One of the “weaknesses” of alumina-silica brick is their potential for reaction
with basic slag or other corrosives to form melted phases or liquid at relatively
low temperatures. The reaction potential can be illustrated by considering the reaction products expected for alumina-silica brick in the presence of lime (CaO)
(Table 13).
Strictly speaking, the information in Table 13 should be viewed as a
“guideline” because actual melting may occur at lower temperatures than indicated
by the melting points of the compound. Actual melting occurs on heating
at the lowest eutectic point in the system, as revealed on multicomponent
phase equilibrium diagrams. More information on how to estimate these initial
melting temperatures is given in Chapter 3. Nevertheless, the information indicates
that low-temperature melting is expected in the presence of certain corrosive
materials.
One example is the situation where a basic slag (containing CaO) is in
contact with a fireclay brick. In this situation, one might expect liquid formation
near the melting point of anorthite (15538C) or melilite (12808C). In fact,
melting actually is seen at about 11708C. This only illustrates that lime (CaO)
is a powerful flux on fireclay brick. It is true that as the Al2O3 content of the
brick increases, the relationships with CaO change. For example, lime in contact
with a 60% Al2O3 brick would be expected to form gehlenite (melts at 15938C), but lime-silica mixtures (slags) would still form lower melting liquids even with
60% Al2O3 brick.
This limited discussion only points to the well-known fact that basic slags/
minerals react with neutral to slightly acidic Al2O3–SiO2 brick, resulting in corrosive
wear of the refractory. The rate of the reaction differs among classes of
brick, with the higher Al2O3 brick usually exhibiting the slowest corrosion
rates at elevated temperatures.
It is interesting that alumina-silica bricks are attacked by acids in chemical
applications at room temperature. For example, 70% Al2O3 bricks have been
known to exhibit service of only several weeks in hot hydrochloric and sulfuric
acids. “Acid-proof” bricks are commonly used in chemical service, and these
bricks last longest if they exhibit extremely low apparent porosities and if their
composition exhibits extremely low alkalis. Alkali phases form glasses in manufacturing
that are more readily soluble in acid media, so the bond phase in acidproof
brick must contain higher alumina content and lower alkali content.