A novel methodology for evaluating high temperature gas corrosion of oxide-C refractories

A new experimental setup to evaluate the corrosion behavior of oxide-C refractories under gaseous reactive atmospheres is presented. Firstly, the paper focuses on the oxidation by oxygen of MgO–C bricks used in the steelmaking industry. The main innovation of the proposed methodology involves simultaneously monitoring and tracking the variations in the sample’s mass and the concentrations of oxygen surrounding it during the test. In addition, the composition of the reactive atmosphere can be changed by mixing different gases. The main components of the equipment (the thermal control system and the data collector system) as well as the sample’s conditioning, the test itself, and the post-test evaluation are described. As an example of how it can be applied, the proposed methodology is used to test MgO–C and MgO–C–Al bricks in contact with atmospheres with different O2 content at 1000°C. The reliable reproducibility of the test is confirmed, and the obtention of valuable information which has not been previously considered, such as the oxygen consumption, is shown.