Thermal properties of calcium-aluminate based materials

Abstract

Good cementing properties, fast setting and strong thermal performance make calcium-aluminate a valuable raw material for use in the production of different types of new refractory materials, e.g., heat conductive/storage materials. The main aim of the study was to determine thermal properties of novel Nb-slag based materials with different fillers, and to clarify optimal composition and technology. Process of preparation of studied materials was following: mixing of components, casting to moulds and hardening of materials. To estimate potential application areas, we studied the following thermal properties of CA-based materials: thermal behaviour, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and conductivity. For this small cylindrical specimens were cut out from produced materials, and plates sized 300 × 300 mm were used for conductivity studies. Different compositions of CA-based materials, the hardening process, and the influence of mechanical activation on the strength were analyzed. Best thermal properties similar to the analogous reference material were obtained by quartz sand and granite sand as filler materials. The thermal conductivity of the novel CA-based material is 1.5 times higher and the bending strength is about 3 times higher compared to commercial thermoplates.