Refractory Calculators and Quote Tools

RefractoryAdditives.com offers four free refractory tools: a heat-loss and cold-face temperature calculator, a castable quantity calculator, a supplier quote request and a contractor match request. The question decides: lining design, take-off, buying or installation.

The heat-loss calculator applies ASTM C680-23a and ISO 12241:2022; the castable calculator uses the dry-material figure of the product data sheet. Each tool works on refractory materials as defined across this reference.

Every value names its standard and edition, the product data sheet or the dated source it comes from; see our methodology and fact-checking process.

What Are the Refractory Tools on This Site?#

The refractory tools on this site are two calculators that apply published methods to user inputs and two request forms that pass one specification to independent suppliers or contractors. Both calculators run in the browser, metric first with US units in parallel (1 W/(m·K) = 6.933 BTU·in/(h·ft²·°F)).

The forms name no company; a calculator result is an estimate, never a design approval.

All Refractory Tools: Two Calculators and Two Request Forms#

Table 1 lists every refractory tool with the task it answers, its inputs and its output.

Rows 1 and 2 are marked "coming soon" until their pages go live.

Both request forms are open now; the heat-loss calculator opens next, then the castable calculator.

Which Refractory Tool Fits Which Task?#

The right refractory tool follows the question: heat flow and shell temperature go to the heat-loss calculator, material mass goes to the castable calculator, and a priced offer or an installation crew goes to the request forms. A calculation should come before a supplier request, because the request asks for thickness and quantity.

Lining Design Tasks: Heat Flow, Shell and Interface Temperatures#

A multi-layer lining is a series of thermal resistances, so heat flux q = (T_hot - T_amb) / (Σ L/k + 1/h_s), and each interface temperature falls by q × L/k of the layers before it. The surface coefficient h_s is radiation plus convection, iterated on shell temperature; k is taken at each layer's mean temperature. Every input describes one refractory lining and its layers.

Worked example (illustrative inputs, our arithmetic): hot face 1000 °C (1,832 °F), ambient 25 °C (77 °F), emissivity 0.9, still air. A 250 mm (9.84 in) dense castable at k 1.2 W/(m·K) (8.32 BTU·in/(h·ft²·°F)) passes about 3,790 W/m² (1,200 BTU/(h·ft²)), shell near 211 °C (412 °F). Then 150 mm (5.91 in) dense castable, 50 mm (1.97 in) insulating castable at k 0.30 and 50 mm (1.97 in) board at k 0.05 cut it to about 710 W/m² (225 BTU/(h·ft²)) and 83 °C (181 °F). Each interface is checked against the next layer's classification temperature.

Material Take-Off Tasks: Castable Mass and Bag Count#

Castable mass equals lining volume times the producer's estimated weight of dry material per cubic meter of construction, and bag count equals that mass divided by the bag mass. Gunned or shotcreted linings need the higher in-place figure (Allied Mineral Products guide, 2023). Volumes convert at 1 m³ = 35.315 ft³.

Waste allowance stays a user input, because no standard or producer default exists. The calculator sizes installed refractory castables, explained by type and cement content.

Buying and Installation Tasks: Supplier Quotes and Contractor Requests#

The supplier RFQ sends one specification (class, standard, chemistry target, service temperature, quantity in metric tonnes and delivery country) to independent suppliers. Its HS heading field follows the US HTS: 6902 bricks, blocks and tiles; 6903 other refractory ceramic goods (nozzles, slide gates); 3816 cements, mortars, concretes and ramming mixes. RHI Magnesita's 2026 half-year results report larger steel customers in India assessing total cost of ownership, campaign life and uptime.

The contractor match sorts a request by industry, service (installation, dry-out, repair, inspection), method (cast, gunite, shotcrete, brick, fiber) and region. Monolithic installation quality follows API Std 936, 5th edition (March 2024).

Thermal Conductivity Standards Behind the Calculator Inputs#

The heat-loss calculator follows ASTM C680-23a and ISO 12241:2022 / EN ISO 12241:2022, and its conductivity inputs come from ASTM C201-24, C182-24, C417-21 and C1113/C1113M-09(2024) or from ISO 8894-1:2010 and EN ISO 8894-2:2025. C680-23a is one-dimensional, steady or quasi-steady. Each k input is the thermal conductivity of refractories by one named method.

Hot-wire values (C1113) can run 10 to 30 % above calorimeter values (C201-24), so the tool shows the method next to every k and never mixes methods in one layer set.

Table 2 sets the calculator inputs against their ASTM and ISO or EN methods.

Same property, different methods; never declared equivalent.

Table 3 names the eight sections that hold the data the tools draw on.

What the Refractory Tools Leave Out: Dry-Out, Anchors and Prices#

The refractory tools compute heat flow and castable quantity only; dry-out schedules, anchor layouts and prices stay with their own pages and with the supplier's data. A hold of 1 h per inch (25 mm) at 649 °C (1,200 °F) is producer guidance (HWI Schedule 2 PLUS, 12/17/13), never an API 936 requirement. Holds and heating rates belong to refractory dry-out and heat-up schedules.

Anchor layouts come from producer tables, and prices come only from suppliers through the RFQ.

Where Do Brick Counts per Cubic Meter Come From?#

Brick counts come from the size series, not from a calculator. An ISO 5019-1:1984 square of 230 × 114 × 64 mm (9.06 × 4.49 × 2.52 in) gives about 596 per m³ (16.9 per ft³) before joints, the 76 mm series about 502.

Joints and cutting reduce both counts, as covered under refractory brick sizes and shapes.