THE GROUP OF REFRACTORY MATERIALS - what we do ?
Refractories are special ceramic materials - without them the high-temperature processes were not feasible, e.g. production of steel, non-ferrous metals, cement or glass - so main building materials. Thus, refractory materials are materials of strategic importance for the global economy as well as people's lives and countries development.
Steel industry consumes the most amount refractory materials (60% of them are produced for steel plants). The technological development of this sector at the beginning of XX century resulted in the intensive development of refractory materials.
Other, besides steel producers, consumers of refractory materials are:
- ferrous alloys foundries
- non-ferrous metals (e.g. Cu, Al, Pb)
- ceramics
- glass
- incinerators and power plants
- chemical industry, petrochemistry and others
Refractory materials are based on high-temperature oxides, including: MgO, CaO, Al2O3, ZrO2, SiO2 and Cr2O3. Also, non-oxides are utilized in the production of refractories, mostly carbon (C), due to its great chemical inertness and high-temperature properties, and others like nitrides (e.g. Si3N4) or carbides (e.g. SiC).
The current trends in refractory materials are focused on development of eco-friendly materials solutions, which support the sustainable development and circular economy, often applying secondary or recycled raw materials (e.g. by-products of other industrial processes or refractory wastes); development of new types of refractories distinguished by their prolonged lifetimes, modification of the existing refractories to improve their high-temperature resistance and thermomechanical behaviour. In order to achieve this, we use modern, advanced testing methods and techniques, and cutting-edge information technologies.
THE DETAILED RANGE OF OUR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS
1. The primary and secondary raw materials for the production of refractories, supporting the sustainable development and circular economy.
2. Design of new refractories and modification of the existing ones towards improvement of their high-temperature chemical resistance and thermomechanical behavior to prolong their lifetime.
3. Modelling of material's microstructure and investigation of its influence on the properties of refractory materials.
4. Monolitic refractories, new bindings in refractory castables.
5. Synthesis of new refractory compounds, applying new techniques.
6. Application of modern information technologies to design new refractories of extensive performance.
We apply various experimental methods for the investigation of refractory materials, including examinations of:
- structure: XRD, HT-XRD, Raman spectroscopy and FTIR, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Möβbauer spectroscopy
- microstructure: optical and electron microscopy
- thermal properties: thermal analysis DTA/TG, EGA, DSC, coefficient of thermal expansion α, coefficient of thermal conductivity λ
- resistance properties: chemical resistance by static and dynamic methods, thermal shock resistance
- physical properties: porosity, water absorption, permeability, pore size distribution
- thermomechanical properties: refractoriness under load (RuL), creep under compression, bending at elevated temperatures
- mechanical properties: compression test, bending test, stress intensity factors, fracture toughness, Young's modulus by both static (mechanical test) and dynamic (ultrasonic, resonant) methods
We pay special attention to close and vivid cooperation with the industry as refractory materials work just there. In the frame of our research activities we conduct projects, both national and international. These project also cover doctoral and masters theses. We regularly and actively take part in most of the conferences in the filed of refractory ceramics to present the results of our research and to gain the latest professional knowledge and the new trends in the refractories market. We publish the results of our researches in professional journals of high-citation indexes. We are open to cooperation!
You are welcome to cooperate with us if you want to conduct an interesting research in the filed of refractory materials !
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Last update:
13 January 2024 przez: dr hab. inż. Dominika Madej, prof. AGH;