the expansion of
water cooling area, decreases the refractories cost and the discharge quantity of the slag, improving the quality of the steel,
and the operation efficiency was improved by shortening the tapping time2). The steel tap hole is applied with cylindrical
refractories that are called EBT tubes. MgO-C bricks are usually used in EBT tubes, in which the bricks are placed on top of
one another to form a ring. We have adopted the mono-block tube because filling the joint with sand can lead to bridging
causing opening failure, and an upper brick is at risk of floating when the damage starts from the joint area.

EBT

Fig. 8 Installation image of EBT and schematic image of segmented EBT tube.

Fig.9 shows the schematic image of wear mechanism of EBT tube and the developed mono-block EBT tube.

Wear mechanism in segmented EBT Developed mono-block EBT

Floating risk

Joint less
Joint wear

Sand bridging risk

Fig.9 Schematic image of wear mechanism of EBT tube and developed mono-block EBT tube.
In the developed mono-block EBT tube, the risks of floating of the upper brick and bridging of sand can be prevented. In
addition to this, the durability and the stability of tapping as well as the installation time are improved by eliminating joints as
mentioned in the mono-block tap hole brick for BOF.
The standard sizes of our mono-block EBT tube are approximately 300 mm outer diameter and 1300 mm length. The
diameter and length can be adjusted in accordance with operational condition.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 2829

 MATERIAL IMPROVEMENT

Improvement of fracture toughness of BOF bottom tuyere

As explained in the section of bottom tuyere, the large thermal gradient can be generated in the bottom tuyere. Hence,
excellent thermal spalling resistance must be required as the material for the bottom tuyere. We tried to improve the thermal
spalling resistance of tuyere from the viewpoint of improving fracture toughness. Fracture toughness is a property showing
the resistance of a material to brittle fracture. Crack initiation and progression are suppressed by the high toughness of the
material, which leads to reduction of peeling damage.
In order to achieve the high fracture toughness, we optimized MgO grains distribution and added the special graphite. The
remarkable characteristic of the special graphite is that it is easy to deform by pressing pressure and has high cushioning. We
have developed the high fracture toughness brick by utilizing these technologies.
Fig. 10 shows a microstructure of a bending test on developed MgO-C material with enhanced fracture toughness.

Ordinary Developed

Observation

Fig. 10 Micrographs of MgO-C bricks after bending test.

Developed material which contains special graphite showed large zigzag deviation of the crack propagation path, and
necessary energy for the rupture is large.
Table 1 shows the typical properties of the developed tuyere refractories.

Table 1 Typical properties of bricks for tuyere

Application Tuyere Block

Chemical composition /%
MgO 80 75.5
C 15 20
Apparent porosity /% 2.6 4.6
Bulk density 2.87 2.80
Compressive strength /MPa 35 33

2830 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

Improvement of oxidation and abrasion resistance of tap hole brick
The oxidation resistance and the abrasion resistance are required for the tap hole brick as mentioned above. We thought that
making a thick protective reaction layer which consists of the slag and the brick at the hot face is effective to prevent these
wear. In order to enhance the protective reaction layer formation at the hot face, low carbon MgO-C materials were
developed. Table 2 shows the typical properties of the developed low carbon materials.

Table 2 Typical properties of bricks for tap-hole sleeve

Conventional Developed, A Developed, B

Composition / %
MgO 77 86 88
C 15 8 6
After 1000oC heating
Apparent porosity / % 7.0 7.6 7.7
Bulk density 2.95 3.04 3.06
Modulus of rupture / MPa 11.5 12.9 13.8

The conceptual image of the protective reaction layer formation is shown in Fig. 11. Since the volume of carbon-rich matrix
of high carbon material is larger than that of low carbon material, it is hard to form the reaction layer at hot face. On the other
hand, the reaction layer is easily formed at the hot face in the low carbon material by much exposure of MgO grain to the hot
face. As the result of enhancement of the reaction layer, oxidation and abrasion wear can be reduced.

Reaction layer

MgO

High carbon Low carbon

Table 2 Typical properties of bricks for tap-hole sleeve

Material for EBT tube

Table 3 shows the standard quality of 3 representative materials. All materials are high density bricks with high corrosion
and abrasion resistance; (A) quantity of carbon is 20% with general versatility, and (B) reduce carbon quantity with high
abrasion resistance and high strength, as used in an EAF where the effect of spalling is small. (C) Low C Al2O3-MgO-C
materials used for an EAF operating of the low slag basicity and shows high abrasion resistance. The appropriate material is
selected according to the operational condition in each application.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 2831

 Table 3 Typical properties of bricks for tap-hole sleeve
(A) MgO-C (B) MgO-C (C) Al2O3-MgO-C
C=20% C=12% C=9%
After Drying
Apparent Porosity / % 3.7 4.2 4.6
Bulk Density 2.81 3.02 3.06
Cold Crushing Strength / MPa 34 39 63
After Fired at 1500°C for 3h
Apparent Porosity / % 11.4 9.5 8.8
Bulk Density 2.72 2.97 3.01
Cold Crushing Strength / MPa 25 31 49
Hot Modulus of Rupture
10.3 12.4 15.7
at 1400 / MPa

FIELD TEST RESULTS

Result of bottom tuyere of BOF

We applied the mono-block bottom tuyere brick (MHP type) which is applied the high toughness material to a converter
(heat size 220 ton) in steelworks A in place of conventional segment type tuyere to increase tuyere life (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12 Photographs of mono-block type MHP during in service.

The life of the mono-block bottom tuyere increased 40% compared to the conventional type as shown in Fig. 13 which shows
a wear rate comparison (at 1500 heats). This converter has been operating to over 4000 heats without plugging the tuyeres.3 It
is thought that the high fracture toughness prevented the crack generation and propagation and the large shape without joint
reduce the joint wear.

2832 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

 Fig. 13 Wear rate of mono-block bottom tuyere.

Result of tap hole brick of BOF

Low carbon MgO-C bricks containing 8% and 6% carbon were used for BOF tap-hole sleeve at steelworks B, and
performance was improved 15% and 25% respectively. Fig. 14 shows the comparison of wear rate and the microstructure of
C=6% material after using. MgO-rich slag with iron oxides were adhered to the hot face, it is thought that the reaction layer
protected the brick from oxidation and abrasion.

C=6% material

Fig. 14 Comparison of wear rate of tap-hole sleeves at steelworks B and microstructure of used C=6% material.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 2833

The mono-block type C=6% material was used in steelworks C. Fig. 15 shows the tapping time change. The dotted line
shows the approximate line of average of the segment type conventional material (N=3). From the excellent durability of
C=6% material, it could be used with thinner shape. This leads to short tapping time from the initial in C=6% material. The
reduction of the tapping time of C=6% material was smaller than the conventional material and it showed stable tapping time
change with N=2. From this result, the mono-block type C=6% material has been continuously used in steelworks C.

Conventional material (Average of N=3)

Segment type

C=6% material
Mono-block type

Fig. 15 Tapping time change of tap-hole sleeves at steelworks C.

CONCLUSIONS
We have developed the high durability mono-block products, bottom tuyere, tap hole brick and EBT tube, by utilizing CIP.
The change from the ordinary segmented structure to the large size mono-block structure made several advantages. For
example, the spalling wear due to the large thermal gradient is reduced by extending the distance from crack propagation to
the peeling surface by increasing the size of the tuyere. Furthermore, the metal penetration is prevented by eliminating joints.
In the tap hole brick, the risks of oxidation from joint and the leakage of the molten steel are reduced by applying the large
size mono-block tap hole brick. As well as in the mono-block EBT tube, the risks of floating of the upper brick and bridging
of sand can be prevented. These advantages allow the improvement of the durability and the stability of bricks.
The developed mono-block products showed excellent performance in the actual service by the combination with the material
improvement.

REFERENCES
1. The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan : Tekkou Binran (5th Ed., Vol.1), The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan, (2014)
p.273
2. T. Noda and K. Izumi, “Recent Trend of Electric Furnace Steelmaking Equipment and Operation Technology”, Tetsu-
To-Hagane, 77 [6] 723-734 (1991)
3. S.Kaneko, M.Kakihara and H.Tomiya : Shinagawa Technical Report [61] 124-129 (2018)

2834 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.