Occurrence State and Behavior of Carbon Brick Brittle in a Large Dissected Blast Furnace Hearth

Abstract

The thickness of the carbon bricks is one of the important factors of the longevity of the blast furnace. Herein, a large number of brittle carbon bricks in the hearth sidewall and the continuous rectangle‐shape floating refractory in residual iron are found during the blast furnace hearth dissection. The occurrence state of the carbon brick is characterized through chemical analysis, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM)–energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS). The contents of K, Na, Cl, Zn, and Fe in brittle carbon bricks are relatively high, and a large number of large‐scale Al2O3 phases and nepheline appear in the floating carbon brick. It indicates that K, Na, Cl, Zn, and Fe are major causes for the serious erosion of the carbon brick, and the floating carbon brick may come from brittle carbon bricks on the sidewall. In addition, the source of Al2O3 and the consumption pathway of SiO2 and ZnO in floating refractory in residual iron are analyzed. Finally, the disappearing mechanism of carbon brick is proposed, which is that the carbon bricks floated up to the tuyere and burnt.