堵泥為高爐煉鐵製程中之不定形耐火材料，其功能為出鐵水結束時封住出鐵口，阻止鐵水爐渣繼續流出，並保護出鐵口通道附近爐襯碳磚。當堵泥受熱超過400℃而造成內裂，其負面影響包括(1) 使堵泥與碳磚間結合力減弱，(2) 出鐵水時造成鐵水噴濺以及(3) 降低堵泥保護碳磚遭鐵水爐渣侵蝕之能力。本研究以三和堵泥及JFE堵泥分別與碳磚在還原環境中，於1200~1500℃下行燒結反應，以探討出鐵口內可能產生之礦物相轉變，及其與堵泥—碳磚結合力之相關性。燒結後以應力測試量測堵泥與碳磚之結合力。測試結果顯示JFE堵泥與碳磚之結合力明顯優於三和堵泥與碳磚。以XRD及SEM-EDS分析堵泥與碳磚中骨材之礦物相成分變化與顯微結構特徵。分析結果顯示僅在三和堵泥中出現之聚合體(aggregate, grain size > 300 μm)骨材為藍晶石與碳化矽，僅在JFE堵泥中之聚合體為莫來石聚集體、以二氧化矽結合碳化矽顆粒群集及以氮化矽結合碳化矽顆粒群集，就基質相(matrix phase, grain size < 300 μm)而言，僅出現在三和堵泥為鋯石英、二氧化鈦及氧化鋁微粉(約10 μm)，JFE堵泥基質相中氮化矽鐵含量多於三和堵泥。
堵泥中裂隙主要存在於基質相，並分佈於黏結劑(煤焦油)碳化後之碳物質，且裂隙會沿著大顆粒骨材邊緣生長，說明大顆粒骨材與基質相間結合力較弱，而基質相相對於骨材較脆弱，故強化較脆弱之基質相可以提升堵泥整體結構強度。
堵泥與碳磚反應溫度達1500℃時，堵泥之二氧化矽微粉與碳磚之石墨反應生成β-碳化矽於石墨邊緣，使堵泥與碳磚結合性增強，此結果亦反映於應力測試中二種堵泥之1500℃實驗組抗應力皆優於1200℃實驗組。欲增強堵泥與碳磚間之結合性可朝此方向改良，例如，增加二氧化矽微粉含量或將二氧化矽超微粉化以加速反應。

Taphole muds are unshaped refractories for sealing the tapholes at the end of cast in blast furnaces for steel making. They also protect carbon bricks around the taphole channels from being eroded by iron melt. However, the taphole muds crack when heated to temperatures above 400C. The negative impacts include (1) weakening the bonding between taphole mud and carbon bricks, (2) causing splash of iron melt during the outflow of iron melt, and (3) lowering the durability of taphole muds on protecting carbon bricks. This study reports mineral characteristics of two taphole muds, Sunward and JFE. The taphole muds were then subjected to interaction with carbon bricks to address distribution of cracks in the heated taphole muds and to infer mechanisms for bonding taphole muds and carbon bricks.
Sunward and JFE taphole muds were sintered with carbon bricks at 1200℃ and 1500℃ under reduction condition for 3 hours. The products were measured for stress load between taphole mud and carbon bricks. The results show that the JFE taphole mud is superior to the Sunward mud in terms of bonding with carbon bricks. Constituent phases and microstructures of the taphole muds and carbon bricks were analyzed using XRD and SEM-EDS. The results show that kyanite and SiC aggregates (grain size > 300 m) only occur in the Sunward taphole mud, while the JFE taphole mud is characterized by aggregates of mullite, SiO2-bonded SiC, and Si3N4-bonded SiC. The distinctive features in matrix phases (grain size < 300 μm) include the occurrence of zircon, TiO2 and fine-grained Al2O3 (~10 μm) in the Sunward tophole mud and more Si3N4-Fe in the JFE than in the Sunward mud.
Most cracks occurred in matrix, distributing over the carbonaceous materials formed from binder (coal tar) after carbonization. Apparently, the cracks grew along the interface between aggregates and matrix. Matrix phases are considered to be the weak part of the whole bulk. Strengthening matrix phases could increase the durability of taphole muds.
Along the taphole mud-carbon brick interface sintered at 1500℃, it is observed that fine SiO2 grains in taphole reacted with graphite in carbon bricks to form β-SiC, which might strengthen the interface bonding. This inference is consistent with the results from stress load test that showed stronger interface bonding at 1500℃ than at 1200℃. These results imply that the bonding between taphole mud and carbon brick can be strengthened by increasing the amount of fine-grained SiO2 in taphole muds and/or reducing the size of matrix SiO2 grains to facilitate the reaction for forming β-SiC, the predicted bonding phase.

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