Novel Porous Refractory Synthesized from Diatomaceous Earth and Rice Husk Ash

Abstract

Refractory materials are products used in thermal equipment to protect the fire and prevent heat loss to the outside environment. Thermal equipment such as driers, ceramic kilns, glass or metal furnaces and others always consume high heat in the combustion of the fuel. If the thermal equipments have high heat loss which cause wastes of fuel and increases production costs. Therefore, researchers are always looking for a solution to minimize heat loss for the kiln. In which, refractory materials significantly influence to the heat loss of the kiln and they have been studied a lot in recent years.This study focused on utilization of locally available raw materials to product the novel porous refractory composites. The products have  high porosity based on chosing the suitable raw materials and forming process. The refractory has high porosity and low thermal conductivity reponded to requirements of saving energy for the thermal equipments. More important, the novel porous refractory products have high shape stability when observed by heating microscope in a range of room temperature to over 1400^oC.