Drying of refractory lining – NK-Teplokhimmontazh Holding
22.01.2018

Drying of refractory lining

Drying and primary lining heating of  thermal generating aggregates after capital construction or repair  is one of the plant’s kind of work. This is a very important phase, so lining stability largely depends on correct and technically competent execution of the work and there are many operators who underestimate it.

As is known, lining of  thermal generating units contains water that enters it during the manufacture of materials or during their storage and installation. For example, ramming refractories have moisture around 5-9 %, traditional compact refractory materials (with a cement content 25-30%) have moisture 10-12% during installation and low cement castable – 5-7 % and lower. Refractory brick lining also consists a fairly large amount of water that enters with the grout used as well as that absorbed by the brick through the pores from the atmosphere.  Considering  this, it is not difficult to imagine how much water is contained in a lining with a mass of several hundred tons.

It is known that drying is the removal of free (physical) and chemically bound moisture from the refractory materials. This process should be slow enough  to ensure the gradual  removal of water without the risks of  cracks and destruction of the lining. The establishment of an optimal drying and heating program becomes a special task, which is solved by NK-Teplokhimmontazh in cooperation with the manufacturer of used lining materials.