Increasing the lining life of arc furnaces for melting of cobalt

Conclusions

Experimental refractory parts and a ramming mixture produced from baddeleyite concentrate have been successfully tested under conditions of the pyrometallurgical processes for production of cobalt.

The chemical composition and microstructure of magnesite and baddeleyite refractories after service in production furnaces for melting of cobalt were investigated.

It is desirable to line these furnaces differentially. The point of maximum wear, the charging hole, is lined with castable refractories, the side walls in the zone of entry of the electrodes with granular baddeleyite mixture-base sintered refractories, and the zone of the journals with monolithic shaped inserts produced from baddeleyite ramming mixture. The remaining portion of the lining must be made of increased density magnesite brick. Such a lining method makes it possible to substantially lengthen the furnace campaign and reduce repair costs, which in general leads to an increase in their productivity.