1) The document discusses hot abrasion testing of low cement castables containing silicon carbide (SiC) with and without antioxidants like boron carbide (B4C). 2) Adding B4C protected the SiC from oxidation at high temperatures, drastically reducing abrasion losses. Without B4C, abrasion losses increased significantly at temperatures over 900°C due to SiC oxidation. 3) The effect of grain size distribution on abrasion resistance of alumina-based low cement castables was also examined. Changing the grain size did not significantly affect abrasion losses, but high temperature testing resulted in around 30% lower losses.

1. HOT ABRASION RESISTANCE OF SOME LOW CEMENT CASTABLES
Dr. Sankar Kannabiran
CTO- HÖGÄNAS /Borgestad Industries- SWEDEN
Presented in IRE UK- conference

2. HOT ABRASION TESTS- CONTENTS
2
• SCOPE
• BACKGROUND AND STANDARDS DEVELOPMENTS
• HOT ABRASION MEASUREMENTS – SiC CONTAINING MATERIALS WITH AND
WITHOUT ANTIOXIDANTS
• HOT ABRASION MEASUREMENTS – EFFECTS OF GRAIN SIZE DISTRIBUTION
• CONCLUSIONS

3. 3
BACKGROUND AND STANDARDS

4. 4
Particles moving with high
velocity.
Charge of material or scrap
falling against the refractory
and damages lining.
Blast furnace, cement
preheaters and cooling zone,
incinerators, boilers, rotary
kilns , lime kilns, and
aluminium furnaces.
Cold abrasion is the guideline in the
design (ASTM C704 or ISO16282-
2007).
Correlations established with
CMOR,CCS,MOE, and AP.
Changes in the surface nature
during use.
Effect of temperature and other
thermo-mechanical-chemical
interactions.
ABRASION ABRASION TESTING

5. Reports avaialable since 1930s.
Continuous improvement in designing abrasion
testing apparatus for high temperature
measurements ongoing.
The recent designs of apparatus for testing
abrasion resistance of refractories consider the
effects of all the variables in the design and
abrasive media (SiC, Alumina type).
Especially, the design of high temperature abrasion
testing apparatus imposes serious concerns in
design to maintain homogeneity of temperature
and pressure during high temperature testing .
5
HOT ABRASION TESTING

6. 6
HOT AND COLD ABRASION TESTING
This test method measures the volume of abraded
material from a flat surface by blasting.
Pressure of 0.45MPa - 1000 grams of 36 grit SiC,
at right angle to the surface- 900 Sec
The pre-fired samples were tested both at room
temperature and at high temperatures (up to
1350°C) .
Abraded volume = [(W1-W2)/ D], cc
ISO 16349:2015 – FIRST EDITION
Refractory materials -- Determination of
abrasion resistance at elevated temperature

7. 7
HOT ABRASION MEASUREMENTS – SiC CONTAINING
MATERIALS WITH AND WITHOUT ANTIOXIDANTS

8. SiC containing castables.
Al2O3-SiO2-SiC castable finds widespread
use in various applications such as
cement pre-heaters, incinerators etc.
Addition of SiC improves the resistance
against chemical corrosion, abrasion? and
thermal shock in applications.
A major problem often faced is oxidation
of SiC at higher addition level, when the
temperature is above 900°C (even at low
temperature + moisture) . The application
temperature of alumino-silicate castables
containing various amounts of SiC can go
up to 1300°C and this affect the
performance of castables due to oxidation.
8
SiC + 2O2 SiO2 + CO2
SiC+ 3/2O2 SiO2 + CO
SiC+ O2 SiO2 + C
To overcome the oxidation problem,
antioxidants are often used and thus
retain the properties of castables. This
study explores the effect of an
antioxidant, B4C, on the cold and hot
abrasion of a 30% SiC containing
castables up to 1300°C. It has been
noticed that B4C addition protected SiC
and drastically reduced the abrasion loss
at high temperatures

9. 9
DETAILS OF LC CASTABLE
Chemistry , % Samples
Al2O3 30
SiO2 35
CaO 2.5
SiC 30
B4C 0 and 2.0
H2O 7.5
Pre-firing
temperature, °C
Testing
temperature, °C
No
B4C
2.0%
B4C
800 RT 1A 2G
800 800 1B 2H
1100 RT 1C 2I
1100 1100 1D 2J
1300 RT 1E 2K
1300 1300 1F 2L

10. 10
1A 1C 1E
1B 1D 1F
Pre-firing
temp, °C
Testing
temp, °C
No
B4C
800 RT 1A
800 800 1B
1100 RT 1C
1100 1100 1D
1300 RT 1E
1300 1300 1F
NO B4C
• CONICAL
• MATRIX REMOVAL
• TRANSITION TO
UNIFORM
ABRASION

11. 11
9
10,7
4,9
0
4
8
12
1A (800C) 1C (1100C) 1E (1300C)
Abrasion
,
cc
No B4C, Abrasion at RT
6 6,5
0,9
0
4
8
12
1B 1D 1F
Abrasion,
CC
No B4C, at high temperature
Pre-firing
temperature,
°C
Testing
temperature, °C
Samples Name
Without B4C
800 RT 1A
800 800 1B
1100 RT 1C
1100 1100 1D
1300 RT 1E
1300 1300 1F
NO B4C
Sintering
Glassy surface and
energy absobsion

12. 12
Pre-
firing
tempera
ture, °C
Testing
temperatur
e, °C
2.0%
B4C
800 RT 2G
800 800 2H
1100 RT 2I
1100 1100 2J
1300 RT 2K
1300 1300 2L
2H 2J 2L
2G 2I 2K
B4C
Surface boiling
Sticking of SiC
Mild sticking of SiC

13. 13
5
6,2 6,2
0
4
8
12
2G 2I 2K
Abrasion,CC
With B4C, at room temperature
0,9
0,2
0,1
0
0,5
1
2H 2J 2L
Abrasion,
CC
With B4C, at High temperature
Pre-firing
temperature, °C
Testing
temperature, °C
2.0% B4C
800 RT 2G
800 800 2H
1100 RT 2I
1100 1100 2J
1300 RT 2K
1300 1300 2L
ID
1100°C
NO B4C
2J
1100°C
B4C

14. 14
The high temperature testing of an alumino-silicate castable containing 30% SiC,
with and without addition of an antioxidant B4C has resulted in different abrasion
patterns and varying volume losses. Addition of B4C has protected SiC from
oxidation.
The abrasion pattern is resembling conical in almost in all cases and circular for
samples with 2% B4C, pre-fired and tested at 1100 and 1300ºC respectively.
The B4C addition has drastically reduced the abrasion of samples at high
temperatures (even near to zero) due to the formation of glassy phase on the
surface.
CONCLUSIONS

15. 15
Effects of grain size distribution and
temperature on abrasion resistance

16. 16
Ingredients, % LCC1 LCC2 LCC3
60% alumina aggregate Calcined alumina,
Fume silica, Calcium aluminate cement
additives
Various
Max grain size, mm 10 5 3
Casting Water, % 5.5 5.5 5.5
Bulk Density, g/cc
After 110°C 2,58 2,56 2,57
After 815°C 2,51 2,52 2,51
After 1100°C 2,52 2,51 2,51
CASTABLES

17. HIGH TEMPERATURE ABRASION
MEASUREMENTS
17
Pre-firing temperature, °C Testing temperature, °C
815 RT
815 815
1100 RT
1100 1100

18. ABRASION MEASUREMENTS
18
RT Measurements
LCC1 LCC 2 LCC 3
Fired at 815°C and tested at RT
Matrix removal is the
primary abrasion mode and
the coarse grains are less
abraded. Also, the abrasion
tends to be conical pattern.
This is the case in all 3 LCCs
with various grain sizes
distribution. The loss
incurred is though removals
of surrounding matrix
followed by dislodging coarse
grains.

19. 19
LCC1 LCC 2 LCC 3
Fired at 1100°C and tested at RT
The samples fired at
1100°C have shown the
formation of holes which is
the result of grain pull out
through the abrading
mechanism.
The reason for this trend is
the weakness of matrix
compared to grains at
room temperature.
ABRASION MEASUREMENTS
RT Measurements
Holes formation

20. HIGH TEMPERATURE ABRASION MEASUREMENTS
20
LCC1 LCC 2 LCC 3
Pre-fired and tested at 815°
• Less conical pattern with uniform abrasion of both fine
matrix and coarse grains.
• Attributed to the changes in elastic properties a as well
as the thermal expansion characteristics making matrix
stronger against abrasion.

21. ABRASION MEASUREMENTS- PREFIRED AT HT
AND TESTED AT RT
21
Abrasion loss at room
temperature is at same
level for all castables
irrespective of changing
grain size distribution.
Minor improvement of
abrasion resistance for the
samples tested at 1100°C.
This is the result of mild
sintering happening at that
temperature.
0,00
5,00
10,00
LCC1 LCC2 LCC 3
Abrasion
loss,
CC
Prefired@815°C Test@20°C
Prefired@1100°C Test@20°C

22. HIGH TEMPERATURE ABRASION MEASUREMENTS
22
• Abrasion resistance at high temperatures- 30% less loss at both testing temperatures
• No significance difference in abrasion loss between testing temperatures or change of granulometry.
• Change in elastic properties is the key- especially for the castables below the temperature of liquid formation (>1200°C).
0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
LCC1 LCC2 LCC 3
Abrasion
loss,
CC
Prefired at 815°C testd at 20°C Prefired &Tested at815°C
0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
LCC1 LCC2 LCC 3
Abrasion
loss,
CC
Prefired at 1100°C testd at 20°C
Prefired &Tested at 1100°C
0
2
4
6
20°C 815°C 1100°C
Abrasion,
CC
Bauxite based LCC

23. 23
0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
LCC1 LCC2 LCC 3
Abrasion
loss,
CC
Prefired at 815°C testd at 20°C Prefired &Tested at815°C
0
2
4
6
20°C 815°C 1100°C
Abrasion,
CC
Bauxite based LCC
60% Alumina castables Bauxite based LCC
Materials Selection Process

24. 24
CONCLUSIONS
• Change of granulometry doesn’t affect the abrasion loss significantly both
at high and RT measurements.
• Increasing testing temperature has resulted in 30% reduction in abrasion
loss with the current testing method for the chosen castable.
• Thermo-physical changes in castables plays a vital role in abrasion
mechanism.