Challenged by globally advocating environmental preservation and low carbon economy, it is imperative to develop «green refractories», as an important strategy in favor of present and future sustainable development of refractories industry, also contributive for refractory consuming industries to meet the challenge of green manufacturing.

Concepts and countermeasure for implementing «green refractories» strategy are suggested, concentrating on making efforts in the development and enlarged adoption of monolithic refractories, resource conservation refractories. Particular technical approaches and suggestions are given to promote achieving such targets. To this connection, recent practices and developing trends at home an abroad have also been introduced.

More information. Download .PDF

Exposed to the Sahara desert climate, a new cement plant has been taking shape some 40Km north of Biskra, Algeria. In the hot aird summer with temperatures reaching 49.4ºC and an annual rainfall of less than 100mm, the construction of the Algeria Spa CILAS cement works presented its own challenges, but a flexible approach by main contractor CBMI contributed to the successful completion of the project.

More information. Download .PDF

In any review of the development and use of refractories in a major process industry it may be useful to consider how and perhaps why the current technology has developed as it has done.

Cement is an ancient and very basic commodity, which is today manufactured by modern processes and equipment sometimes by very new companies albeit some of these current organisations having been originally founded under entirely other names by different owners. In the last few years, the global cement industry has undergone very significant fundamental changes.

More information. Download .PDF

The US Annual Refractories Meeting, was held at the customary venue, adjancent to the St. Louis, Missouri airport, on 30-31 March 2016. The weather was good and there were blossoms on the Spring trees – and there was no snow. The attendance was 208 this year, compared with 203 in 2015 and 210 (record) in 2014. The roster of attendees included people fron 11 foreign countries. The technical program, which was organized by co-chair, Bill Davis (Harbison Walker Intl.) and Simon Leiderman (U.S. Steel Research & Technology), includes 16 papers.

More information – download .PDF

Refractories World Forum regularly reviews refractories development, production and use under ther banner of «Hot Topics» within which the large scale incineration of industrial wastes certainly has to feature.

It is not only an application which involves the use of generally higher temperatures than those found in MSW (municipal solid waste) incineration but is also often hotly debated by environmental groups, local governments and OEM´s (original equipment manufacturers).

The reason are that current industrial wastes are very diverse and often extremely hazardous to handle and dispose of with complete safety.

In the past a great deal of industrial waste was simply abandoned and created immense health hazard and even ecological desasters. Some form of treatment is therefore not just desirable but absolutely essential to dispose of waste without creating new and potentially worse problems to humans, animals and plant life.

More information. Download .PDF