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2022
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Cause analysis of the accident at the breathable brick core location
Source： Innovation Materials
Release time：2022-04-06 15:05
Permeable bricks play a vital role in the steelmaking process. They can stir the molten steel by bottom blowing gas, enabling rapid dispersion of deoxidizers, desulfurizers, etc., and expelling gases and non-metallic inclusions from scrap steel. They also help to achieve uniform steel temperature and composition, improving steel quality and ultimately achieving the refining objective. As a refractory material product, the permeable brick consists of a permeable brick core and a permeable base brick. During use, the permeable brick core plays the main role and suffers more wear and tear. Incorrect usage can hinder normal production and even cause serious accidents such as steel leakage.
Breathable bricks play an important role in the steelmaking process of a ladle. They can stir the molten steel by bottom blowing gas, quickly disperse the melting of deoxidizers and desulfurizers, and exhaust gases and non-metallic inclusions from scrap steel. They also help to ensure uniform steel temperature and composition, improving the quality of the steel and achieving the ultimate goal of refining. As a refractory product, the breathable brick consists of a breathable brick core and a breathable seat brick. The breathable brick core plays the main role during use and undergoes more wear and tear. If the usage method is not properly understood, it will hinder normal production and may even cause serious production accidents such as steel leakage.
The first reason is that the brick core is too short. The breathable brick is located at the bottom of the ladle and will withstand a certain amount of hydrostatic pressure from the molten steel. When the residual length of the brick core is shortened, the contact area between the brick core and the seat brick will also decrease, and the strength of the brick core itself will be reduced. Under the influence of rapid temperature changes, cracks may appear. When the breathable brick core is subjected to excessive hydrostatic pressure from the molten steel, the brick core may be pushed out by the molten steel, or the molten steel may gradually seep out from the cracks, eventually leading to a steel leakage accident. A safety alarm device at a height of approximately 120-150 mm from the bottom of the breathable brick core can effectively prevent steel leakage accidents caused by a too-short breathable brick. The safety alarm device is made of a special material that has a significant difference in appearance and brightness from the breathable brick material in a high-temperature environment.
Figure 1 Slit Breathable Brick
The second reason is steel leakage at the fireclay between the breathable brick core and the seat brick. When the breathable brick core is hot-swapped on-site, a layer of fireclay with a thickness of about 2-3 mm should be evenly applied to the outside of the brick core. According to operating specifications, the brick core and the seat brick inner hole should be horizontally aligned, and the fireclay should not fall off during installation. The fireclay powder has low strength at high temperatures. If the fireclay thickness is uneven, the thicker side is easily washed away by the molten steel, reducing the service life of the breathable brick. In the later stages of use, the molten steel penetrates through the fireclay seam, easily causing steel leakage; the thinner side has a certain gap, and the iron sheet cannot completely fit the inner hole of the seat brick. The high-temperature atmosphere will gradually oxidize and corrode the iron sheet, also easily leading to steel leakage. Support bricks are used to support and fix the breathable brick core beneath the ladle. Fireclay should also be applied to the front and sides of the support brick to seal the lower hole of the breathable brick core; insufficient fireclay cannot provide secondary protection. Using support bricks undoubtedly increases the complexity and difficulty of construction and creates greater adverse factors in continuous operation. Therefore, Kechuang recommends using an integrated breathable brick solution, avoiding difficult hot-swap procedures, simplifying operations, and avoiding the adverse effects of improper fireclay handling.
The third reason is steel seepage from the slits. The design of the slit dimensions of the slit breathable brick is critical. If the slit dimensions are too small, the required air permeability cannot be met; if the slit dimensions are too large, a large amount of molten steel may seep into the slits. Once cold steel is formed, the slits will be blocked, resulting in poor air permeability of the breathable brick. It is well known that steel seepage from slit breathable bricks is structurally unavoidable; however, a small amount of steel seepage does not affect its air permeability. Therefore, reasonable slit numbers and widths should be designed. Alternatively, anti-seepage breathable bricks can be used. Their surface microporous structure prevents molten steel from entering, effectively solving the problem of steel seepage.
Figure 2 Excessive steel seepage caused by excessively large slit dimensions
Kechuang, as a professional breathable brick manufacturer, researches, produces and sells slit-type Breathable Bricks 、 Anti-seepage Breathable Bricks For many years, Slit-type Breathable Bricks have high hot strength, good thermal shock resistance, erosion resistance, and scour resistance, as well as a long service life, high air permeability, and good safety. Anti-seepage breathable bricks are safer than slit-type breathable bricks, requiring less or even no cleaning, reducing the consumption of breathable bricks during hot repair and fundamentally improving their service life.
Source: Luoyang Kechuang New Materials Co., Ltd.: https://www.kcnh.com/
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