Abstract

Magnesia-chromite refractories are the essential refractories for copper making since several years. High stability against various environments and a high corrosion resistance are key properties for the application as wear lining in copper production furnaces. Weak points are their heavy infiltration during copper making with process melts like matte or copper, poor thermomechanical resistance, high risk of spalling, a high density of the material, corrosion by fayalitic slag and also the environmental aspect of chromite based refractories. Based on these weak points the present work introduces a new family of refractory materials that combine an effective infiltration barrier with a very good corrosion resistance and thermomechanical resistance. Furthermore, they have a lower density than magnesia-chromite bricks. Several industrial trials have proved the high potential of this new refractory material family.