A History of Shotcrete in

Refractory
By Ted W. Sofis

THE EARLY YEARS OF REFRACTORY mixture needed to have enough sharp aggregate to keep
GUNNING the gunning hoses clean from buildup and enough clay to

I
t wasn’t long after Carl Akeley developed the dry-mix help hold the material in place until it began to set. In the
process (originally trademarked by the Cement Gun 1970s, gun mixtures were refined further to widen the water
Company as “gunite”) in the early 1900s that dry-mix threshold and rebound was greatly reduced. Gunning prod-
started to be used for the fireproofing of mines. The earliest ucts quickly gained acceptance in the steel industry for
refractory gun mixtures were proportioned and mixed in the addressing refractory wear areas in steel ladles, soaking
field. Mixtures such as the 1-2-4 mixture were widely used pits, and furnaces.
for industrial ductwork and petrochemical applications. The The speed of installation soon led to the use of mono-
1-2-4 mixture consisted of one part lumnite, or calcium alumi- lithic gunned refractory materials in blast-furnace troughs,
nate cement; two parts haydite, an expanded shale; and four blast furnaces, and many other applications.
parts vermiculite. These early refractory mixtures were mixed
on the ground or with paddle mixers—on jobsites—and they STEEL MILL AND INDUSTRIAL
provided a low-density insulating refractory that could be APPLICATIONS
gunned in place and handle the high temperatures. I personally began working in the shotcrete industry gunning
refractory in steel teeming ladles. After a teeming ladle
DRY-MIX GUNNING MATERIALS finished emptying its steel into molds, the empty ladle would
Manufactured refractory mixtures date back to the 1930s, be laid on its side and a thin layer of clay-based refractory
but they were generally mixtures made for cast-in-place would be gunned on red glowing ladle brick. This thin refrac-
applications. In those days, gunning castables usually tory coating would instantly dry on contact. When a ladle
involved pre-dampening and aging the material for a period went off for repairs, we would take advantage of the oppor-
of time prior to gunning to get a successful result. In the tunity to gun the ladle with a thicker application. The refrac-
1960s, ball clays and chemical additives were incorporated tory coatings would extend the life of the ladle brick from
into the refractory mixtures to help the material hang better 17 heats per ladle to 50 or 60 heats. In 1975, we worked
and stay in place. The ball clays gave the mixture a sticky with the first spinner prototype for gunning ladles. The spin-
quality and chemical additives aided set times. A good gun ner gun was a rotating nozzle system that was lowered into

A 9 in. (225 mm) thick dry-mix process installation of Gunning a high-temperature refractory with the dry-mix process
high-strength 2600°F (1400°C) refractory in a power plant in the burners of a coal-fired power plant. The refractory material
ash hopper did not use portland cement

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the upright ladle to enable the operator to shoot ladles by
remote control.
In blast-furnace departments, we would routinely gun
refractory materials to reline the blast-furnace troughs.
Because the refractory gunning could be performed quickly,
blast-furnace down time was greatly reduced. This enabled
the blast furnace to get back on line quicker and possi-
bly get an additional cast in that day. In steel making, lost
production time is expensive and can often be costlier than
the repair work.
In the power industry, gunned monolithic refractories
began to replace fire brick in power plant ash hoppers.
Large boiler design and engineering companies such as
Babcock & Wilcox and Combustion Engineering developed
their own refractory gun mixtures, including a prepackaged
version of the old 1-2-4 mixture.
The Jet-Creter was the first straight-drop rotary gun used for
A variety of specialty gunned refractory materials, includ- refractory installations in the United States. They typically had
ing high-strength refractories for ash hoppers; chrome gasoline engines to run the rotor and were mounted on wheels
alumina, for cyclones; and medium-density and lightweight with a trailer hitch for towing
insulating gunning mixtures, are currently used in power
generation facilities.
“Hot gunning,” common in the steel industry, is where
gunning repairs are made to vessels, soaking pits, or coke
ovens while the units are still hot. These gunning repairs
can be done with a handheld lance or with a remotely
operated nozzle.

ADVANCES IN DRY-MIX GUNNING

EQUIPMENT
Initially, most of the refractory maintenance gunning was
done with single-chamber, batch-type guns, where the gun
was loaded with material, pressurized, and then the material
discharged. The development of the continuous-feed rotary
gun (National Foundry’s Jet-Creter, a straight drop rotary
gun with a rotating air lock) opened refractory shotcrete to
greater use in the steel industry.
An auger-type pre-dampener used in dry-mix process refractory
The Reed Gun that followed was the first bowl-type installations
continuous-feed rotary gun to be widely used for refrac-
tory gunning. The Reed Gun gained popularity in the mid-
1970s because it was easy to use and small enough to be
stationed at various steel mill locations where maintenance
gunning was done on steel ladles, blast-furnace depart-
ments, and soaking pits. Pre-dampening of the prepack-
aged refractory materials was initially accomplished with
paddle mixers. This required adding a premeasured amount
of water, mixing for a few minutes, dumping the mixture out
of the mixer, and hand shoveling the dampened material
into the gun. Allentown developed a gunning system with a
mixer, conveyor, and hopper, and provided a method to pre-
dampen without having to double-handle the material. In the
1970s, auger-type pre-dampeners emerged, most notably
the Reed-Mate and the B & B Pre-dampener. They provided
a more efficient means of pre-dampening dry packaged
refractory material.
In my time in the business, I worked through the early years
A typical setup used in dry-mix process refractory installations
using paddle mixers, then the conveyor hopper rigs, and on with a rotary gun and an auger-type pre-dampener for gunning
to the auger type pre-dampeners that we still use today. dry prepackaged refractory material

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WET-MIX PROCESS SHOTCRETE
REFRACTORY
The emergence of wet-process shotcrete for refractory
installation lagged behind the civil and building industries
for a few reasons. First, the technology in refractory shot-
crete pump mixtures had not yet been developed. That work

Wet-mix shotcrete pump with a pan mixer for handling bulk sacks
works well for mixing and placing large volumes of material

ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
The progression to robotic systems for remote manipulation
of the nozzle created many innovations. In years past, hot
gunning was mainly done with long, handheld lances and
protective clothing. The major problems with hot gunning
by hand involved contending with the intense heat and
Diagram of a turbine mixer. The wet-mix process didn’t become
viable for refractory installations until the 1990s, when mixers
the difficult and awkward gunning angles. Today, with the
were developed that could mix quickly enough to keep pace with technology available, basic oxygen furnace vessels can be
the higher-volume wet-mix shotcrete pumps shot with robotic systems. Visibility in hot vessels and the
intensity of the high temperatures present major difficulties.
was first undertaken at Harbison Walker in the mid-1990s. However, these issues can be effectively dealt with by using
The patent was applied for in 1996, by inventors Mark C. a computer-programmed robotic gunning system. The areas
Langenohl and Gustav O. Hughes, for “non-slumping, in need of repair are located by a laser that scans the inside
pumpable, castable, and method of applying same” for of the vessel. The nozzle is then directed to these areas
shotcrete application. Another obstacle was mixing dry, where the refractory material is gunned in place. The refrac-
pre-packaged refractory materials quickly enough to keep tory material can be efficiently installed without the expo-
pace with concrete pumping. The existing refractory mixing sure and difficulties of using a handheld nozzle.
equipment, at the time, was not adequate to mix and handle
a volume of material that could be pumped. Early installa- LOOKING FORWARD
tions used continuous mixers or a dedicated concrete truck Refractory mixtures continue to evolve. In recent years, ultra-
to mix the refractory materials. This problem was later over- low-cement gunning mixtures have become more common.
come with the development of turbine-style pan mixers with There are ultra-low-cement gun mixtures for the dry-mix
high-speed mixing blades. process gunning and ultra-low-cement pump mixtures for
The pan mixers and the new technologies in pumpable wet-mix shotcrete. Refractory gun mixtures with no cement,
shotcrete refractories opened the door to high-volume wet- with enhanced refractory properties, have been introduced
process shotcrete installations. and are being used effectively in a variety of applications.

14 Shotcrete | Fall 2017 www.shotcrete.org

 time. With the 20th anniversary of the American Shotcrete
Association, it is fitting to look back at the progress we’ve
made in the rather specialized refractory shotcrete business
and detail the accomplishments we’ve made along the way.

Acknowledgments
Gus Hughes, President, Mt. Savage Specialty Refractories.

Ted Sofis and his brother, William J. Sofis Jr.,

are the Principal Owners of Sofis Company,
Inc. After he received his BA in 1975 from
Muskingum College, New Concord, OH,
Refractory-lined 0.25 mile (0.4 km) long tunnel was placed Ted began working full time as a shotcrete
with shotcrete nozzleman and operator servicing the
steel industry. He began managing Sofis
In the 42 years that I’ve been involved in gunning refrac­ Company, Inc., in 1984 and has over
tory, we’ve seen substantial advances. I’ve had the good 40 years of experience in the shotcrete industry. He is Chair
fortune to work with many talented, dedicated, and innova­ of the ASA Publications Committee, a member of multiple
tive people in both the material and equipment sides of other ASA committees, and an ACI Examiner. Over the years,
refractory applications. When we had problems gunning, Sofis Company, Inc., has been involved in bridge, dam, and
they listened and made adjustments with grain sizing and slope projects using shotcrete and refractory installations
other aspects of their mixtures to make better gunning in power plants and steel mills. Sofis Company, Inc., is a
refractory products. It’s remarkable how far we’ve come member of the Pittsburgh Section of the American Society
and how much progress has been made in such a short of Highway Engineers (ASHE) and ASA.

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