CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE REFRACTORY PROPERTIES OF CLAY BONDED SILICA SAND WITH CASSAVA PEEL POWDER ADDITION

Abstract

The effect of varied contents of cassava peel powder on the refractory properties of clay bonded silica sand was investigated. Elemental compositions of clay and cassava peel powder were carried out using X- ray Fluorescence. Clay bonded silica refractory samples were produced with a constant weight percentage of clay (50%) mixed with varying weight percentages of silica sand (45, 42, 39, 36, 33, 30) and cassava peel powder (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15%) respectively. Thereafter, 5% of water was added to make the mixture plastic and mouldable. The samples were later dried in the open furnace for 110℃ for a `period of 8 hours and fired at 1100℃ for five hours. The mechanical tests of the samples were carried out following the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard. The investigated properties were cold crushing strength, thermal shock resistance, apparent porosity and thermal conductivity. Cold crushing strength values were higher as the composition of cassava peel powder decreased. There was increase in the porosity and thermal shock resistance with increase in the cassava peel contents of the developed refractory bricks. Sample E 12 wt. % cassava powder have better porosity and thermal shock resistance that can be used for refractory application. Thermal conductivity test were found to be maximum at 0.56 W/mK for sample B (3 wt. %) and minimum at 0.13 W/mK for sample F (15 wt. %). When compared with the standard thermal conductivity of ceramic materials (0.5 – 1.5 W/mK), sample B could be used for inner lining while sample F could be used for outer lining of the furnace