Treated refractory material and methods of making

Abstract

A treated refractory material includes a refractory material having a plurality of pores, wherein the refractory material comprises aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, chromium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, calcium oxide, fireclay, silicon carbide, tungsten, mullite, dolomite, magnesite, magnesium aluminum oxide, chromite, magnetite, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and a protective material disposed within the plurality of pores of the refractory material, wherein the protective material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, silica, rare earth oxides, rare earth zirconates, titanium oxide, mullite, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate, yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide, and blends thereof.

1 . A treated refractory material, comprising:
 a refractory material having a plurality of pores, wherein the refractory material comprises aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, chromium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, calcium oxide, fireclay, silicon carbide, tungsten, mullite, dolomite, magnesite, magnesium aluminum oxide, chromite, magnetite, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and   a protective material disposed within the plurality of pores of the refractory material, wherein the protective material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, silica, rare earth oxides, rare earth zirconates, titanium oxide, mullite, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate, yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide, and blends thereof.   
   
   
       2 . The treated refractory material of  claim 1 , wherein the rare earth oxides comprise oxides of rare earth elements selected from the group consisting of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium. 
   
   
       3 . The treated refractory material of  claim 1 , wherein the rare earth zirconate has a formula of RE 2 Zr 2 O 7 , where RE is a rare earth element selected from the group consisting of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium and ytterbium. 
   
   
       4 . The treated refractory material of  claim 1 , wherein the protective material fills from about 3 to about 60 percent of the volume of the plurality of pores in the refractory material. 
   
   
       5 . The treated refractory material of  claim 1 , wherein the protective material is a powder. 
   
   
       6 . The treated refractory material of  claim 5 , wherein the protective material has a particle size in the range of from about 5 nm to about 200 μm. 
   
   
       7 . The treated refractory material of  claim 1 , wherein an amount of the protective material comprises from about 2 to about 20 percent by volume based on the total volume of the refractory material. 
   
   
       8 . An article comprising the treated refractory material of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       9 . The article of  claim 8 , wherein the article comprises a pre-formed structure. 
   
   
       10 . The article of  claim 9 , wherein the pre-formed structure comprises a brick, block, tile, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
   
   
       11 . The article of  claim 8 , wherein the article comprises a monolithic. 
   
   
       12 . The article of  claim 11 , wherein the monolith comprises a castable, moldable, ramming mix, gunning mix, mortar, refractory plastic, or combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
   
   
       13 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the article comprises a combination of a pre-formed structure and a monolithic portion. 
   
   
       14 . A process for making a treated refractory body, comprising:
 adding a protective material to an existing refractory body comprising a refractory material, wherein the refractory material comprises aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, chromium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, calcium oxide, fireclay, silicon carbide, tungsten, mullite, dolomite, magnesite, magnesium aluminum oxide, chromite, magnetite, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, and the protective material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, silica, rare earth oxides, rare earth zirconates, titanium oxide, mullite, zirconium oxide, zirconium silicate, yttrium oxide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide, and blends thereof.   
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 14 , further comprising forming the existing refractory body and sintering the existing refractory body, wherein the body comprises a brick, block, tile, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing. 
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein the rare earth oxides comprise oxides of rare earth elements selected from the group consisting of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium. 
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein the rare earth zirconate has a formula of RE 2 Zr 2 O 7 , where RE is a rare earth element selected from the group consisting of lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium and ytterbium. 
   
   
       18 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein the protective material is added to a plurality of pores in the refractory material by painting, spraying, dipping, coating or vacuum infiltration. 
   
   
       19 . The process of  claim 14 , further comprising sintering the treated refractory body, wherein the refractory material and the protective material do not comprise the same compounds. 
   
   
       20 . The process of  claim 18 , further comprising forming a slurry comprising the protective material before adding the protective material to the refractory material. 
   
   
       21 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein the protective material is added to the refractory material after the refractory material has been disposed in a gasifier. 
   
   
       22 . A process for making a treated refractory material comprising:
 blending a refractory material with a protective material and/or a precursor of a protective material, wherein the refractory material comprises aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, magnesium oxide, chromium oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide, calcium oxide, fireclay, silicon carbide, tungsten, mullite, dolomite, magnesite, magnesium aluminum oxide, chromite, magnetite, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, and   sintering the blend, wherein the protective material and/or the precursor of the protective material is in elemental or compound form and comprises an element not comprised in the refractory material selected from the group consisting of silicon, rare earth elements, zirconium, titanium, yttrium, magnesium, iron, and blends thereof.   
   
   
       23 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein the protective material is added in an amount of from about 1 to about 10 percent by weight based on the weight of the blend. 
   
   
       24 . The process of  claim 22 , further comprising forming the blend into a selected one or both of a pre-formed structure and a monolith and sintering the blend at a temperature from about 1000° C. to about 1800° C. for about 1 to about 160 hours.