RHI Bulletin > 2 > 2011, pp.

42–45

Peter Fritsch, René von der Heyde and Roland Krischanitz

COMPAC SOL—Operational Experiences With the

Easy, Fast Heat-Up No Cement Castable
As previously introduced in last year’s Industrial Edition of the RHI Bulletin, the new genera-
tion of castables with sol bonding offers a variety of advantages during application [1]. It has
also been shown that processing this new type of castable, based on a completely new bond-
ing mechanism, is uncomplicated and widely comparable to the established procedure for
conventional cement-bonded castables. Even under critical installation conditions during win-
ter time, at very low ambient temperatures, installation of this new castable type is impres-
sively unproblematic, and the same applies for higher temperatures up to 40 °C. Following
more than a year in operation, the first installations have reached the end of their campaigns
and the in service performance and further experiences gained with this new type of casta-
bles are described in the paper.

Introduction Due to the excellent results in operation, the product range

has been slightly extended. Furthermore, RHI is now able to
The new type of monolithic sol bonding system, comprising
also offer this new generation of castables from the Clasil
nanoparticle silica, offers a variety of advantages. Firstly,
plant in India, which is an advantage especially for customers
since the binder is delivered separately the castable can be
in Asia. The current sol-bonded castable product range com-
stored for significantly longer than low cement castables,
prises fireclay, mullite, and bauxite for all the main applica-
namely at least 12 months. Furthermore, the lack of calcium
tions in the cement line such as the lower cyclone stages, cal-
aluminate phases, due to the absence of cement, increases
ciner, inlet chamber, riser duct, tertiary air duct, kiln hood,
the application temperature by around 100 °C and the resis­
cooler, bull nose, and clinker bed (Table I). For severe operat-
tance against both alkali as well as sulphur chemical attack is
ing conditions involving alkaline attack or where there is the
significantly improved. However, the biggest advantage is
danger of coating formation, castables containing 10 and 30
the easy drying and heating up procedure which results from
wt.% silicon carbide are also available. This type of castable
the absence of chemically bonded water and the different
is offered under the brand name CARSIT SOL.
pore structure that facilitates water evaporation.

As demonstrated in the last Industrial RHI Bulletin from ser-

vice experiences, the sol-based castables are very uncompli-
cated to apply, and processing is the same as for cement-
bonded castables [1]. The working properties are excellent,
even under the most severe working conditions, for example
very low temperatures during winter time. The only differ-
ence is that instead of adding water, a fluid binder is poured
into the mix. The only precondition is the binder must not be
allowed to freeze, consequently, it is advised that it should
not be exposed to temperatures below 5 °C. However, this
has not been a major obstacle until now.
References
References and in service performance data have been obtained
for various COMPAC SOL and CARSIT SOL applications not only
in the cement industry but also in the steel sector (e.g., electric
arc furnace roofs and coke oven batteries and doors). Sol-
bonded castables have also been used with highly encouraging
results in nonferrous metal applications (i.e., aluminium fur-
naces). In addition, COMPAC SOL products have been installed
for environmental, energy, and chemical industry applications.
A hot repair mix based on a sol-bonded silica mix is now also
part of the RHI product portfolio for the glass industry.

Grade New name Al2O3 SiO2 Fe2O3 SiC CCS (N/mm2) LTE TC (W/mK) ATL AR SL Raw material
(wt.%) (wt.%) (wt.%) (wt.%) 110 °C 1000 °C 1000 °C 400 °C 800 °C 1200 °C (°C) (cm ) (months)
3

(%)
COMPAC SOL 160 COMPAC SOL F53-6 52.5 44.0 0.8 70 110 0.55 1.50 1.60 1.80 1600 9.0 12 Dense fire
clay, low iron
COMPAC SOL 170A COMPAC SOL M64-6 64.0 32.0 0.9 70 115 0.55 1.80 1.75 1.95 1700 7.0 12 Mullite
COMPAC SOL 170 COMPAC SOL B87-6 85.0 9.5 1.5 70 140 0.60 2.20 2.30 2.40 1700 7.0 12 Bauxite
COMPAC SOL 123SIC CARSIT SOL F30-6 39.0 29.5 0.6 30 70 105 0.55 2.70 2.68 2.62 1550 8.5 12 Dense fire clay,
low iron/SiC
COMPAC SOL 151SIC CARSIT SOL M10-6 58.0 28.0 0.8 10 70 120 0.55 1.84 1.77 2.13 1650 12 Mullite/SiC
COMPAC SOL 155SIC CARSIT SOL S30-6 46.5 22.0 0.5 30 70 110 0.55 2.75 2.72 2.81 1580 8.0 12 Andalusite/SiC
Available from Clasil India
COMPAC SOL 151SIC V CARSIT SOL M10-5 V 57.0 29.0 1.2 10 50 80 0.55 1.84 1.77 2.13 1650 12 Mullite/SiC

Table I. Product range of sol-bonded castables for the cement industry. Abbreviations include cold crushing strength (CCS), linear
thermal expansion (LTE), thermal conductivity (TC), application temperature limit (ATL), abrasion resistance (AR), and shelf life (SL).

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 RHI Bulletin > 2 > 2011

The product line is a great success across all the different
industrial and steel applications. Furthermore, all the results
have demonstrated the advantageous properties in terms of
drying and heating up as well as the uncomplicated applica-
tion of these castable types. The following sections describe
initial results from the sol castable installations.
Calciner Installation
In January 2010, the upper part of a calciner was repaired
and partially lined with CARSIT SOL F30-6. Even under the
difficult installation conditions, with an outside air tempera-
ture of -12 °C, the castable could be easily adjusted to a set-
ting time of approximately 2 hours. Vibration of the poured
mix between the formwork and insulation lining is pictured
in Figure 1. After 1 year in operation the lining showed no
signs of wear (Figure 2).
Subsequently, half of the inlet chamber has been lined with
CARSIT SOL S30-6.
Cooler Horseshoe Installation
The installation of a horseshoe performed in February 2010
under quite severe installation conditions, namely ambient
temperatures in the cooler of around and slightly below
0 °C, confirmed the excellent process ability of the castables
(Figure 4). In total approximately 8 tonnes of castable were
installed successfully without experiencing any problems
like retarded setting, as is often the case with cement-
bonded castables under these conditions.

Inlet Chamber Installation

The inlet chamber of a cement plant in Germany was lined
for trial reasons with different castable types, including one
section with CARSIT SOL S30-6. Figure 3 shows the situa-
tion during a stop after 1 and 2 years in operation. The sec-
tion lined with CARSIT SOL S30-6 is framed red. The visible
circular structures result from the ceramic anchoring sys-
tem. Clearly there was no difference in the surface between
1 and 2 years in operation. In contrast, the neighbouring
section lined with a competitor mix had to be replaced.

(a)

(b)

Figure 1. Calciner installation with CARSIT SOL F30-6. Figure 3. CARSIT SOL S30-6 after (a) 1 year and (b) 2 years in service.

Figure 2. CARSIT SOL F30-6 installation in the calciner after 1 year. Figure 4. Horseshoe installation with CARSIT SOL S30-6.

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 RHI Bulletin > 2 > 2011
Figure 5 shows the installation after 1 year in operation.
The lining was put into service without previous drying and
without the application of any specific heating up curve.
The result was very clear: There was no significant sign of
wear or significant crack formation visible after the produc-
tion period.
Satellite Cooler Elbows
An interesting comparison was possible in a satellite cooler
kiln in Luxembourg. The cooler inlets are lined with prefabri-
cated shapes manufactured from the CARSIT S30-6 brand, a
low cement castable based on andalusite and 30 wt.% silicon
carbide (Figure 6). The prefabricated shapes were produced
under laboratory-like conditions, namely well compacted and
tempered at 400 °C to extract most of the chemically bonded
water, so as to achieve a monolithic structure with ideal
properties. The interstice between these prefabricated shapes
was filled with CARSIT SOL S30-6, the equivalent castable
based on sol bonding.
Figure 5. Horse shoe installation with CARSIT SOL S30-6 after 1
year in operation.
Figure 6. Cooler outlets installed as prefabricated shapes manu-
factured from the CARSIT S30-6 brand.
44 <
In contrast to the prefabricated shapes, the CARSIT SOL
S30-6 in the interstices was put in operation without predry-
ing and without a specific heating up curve, applying the
same curve that is used to heat up the rotary kiln brick lining.
The images in Figure 7 show the results after 6 months and
1 year in operation. Amazingly, there was no difference in
optical appearance between the prefabs produced under con-
trolled conditions and the sol-bonded material that had nei-
ther a predrying nor specific heating up procedure. On the
contrary, the surface of the CARSIT SOL lining area even
appeared slightly smoother with less wear. The condition of
the lining was rated as very good by the customer. After this
experience the customer will replace the CARSIT S30-6 pre-
fab mix with CARSIT SOL S30-6 this winter. Furthermore, the
whole monolithic cooler outlet part of the kiln in Luxem-
bourg is now lined in CARSIT SOL S30-6, as the customer
also repaired the entire old lining with CARSIT SOL material.
A reference list of the installations that have been performed
to date with sol-bonded castables is provided in Table II.
(a)
(b)
Figure 7. Cooler elbow installation after (a) 6 months and (b) 1
year in operation. The yellow framed areas indicate prefabricated
shapes manufactured from the CARSIT S30-6 brand and the red
framed area depicts the CARSIT SOL S30-6 lined section.
 RHI Bulletin > 2 > 2011

Country Customer COMPAC SOL COMPAC SOL COMPAC SOL CARSIT SOL CARSIT SOL CARSIT SOL
F53-6 M64-6 B87-6 M10-6 F30-6 S30-6
Bulgaria Zlatna Panega Cement n

Czech Republic Lafarge Cement, Cizkovice n

Egypt Alexandria Portland Cement, Alexandria n

Germany Cemex OstZement, Rüdersdorf n

Germany Cemex WestZement, Beckum n

Germany Dyckerhoff, Neuwied n

Germany Dyckerhoff, Lengerich n n

Germany HeidelbergCement Burglengenfeld n

Germany HeidelbergCement Hannover n n

Germany Holcim (Deutschland), Höver n

Germany Holcim (Deutschland), Lägerdorf n

Germany Portlandzementwerk Wittekind, Erwitte n

Germany Schwenk Zement, Allmendingen n

Germany Schwenk Zement, Bernburg n

Germany Zement und Kalkwerke Otterbein n

Italy Colacem, Gubbio n

Italy Colacem, Modica n

Luxembourg Cimalux Rumelange n

Mexico Cementos Apasco, Ramos Arizpe n

Spain Tudela Veguin, La Robla n

Table II. Reference list of COMPAC SOL and CARSIT SOL installations.

Conclusion and show nearly perfect performance without significant

In the last Industrial RHI Bulletin edition it was demon-
strated that the application of cement-free, sol-bonded
castables is an uncomplicated procedure and should not
represent any problem to personnel who are used to work-
ing with cement-bonded castables. Since this publication
more installations have been performed and additional
experience has been gained. None of the linings have
shown any damage after having been put in service without
predrying and without the application of a specific heating
up procedure. Since all installed sections are still in service
wear after 1 year, and in some cases 2 years, it can be
expected that at least the same lifetime can be achieved as
would be expected from a cement-bonded castable type.
Due to the very successful applications, the product range
will be further developed to also include fireclay products
for the lower and upper cyclone stages. Furthermore, this
extended range will be produced at the RHI Clasil plant in
India so that customers in Asia have easier and faster
access to the benefits of this new generation of castables.

Reference
[1] Blajs, M., von der Heyde, R., Fritsch, P. and Krischanitz, R. COMPAC SOL—The New Generation of Easy, Safe, and Fast Heat-Up No Cement
Castables. RHI Bulletin. 2010, No. 1, 13–17.

Authors
René von der Heyde, RHI AG, Industrial Division, Mühlheim-Kärlich, Germany.
Peter Fritsch, RHI Refractories Spaeter GmbH, Industrial Division, Urmitz, Germany.
Roland Krischanitz, RHI AG, Industrial Division, Vienna, Austria.
Corresponding author: Roland Krischanitz, roland.krischanitz@rhi-ag.com

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