Evaluation of the Refractory Properties of Nigerian Ozanagogo Clay Deposit

Abstract

distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received September 2, 2013; revised October 18, 2013; accepted October 29, 2013 Keywords: Ozanagogo; Clay; Porosity; Refractory ABSTRACT In this paper, the refractory properties of clay from Ozanagogo had been studied for possible utilization in refractory production. The clay had a specific gravity of 2.57, linear firing shrinkage of 1.01%, 2.14 g/cm3 bulk density and porosity of 20.4%. A cold crushing strength of 17.48 MN/m2 was obtained with modulus of rupture of 8.28 MN/m2. The thermal shock resistance exceeded 30 cycles and the refractoriness was 1750˚C. The sample was analysed for its chemical composition, and it was revealed that it contained 38.07% alumina (Al2O3), 46.00% silica (SiO2) and iron impurities (Fe2O3) of 0.78%. The results generally showed that Ozanagogo clay could be used as a refractory material.