Cement, Energy and Environment

Process & Operation CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE REFRACTORIES INDUSTRY- AN ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE William Edward Lee, Rafael Guimaraes de Sa Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, which accounts for about 70% of the world refractories production. Other significant users include the cement and lime, chemical, glass, ceramic and non-ferrous metal industries (Figure 1). Consequently, any developments or changes in the iron and steel industry will have knock-on effects on the refractories industry. technology, cost reductions and other benefits, to the steel industry and other user industries such as glass and cement. Thanks to advances in refractories technology, modern refractory materials have evolved into complex composite forms which are capable of surviving the most severe conditions for substantially extended periods, which has led UK, Shaowei Zhang Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JO, UK ~----------------------------------------, to reduced Refractories are composite materials used in large volumes in extreme, usually corrosive, environments as furnace linings for high temperature materials processing and other applications in which thermomechanical and thermochemical properties are critical. Without refractory materials many of the scientific and technological inventions and developments we know today would not have been possible. Refractories are therefore facilitating or enabling materials, and are essential to successful operation of any industry in which high temperatures are used. For this reason , the Other 5% Non-ferrous metals 5°o Cement and Fig. 1. World refractories market by end-uses (2009) (Source: Shinagawa Refractories Australasia Pty Ltd). Table-1 Specific consumption of refractories 1950-2008 (kg refractories/tonne) -----------------~ 1 ! 1950 1980 2000 2008 I Steel-World 60 30 18 16 -Japan 15 11 8 -Europe 60 17 12 10 -USA 50 20 12 11 -China 55 30 23 Cement 2.2 1.2 0.9 0.7 Glass 15 12 6 5 Copper 6 4 2 Aluminium 26 20 14 10 (Source: Industrial Materials) Courtesy: refractories consumption (Table 1) and lower production costs for industrial (in particular steel) products, contributing directly and significantly to a sustainable society. However, the refractories industry, as a very competitive business, has recently endured difficult times because of the global economic crisis and a variety of factors such as industry consolidation, raw materials issues, globalization, energy issues, environmental issues, continuous pressure from customers for higher quality, longer lasting and cheaper refractories, as well as a substantial decrease in steel production worldwide in 2008- 2009. refractories industry is called "the industry behind industry." The steel industry is by far the greatest user of refractories, Historically, the refractories industry has been successful in continually providing new and improved products, procedures, IRMA Journal, Vol. XXXX/11, No. 1, March 2010, PB. 30