HARBISON-WALKER Handbook of Refractory Practice 2005

1 harbison -WALKERH andbookofRefractoryPractice2005 2005 HARBISON-WALKER Refractories Refractories Company400 Fairway DriveMoon Township, PA 15108 2005 HARBISON-WALKER Refractories Company. All Rights Refractories Company400 Fairway DriveMoon Township, PA 15108 Phone: (412) 375-6600 Fax: (412) ofRefractory PracticeDISCLAIMER:The information presented in this book is for general education-al use only. It does not contain recommendations for any particular refractoryfor any particular use. It is not intended as, and should not be taken as, a war-ranty of any kind, including but not limited to a warranty of :Some materials which are present in Refractory products are harm-ful.

2 One such group is classified as substances known to cause cancer tohumans. Other substances may be classified as probably or possibly carcino-genic. These materials include minerals used in or formed during the manufac-ture of these products. The primary threat presented by many of these materi-als comes from inhaling respirable dust. The use of proper respiratory equip-ment, as well as other personal protective equipment is mandatory whererequired by applicable law. Please refer to the applicable Material Safety DataSheet for such product. Click Here to EnterHandbook ofRefractory PracticeTable of ContentsSection 1 Introduction ISection 2 Classes of Refractories CRSection 3 Properties of Refractories PRSection 4 Using Refractories URSection 5 Monolithic and Ceramic Fiber Products MPSection 6 Brick Products BPSection 7 Installation References

3 IRSection 8 Appendix ASection 9 Literature LData Sheets of harbison -Walker1 Technical Research Capabilities3 Broad-Based Expertise4 SECTION 1 HARBISON-WALKER I - 1 INTRODUCTIONOut of the FireThe history of high heat manufacturing and Refractory technologybegan with the discovery of fire. Nature provided the first refractories,crucibles of rock where metals were softened and shaped into primi-tive tools.

4 Modern refractories are customized, high-temperatureceramics designed to withstand the destructive and extreme serviceconditions needed to manufacture metals, glass, cement, chemicals,petroleum and other essentials of contemporary History ofHarbison-WalkerThe refractories company knownas HARBISON-WALKER opened onMarch 7, 1865, as the Star FireBrick Company. The firm wasfounded by Lemon, a Pitts-burgh entrepreneur who hoped tobuild a fortune on America sgrowing demand for refractorybrick following the Civil 1866, Lemon hired SamuelPollock harbison as a part-timebookkeeper.

5 Within four years,the ambitious accountant hadacquired enough stock andrefractory expertise to be namedGeneral Manager of Star FireBrick. In 1875, harbison teamedwith another stockholder, HayWalker, to purchase the under-achieving company, and renamedit immediately, Harbisonand walker realized a majoropportunity to grow their busi-ness and its reputation. Throughan on-going relationship withThomas Carnegie, the fledgingcompany landed a contract fromKloman, Carnegie, and Companyto build the Lucy Furnace, thelargest blast furnace ever company garnered acco-lades for the superior perfor-mance of the Lucy Furnace andbegan to expand rapidly, pushedin large measure by the explosivegrowth of the steel industry.

6 In1910, a 10-company mergercreated harbison -WalkerRefractories Company, a 33-plant operation that was thelargest of its kind in the also thrived onits vertical structure, exertingcontrol over every stage of itsproduction process, throughmining and raw materialsmanagement to manufacturing,transportation and the decades that followed, HARBISON-WALKER established andfortified its position of industryleadership by building newfacilities and acquiring relatedorganizations. In 1916, harbison -Walkerorganized the NorthwestMagnesite Company nearChewelah, WA. This gavethe company a secure domes-tic source of magnesite, amaterial of choice for indus-trial furnaces in short supplyduring World War I.

7 In 1927, harbison -Walkeracquired majority ownershipof Northwest Magnesite, andfollowing World War II,commissioned the companyto build and operate a sea-water magnesite facility atCape May, NJ. In 1945, the company pur-chased Canadian RefractoriesLimited, makers ofMAGNECON, an outstand-ing Refractory for rotarycement kilns. In the 1950 s, HARBISON-WALKER built a high-qualitymagnesite facility atLudington, Michigan. Thiskeyed the development ofseveral industry standardproducts, including direct-bonded magnesite-chromebrick, pitch-bonded andpitch-impregnated magnesiteproducts, and magnesite-carbon refractories.

8 In 1954, harbison -Walkerbecame the first com-pany to produce refractoriesfor the basic oxygen - 2 HARBISON-WALKER In 1962, the company discov-ered massive deposits of highpurity bauxitic kaolins atEufaula, AL. This permitted thecompany s Bessemer andFairfield, Alabama, plants tomanufacture significantlyimproved high-alumina brickthat became a Refractory ofchoice for much of the refrac-tory consuming industries. In 1967, harbison -Walkerwas purchased by DresserIndustries, prompting anaccelerated diversificationinto non-steel related indus-tries. In 1994, the company be-came a part of Global Indus-trial Technologies, a majormanufacturer of technologi-cally advanced industrialproducts.

9 This developmentenabled HARBISON-WALKER tostrengthen its presence inseveral key markets throughalliances with other GlobalIndustrial Technologiescompanies. They includedRefractories Mexicanos(REFMEX) and RefractoriosChileanos (RESCA), two ofLatin America s leadingrefractory producers; andMagnesitwerk Aken, aGerman Refractory maker. In 1998, harbison -Walkeracquired Green Industries,Inc. With 22 plants in sixcountries, Green, a majorrefractory producer in its ownright, expanded considerablythe global resources atHarbison- walker s disposal. In 2000, RHI AG, an Aus-trian company with manyholdings in the global refrac-tories industry, completed itsacquisition of Global Indus-trial Technologies, Inc.

10 , theparent company of HARBISON-WALKER . RHI AG subse-quently combined NorthAmerican RefractoriesCompany (NARCO) andHarbison- walker , at the timenaming the resulting organi-zation RHI , the and exportoperations have been reorganizedand operate independently underthe name ANH of the strong reputationsthat HARBISON-WALKER andNARCO established over theirlong histories, the companieshave retained their names and arecontinuing to be the refractorysuppliers of choice in theirrespective market continues toprovide outstanding refractorymaterials to meet the needs of theindustrial markets.