Brazilian Refractory Grade Bauxite: A New Alternative to Refractories Makers and Users.

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
14-031	André Luis Pereira	Pereira, A.L.(Mineração Curimbaba); dos Reis, M.A.(Mineração Curimbaba); Ferreira, L.L.(Grupo Curimbaba); Nakachima, P.M.(Mineração Curimbaba);	Bauxite ores present a wide range of technological applications according to their chemical and mineralogical compositions. In the refractory industry, this raw material has been used in high-alumina refractories, substituting partially or totally other alumina sources in bricks and castables due to its high refractoriness and relatively low cost. The increased cost of other sources of high-alumina raw materials has encouraged the refractory producers to find a more cost-effective substitute, such as refractory grade calcined bauxites. Nowadays, there are few refractory grade bauxite (RGB) mines spread out worldwide with remarkable presence of manufacturers in China, which accounts for over 85% of the total production, Russia, Guiana and India. For these reasons, concerns over the availability of calcined RGB supply in the industry are remarkable in the refractory market. This work presents a new Calcined RGB from a Brazilian source in which the processing and the quality of the raw materials leaded to outstanding properties. The characterization of this Calcined RGB reveals a high alumina content (~85%), high refractoriness (>1800°C), high density (low porosity) and homogeneity of grains which are mainly constituted by corundum and mullite as major crystalline phases with iron retained mainly as solid solution. It is important to mention the absence of titanium phases and low amounts of alkaline oxides (< 0.5%) culminating in good performance at high temperatures.
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