Studies on synthesis and properties of magnesia refractory aggregates prepared from Indian magnesite through plasma fusion

The Indian magnesite has been fused in a plasma reactor for development of synthetic magnesia refractory aggregates. A Novel and low cost indigenously developed plasma reactor has been used to prepare the magnesia aggregates within a few minutes instead of using a long heating schedule of conventional sintering process. Different compositions of magnesia have been prepared by varying zirconia content in the mixture. With addition of zirconia the B.D. of 3.56 g/cm3 have been achieved with densification of 96.22%. These fused samples have Hv (hardness) of 9.92 GPa and Kic (fracture toughness) of 5.51 MPa m1/2 with incorporation of zirconia. The microstructure consists of periclase grains surrounded by zirconia having dendritic structure.