CLASSIFICATION OF MAGNESIA BRICKS IN ROTARY CEMENT KILNS ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATION AND SERVICEABILITY

The historical development of the brickwork in rotary cement kilns is characterized by the change from fire clay lining to basic lining. This changeover led to a great improvement in service life, especially in the highly stressed regions (transition zone and central sintering zone). There are now a large number of types of basic brick available with different material properties. Interest in refractory bricks is centred on their stability under load in practical use. This paper contains a detailed classification of magnesia bricks according to specification and serviceability. An explanation is given of the most important corrosion stresses on the brick components and the resulting requirements for the properties. The desired thermomechanical and thermochemical properties of the bricks and their test values are of critical importance in this context. These criteria are used to give a review of the types of basic brick available and of future developments.