"Industrial Waste Resources Will Become the New Normal"
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“Industrial Waste Resources Will Become the New Normal” In this Refractories Special Edition of Interceram, we turned to industrial minerals and markets specialist Mike O’Driscoll of IMFORMED – Industrial Mineral Forums & Research, to sound him out on refractory materials matters – particularly as they apply to the European industry. We were interested to interview him to see what he had to say about critical minerals, the supply chain, potential changes in the future, and the role of recycling. Read his perspective below.
Interceram: Which do you regard as the critical raw materials for today’s European refractories industry? Mike O’Driscoll: Refractory minerals maybe termed the ‘DNA of refractories’, since without them refractories cannot be manufactured, nor perform to their desired requirements, thus directly impacting production of steel, non-ferrous metals, glass, cement, ceramics, lime, etc. At least 25 different types of industrial minerals are used in refractory manufacture and some of the main types are listed in Table 1. It has been estimated that some 35m tpa of refractory minerals are consumed worldwide, with the leading minerals (by volume consumed) being fireclay (46 %), magnesia (26 %), bauxite (4 %), speciality aluminas (4 %), brown fused alumina (3 %), and dolomite (3 %) (see Figure 1). Each refractory product can have its own ‘critical’ raw material, such as insulation refractories need perlite or vermiculite, while specialist high resistance components need zircon or silicon carbide. However, in the main, for today’s European refractories industry, the classic refractory categories of acidic refractories require aluminas (fused, calcined, tabular), bauxite, andalusite, refractory clays (kaolins, chamotte) and silica; basic refractories require graphite, magnesia (fused, dead burned), dolomite, chromite, and spinel; speciality refractories require zircon, silicon carbide. There is also increasing development and use of ‘synthetic’ refractory raw materials such as spinels, high purity sintered
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bauxites and aluminas, and increasing use of lime- and silica- enriched formulas. The drivers for this trend include not only rising demand for higher purity and higher performance products (triggered by demand for high performance steels), but also to diversify refractory raw material consumption as sources and production of natural traditional refractory mineral grades either dwindle or become inconsistent in supply and quality availability. The criticality factor for refractory raw materials is very much influenced by their source, and recent events have now shaped changes in mineral sourcing and use. Where are the main sources for these materials? Do you see any of the imports or sup-
ply lines being compromised in the shortto medium-term? The table of refractory mineral types (Table 1) also indicates the primary source country for each mineral. With the exception of silica, and perhaps refractory clays to some extent, both of which can generally be sourced close to most refractory producing cent
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