Insulating Refractories
Insulating Refractories
Insulating refractories are thermal barriers that keep in the heat and save energy. Furnaces
used for melting, heat treatment, heat regeneration or for any other purpose demand maximum
heat conservation so as to minimize heat losses for maximum heat efficiencies and minimum
temperatures. As the cost of energy has increased, the role of insulating refractories has
become more important. Not too long ago, energy costs were low and stable, while the costs of
insulating materials and, particularly, installation labour were moving northwards. Those
circumstances dictated the use of minimal insulation. The situation is quite different now. The
use of considerable quantity of refractories is socially and economically justified. With today’s
energy costs at such higher levels has come the development of a wide range of new insulating
refractory materials and technology of high-temperature insulation which are capable to restrict
the escape of heat even at a much elevated temperature. Instead of going direct into the
discussion of insulating refractories, their types, raw materials, manufacturing, properties and
applications etc., here we will first review some of the fundamental technology of high-
temperature insulation.
The function of insulating refractory is to reduce the rate of heat flow (heat loss). Although it is
not possible to totally prevent the flow of heat energy when there exists a temperature
differential between two points, but it can be retarded. There are three mechanisms of heat
transfer that we must understand. These are conduction, convection, and radiation. We must
consider all these three mechanisms when we study the overall conductivity of a given material.
Heat transfer by Conduction occurs via the transfer of energy from atom to atom (or molecule
to molecule) in a material. Atoms vibrate faster in higher temperature as they possess more
energy. This energy will be passed to the adjacent atoms having lower energy. Since atoms and
solids are bonded to one another and are in close contact, conduction in solids is higher than in
liquids. Metals, especially, have high rates of conduction because both the atoms and their
electrons conduct the electrons much more rapidly. Liquids generally have lower conduction
rates than solids because of their lack of regular structure and strong bonding. Gases have
much lower rates of conduction since their molecules exist at much lower concentrations and
are in relatively infrequent contact. So, within metals, dense ceramics, and dense
Energy transfer by Convection relies on the mass movement of a fluid. The moving fluid may
be either a liquid or a gas. Convection does occur horizontally; but it depends on the
gravitational force of the earth. Again, in case of dense refractory bricks heat transfer through
this process can not happen since there is no fluid for convection.
Radiation process of heat transfer does not require the presence of any material. Radiation
occurs most readily through empty space. The sun radiates energy through space to earth.
Similarly all hot bodies radiate heat, and if they are hot enough they also radiate visible light
When one studies heat transfer mechanisms in industrial processes, all three modes of heat (or
energy) transfer must be considered. In a high temperature furnace or kiln, for example, energy
is transferred from the heat source i.e. a burner to the material being heated and to the
surrounding furnace refractory walls by all the three processes. The amount of energy
heat transfer mechanism at high temperatures. The load and the refractories of the furnace wall
absorb energy, get hot, and re-radiate energy. The moving gases within the carry heat with
them and transfer it when they come in contact with cooler solid. A small amount of gas
conduction occurs, and conduction is the main process of transferring energy or heat from the
One of the prime roles of a refractory is to withstand the effects of heat usually in a hostile
environment. That is why for the selection of refractory and its designing Thermal
Conductivity is one property which one has to consider. Usually one would like to have a
refractory with low thermal conductivity so that heat may be more effectively contained within a
furnace or kiln. Sometimes, however refractories and materials having high thermal conductivity
are desired. For example, a protective muffle in certain ceramic kilns is designed to prevent
combustion gases from reaching the ceramic ware. It must transfer as much heat to the ware as
possible, so conductive ceramic materials likesilicon carbide are often used for muffles.
that it will allow to pass under certain conditions. Thermal conductivity can be defined as the
quantity of heat transmitted through a material in unit time, per unit temperature gradient along
the direction of flow and unit cross sectional area. First, let us understand the material
conditions affecting this thermal property of a refractory brick whether it is insulating or normal
brick, and then the most common method used to measure (or calculate) the same. While there
are many factors affecting the thermal conductivity of refractories, some of the most important
are [Reference: J.E. Burke, Progress in Ceramic Science, Vol. 2, Ed., Pergamon Press, Chapter
4, 1962]:
1. Temperature
adjacent figure. In general, the thermal conductivity is expected to decrease with increasing
temperature when the temperature exceeds the Debye temperature. The Debye temperature is
a characteristic temperature for a given material and may be below or above room temperature.
The structural features such as, anisotropic arrangement of ions, relative mass difference
between anion and cation, pores, and grain boundaries etc. do affect thermal conductivity of a
material. Spinel (MgAl2O4) for instance, has a thermal conductivity lower than that for either
MgO or Al2O3. Another example is reducing the thermal conductivity of a solid by introducing
porosity and this is the most common technique of manufacturing insulating refractories.
Fortunately for us, the thermal conductivity of a refractory material is ordinarily measured in
such a way as to account for all of the heat transfer processes that happen to be operating in
that material. We do not have to unscramble them or deal with tem separately, for most ordinary
purposes. Once that property is known for each material in the vessel, some very sophisticated
calculations can be performed to find out where the heat goes in a given operation. In the next
following lines we will discuss only the simplest of these calculations. This will be enough to
enable you or someone to select among various insulating refractories and also to measure
Imagine a large flat slab or wall of refractory, whose hot face (hot side), is at some fixed
temperature, Th. Its cold face (cold side) perhaps in contact with a steel shell, is at some lower
temperature, Tc. We will call the thickness of the refractory X. Let us assume that the heat is
supplied to the hot face at some fixed rate by process fluids, and that heat is removed from the
cold face (may be by the steel shell and the air outside it) at exactly the same rate. Two things
then follow: (a) heat flows through the refractory at exactly the same rate as well and (b)
temperatures Th andTc do not change with time. This is called Steady State situation. If we call
some amount of heat H flows in time interval t then the rate of heat-flow Qwould be H / t. If you
think about it, you will understand that this rate of heat-flow or heat transport has to be
proportional to the area of refractory wall, A, through which heat is flowing. One mathematical
To use this equation, we will adopt a set of English units that engineers in the fields of
processing and refractories are familiar with. The unit of heat energy, the BTU (British thermal
unit), is defined as the amount of heat that will raise the temperature of 1 pound of water
by exactly 1OF. The unit of time will be hour (hr). We shall take units of area A in square
feet (ft2), the thickness X in inches (in.) and temperature in OF. Clearly if the situation
described by A, X, Th, and Tc is held fixed but different materials are studied, the rate of
heat transport (Q or H/t) will be proportional to the k (thermal conductivity) of each material.
Since k is a property of each material, we can get different values for the rate of heat transport
by choosing different materials or mixtures of them. Thermal conductivities i.e. values of k for
different materials are measured in the laboratory and published. We can use them in
calculations with the above equation. Only we need to make sure that the units of k are
(BTU.in)/(ft2.OF.hr).
In fact, k is numerically equal to the rate of heat transport when the slab area (here, area of the
refractory or furnace wall) is exactly 1 ft2 and the temperature gradient is exactly 1OF/in. The
table below lists some of the typical values of thermal conductivity (k) for different solid
materials: some metals, some ordinary “working” refractories, some insulating and some highly
conducting refractories. Given below are some examples of how to calculate Heat Loss or Heat
Suppose we have a furnace lined with Superduty refractory brick, and the total wall area of this
furnace is 1350 ft2 and also suppose the refractory lining thickness is 12 inch. Say, the process
we are conducting in this furnace keeps its hot-face temperature at 3000OF. With thermocouples
we find that the cold-face is at a steady temperature 600OF. Then, what will be the rate of heat
We find from the table given below that k for Superduty brick is 9.5. Then by putting all the given
numbers into our heat transfer equation mentioned above we get the rate of heat flow (heat
loss) Q as per -
It will be instructive to check here as how much less refractory it would take to match this heat
loss keeping all the conditions same if we used, say, an insulating refractory firebrick whose
thermal conductivity (k) value is 3.0, also taken from the table below. Suppose that this
insulating brick can survive at 3000OF, to make the question reasonable. Here we will find
out the required thickness of the insulating brick lining for which we first rearrange the
heat transfer equation to be explicit in X so that we can solve it for the refractory
thickness. Then by putting all the given numbers into the equation except 3.0 fork, we
get -
That is 3.8 inch of insulating firebrick has the same heat transfer resistance as 12 inch of
conventional Superduty refractory firebrick ! We would be naïve to replace the one refractory by
the other until we learn more; but the effectiveness of insulating refractories in containing heat is
impressive. If we were to keep the refractory lining thickness at 12 in. for example, and solve
our heat transfer equation with k = 3.0, we would find that the total rate of heat loss is only
810,000 BTU/hr., instead of 2,565,000 BTU/hr. Now imagine how much thousands of dollars
However, on practical ground or real - life, calculations are never this simple for numerous
reasons. For one thing, the value of thermal conductivity itself changes with temperature as the
relative contributions of conduction, convection and radiation change. The second complication
we will mention here is that in most cases the refractory lining of a furnace or kiln is done with
1. A working face of refractory layer or, interior layer of refractory lining that is exposed to the
process;
2. The refractory lining between the furnace or kiln shell and working lining, often referred to as
the Safety Lining or Insulating Lining. Insulating linings are used to limit heat loss and to
Such refractory lining arrangements definitely complicate the heat transfer calculations. But
even with the simple introduction about insulating refractories what we have given above, you
can appreciate that a process operator can intelligently design a refractory lining that will endure
its use temperature and chemistry, and at the same time meet the restrictions on refractory
lining thickness or on heat loss that are specified for the situation.
In our next post Insulating Refractories (Part - II) we will look at the different types of
Gold 2060
Silver 2900
Dense Refractories
Silica Brick 13
Periclase 20 - 50
High Alumina 10 - 40
Chrome - magnesite 14
Zirconia 5
Insulating Refractories
Conducting Refractories
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