The wear resistance of plug bricks has an important influence in steel production, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

I. Improving service life

The wear resistance of plug brick directly affects its service life. Plug bricks with good wear resistance can be used for a long time in high temperature and high erosion environment, reducing the replacement frequency caused by wear. For example, the plug bricks made of high alumina, zircon or silicon carbide have significantly better wear resistance than ordinary refractories, and their service life can be extended several times.

II. Reducing molten steel erosion

Plug bricks with good wear resistance can effectively resist the corrosion of molten steel and slag and reduce the loss of materials. In the continuous casting process, plug bricks need to contact high-temperature molten steel for a long time, and plug bricks with poor wear resistance are easy to be eroded, resulting in molten steel leakage or pouring interruption. For example, zircon plug bricks are widely used in continuous casting steel drums and sprue bricks because of their excellent corrosion resistance.

III. Improving pouring efficiency

The plug brick with good wear resistance can maintain stable flow control performance and reduce the instability of molten steel flow caused by wear. In the process of continuous casting, the wear resistance of plug bricks directly affects the accuracy of molten steel flow control, thus improving pouring efficiency. For example, the improved plug brick design, such as adding ZrO-C ring at the slag line of the plug rod, can significantly improve the corrosion resistance and thus prolong the service life.

IV. Reducing production costs

The plug brick with good wear resistance reduces the replacement frequency, the consumption of refractory materials and the maintenance cost. For example, the plug brick produced by the unfired (unfired) process can significantly reduce the production cost because of its low production cost and high yield.

V. Improving the quality of molten steel

Plug bricks with good wear resistance can reduce the pollution of molten steel. Plug bricks with poor wear resistance are easy to peel off during use, which leads to inclusions entering molten steel and affects the quality of molten steel. For example, plug bricks made of high-quality refractory materials can effectively reduce inclusions in molten steel and improve the quality of billet.

VI. Optimizing continuous casting process

Plug bricks with good wear resistance can better meet the requirements of continuous casting process. For example, in continuous casting tundish, using plug bricks with good wear resistance can reduce nozzle blockage accidents and improve the output of continuous casting machine. In addition, the plug bricks with good wear resistance can also reduce the production interruption caused by replacing the plug bricks and further optimize the continuous casting process.

To sum up, the wear resistance of plug bricks has an important influence on steel production, which can improve service life, reduce molten steel erosion, improve pouring efficiency, reduce production cost, improve molten steel quality and optimize continuous casting process.