Laboratory Study of Corrosion of an Alumina Refractory by Molten Potassium Salts

The increasing use of biomass and waste derived fuels in combustion challenges the chemical durability of refractories. Durability of an alumina refractory was studied in a chemically aggressive environment. A mixture of potassium chloride and carbonate (molar ratio 1:9) was placed on the sample and heated at 700-1000ºC in an electric laboratory furnace in air for one week. Cross-sections of the samples were studied by SEM-EDXA to determine penetration of potassium in the refractory. Potassium was found only in the silicate matrix phase of the alumina refractory. Penetration of potassium decreased steeply from the surface to 1 mm, after which the decrease was linear but varied with temperature. At 700 and 800°C the thickness of the matrix layer that had reacted with potassium was 3 mm, while the layer was thinner at 900 and 1000°C. At the higher temperatures a glassy layer consisting of K2O, Na2O, CaO and SiO2 formed on the refractory surface. At 900°C the thickness of the surface layer was of 10μm, while a 200μm layer was measured at 1000°C. The procedure used in this work can be used to develop a laboratory scale method to be used to study corrosion of refractories in biomass combustion devices.