Non-metallic materials that keep their strength and shape at temperatures that would melt or weaken steel, used to line furnaces, converters, ladles, tundishes, kilns and reactors. The steel industry uses about 60% of the world's refractories, roughly 10–15 kg for every tonne of steel it makes.
Also called
Refractories
Refractory bricks
Firebricks
Mag-carbon bricks
MgO-C
Magnesia bricks
Alumina bricks
Castables
Monolithics
Gunning mix
Ramming mass
Tundish board
Slide gate plates
AR
المواد الحرارية (الحراريات)
ZH
耐火材料
DE
Feuerfeste Werkstoffe
FR
Matériaux réfractaires
ES
Materiales refractarios
IT
Materiali refrattari
TR
Refrakter malzemeler
RU
Огнеупорные материалы
Main formsShaped bricks and blocks, monolithic castables, gunning, ramming and spraying mixes, mortars, pre-cast shapes, flow-control parts
Typical sizesStandard bricks about 230 × 114 × 64–76 mm; arch and wedge series; special shapes to drawing
Main standardsISO 10081 (shaped), ISO 1927 (monolithic), ISO 5017, ISO 10059, ASTM C27, ASTM C401
Refractories are classified by chemistry and by form. Basic refractories — magnesia, dolomite and magnesia-carbon — resist the lime-rich slags of steelmaking and line arc furnaces, converters and ladle slag lines. Acid and neutral refractories — fireclay, high-alumina, silica and alumina-silicate — are used where slags are siliceous or where thermal shock and load matter, such as ladle bottoms, reheating furnaces and blast-furnace stoves. Insulating bricks and fibres keep heat in behind the working lining.
Shaped refractories are pressed and fired (or tempered, for carbon-bonded bricks) into bricks and blocks. Monolithic or unshaped refractories — castables, gunning and ramming mixes, mortars — are installed as a mix and set in place; they now make up about half of the market because they install faster and can be repaired by gunning without stopping a furnace for long.
In steelmaking the linings are consumed: an arc furnace wall and a ladle slag line erode with every heat and are repaired between heats and relined every few hundred to a few thousand heats. Refractory cost and life are therefore tracked per tonne of steel, and suppliers increasingly sell on a cost-per-tonne contract that includes installation. Flow-control refractories — slide-gate plates, nozzles, stoppers, shrouds and porous plugs — are precision parts on which casting depends.
In the GCC refractories are consumed by the steel plants, the aluminium smelters, cement kilns, glass works and petrochemical furnaces. Most are imported, from China, India and Europe, through suppliers who also install and maintain the linings.
Forms & sizes
Bricks and shapes
Standard squares, arches and wedges, and special shapes for converters and ladles
Castables
Conventional, low- and ultra-low-cement castables, poured or vibrated in place
Gunning and spraying mixes
For hot repair of furnace and ladle linings
Ramming and dry vibratable mixes
For induction-furnace and EAF hearth linings and tundish working linings
Product type and grade with guaranteed chemistry (MgO, Al₂O₃, C, SiO₂, Fe₂O₃) and physical properties: bulk density, apparent porosity, cold crushing strength, refractoriness under load.
Shapes by drawing or catalogue number, and dimensional tolerances.
For monolithics: water addition, setting time, installation method, and shelf life.
Packing on pallets, protected from moisture — carbon-bonded bricks and basic mixes hydrate.
For lining contracts: guaranteed life or cost per tonne of steel, and the installation and repair scope.
Quality checks
Check dimensions and squareness of bricks; poorly sized bricks leave wide joints.
Test bulk density and porosity on samples against the datasheet.
Look for cracks, chipped corners and laminations.
Check monolithic bags for date and moisture damage before use.
Steel Mills - Agents & Traders · Coil Service Center · Stockist - Distributor · Fabrication · Jeddah
