Crash Course on Refractory Products for a New Plant Manager
Refractory products are often called the “backbone of industry” because they’re used during the heat and chemical processing of all commodities. Our buildings, transportation infrastructure, autos, utilities and thousands of other products couldn’t be created without them. Refractory products provide: Protection of capital investments – Industrial heat processing equipment such as boilers, kilns, furnaces, incinerators, gasifiers and dryers can be…Read More ›
A Unique Approach to Keep Exact Gunite Thickness in a Chimney Stack
Many times, gunite jobs are fairly straightforward; a refractory contractor can just “go in and blow” the gunite to install the refractory material. One of our recent gunite jobs, however, was quite complex. Our client was an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) who had engineered and built two 40-foot steel “stack tops” that would be installed as the final piece on a…Read More ›
A Special Veneer Coating to Preserve Ladle Preheaters
If you’re in the steel industry, especially the melt shop, you know how difficult it can be to get several heats from your ladles, much less from your ladle pre-heat covers. What do you do when your ladle pre-heat cover develops hotspots, loses its efficiency and runs hotter than normal? Instead of replacing the cover or the refractory lining, there’s…Read More ›
Considerations for Keeping Your Wood-Fired Boiler Running Efficiently
Environmentally conscious manufacturers are always on the lookout for effective ways to use renewable energy sources. There has been a lot of research in this area over the past few decades. Modern biomass, especially bio-fuels and wood pellets, are increasingly being used for heat and power generation, alongside traditional biomass sources such as agricultural by-products. Bio-power is now the 4th…Read More ›
Top 5 Refractory Mistakes to Avoid
While refractory material is critical to protecting and maintaining the efficiency of your heat processing equipment (and more importantly, keeping your people safe!), it’s not always a priority for many of today’s industrial plant engineers and managers. Refractories are a complex field, heavy on both science and art. The idea that “mud is mud” is dangerous thinking that can end…Read More ›