A study of synthetic forsterite refractory materials using waste serpentine cutting

There are more than 40 serpentine mines in Taiwan, and most of them are located in Hualien (Eastern Taiwan). Almost all the serpentine dimension stones produced from these mines are exported. Crushed serpentine is used as a flux material for iron-making. There are more than 0.54 million tons of serpentine waste produced per year during mining operation. This serpentine waste, at the moment, has no commercial value. The purpose of this research is to develop a process to manufacture synthetic forsterite refractory using serpentine waste with the addition of magnesium-based compounds by sintering technology. The test results show that, compared with MgO, the addition of Mg(OH)(2) or MgCO3 can react with serpentine completely to produce better forsterite at lower temperature. The process is feasible and provides a potential usage of serpentine waste in the future. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.