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Table 26-40. ASTM Classification of Pire-clay Brick and Alumina-Diaspore

Fire-clay Brick

Fire-clay brick

Super-duty class

PCE not below 33

Linear shrinkage in standard reheat teat at 2910F not over 1.0 %

Loss in panel-spalling test after 3000F preheat: not over 4.0 %

High-duty class

PCE not below 311/2, or

Deformation in standard load teat at 2460F: not over 1.5%

Intermediate-duty class

PCE not below 29, or

Deformation in standard load test at 2460F: not over 3.0%

Low-duty class

PCE not below 19

Alumina-diaspore fire-clay brick

50 % alumina class

PCE not below 34

Alumina content: 50 2.5%

60% alumina class

PCE not below 35

Alumina content: 60 2.5%

70% alumina class

PCE not below 36

Alumina content: 70 2.5%

Table 25-41. Insulating fire Brick

Standard Classification of Insulating Fire Brick (ASTM C155)

Group identification * Linear reheat change not Bulk density , lb per cuft ,
more than 2% when tested not greater than
at

Group 16. 1550 F 34

Group 20. 1950 F 40

Group 23 2250 F 48

Group 26 2550 F 52

Group 28 . 2750 F 60

* The group identification number, multiplied by 100, represents the maximum

temperature to which the brick may be exposed at their hotter faces in service. Thus
brick of Group 16, for example, may be used at temperatures up to 1600F.
FURNACE CONSTRUCTION

Concrete Foundations. Concrete foundations of furnaces in many instances are

subjected to temperatures up to 500F or even higher. Under average conditions,
concrete made with ordinary portland cement can be used safely for furnace
foundations up to a temperature of about 700F. Refractory concrete made of
castable material can be used safely at temperatures which would cause portland-
cement concrete to disintegrate. In general, standard castables may be used up to
2400F and super-castables up to 2700F, within their load limits.

For high-temperature furnace operation it is often advisable to ventilate the

concrete foundation. This may be done by designing the furnace so that it rests on
plates or girders or on low brick piers between which air can circulate. Sometimes
cross flues for ventilation are formed in the top of the concrete foundation itself.
Another means of ventilation is to embed in the foundation pipes 3 in. in diameter or
larger, which are kept open to the air.

Furnace Hearths: Most furnace hearths are built of refractory brick or of brick
covered by a relatively thin layer of monolithic material. Other furnace hearths have
subbottoms and exterior walls built of brick, with working bottoms composed entirely
of burned-in dead-burned magnesite or of monolithic-refractory ramming mixtures.

Conditions which may affect the durability of hearths are penetration by slag,
floating of the brick by liquid pressure, and abrasion and loosening by movement of

2574 BRICK, STRUCTURAL CLAY PRODUCTS, AND REFRACTO1UES

Table 25-42. ASTM Standards Relating to Refractory Materials

Specifications

Numerical

Identification

C64 Refractories for heavy-duty stationary-boiler service

C 153 Refractories for moderate-duty stationary-boiler service

C 176 Fire-clay plastic refractories for boiler and incinerator services

C 178 Air-setting refractory mortars (wet type) for boiler and incinerator
services

C 213 Fire-clay-base castable refractories for boiler furnaces and incinerators

C 106 Refractories for incinerators

C63 Refractories for malleable iron furnaces with removable bungs and for
annealing ovens

C105 Ground fire clay as a mortar for Iaying up fire-clay brick

Classifications

C27 Fire-.clay refractories

C155 Insulating fire brick

Methods of Testing

Specifically for fire-clay refractory brick

C202 Thermal conductivity of fire-clay refractories

C38 Basic procedure in panel-spalling test for refractory brick

C107 Panel-spalling test for high-duty fire-clay brick

C122 Panel-spalling test for super-duty fire-clay brick

Specifically for mortar and for fire-clay plastic and castable refractories

C180 Panel-spalling test for fire-clay plastic refractories

C179 Drying and firing shrinkage, combined, of fire-clay plastic refractories

C181 Workability index of fire-clay plastic refractories

C198 Bonding strength of air-setting refractory mortar (wet type)

C199 Refractoriness of air-setting refractory mortar (wet type)

C268 Modulus of rupture of castable refractories (tentative)

C269 Permanent linear change on firing of castable refractories (tentative)

Specifically for insulating fire brick

C182 Thermal conductivity of insulating fire brick

C93 Crushing strength and modulus of rupture of insulating fire brick at room
temperature

C210 Reheat change of insulating fire brick

Applicable to various types of refractory materials

C16 Testing refractory brick under load at high temperatures

C24 Pyrometric-cone equivalent (PCE) of refractory materials

C201 Thermal conductivity of refractories

C 113 Reheat change of refractory brick

C133 CoId crushing strength and modulus of rupture of refractory brick and
shapes

C134 Size and bulk density of refractory brick

C154 Warpage of refractory brick and tile

C20 Porosity (apparent), water absorption, apparent specific gravity, and bulk
density of burned refractory brick

C135 True specific gravity of refractory materials

C92 Sieve analysis and water content of refractory materials

C18 Chemical analysis of refractory materials

Definitions
C71 Refractories, terms relating to

C108 heat transmission, symbols for

The charge over the hearth: Hearths of large furnaces resting directly on concrete
foundations may be ventilated by means of open cross flues located in the lowest
courses of the brickwork.

Bonding of Refractory Walls: The building of furnaces ja a specialized branch of

masonry and should be entrusted only to bricklayers who have had experience in
furnace construction.

The horizontal layers of brick in a wall are called courses. Those in which the
lengths of the brick are parallel to the face of the wall are known as stretchers,
and those in which the lengths of the brick are at right angles to the face of the wall
are termed headers. Header courses on the hot face of a wall are likely to spall less
than stretchers on account of the smaller area of the exposed sections. However,