NEW REFRACTORY MATERIALS FOR THE COPPER INDUSTRY

Wear of various basic refractory materials to substitute to currently used magnesia chrome bricks has been studied, measuring matte and slag penetration and dissolution, through different cup and rotary slag tests. High magnesia with and without impregnation, magnesia graphite, magnesia-alumina spinel with and without impregnation, olivine-magnesia and olivine magnesia- graphite bricks, as well as magnesia-graphite and olivine magnesia castables, have been tested. It has been shown that carbon impregnation and graphite introduction into basic refractories are feasible ways to enhance their corrosion-dissolution and penetration resistance against fayalite as well as calcium-ferrite slags. Olivine-based refractories (castables or bricks) may be considered as viable candidates to use in copper-making furnaces. At this point, evaluation of the thermo-mechanical properties of this new class of materials is still missing.