During the development process refractory samples were prepared, filled with alkali mixtures and fired. Industry standard low cement castables performed poorly in these tests. The alkali easily penetrated the castable and caused severe cracking. The newly developed castable Duroguard 40 T and Duroguard 50 T showed virtually no penetration by the alkali and were undamaged after the test.

 

 • Caustic waste incinerators

 • Barrier layers in aluminium pot lines

 • Cement Kiln Pre-Heaters

As a further step Alkali resistant silicon carbide containing castables have been developed for areas in cement kiln Pre-Heaters where buildups occur.  Additional tests are being carried out to optimize these materials for other high Alkali applications. These include kilns used in the vanadium industry, and for  manufacturing chrome tanning salts.