How is magnesia brick made from magnesite or magnesium hydroxide?

Magnesia brick is a type of basic refractory material manufactured primarily from periclase, which is the mineral form of magnesium oxide (MgO).1

The production process involves the following steps:

• Source Material Preparation: Periclase is derived by roasting or firing magnesite (magnesium carbonate) or magnesium hydroxide. Magnesium hydroxide is often obtained from seawater or underground brine solutions.12
• Sintering and Densification: Raw materials like magnesite often require firing in rotary kilns to achieve sintering and densification before they can be fabricated into shapes.3
• Fabrication: The resulting material is crushed and sized before being formed into bricks using processes such as dry-pressing, stiff-mud, or soft-mud casting.3
• Bonding and Finishing: The final bricks can be chemically bonded, pitch-bonded, burned, or burned and then pitch-impregnated to enhance their durability and resistance to iron oxides and basic slags. Some materials may also be fused in an electric furnace and cast into molds.13