Production of Silica-refractory Bricks from White Sand

At present, no refractories are produced in Jordan, but large quantities are imported for use in the lining of furnaces and kilns in the metallurgical industries.The aim of this study is to initiate a program of research for production of silica-refractory bricks from local materials.The raw material, which has been used in this study was white sand. This sand contains less than 0.5% Fe₂O₃ and is therefore suitable for production of glass. The sand used for production of glass is also suitable for production of silica refractory bricks. The method for production of this bricks consists of mixing the white sand with 2.5 CaO (milklime) which acts as a binder and mineraliser in order to convert the free quartz to tridymite and crystobalite.