Masonry Magazine April 1987 Page. 40
Refractory bricklayers comprise one of the most important, yet one of the least "visible" specialties within the masonry industry. These bricklayers are relining a blast furnace where iron will be produced at temperatures reaching 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's a Tough, Hot Job for
REFRACTORY BRICKLAYERS
Imagine working in an area the size of a shower stall, in air temperatures at times exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and with dirt and dust flying everywhere for hours at a time. But the fact is today there are thousands of men doing such work, around the clock, in the most advanced manufacturing plants in the United States and Canada. They are refractory bricklayers, and they line and re-line the multi-shaped containers that turn out iron and steel, chemicals and petrochemicals, and other products vital to maintaining a strong national economy.
What these products have in common is that they must be manufactured or refined under great heat or chemical stress. The vessels where they are produced must therefore be lined with "refractories"-construction materials which retain their form and strength at extremely high temperatures under varying conditions of mechanical and chemical attack by hot gases, liquids or molten materials.
What the union refractory bricklayers have in common is extensive training and experience, and the skill and stamina needed to handle the "behind-the-scenes" task of keeping the furnaces, hearths, boilers and ovens in perfect working condition.
Refractory masonry affects virtually every sector of the national production complex. Because their work is done deep within the thousands of industrial plants, few people are aware of the crucial contribution refractory bricklayers make to the economy.
Although refractories are used in items as diverse as rocket nose cones and residential fireplaces, the single largest area of use is in the iron and steel industries which account for 51 percent of refractory use in the United States. Other major users such as the ceramics industry, non-ferrous metals producers (aluminum, copper, brass), mineral processors, glass manufacturers, and chemicals and petrochemicals companies each use less than 10 percent of the total refractory supply.
These industries require various types of refractories, which are composed of natural and man-made materials, usually nonmetallic, or made of combinations of other compounds and minerals such as bauxite, chromite and silicon carbide. According to The Refractories Institute, there are more than 4,000 brandname refractory products. The major types include standard rectangular brick, which is used to build straight walls; special brick shapes, such as "skew block," used at the exterior of arches; "plastics" and "castables," which are liquids that are troweled, tamped or "gunned" (with a pneumatic gun) into place, and refractory "fibers," which are thick, fibrous blankets or blocks.