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[February 2002]
Refractory Concrete Still Popular
Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich (Hardheim, Germany) recently took part in events held in Prague, Czech Republic and Cancun, Mexico and reports positive feedback on the refractory concrete front. Eirich, in addition to a well known range of machinery for processing ceramics, also plans complete refractory concrete production plants for customers located in Germany and other countries.Refractory concrete compositions are, says Eirich, becoming increasingly complex. Conventional mixers are no longer sufficient when it comes to blending in small quantities of additives with the necessary degree of thoroughness. By contrast, it claims, Eirich intensive mixers with their inclined mixing pans are quite capable of producing homogeneous mixes with additive fractions in the ppm range.
Some plants are designed in tower form, some in rows, depending on the customer's specifications. Up to 30 different raw materials are processed. A pneumatic cleaning system greatly reduces the manual cleaning work otherwise required when changing from one product type to another.
The trend to unmoulded products is also evident in other sectors of the refractory business, notes the company.
Orders for mixers and mixing plants for brick moulding materials continue to dominate. Often, customers want to replace equipment in facilities that have been in operation for 30 and more years and which are now being upgraded to machines of greater efficiency. At the same time, there are regular enquiries and orders for new plants designed to produce high grade MgO-C bricks or tap hole compounds.
These traditional Eirich markets are being joined by more and more enquires and orders for mixing plants for the tempering of refractory concrete. Tempering in an Eirich mixer, explains the company, requires less water and results therefore in a lower degree of open porosity and gives higher strength. With the pores being the most frequent avenue for wear, finished elements produced with material from an Eirich mixer turn out to be of higher quality.
Plant construction orders from German and international customers are in the process of completion and should come on-stream in the course of 2002.
ENDS