Characterization of Potential Refractory Utilization of Blended Sabon-Gari and Bandawa Clays Collected from Deposits in Jalingo and Karim-Lamido Local Government Areas, Taraba State, Nigeria

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the Characterization of Potential Refractory Utilization of Blended Sabon-Gari and Bandawa Clays collected from Deposits in the Jalingo and Karim-Lamido Local Government Areas, Taraba State, Nigeria. The results showed that the 20:80 mixture had the best performance index of all properties. The 20:80 mixture was then subjected to further XRD, FTIR and thermal conductivity analysis. The XRD pattern of the 20:80 mixture showed the predominant presence of montmorillonite, orthoclase, muscovite, albite and quartz. The FTIR spectrum showed bond stretching and bending vibrations associated with the hydroxyl group (OH), Si-O and Si-O-Si molecules, consistent with clay minerals. A nearly constant peak/intensity profile in the FTIR spectrum of the fired 20:80 mixture was observed in the wave number range of 1300 cm-1 to 4000 cm-1, indicating good thermal stability of the mixture, which is also consistent with this statement low thermal conductivity value of 9.38 W/mK compared to 44.8 W/mK for the unfired sample. Finally, it is concluded that the 20:80 mixture of Sabon-Gari: Bandawa clays meets the necessary conditions for use in the production of refractory materials for lining furnaces in the metalworking industry.