Permeability of refractory castables at high temperatures

Temperature is an important factor affectng the permeation of fluids in refractory castables. Because of experimental difficulties, however, permeability parameters are usually obtained at room temperature and then extrapolated to the temperature of interest, with no concern regarding porous structure modification (thermal expansion, etc.). In this work, an apparatus has been developed to evaluate the air-flow permeability of refractory castables at temperatures up to 800 degreesC. The objective is to investigate modifications in the permeability constants obtained by Forchheimer's equation to provide a more realistic relationship with castable processing and molten-metal corrosion parameters.