PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES IN PREPARATION OF CaO REFRACTORY

The use of sintered CaO as a refractory material is not uncommon. Refractory material based on lime as the lining of the Bessemer converter was applied for the first time in 1875 in order to carry out desulphuring and dephosphoring of the molten pig iron. Due to interaction of the porous burned CaO with the atmospheric moisture during dead time followed by damage and disintegration of this casement wall acquit oneself ill. Later on dephosphoring was carried out in the Thomas converter by means of sintered dolomite. No research and development in this refractory material was improved due to negative experience in its application. Since 50th the research in this field started again and during the following ten years good experimental results were obtained leading to the industrial application of CaO refractoriness in metallurgy. As a result, there were several theoretical and experimental successes coupled with the practical applications in metallurgy [1]. And what about perspectives for this refractory? The CaO is occurring in nature as a relatively pure limestone (CaCO3). The successful application of this highly refractory CaO material with melting point (about 2600 °C) would bring about economical solution of shortage of other raw materials that may have better refractory properties. Lime is stable in the presence of carbon at The development of new materials and technologies is essential for the intensification of the industrial production. This effort is apparent also in the field of the refractory materials, therefore also dead burned lime (CaO) as a refractory material for steel industry is considered. A low hydration and corrosion resistance are the reasons why the CaO refractory has not been widely applied. Research results achieved recently as well as necessary effort for future research activities are discussed in this paper.