Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Re-Cycled Waste Refractory Brick

Abstract

Misrata Iron and Steel Complex waste brick used in this study was subjected to cleaning and crushing to granules of 30 mm size. The resultant granules were hammer milled to powder particles of an average size of 1 mm and then sieved to give coarse + 0.355 mm waste powder. A high energy ball mill was used to convert this waste powder to nano-crystalline powder with a crystallite size in the range from 45 to 51 mm. The present work involved the preparation of three powder batches with each batch composed of nano–crystalline powder, +0.355 mm waste brick powder, and Sebha Kaolin clay powder of 75 microns particle size. These batches were pressed, dried at a temperature of 110°C, and finally sintered at 1000, 1300, and 1500°C. The obtained results revealed the presence of a molten glassy phase at the sintering temperature of 1500 °C. This had a weakening effect on the mechanical properties and hence limited the maximum working temperature of the produced bricks to 1300°C.