Cement

Tabular alumina is a fully sintered, densified alpha alumina produced above 1800 °C without additives. Its coarse hexagonal crystals, very low porosity, outstanding refractoriness and excellent thermal-shock resistance make it the first-choice aggregate for high-performance shaped and monolithic refractories.

Calcined alumina is produced by calcining alumina at controlled temperatures to convert it into the stable alpha phase (5–100 %). With high purity, high thermal conductivity and refractoriness, dimensional stability and excellent abrasion resistance, it is supplied in a range of grain sizes and soda contents.

Reactive alumina has a very fine particle size and high specific surface area, acting as the matrix component of shaped and unshaped refractories. Low open porosity, excellent sintering reactivity, high purity and reduced water demand optimise the performance of low-cement and cement-free castables.

Calcined bauxite is produced by calcining low-iron, low-alkali bauxite at 1600–1800 °C, forming the refractory phases corundum and mullite. With low thermal expansion, excellent creep resistance and good chemical stability, it is among the most important raw materials for refractories in steel, foundry, glass and cement.

As exclusive representative of the VICAL brand, we supply pure calcium aluminate cements in a range of grades. These are the specialist binder for monolithic refractories — castable, self-flowing, shotcrete and gunning — offering rapid hardening, high mechanical strength, excellent high-temperature performance and compatibility with low-cement, ultra-low-cement and pure corundum systems.

Monolithic refractory concretes mixed with water on site and installed by casting, shotcreting or gunning. Because they cure into a joint-free lining, they close the seams through which slag and melt would otherwise penetrate, and they suit complex geometries that brickwork cannot follow.

Lightweight, highly porous firebricks in which the trapped porosity — normally a defect — is the working principle: it blocks heat flow. Used as the back-up layer behind the hot face, they cut shell losses and fuel consumption, and their low thermal mass lets a furnace heat and cool quickly.

Factory-fired shaped refractories with consistent, verified properties. Because the quality is set in the plant rather than on site, they are the safer choice for the highest-wear zones — slag lines and hot faces — where field-installed monolithics are harder to control.

Deflocculants, setting regulators and microfillers dosed in small amounts to control how a castable behaves. They let a mix stay workable at low water content — the single most effective lever on final density, strength and refractoriness.

Chamotte, or calcined fireclay, is produced by calcining refractory clay and serves as the structural aggregate of fireclay bricks and castables. It is supplied in a range of alumina grades (CS and CT series).

Kaolin combines high whiteness with high purity and is the principal raw material for bodies and glazes in the ceramic, china and porcelain industries, as well as for refractory applications.

Fluorspar, or fluorite, is calcium fluoride (CaF₂) and the most widely used slag fluidiser in steelmaking. By breaking down the silicate network it sharply lowers slag viscosity and melting point, making the slag fluid and reactive and improving desulphurisation and dephosphorisation efficiency. Metallurgical grade is used in steel, acid grade in hydrofluoric acid production and the chemical industry.

Andalusite is one of the three crystalline forms of aluminium silicate (Al₂SiO₅) in the sillimanite group and a premium raw material for high-alumina refractories. On heating it converts gradually — without sudden decomposition — into mullite and a glassy phase, and this controlled mullitisation with minimal volume expansion delivers excellent thermal-shock resistance, creep resistance and dimensional stability at high temperature.

Pressed magnesia brick bonded with chrome spinel, giving very high slag corrosion resistance and hot strength together. It holds up where a purely magnesian brick would be attacked — AOD and VOD vessels and non-ferrous smelting, where fayalitic slag and matte penetrate readily.

Corundum-spinel castable with micronised fillers that flows into place under its own weight, with no vibration. That matters where a vibrator cannot reach — around well blocks, cooling pipes and complex shapes — and it fills them without the voids that vibrating from outside would leave.

Chrome-corundum mortar for bedding and jointing refractory brickwork. Its plasticity and adhesion are what let joints be laid thin and even, and a thin joint matters: every seam is a potential path for slag to penetrate behind the working face.