Refractories for Coke Oven Wall – Operator’s Perspective

After a successful campaign of more than 40 years, the walls of Coke Plant 2 of Tata IJmuiden are being replaced. Our paper addresses the issues of the selection and sourcing of the refractory materials for the new walls. Material properties formalised in the specification are reviewed. Those are compared with the properties of alternative silica refractories available on the market. Both conventional silica bricks and relatively new fused silica blocks are evaluated. The discussion is based on thermo-physical data obtained in-house and from plant experience. It is argued that, due to specific lining design and material properties, the coke oven wall refractories are not off-the shelf products that can be sourced on a short notice from any supplier. An extensive pre-order effort is mandatory before the acceptable material and supplier are selected and the order is placed.