Using Old Ceramic Fiber Blanket

[Red Rocks]

We have a bunch of ceramic fiber blanket that we got from an old fiber kiln.  I want to cover the arch of my kiln with it to seal and insulate it better.  I want to cover the blanket with a layer of castable refractory or other suitable coating to create a shell over the blanket (think M&M’s).  It is an updraft kiln, so part of the driver here is to keep particles/pieces of it from separating in the strong winds we get and blowing into the kiln. Also want to have the finished product to essentially be one piece.

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with this process and their recommendations for the materials that should be used.

 

Many thanks

 

[Marcia Selsor]

Sounds good. Just try not to compress the blanket too much when you add the castable shell. that is a good idea to cover the blanket because I dissolves in water. ey to configure spacers and a mesh to keep the blanket fluffy and not squashed. Maybe throw some little 1" spools to support the mesh as you apply the cast able.

Marcia

[justanassembler]

Sounds good. Just try not to compress the blanket too much when you add the castable shell. that is a good idea to cover the blanket because I dissolves in water. ey to configure spacers and a mesh to keep the blanket fluffy and not squashed. Maybe throw some little 1" spools to support the mesh as you apply the cast able.

Marcia

Not all fiber is water soluble, and the stuff that isn't will mess your lungs up--a respirator and common sense should be used with any fiber products.

[Mark C.]

You can seal it into a metal overwarp like aluinum sheets-the castable will just smash it flat unless you keep that from happining.

[Red Rocks]

I talked to an old friend on this today and his recommendation is to use ceramic fiber rigidizer.  You basically spray this on and it creates a coating on both sides of the blanket, creating a crust that makes it very resitant to breaking into pieces, abrasion, etc.  I just verifed this with technical support at Laguna Clay.  I ordered a gallon for $28.75 and they said it will be more than enough to cover the arch for a  blanket on a 24 cu,  ft kiln.

 

I will let you all know how it works.

[Mark C.]

I have used this product before-you can still crush your fiber if you put to much wieght on it without support. I still would support your castable some on top of the fiber so its not crushed as Marcia said.

Mark

[Red Rocks]

Mark

 

Where do you get the Aluminum overwrap you are recommending?

 

Thanks

[Mark C.]

Mine came from a print shop years ago-the thin sheets they used to use to print on-

Mark

[TJR]

You could lay the castable on top of your kiln, and then cover with aluminum foil, then put your castable cement. The key here is to keep your castable refractory from being compressed.I put a layer of arch brick, then ceramic fiber, then softbrick. The fiber filled the seems between the bricks. Worked great.

TJR.

[Marcia Selsor]

You could use steel mesh supported off the fiber with some improvised spacer. The steel will grab the cartable and hold it in place.Rigidizer or ITC is great for exposed surfaces of fiber. Both contain the bad fibers. I tried some of the biodegradable fiber once on a raku kiln. It fell apart. I won't use it again. It may work ok if you put it under castable.

 

Marcia

[Red Rocks]

Thanks for all your comments on this.  I am back in Red Rock country after two weeks on the coast.  Over the next month, I will tackle this and report back on the process and the results.

[neilestrick]

You can't put much of anything on top of the fiber without compacting it and reducing its effectiveness. If you just want to use it as an air gap sealer, then it doesn't matter, but if you want the insulating value of the fiber blanket, I vote for hovering some expanded steel mesh or such over it, with spacer to hold it up. This could be as simple as laying down a few angle iron stringers on the arch to act as spacers, with the steel mesh tack welded to them.