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Refractory producers face many challenges in terms of producing MgO-containing castables due to the high likelihood of magnesia to hydrate in contact with water, resulting in Mg(OH)2 generation. The expansive feature of this transformation affects the performance of such refractories, as (i) if this hydrated phase is not accommodated in the formed microstructure, ceramic linings with cracks and low green mechanical strength will be obtained; and (ii) if crack-free pieces are prepared, they should present low porosity and reduced permeability, which require special attention when heating these materials. In both cases, spalling/explosion may be favored during the drying step of MgO-containing compositions. Hence, this work investigated the ability of various additives in the optimization of the drying behavior of Al2O3-MgO castables. Vibratable compositions were tested after incorporating polymeric fibers (PF), an organic salt (OAS), SiO2-based additive (SM) or permeability enhancing active compound (MP) into the dry-mixtures. Various experimental measurements were performed to infer the role of the drying agents to prevent the samples' explosion and whether they would also influence other properties of the castables. As observed, OAS and MP helped to inhibit the MgO-bonded samples' explosion even under severe heating conditions (2-20°C/min) and increased their green mechanical strength and slag infiltration resistance when compared to the additive-free composition. On the other hand, the addition of polymeric fibers (PF) or silica-based compound (SM) to the formulations was not able to prevent the castables' explosion when using a high heating rate and other side effects (samples' cracking during drying at 110°C, high linear expansion and increased slag penetration during corrosion tests) could also be observed when testing these materials. Thus, the selection of suitable drying 2 agents is a key issue, as they may allow the development of MgO-bonded castables with enhanced properties and lower spalling risk during their first thermal treatment.

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Developing MgO-bonded castables is still an important subject for refractory producers and end-users based on the expansive character of the in-situ Mg(OH)2 formation. Considering that magnesia undergoes hydration when exposed to water and the generated hydrated phase needs to be properly accommodated in the resulting microstructure to inhibit the generation of cracks, it is very important to find out alternatives to control/change the MgO hydration reaction rate, which may help to optimize the permeability and green mechanical strength of the castables. Therefore, fast and safer drying of such refractories can be carried out when adjusting Mg(OH)2 generation with proper additives. This research investigated the use of aluminum lactate (AL) as a likely additive to change the hydration and drying behavior of vibratable castables bonded with different MgO sources (dead burnt, caustic or fumed one). Firstly, XRD, TG and DSC measurements of magnesia-based aqueous suspensions were evaluated to identify the AL effect on changing the hydration reaction products during the curing and drying steps. After that, Al2O3-MgO refractories were prepared and their flowability, curing behavior, cold flexural strength, apparent porosity, permeability and explosion resistance were evaluated. The results indicated that, instead of Mg(OH)2, Mg6Al2(OH)16(OH)2.4.5H2O/ Mg6Al2(OH)16(CO3).4H2O was the main hydrated phase identified in the AL-containing compositions. Due to this change in the hydration behavior of the refractories, the mixtures prepared with dead-burnt or magnesia fumes plus organic salt presented a longer setting time. Besides that, crack-free samples with improved permeability and green mechanical strength could be obtained when adding 0.5 wt.% or 1.0 wt.% of aluminum lactate to the tested castable compositions. Consequently, 1.0 wt.% of the selected additive favored the design of refractories with enhanced properties and greater spalling resistance, as no explosion could be observed even when subjecting the prepared samples to severe heating conditions (20°C/min).