CAST HOUSE REFRACTORY PRACTICES AT ARMCO'S AMANDA BLAST FURNACE.

The Ashland, OH, Works' Amanda blast furnace is a two-taphole furnace equipped with fixed, air-cooled iron troughs. During the early 1980s. Ashland Works investigated new Japanese ramming materials as a possible means of improving cast house maintenance costs and optimizing furnace casting practices. In 1984 Amanda was rebuilt and the cast houses were changed to the current air-cooled pooling design. Since that time an effort has been made to evaluate the state-of-the-art low-moisture castables and compatible gun mixes to improve safety, reliability, predictability and operating costs.