High-Wear Zirconia Toughened Alumina ZTA Brick for Industrial Kiln Lining

Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick Applications

• Mining & Mineral Processing – ZTA Brick for Mills and Chutes

  ✅Key Advantages

  1. Longer lining life in grinding and slurry transfer
  Zirconia Toughened Alumina Bricks provide higher impact tolerance and wear resistance than standard alumina bricks, making them suitable for ball mill feed ends, discharge ends and high-impact chute zones in copper, iron ore and gold concentrators.

  ✅ Problem Solved

  In a flotation plant case, ZTA ceramic liners used in a floor and chute system showed an estimated service life of about 100 weeks compared with around 35 weeks for 92% alumina liners, corresponding to roughly a 2.85× increase. For a concentrator scheduling liner changes every shutdown cycle, this meant several planned shutdowns could pass without replacing the ZTA sections, freeing maintenance resources and reducing liner replacement-related downtime hours over the year.

• Steel & Bulk Material Handling – ZTA Brick Liners for Transfer Points

  ✅Key Advantages

  1. Reduced downtime at high-throughput transfer points
  In steel plants and bulk terminals, ZTA bricks are applied in transfer chutes, hoppers and bins where ceramic wear liners have been shown to reduce unplanned cleaning and liner replacement downtime significantly.

  ✅ Problem Solved

  A steel plant analysis indicated that one hour of production downtime at a 10 000 t/day facility can represent about 20 000 USD in lost output. By moving from metallic liners to advanced ceramic liners, annual downtime for liner maintenance was reduced by roughly 40–60 hours, which corresponds to about 0.8–1.2 million USD of additional annual production value. ZTA bricks are positioned for similar roles at impact-prone points, where better impact resistance reduces liner cracking and premature replacement risk.

• Coal Power & Cement – ZTA Bricks in High-Wear Flow Paths

  ✅Key Advantages

  1. Stable wear performance in coal and cement circuits
  In coal mills, classifier cones, cement mill inlets and clinker transfer chutes, ZTA bricks offer a lining solution for environments where metallic liners wear quickly and where impact and abrasion act together.

  ✅ Problem Solved

  Field reports from ceramic wear liner upgrades have shown wear resistance factors up to about 15 times when advanced ceramic liners replaced traditional steel in some mining applications, depending on ore type and design. Even when the improvement factor is lower in coal and cement duty, a modest multiple on liner life can allow operators to align lining changes with major outage windows and reduce partial shutdowns, supporting more predictable maintenance planning.

Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick Usage Guide

• Installation

  1. Verify the substrate (steel or concrete) is clean, dry and structurally sound before installing the ZTA bricks.
  2. When using adhesive, follow the adhesive manufacturer’s mixing ratio and open-time specifications; maintain recommended glue thickness and full coverage.
  3. For mechanically fastened systems, use specified bolts, studs or anchors and apply torque values appropriate for the backing plate and support structure.
  4. Align brick joints in staggered patterns where possible to reduce continuous wear paths and local stress concentration.

• Operation

  1. Bring the equipment up to operating load gradually where possible, especially after a full reline, to allow the interface between brick and backing to stabilise.
  2. Avoid large foreign objects (loose steel, oversize scrap) entering lined zones, as localised impact may exceed design limits.
  3. Monitor wear at known high-stress locations and record inspection data to refine future brick layouts and thickness selections.

• Storage

  1. Store ZTA bricks on flat pallets in dry indoor areas, away from direct rain and corrosive atmospheres.
  2. Keep bricks in their original packaging until installation to minimise accidental chipping and contamination.
  3. Avoid stacking pallets beyond the recommended height to prevent mechanical damage from excessive weight.

• Cleaning and inspection

  1. For dry applications, use soft brushes or low-pressure air to remove dust build-up; avoid steel tools that may chip corners.
  2. In slurry systems inspected during shutdown, rinse surfaces with low-pressure water before visual and dimensional checks.
  3. Record any cracking, spalling or unusual wear patterns, and correlate with operating changes such as throughput, particle size or impact points.

• Typical misuse and how to handle it

  1. Issue: Bricks cracking near bolt holes

  Cause: Overtightening fasteners or insufficient backing support.
  Handling: Reduce torque to specified values, add washer plates or backing plates, and review hole spacing in future drawings.

  2. Issue: Premature edge chipping at impact point

  Cause: Straight-line drop of coarse ore or clinker onto a joint between bricks.
  Handling: Adjust chute design or add sacrificial thicker ZTA bricks at the first impact row; consider reshaping the feed end.

  3. Issue: Adhesive debonding in wet duty

  Cause: Contamination or moisture on substrate during installation, or adhesive not rated for continuous wet service.
  Handling: Remove affected section, clean and dry the substrate, use suitable adhesive for the operating environment and follow cure time strictly.

FAQ – Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick

1. Q: How does a ZTA Brick differ from a standard alumina brick?
   A: Compared with typical 92% alumina bricks, a ZTA Brick offers higher fracture toughness and flexural strength, which helps reduce cracking and spalling in impact zones and can extend liner service life in many applications.
2. Q: In which equipment is Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick most commonly used?
   A: ZTA Bricks are widely used in ball mills, SAG mills, chutes, hoppers, bins, transfer points and slurry flow paths in mining, steel, coal and cement plants.
3. Q: What temperature range can ZTA Bricks handle?
   A: Zirconia Toughened Alumina ceramics can typically be used up to around 1500 °C in dry conditions, making ZTA bricks suitable for many high-temperature zones where both wear and heat are present.
4. Q: Can Zirconia Toughened Alumina Bricks be customised to my existing liners?
   A: Yes, ZTA Bricks can be manufactured to match existing liner patterns, including custom lengths, widths, thicknesses, cut-outs, chamfers and bolt-hole configurations based on customer drawings.
5. Q: Are Zirconia Toughened Alumina Bricks suitable for high-impact areas?
   A: ZTA Bricks are specifically intended for zones where both impact and abrasion are present, thanks to their combination of high hardness and improved toughness compared with alumina-only bricks.
6. Q: Can Zirconia Toughened Alumina Bricks be combined with other liner materials?
   A: Many sites use ZTA Bricks in the highest wear and impact zones and combine them with standard alumina tiles, rubber liners or steel liners in lower-stress areas to balance performance and cost.
7. Q: What information should I prepare when asking for a ZTA Brick quotation?
   A: It is helpful to provide equipment type, operating conditions, material handled, required brick dimensions or drawings, target areas for ZTA upgrade and any existing liner performance data, so a suitable Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick design and quantity can be proposed.

Customer Reviews about Zirconia Toughened Alumina Brick

• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  The ZTA Brick liners supplied by ADCERAX helped stabilise wear in our transfer chutes. We now track less liner-related downtime and can focus on other reliability projects.
  -- Maria L., Reliability Engineer, Atlantic Steel Processing
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  Working with ADCERAX as a ZTA Brick supplier made it easier to align custom brick sizes with our coal mill layouts. The consistent quality and dimensional control simplified installation for our contractor.
  -- Daniel K., Purchasing Manager, Midwest Power Station
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  After switching to ZTA ceramic bricks in our ball mill feed end, liner life increased significantly and we were able to skip a full change-out cycle, which matched our maintenance plans much better
  -- James R., Maintenance Superintendent, Copper Ridge Mining
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  We used Zirconia Toughened Alumina Bricks in several high-impact hopper zones. The combination of impact resistance and wear performance has been in line with our expectations and supports our long-term lining strategy.
  -- Hiroshi S., Project Engineer, Pacific Bulk Handling Solutions