Refractory concrete based on barium aluminate-barium zirconate cements for steel-making industries

Refractory concretes prepared from 20 wt.% of this cement and 80 wt.% of either bauxite or fused spinel aggregate are composed mainly of mullite, barium aluminate, barium zirconate and α-corundum in case of bauxite aggregate or magnesium aluminate spinel in addition to barium aluminate and barium zirconate in case of fused spinel aggregate. These assemblages of minerals exhibit compact and homogenous microstructure and results in outstanding technological properties that meet the requirements of international standard specifications, i.e., good volume stability (permanent linear change is only 0.62 and 0.28%, respectively) good mechanical properties (680 and 610 kg/cm2), high spalling resistance (>30 cycles), high refractoriness (>1700 °C) as well as high load bearing capacity (ta: 1560 and 1590 °C). The combination of these advantages in such refractory concretes makes them suitable for use in severe conditions at high temperature applications especially in steel-making industries.