Refractory material is any material that has an unusually high melting point and that maintains its structural properties at very high temperatures. Composed principally of ceramics, refractories are employed in great quantities in the metallurgical, glassmaking, and ceramics industries, where they are formed into a variety of shapes to line the interiors of furnaces, kilns, and other devices that process materials at high temperatures.

The most common refractory materials as below:

1. High-Temperature 90% Alumina Refractory Castables Cement (Service Temperature 1750-1810 degrees)
2. Medium-Temperature 60% Alumina Refractory Castables Cement (Service Temperature 1600)
3. Refractory Mortar 90K
4. Refractory Fire Bricks 230*115*75mm both 40% Alumina and 70% Alumina
5. FONDU Cement
6. Zircon Refractories
7. Insulating Cement BLACKYT (Paste Form) for joining insulating bricks
8. Insulating Cement BLACKYT (Powder Form)
9. Binder Cement (ACCOSET) for joining fire bricks
10. Chrome Magnesite Bricks
11. Chrome Magnesite Cement
12. Insulating Bricks
13. Taper Bricks – Side Arch; End Arch
14. Hearth Blocks – 600*300*115mm
15. All Consumables for Continuous Casting Machine
16. Silicon Manganese 60/14
17. Acid Resistant Tiles & Mortar – For Pickling Plants (Acid wash)
18. Heat Resistant Adhesives
19. Heat Resistant Sealants/ Silicone

The purpose of a refractory material is to withstand the high temperatures required in furnaces, kilns, incinerators, power plants etc without contaminating other materials and to conserve heat in the area where it is needed.

13 Types Of Refractory Materials And Their Applications 

1. Fired Refractory Products

Fired refractory products are refractory materials obtained by kneading, molding, drying and high-temperature firing of granular and powdery refractory raw materials and binders. 

2. Non-Fired Refractory Products

Non-fired refractory products are refractory materials that are made of granular, powdered refractory materials and suitable binders but are directly used without being fired.

3. Special Refractory 

Special refractory is a kind of refractory material with special properties made of one or more of high melting point oxides, refractory non-oxides and carbon.

4. Monolithic Refractory (Bulk Refractory Or Refractory Concrete)

Monolithic refractories refer to refractory materials with a reasonable gradation of granular, powdery refractory raw materials, binders, and various admixtures that are not fired at high temperatures, and are used directly after mixing, molding and grilling material.

5. Functional Refractory Materials

Functional refractory materials are fired or non-fired refractory materials that are mixed with granulated and powdered refractory raw materials and binders to form a certain shape and have specific smelting applications.

6. Clay Bricks

Clay bricks are aluminum silicate refractory materials composed of mullite, glass phase, and cristobalite with an AL203 content of 30% to 48%.

Applications of Clay Bricks 

Clay bricks are a widely used refractory material. They are often used in masonry blast furnaces, hot blast stoves, glass kilns, rotary kilns, etc.

7. High Alumina Bricks

High alumina bricks refer to refractory materials with an AL3 content of more than 48%, mainly composed of corundum, mullite, and glass.

Applications of High Alumina Bricks

It is mainly used in the metallurgy industry to build the plug and nozzle of a blast furnace, hot air furnace, electric furnace roof, steel drum, and pouring system, etc.

8. Silicon Bricks  

The Si02 content of silicon brick is more than 93%, which is mainly composed of phosphor quartz, cristobalite, residual quartz, and glass.

Applications of Silicon Bricks

Silicon bricks are mainly used to build the partition walls of the coking oven carbonization and combustion chambers, open-hearth heat storage chambers, high-temperature bearing parts of hot blast stoves, and vaults of other high-temperature kilns.

9. Magnesium Bricks

Magnesium bricks are alkaline refractory materials made from sintered magnesia or fused magnesia as raw materials, which are press-molded and sintered.

Applications of Magnesium Bricks

Magnesium bricks are mainly used in open-hearth furnaces, electric furnaces, and mixed iron furnaces.

10. Corundum Bricks

Corundum brick refers to refractory with alumina content ≥90% and corundum as the main phase.

Applications of Corundum Bricks

Corundum bricks are mainly used in blast furnaces, hot blast stoves, refining outside the furnace, and sliding nozzles.

11. Ramming Material 

The ramming material refers to a bulk material formed by a strong ramming method, which is composed of a certain size of refractory material, a binder, and an additive.

Applications of Ramming Material 

The ramming material is mainly used for the overall lining of various industrial furnaces, such as open-hearth furnace bottom, electric furnace bottom, induction furnace lining, ladle lining, tapping trough, etc.

12. Plastic Refractory 

Plastic refractories are amorphous refractory materials that have good plasticity over a long period of time. It is composed of a certain grade of refractory, binder, plasticizer, water and admixture.

Applications of Plastic Refractory

It can be used in various heating furnaces, soaking furnaces, annealing furnaces, and sintering furnaces. 

13. Casting Material

The casting material is a kind of refractory with good fluidity, suitable for pouring molding. It is a mixture of aggregate, powder, cement, admixture and so on.

Applications of Casting Material

The casting material is mostly used in various industrial furnaces. It is the most widely used monolithic refractory material.


More information

Dense refractories are heavy with low porosity but high mechanical strength. Insulating refractories have a higher porosity making them less dense and with low thermal conductivity. This increases efficiency and reduces the amount of energy required for the process at hand.

The most common form of dense refractories is firebricks. Made from hydrated aluminum silicates with small amounts of other elements, they are versatile and relatively cheap. Firebricks with a higher alumina content are able to perform at higher temperatures. Refractories with an alumina content of 99% are known as corundum and are used in processes at over 1500°C such as pouring steel, glassmaking, ash melting, incineration, and molds for casting superalloys.

Zirconium silicate is the principal ingredient of zircon refractories which are extremely strong up to temperatures over 1750°C. They are used to build furnaces and kilns, to make crucibles in the metallurgical industries because they do not react with liquid metals and in glass furnaces because they are not wetted by the molten glass.

Monolithic refractories are supplied in the unshaped form to be cast, rammed, or gunned into place on site. Casting refractories are also known as refractory concretes and contain high alumina cement. They are used in the iron and steel industries in kiln cars, boilers and to cover the floor, doors, walls, and other surface areas where high-temperature processes take place. Insulating castables contain lightweight aggregates such as vermiculite. They are weaker than standard castables.

Plastic refractories are supplied in clay-like blocks which can be cut to size and rammed into place. They are designed for repairs to brick or monolithic linings and are also used in ladles and launders.

Insulation firebricks are made from fireclays with added alumina, for its refractory properties, and organic filler which burns away during firing to leave a lightweight and porous brick. Bricks are graded according to the temperature level they can withstand and are used for lining furnaces and kilns or as secondary insulation, flue linings, in soaking pits, and reactor chambers, among others.

Refractory ceramic fiber, also known as alumina silicate wool, is a form of high-temperature insulation wool. Spun from a mix of melted aluminum dioxide and silicon dioxide, the fibers are made into blankets, paper, rope, board, and block modulesLightweight with low thermal conductivity and excellent thermal shock resistance, ceramic fiber products are used for insulation in boilers and kilns, on kiln cars, in the crowns of glass furnaces and around expansion joints, to create seals around furnace doors, and as lining for reforming and pyrolysis in the petrochemical industry.

  1. REFRACTORY CASTABLES

Castable refractory products are non-metallic materials that have chemical and physical properties used for creating heat-resistant structures that retain and insulate. Due to their high resistance to heat and thermal shock, you can use castable refractory cements and other products to build kilns and furnaces. Refractory castables can be used to create the monolithic linings within all types of furnaces and kilns. They can be further classified into the following sub-categories: conventional, low iron, low cement, and insulating for installation either by gunning or manually. There is a wide variety of raw materials that refractory castables are derived from, including chamotte, andalusite, bauxite, mullite, corundum, tabular alumina, silicon carbide, and both perlite and vermiculite can be used for insulation purposes.

  • CONVENTIONAL DENSE REFRACTORIES

Conventional dense castables are created with high alumina cement, and can withstand temperatures from 1300oC to 1800oC. These refractory castables are great for common furnace applications, burner blocks, speciality muffle furnaces and boiler work. Resistance is a key quality that varies with the choice of materials, resulting in abrasion, thermal shock and slag attack. Casting and gunning techniques are the method of installing the materials. For the ease of castable placement, gunning materials and water are combined together at the gunning equipment’s nozzle. This is a great method of placement for bulk materials, in cases when circumstances make formwork overly time consuming or simply impractical. In general, the method of installation will depend on cost and accessibility.

  • INSULATING 

Another product that we supply is the castable refractories that are low density. These insulating castables pose very low thermal conductivity and are utilized for either high temperature face work or when used for a backup lining, which is found behind dense castables or brick work. Here, the insulating castables are able to decrease the lining’s overall density or the cold face temperature. Their strength, which ranges from low to medium, is based on the fact that their density is low and is the main reason that they are not resistant to abrasion. They are most suitable where they do not have to stand up to much wear and tear.

  • LOW CEMENT

This type of refractory castable is prepared with a lower amount of cement than the standard dense castable is normally created with. Low cement castable refractories fluctuate in alumina content, which provides exceptional physical properties, including low porosity, great abrasion properties and high vigour. These products will commonly necessitate installation that is controlled, however, the big advantage of low cement castables is that they are easily pumped into position, and some may not require vibration, because they are free flowing.

  1. Refractory Cement / Mortars

Refractory cement is used for building brick or stone fireplaces, barbecues or other installations which are subjected to intense heat. While refractory cement is similar to standard cement in how it is mixed, it differs significantly from standard cement in the use of one ingredient. Rather than using Portland cement for a cementing agent in the mixture, refractory cement uses a compound called calcium aluminate instead. This provides the heat-resistant properties needed.

Refractory mortar is a specially engineered mixture of sand, calcium aluminate, cement, and fireclay. It is used to lay firebrick in places that are exposed to extremely high temperature. The refractory mortar is utilized only to build fire places and shall not be applied on hot faces.

Mortar, which is a mixture of water, cement, and sand, has a higher water-to cement ratio than concrete. It has a thicker consistency which makes it a great adhesive and bonding agent for bricks and tiles. Mortar mix can be used for construction and repair of brick, block, and stone for barbecues, pillars, walls, tuck-pointing mortar joints, and planters.

  1. Refractory fire bricks

A fire brick is a block of refractory ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. A refractory brick is designed mainly to withstand high heat, but should also usually have a low thermal conductivity to save energy. Usually dense bricks are used in applications with extreme mechanical, chemical, or thermal stresses, such as the inside of a wood-fired kiln or a furnace, which is subject to abrasion from wood, fluxing from ash or slag, and high temperatures. Dense refractory bricks have a high thermal mass which is sometimes a useful property in that they will retain heat eg in a pizza oven after the fire has been taken out. Kiln bricks are made by firing a clay based composition in the kiln until it is partly vitrified, and for special purposes may also be glazed. Refractory bricks usually contain 30-40% alumina and the primary raw material is usually chamotte with other materials. The maximum service temperature increases with increasing alumina content and kiln bricks can be obtained with an alumina content of 80% and above.

Less dense refractory bricks (Insulating Fire Bricks)

In other, less harsh situations, such as a natural gas fired kiln, more porous bricks are a better choice, usually referred to as Insulation Bricks. They are weaker, but they are much lighter, easier to form, and insulate far better than dense bricks. In this case they have a low thermal mass and so cannot be used to store heat. Insulation bricks have a better thermal shock resistance than dense firebricks but the main disadvantage is their low strength. The insulation property of these bricks usually comes from perlite or vermiculite. As with the dense refractory bricks there is a range of grades corresponding to different maximum service temperatures. The most common is Grade 23 – 1260oC.

  1. Zircon Refractories

Zirconia refractories useful as high temperature construction materials for furnaces and kilns because of its very high strength at room temperature. The thermal conductivity of zirconia refractories is much lower than most of other refractories, because of that it is used as a high temperature insulating refractory. Since it is not easily wetted by molten glass and because of its low reaction with molten glass, Zirconia refractories are one of the main refractory material for glass furnaces.

Zircon Refractory Bricks

Zircon Refractory Bricks are produced from natural zircon. Their main advantages are good slagging resistance, high load softening temperature, high performance to wear and good thermal shock stability. Zircon Refractory Bricks are mainly used for;

  • Melting pools of Glass furnaces
  • Regenerative chambers of Glass furnaces
  • Solution erosion area in chemical industry furnaces
  • Metallurgy kilns

Zircon bricks are mainly used in the glass industry.  They are installed as lining for working ends and feeder channels in melting tanks.

Consequently, zircon refractories are only installed in the lower bottom courses of the melting tank with lower temperatures if soda – lime glass is being produced.

In addition, zircon refractories have an important function as separation layer between silica and fusion cast materials in order to prevent contact reactions.

In the glass industry bricks out of zircon and corundum are installed occasionally. Such bricks have higher corrosion resistance against glass than pure zircon and are also installed in glass contact areas or in the superstructure of glass melting tanks.

The Zircon – corundum materials are also advantageous for hot repair work due to their more favorable thermal shock resistance in comparison to the fusion cast materials usually installed.

Refractory mixes on a corundum –zircon base are often installed in bottoms of glass melting tanks as a monolithic bottom layer for the upper paving course out of fusion cast bottom plates.

Zircon bricks has a very high melting point of 2700˚C. Zircon bricks is a highly refractory material with good resistance to corrosion.