An anode roasting furnace in an aluminum plant has been in operation for 10 years, and its lifespan is basically close to the limit of use. How to use a new type of refractory material to replace the traditional small special-shaped refractory brick furnace without changing the roasting technical conditions and complete the overhaul and transformation of the anode roasting furnace in a short time. The use of steel fiber castable precast shapes furnace walls has been unanimously recognized by experts and scholars.
Refractory Precast Shapes for Anode Baking Furnace Walls
Steel fiber castable precast shapes, as the name implies, are prefabricated with steel fiber refractory castables. The steel fiber refractory castable prefabricated block furnace wall is made of two large blocks at the top and bottom, and three large blocks in the middle, totaling seven blocks, and is assembled in three layers. It replaces the traditional 39-story furnace wall made of small special-shaped bricks.
The application results show that the anodes baked by the steel fiber castable prefabricated structure baking furnace fully meet the quality requirements of the anodes baked by the traditional small brick structure baking furnace in terms of physical and chemical indicators and usage conditions. At the same time, it also meets the requirements of the electrolysis process.
This method can gradually complete the roasting overhaul and transformation work without changing the roasting technical conditions. The prefabricated structural furnace wall has the advantages of low investment, good energy-saving effect, long service life, and easy construction. It is worthy of vigorous promotion and use in the non-ferrous and metallurgical fields. Rongsheng refractory material manufacturer has an environmentally friendly and advanced unshaped refractory material production line. Moreover, our newly developed main project is mainly to provide high-quality and long-life refractory lining products for high-temperature industrial furnaces. There are also many mature projects in the production of precast shapes parts of refractory castables.
It has been confirmed through experiments that the physical and chemical properties of the prefabricated structure and the anode baked in the special-shaped brick baking furnace are equivalent, and the quality is excellent. This laid the foundation for completing the overhaul and transformation of the anode roasting furnace in a short period of time without changing the roasting technical conditions.
Application Advantages of Steel Fiber Refractory Castable Precast Shapes
After half a year, we observed and comprehensively compared the conditions of three roasting furnace rooms with 14 prefabricated structural furnace walls. We have found the following advantages of prefabricated structural furnace walls.
(a) The furnace repair time is shortened, saving manpower, money and material resources. Because each furnace wall only uses 7 large pieces (weighting about 7t) of steel fiber castable precast shapes parts to replace the traditional 39 layers of small special-shaped bricks (weighting about 8t). The overall hoisting was carried out on site, and the working time was reduced from 16 hours in the past to 6 hours. The number of construction workers has been reduced from 14 in the past to 8, greatly improving labor productivity.
(b) Steel fiber castables for making prefabricated structural furnace walls are delivered as a loose mix. The semi-dry materials are mixed at the site of use and placed in seven steel molds, and then vibrated into shape using a vibrating table. Compared with the small special-shaped bricks used in traditional furnace building, it has the characteristics of simple production, low-temperature shaping, and easy use. It avoids the problems of damage and waste caused by the manufacturer during transportation and loading and unloading.
(c) The prefabricated structural furnace wall contains high-strength steel fibers, which not only have good toughness, high softening temperature under load, high high-temperature flexural strength, and good thermal shock resistance. Moreover, the Al2O3 content is high and the corrosion resistance is good, which prolongs the life of the furnace wall. It was observed on site that the fire path cover plate of the special-shaped brick structure furnace wall and the 39-layer brick structure cracked after undergoing four temperature changes from preheating, roasting, cooling out of the furnace to loading in the six-month roasting cycle. The two ends are tilted up, the middle part of the furnace wall has sunk, and the belly is seriously bulging and deformed. However, the two ends of the fire channel cover of the prefabricated furnace wall structure do not tilt up, and the furnace wall basically has no cracking, bulging, or deformation. The middle part does not sink, and the integrity and air tightness are good.
(d) Since the thermal conductivity of steel fiber refractory castable is higher than that of special-shaped refractory bricks, the heat storage capacity is low. This reduces the heat storage in the furnace body, reduces heat dissipation losses, accelerates heat transfer, and has good energy-saving effects.
(e) After the application of the prefabricated structural furnace wall, the overhaul and transformation of the anode baking furnace can be completed without changing the baking technical conditions. This solves the difficulty of repairing the furnace caused by the inability to stop production without a spare furnace chamber and also improves the output and quality of the roasted anodes.
In summary, steel fiber castable prefabricated structural furnace walls have many incomparable advantages with special-shaped brick structural furnace walls. Replacing the furnace wall with a special-shaped brick structure is forced by production and is in line with the production reality of the Baiyin Aluminum Plant. It is very necessary and feasible.
To purchase high-quality steel fiber refractory castables and refractory castable precast shapes, please contact us.
Unshaped Refractory Materials 