Possible Recycling of End-of-Life Dolomite Refractories by the Production of Geopolymer-Based Composites: Experimental Investigation

Production and characterization of geopolymers prepared by mixing metakaolin, end-of-life dolomite refractories, sodium silicate solution, and sodium hydroxide solution have been performed. The as-received refractory was crumbled in order to obtain products having, respectively, 250 μm, 1 mm, and 2.5 mm maximum particles size. Each batch of powder was added in different proportions to a blank geopolymeric matrix. It has been observed that the addition of waste refractory reduces workability of the reference refractory-free slurry. After hardening, only the set of samples prepared with powders with maximum size of 250 μm maintain integrity while the others resulted affected by the presence of fractures caused by volumetric instabilities; samples with composition R100 showed the highest compressive strength, whereas higher refractory addition lowers strength. Specific surface area appears independent by materials composition; conversely pore volume slightly increases with the addition of dolomite refractory powder. During the thermodilatometric tests all compositions display a shrinkage of about 0.1% between 170 and 400 °C; however, sintering starts at higher temperature (above 600 °C) and samples melt in the range between 650 and 750 °C as a function of their composition, thus showing that the resulting materials loose refractoriness with respect to both the reference geopolymer and the dolomite refractory. Graphical Abstract

Effect of shear strain on increase of strength and plastic properties of products made of refractory powder materials

The analysis of modern development of plastic deformation methods of powdered materials, porous bodies and powders is carried out. The technology for obtaining of heavy-loaded parts from hard-to-form powder materials is considered. It is shown that repeated shear deformation increases the uniformity, equalizes the structure increases the strength characteristics of the deformable workpiece material and has little effect on the level of plastic properties.

Development and industrial tests of composite material based on TiB2 for repair of local destructions in electrolyzer bottom blocks

The paper presents the developed composition and technology for obtaining a repair mixture consisting of lumped corundum with a TiB2–C composite coating wettable with aluminum for restoration of local bottom block fractures without electrolyzer stops. The proposed technical solution made it possible to reduce bottom wear and increase aluminum electrolyzer service life by 6 months.A mixture of titanium diboride powder and a refractory powder-like binder in a ratio of 50 : 50 (wt.%) was used to obtain the repair mixture with an optimal composition. Then the lumped corundum was coated with the obtained mixture, dried at 150 °C and after that heat-treated under a carbon-bed at t= 700÷900 °C. As a result of reducing firing the TiB2–C composite material with a carbon content of 15–20 wt.% was formed on the surface of lumped corundum. A qualitative evaluation of the properties of the developed composite coating shows that the coating has a sufficiently high hardness, wear resistance and adhesion to the substrate after the heat treatment. For pilot testing, the repair mixture was covered with molten aluminum to obtain an Al–TiB2–C repair mass in the form of plates. The pilot testing of the repair mass on the 400 kA operating electrolyzer in the RUSAL-Sayanogorsk pilot shop showed that the bottom wear have slowed down 3 months after the local fractures were restored without electrolysis bath stops. This fact is evidenced by a 13 % decrease in the average depth of fractures with a stable current value of 4,7–4,8 kA/bloom after repair. Thus, the locallyused repair mass slowed that the overall wear of the cathode surface and allowed to extend the electrolyzer life.

The periclase-chromite refractory decomposition by the action of the pulverized coal and gas medium in course of copper-sulfide raw materials processing

The investigating results are given for the periclase-chromite refractories' composition and structure which are in contact with the pulverized coal and gas medium in the coppersulfide smelting furnaces. The high-temperature burnt copper concentrate and the sulfur dioxide gas suspensions combined action changes the surface and deep refractories layers chemical composition, with that the impurities content reach the value in weight percent: Fe 54,0, Cu 7,2, Zn 6,4, S 1,8. The refractory's surface layer saturation with the iron and non-ferrous metals oxides decreases the porosity and gives rise to low-melting compositions and eutectics. The refractory decomposition is induced by the shelling of the refractory surface layers with the filled porous taking place in course of the heating-cooling cycling because of the phase's thermal linear expansion coefficients. When the spent refractory disposal, it is feasible to separate mechanically the surface layer for the non-ferrous metals extracting, the rest part can be used for obtaining the refractory powder of various purpose.

Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of refractory powder materials based on zirconium diboride obtained from boron-containing mineral raw materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The goal of the present work is the synthesis of the refractory zirconium diboride powder in the combustion mode. One of the most effective methods of synthesis of the refractory zirconium diboride powder is the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method (SHS) with a preliminary mechanical activation of the initial components. Initial components of the SH-synthesis are borate ore, zircon, aluminum powder and magnesium. After the SH-synthesis obtained products were processed by 37.5% HCl and were washed with distilled water. Final composition and microstructure of SHS products were investigated with X-ray phase analysis and SEM. Boron-containing SHS-powders can be used as bio-protection in nuclear engineering, production of abrasive powders, ceramic, composite materials and coatings.

Dense zircon (ZrSiO4) ceramics by a simple milling-sintering route

In this work, a simple milling sintering route (pressure less) to process dense zircon ceramics from fine (D50 0.8 ?m) zircon powders is explored. Particularly, the milling time effect (0-120 min) and the maximum sintering temperature (1400-1600?C) were studied. The sintering grade developed microstructure and Vickers hardness (Hv) were evaluated and correlated. The dissociation of silicate into (monoclinic and tetragonal) zirconia and silica was evaluated by X-ray diffraction followed by the Rietveld method; it was found to be below 10 wt% in all the studied ranges. The sintering was enhanced by the milling pretreatment. No sintering additives were incorporated. Dense zircon (porosity below 1%) ceramics were obtained by a simple milling-sintering route of this high refractory powder at 100-200?C below the sintering temperature used with conventional processing routes to obtain equivalent final properties. The Vickers hardness reached: 9.0 GPa.