Characterization of Firebricks used in Copper Smelting Furnaces of the 19th Century, Atacama, Chile
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
In the 19th century, mining in northern Chile had great importance in national product development. Today, the ruins of the copper smelters and abundant fragments of refractory bricks from their furnaces remain. In the absence of studies on the characteristics of these bricks, the origin, physical-chemical properties, and compressive strength of 10 different units of historical refractory bricks collected on-site were investigated. The characterization results showed that the refractory bricks are silico-aluminous, unlike the magnesium-chromium bricks used by current foundries. It was determined that 90% of them were produced in the United Kingdom and 10% were manufactured in Chile. Furthermore, the present phases are mullite, quartz, cristobalite, tridymite, and the chemical composition corresponded mainly to SiO2. Also, the refractory bricks compressive strength was compared with those currently used, which showed similar results. The results obtained may contribute to the knowledge of the 19th-century mining-metallurgical historical heritage of Chile and the United Kingdom.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Amin Nazer, Norman Toro, Osvaldo Pavez, Julio Guerrero
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