Ceramic alternatives to proprietary recipes (flirtation with refractory mixes)

SinePari

SinePari

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Oct 24, 2013
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I would like to delve into a little experiment regarding refractory combinations. This past weekend I had a knee-jerk emergency repair of my forge liner. The concoction I utilized not only fixed my issue, but it also improved upon the forges operation along the lines of both gas consumption and radiant heat. I'd used satanite to line my forge before but improper application eventually lead to it's demise, albeit a year after it's original application. Satanite is tuff stuff but I had a little bubbling when I fired my forge forge up, probably still had moisture which caused it... Even so, having it as a liner over an inch of hi-temp kaowool, it never got as hot as it's getting now.

My recipe was kiln cement purchased at a local studio along with Aluminum Oxide calcinate. When I was there purchasing the kiln cement she showed me around her shop inventory and I went across the Glaze section and started reading familiar chemical names... So I picked a bag of the fine mesh AO to mix with the cement... There were plenty of other powders though, which brings me to my purpose and intent of creating this thread.

I'm interested in experimenting with these raw materials in an effort to mimic the proprietary blend of ITC-100... Which reflects IR heat for forge efficiency, seals harmful ceramic fibers, and is almost impenetrable when it comes to corrosive flux. While high AO combinations are well know in the industry for their refractory capabilities I've read that combinations of these raw materials are where it's at. A composition of two or more raw ceramics expound upon their individual capabilities such as higher operating temps, better rigidity over firings, better resistance to corrosive chemical, and increase mechanical resilience to poking and prodding, etc.

Anybody test these waters before? Are there any chemical engineers that could help point me in the right direction?

This thread touched on some possibility, but it kinda fizzled out at the end...

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/13113-just-a-thoughtreflective-refractory/

Further reading suggests that Zirc. and Titanium oxide might yield higher reflective refractory, but I'm still reading into that study and trying to translate the big college words.

Oh and I have, and continue to use proper safety measures when playing around with these materials... If anyone knows of a combination that turns into a harmful cyanide death gas or Willie Pete, let me know immediately... I know the dangers of silica and fiber inhalation...
 
Sounds like you need some space shuttle tiles to scrutinize. The interwebs says that most of the heat (95%) was shed by a black borosilicate coating, and the remaining 5% of generated heat was absorbed by the thick inner silicate. The coating was a mix of two or more silicate compounds, as you suggest.
 
Last edited:
Mecha said:
Sounds like you need some space shuttle tiles to scrutinize. The interwebs says that most of the heat (95%) was shed by a black borosilicate coating, and the remaining 5% of generated heat was absorbed by the thick inner silicate. The coating was a mix of two or more silicate compounds, as you suggest.
Click to expand...

That's another pertinent detail that I've verified running in a few recipes in my reading. That IFI thread mentioned that some of the refractory compounds utilize small amounts of Borax (sodium tetraborate decahydrate) as a binder. Who would have thought some of these compounds were sleeping with the enemy! Everything in moderation I suppose, but nonetheless fascinating.
 
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