Development of an ultrasonic method to determine the residual thickness of refractory blocks

Abstract

An ultrasonic method was developed to measure the residual thickness of refractory blocks at an operating glass melting furnace. This ultrasonic measuring method was used to determine the thickness of zirconia-based refractories on a small laboratory glass melting furnace. Two ultrasonic transducers with a silica delay and a coupling media were used to measure the transition time, that the ultrasonic signal needs with the applied echo method. The results of the thickness measurements at cold and hot refractory blocks were compared. The investigations prove the possibility to employ the ultrasonic device for determining the residual thickness of refractory blocks.