Abstract
Reticulated ceramic core busters are used to increase heat transfer from natural gas fired flames to a ceramic radiant tube. For optimum performance, material stability in combustion environments is crucial. A commercially available reticulated oxide bonded silicon carbide (OBSiC) and a CVD SiC coated reticulated oxide bonded silicon carbide (CVD OBSiC) were investigated and their performance in moist and dry oxygen evaluated. Both materials exhibited a relatively high open porosity with interconnecting pore paths throughout the struts which are critical in terms of their performance in combustion environments. The CVD SiC coating retarded the degradation of the baseline material but was generally ineffective over longer periods of time and/or higher temperatures. When exposing the samples to moist oxygen, the rate of oxidation decreased. Microstructural investigations indicated the formation of a bubbled amorphous aluminosilicate layer.
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