Refractories for the Basic Oxygen process of Steelmaking in India

It has been decided that in future only the basic oxygen process of steelmaking will be adopted in India, in keeping with similar trend in other countries. In our country we are already having two plants where steelmaking by basic oxygen process followed. The experience of tar-bonded dolomite brick lining manufactured in captive plants is not satisfactory. An average lining life of about 150/200 heats only is obtained with a refractories consumption of 15 to 22kg. of tar-bonded dolomite bricks per tonne of steel produced. The poor lining life is generally ascribed to the rather impure high-flux content raw dolomite used though others factors viz., higher silicon content in hot metal, reactivity of lime and or dolomite used as flux, delay in steelmaking, lack of proper gunning maintenance, etc. are least partially responsible.