Indispensability and Vulnerability of Magnesia-carbon Bricks for Steelmaking Process

The manufacturing techniques of magnesia-carbon bricks in China have been documented from raw materials,production(process and facilities)to performance and wear issues in the ladle.Magnesia-carbon bricks made of ordinary fused magnesia is the prevailing material used in the slagline of the ladle,but its service life is substantially lower than the bricks based on large-periclase-crystal fused magnesia.In two types of fused magnesia,the average values of periclase crystal size are in double for their difference.It is suggested that large-periclase-crystal fused magnesia should be used for manufacturing magnesia-carbon bricks for the slagline of the ladle by abandoning ordinary fused magnesia,in order to have a prolonged service life,increase the availability of the ladle and reduce the number of downtimes of the ladle.Free phenol in resin produced in China should be as low as that of resin made in Europe,to improve production environment and reduce smoke emission during the ladle preheating.There are large spaces to promote the productivity of magnesia-carbon bricks in China,with high intensity mixers and hydraulic presses.Expansion controlled magnesia-carbon bricks in the ladle depend on the optimized combination of sintered magnesia,Carbores and antioxidants as the matrix,to minimize the premature wear of vertical cracks and joint opening formed in the ladle lining.