Uncover how one customer avoided production interruptions, lengthened the life of the refractory lining and formulated a new brick to withstand its current lifecycle
The challenge
All furnaces and kilns used in steel and cement production have small areas that suffer extreme conditions due to high temperatures, chemicals, and liquid infiltration. These conditions force manufacturers to stop production and renew the refractory lining even when the majority of the lining is in working condition. The pause in production not only requires time and materials but also requires massive amounts of energy to restart the kiln after being shut down. This is extremely costly at a time when energy reduction methods are being used to offset the costs of rising energy prices around the world.
The goal
Our customer turned to our experts to help them develop a disruptive solution for rotary kilns. The goals were to:
- Avoid interruptions in production;
- Lengthen the life of the refractory lining in the kiln; and
- Formulate a new brick that could withstand 3 times the current life cycle.
Accomplishing these three goals would be just the start of the benefits the customer would reap -- the biggest being the savings in energy and production costs.
Refractory life extended by 6 times, saving time, money, and resources