It is intended to provide a method for forming a brick lining to construct a sidewall of a kiln/furnace, while improving efficiency of brick lining forming work without causing any increase in manufacturing cost of bricks to be used. The brick lining forming method comprises stacking a plurality of tiers of bricks, respectively, on a plurality of tier regions of an inner surface of a hollow approximately cylindrical-shaped peripheral portion of a kiln/furnace to construct a side wall of the kiln/furnace, wherein two or more of the plurality of tier regions are different in terms of pre-lining radius, wherein only bricks identical in terms of taper angle and height dimension are used, except for an adjustment brick, in each of the two or more tier regions different in terms of the pre-lining radius, wherein bricks identical in terms of the taper angle, the height dimension and length dimension, and different in terms of back face width, are used in at least a part of each of the two or more tier regions.

It is intended to provide a method for forming a brick lining to construct a sidewall of a kiln/furnace, while improving efficiency of brick lining forming work without causing any increase in manufacturing cost of bricks to be used. The brick lining forming method comprises stacking a plurality of tiers of bricks, respectively, on a plurality of tier regions of an inner surface of a hollow approximately cylindrical-shaped peripheral portion of a kiln/furnace to construct a side wall of the kiln/furnace, wherein two or more of the plurality of tier regions are different in terms of pre-lining radius, wherein only bricks identical in terms of taper angle and height dimension are used, except for an adjustment brick, in each of the two or more tier regions different in terms of the pre-lining radius, wherein bricks identical in terms of the taper angle, the height dimension and length dimension, and different in terms of back face width, are used in at least a part of each of the two or more tier regions.

A hearth for a metallurgical furnace, in particular for a blast furnace, the hearth including a wall lining and a bottom lining of refractory material for containing a molten metal bath, the bottom lining including a lower region and an upper region that is arranged to cover the top of the lower region and that is built of ceramic elements, the ceramic elements of the upper region being made of microporous ceramic material including a granular phase made of a silico-aluminous high alumina content granular material and a binding phase for binding grains of said granular material, said microporous ceramic material having thus an maintaining permanently a thermal conductivity lower than 7 W/m.° K.

A hearth for a metallurgical furnace, in particular for a blast furnace, the hearth including a wall lining and a bottom lining of refractory material for containing a molten metal bath, the bottom lining including a lower region and an upper region that is arranged to cover the top of the lower region and that is built of ceramic elements, the ceramic elements of the upper region being made of microporous ceramic material including a granular phase made of a silico-aluminous high alumina content granular material and a binding phase for binding grains of said granular material, said microporous ceramic material having thus an maintaining permanently a thermal conductivity lower than 7 W/m.° K.

The furnace of the present invention includes a body of a furnace having a cylindrical shape; a steel shell which is arranged at an inside surface of the furnace; and a lining refractory which is arranged at an inside of the steel shell and includes a plurality of refractory blocks, wherein: each of the refractory blocks includes a hot-face end surface which has a hexagonal shape exposed to a middle of the furnace, and a cold-face end surface which has a hexagonal shape larger than the hot-face end surface, the cold-face end surface being arranged at an outer periphery side of the furnace; the refractory blocks are arranged such that each position of the hot-face end surface is positioned along the radial direction of the furnace at a predetermined reference position; and the refractory blocks are arrayed along the circumferential direction of an inside surface of the steel shell, thereby being stacked in a honeycomb manner.

The furnace of the present invention includes a body of a furnace having a cylindrical shape; a steel shell which is arranged at an inside surface of the furnace; and a lining refractory which is arranged at an inside of the steel shell and includes a plurality of refractory blocks, wherein: each of the refractory blocks includes a hot-face end surface which has a hexagonal shape exposed to a middle of the furnace, and a cold-face end surface which has a hexagonal shape larger than the hot-face end surface, the cold-face end surface being arranged at an outer periphery side of the furnace; the refractory blocks are arranged such that each position of the hot-face end surface is positioned along the radial direction of the furnace at a predetermined reference position; and the refractory blocks are arrayed along the circumferential direction of an inside surface of the steel shell, thereby being stacked in a honeycomb manner.

A smelting vessel includes a plurality of heat pipes (21) positioned in a refractory lining of at least a part of the hearth (9) for cooling at least a part of the refractory lining. At least one of the heat pipes includes (a) a liquid phase of a heat transfer fluid, typically water, in a lower section of the heat pipe and (b) a vapor phase of the heat transfer fluid, typically steam, in an upper section of the heat pipe. The heat pipe also includes a vent to allow vapour phase to escape from the heat pipe to reduce the pressure or the temperature within the heat pipe when the vapour pressure or the temperature in the heat pipe exceeds a predetermined threshold pressure or temperature.

A smelting vessel includes a plurality of heat pipes (21) positioned in a refractory lining of at least a part of the hearth (9) for cooling at least a part of the refractory lining. At least one of the heat pipes includes (a) a liquid phase of a heat transfer fluid, typically water, in a lower section of the heat pipe and (b) a vapor phase of the heat transfer fluid, typically steam, in an upper section of the heat pipe. The heat pipe also includes a vent to allow vapour phase to escape from the heat pipe to reduce the pressure or the temperature within the heat pipe when the vapour pressure or the temperature in the heat pipe exceeds a predetermined threshold pressure or temperature.

A method for monitoring the wear of a refractory lining of a blast furnace using modelling of a part of the blast furnace and thermal field calculation. Computer program allowing to perform such a method.

A device to inject a reducing gas into a shaft furnace includes an external casing whose front face is provided with an outlet for gas injection into the shaft furnace, an internal casing located inside the external casing wherein reducing gas is circulating. The internal casing has an opening matching the gas injection outlet of the front face of the external casing. The front face of the external casing includes an upper and a lower part and the gas injection outlet is in the lower part and inwards from the upper part.