Application Of Zircon Brick In Glass Furnaces
Zircon brick is a kind of great refractory brick with ZrO2 content over 64 %. It is a type of acid refractory with the advantages of good corrosion resistance to glass liquid.
Zircon brick is made from stable zircon sand. Besides ladles, it is also used in the high erosive zones of glass furnace, such as arch brick, corner brick and bottom lining brick.
It has high mechanical strength, high refractoriness under load, excellent thermal shock stability, good creep resistance and good corrosion resistance to glass liquid. It barely causes defects such as bubbles, stones and scars. When used as bottom lining brick, it can produce a layer of high-viscosity deteriorated layer which can reduce the perforation corrosion of foreign metallic substance.
The grain structure and the bonding between grains can influence the corrosion resistance of dense zircon brick. Dense zircon brick is mainly used in the areas in direct contact with glass in glass fiber furnaces (alkali content less than 5%) and borate glass furnaces. If the alkali content of glass is too high, it will promote the decomposition of zirconite into ZrO2 and SiO2. SiO2 is dissolved in the glass liquid and finally produce ZrO2 groats.
Dense zircon bricks can be divided into ultra-dense and dense zircon brick. Though the closed porosity of ultra-dense zircon brick is 6%, in fact its apparent porosity is almost zero. The apparent porosity of dense zircon brick is about 14% and most are open pores. TiO2 is added as a sintering acid when producing ultra-dense zircon brick.
Currently, zircon brick is mainly used as paving blocks in the refining zone and as buffer layer material tween silica brick and materials containing Al2O3 in the superstructure in soda-lime glass furnaces. In borosilicate glass furnaces, it is used as forehearth brick and paving brick in the refining zone. It can also used as auxiliary paving block and an alternative to mullite brick in the back wall and the surroundings of the doghouse in E glass furnaces.
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