10 Hole Firebrick Specifications

Shaped

• Shaped refractories are used to line furnaces, kilns, glass tanks, and incinerators, because insulating firebrick features low thermal conductivity. Bricks are manufactured into shapes from a mix of raw materials, water and perhaps other binding agents. The mixture is pressed or molded into a desired shape. Shapes can also take forms, including arch, wedge, key, skew, feather and standard. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) provides specifications and tests for thermal conductivity, resistance to abrasion and corrosion, permeability and oxidation resistance. Check "Shape Bricks" in the Resources section for dimensions.

Unshaped

• There are eight kinds of unshaped -- or monolithic -- refractory bricks, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, including include mortars, gunning mixes, castables (refractory concrete), ramming mixes and plastics. Unshaped refractory are typically processed without firing until they reach the final consumer. These refractories can be installed by spraying, casting, molding or ramming. Mortar bricks can be selected based on how they are set: by heat, by air or by hydraulics. All other unshaped bricks represent some form of mixture ranging from plastics and chemicals to ceramic blends.

Ceramic

• Ceramic bricks are produced from two essential processes: the manipulation of raw materials and firing. Raw materials production includes clay extraction, crushing, blending and kneading, forming and drying. Firing is done after clay bricks have dried. There are several different types of ceramic fiber, including blanket, felt, module, vacuum form, rope and loose fibers. Ceramic brick production ranges from home-based pottery producers to highly-advanced materials engineering firms. Researchers for AIT have found that Asian ceramic brick production has been slowed by outdated technology and energy consumption. The same researchers have linked brick and ceramic sectors to environmental deforestation, soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in firing. Solid waste is generated in several stages of ceramic brick production.

Clay

• There are two kinds of clay bricks: fireclay and high-alumina. Fireclay bricks contain kaolinite and a small amount of other clay materials. Fireclay refractories can be produced to suit low, medium, high or super-duty demands based on how they resist high temperatures. Clay is mainly composed of fine particulate hydrous aluminum silicates and other minerals that harden during the firing process. High-alumina refractories are used for multiple purposes because of their chip-resistance and higher-volume stability. According to the US Commerce Department, manufacturing rates for clay bricks declined steadily between 1993 and 1998.

Non-Clay

• Basic non-clay refractory bricks are composed of dead-burned magnesite, dolomite, chrome ore and a small amount of other minerals. This type of brick can be further subdivided into magnesia, dolomite, chrome and combinations. Basic refractories are

  typically used to manufacture bricks.