Grinding of refractories

Batts, ring setters, plate setters and similar firing refractories require regular cleaning to remove glaze and product residues and abraded slip.

Until now, sand blasting was the preferred process for that task.

LIPPERT, though, has developed a new grinding assembly with some notable advantages. Based on wet-grinding technology, the process features flexible diamond wheels. Velcro® strips hold the diamond-studded disks to the wheel, which is driven by a variable-speed electric motor via a vertical hollow shaft. A pneumatic cylinder is provided for positioning the wheel and applying the contact pressure. Mounted on a gooseneck jib, the grinding spindle is applied by hand to the faces of the refractories.

The refractories rest on a flexible perforated bed that keeps even deformed firing auxiliaries securely fixed in place during the grinding process.

The grinding water serving as coolant is pumped up through a hollow shaft by a recirculating pump, and the sludge settles out of the water in a sedimentation tank.

This system offers its users the following advantages:

• low initial investment and operating costs
• thorough removal of glaze / product residues and abraded slip
• prevention of depressions
• preservation of the oxidation-preventing glass layer on nitride-hardened SiC
• lighter workload thanks to rapid verification of performance
• extended service life of kiln refractories

The first such system was supplied to BHS Tabletop in Weiden, Germany.