Refractory ceramic fiber is made by melting alumina and silica, sometimes with zirconia, and blowing or spinning the melt into fine fibers rated to roughly 1260 to 1430 C. Its very low heat storage lets furnaces heat and cool fast. After long high-temperature service it devitrifies, forming crystalline silica, and the fiber itself is classed as a possible carcinogen, so tear-out of used fiber calls for respirators, wetting and bagging.
Line the door with ceramic fiber modules, it'll come up to heat in half the time the brick door did.
Fiber that has gone brittle and powdery after years of service has devitrified. Treat it as crystalline silica dust during removal.
Also heard as
- RCF
- refractory ceramic fiber
- fiber
- kaowool
Related terms
Blanket
Flexible, needled mat of ceramic or biosoluble fiber sold in rolls by density and thickness.
Module
Block of folded or stacked fiber blanket, compressed and fitted with anchor hardware for fast furnace lining.
AES wool
Alkaline earth silicate wool, a body-soluble high-temperature fiber used in place of ceramic fiber.
IFB
Insulating firebrick: light, porous brick rated by the maximum temperature it can face, such as group 23 or 26.