Failure analysis of bullnose refractory in reheating furnace of Hot Strip Mill

This paper presents the failure analysis of aluminosilicate based castable used in the bullnose structure of the recuperative type reheating furnace of Hot Strip Mill, where there is a greater wear with respect to the other areas in the furnace. The wear of the refractory was envisaged after a major shutdown that took place at Hot Strip Mill of Tata Steel. The various characterization tests yielded that there is a reaction between alumina and alkali oxide (sodium oxide) from the mould powder in the presence of silica forming sodian anorthite which undergoes volume expansion and thus generates stresses in the pre-assembled bullnose blocks. These developed stresses were leading to the problem of sagging of the refractory in the reheating furnace. The source of alkali was identified as mould powder along with mill scale getting deposited on the refractory through hot air acting as a carrier and causing reaction. As it was considered as the major problem in the reheating furnace, an elaborate work was done on providing a viable solution which entails study of effect of addition of silicon carbide in alumina based refractory mix.