Insulation · Insulation Bricks
Lightweight insulating fire bricks — Group 23 to Group 30
Insulating fire bricks (IFB) sit behind your hot-face working lining, dropping shell temperature, cutting fuel consumption and shortening heat-up cycles. Stocked in ASTM C155 Groups 23, 26, 28 and 30 — pick the group by hot-face temperature and we will spec the matching working-lining grade.
Group
23 / 26 / 28 / 30
ASTM
C155 Conformant
Low λ
0.20-0.45 W/mK
Energy
Fuel-Cost Reduction
Overview
Insulation Bricks — what they are, when to specify
Insulating fire bricks are lightweight, porous bricks made from refractory clays and burnable additives that fire out to leave a controlled pore network. The pores trap air, dropping thermal conductivity by an order of magnitude vs. a dense fire brick — at the cost of mechanical strength, so IFBs are nearly always installed behind a dense hot-face lining, not as the hot face itself.
Grades
Stocked grades — pick by service condition
Indicative properties only. Final specification is set per application after we review your operating envelope.
| Grade | Composition | Service Limit | Typical Application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group 23 (HW-23) | 35-40% | 1260 °C | Petrochemical reformers, ammonia plants, backup linings |
| Group 26 (HW-26) | 40-45% | 1430 °C | Soaking pits, hot-blast stoves, reheat furnace backup |
| Group 28 (HW-28) | 55-60% | 1540 °C | Glass tank backup, ceramic-kiln backup, lime kiln |
| Group 30 (HW-30) | 60-70% | 1650 °C | High-temperature kiln backup, glass-tank superstructure |
| Calcium Silicate Backup | — | 1000 °C | Casing-side backup behind IFB layer (see Calcium Silicate) |
Standard rectangle, arch, wedge and skew shapes. Cut-to-size and machined special shapes available — IFBs are easily worked with carbide tooling on site.
Datasheets available on request — email punesales@chaneyco.com with your specification and we will send the matching PDF.
Applications
Where insulation bricks are specified
Steel & Foundry
Reheat furnace backup, soaking pit, hot-blast stove
Petrochemicals
Reformer arch, sulphur recovery, ammonia secondary reformer
Cement & Lime
Lime kiln, preheater cyclone backup
Glass & Ceramics
Glass-tank backup, regenerator backup, ceramic kiln
Power & Energy
Boiler backup, hot-gas duct lining
Why Chaneyco
Three reasons buyers source insulation bricks from us
Stocked at Chakan, dispatched fast
Insulation Bricks are held at our Chakan plant in Pune. Standard grades dispatch same-day to plants in the Pune industrial belt and within days pan-India by road or rail.
Spec advice before quote
Choosing the right grade for the operating envelope makes a much bigger lifecycle-cost difference than haggling on the cheapest grade. Our technical team will recommend by zone before quoting.
ISO 9001:2015 audit-ready
Every batch ships with composition and dimensional QC records, supported by our ISO 9001:2015 certification (Cert. 11553, AQSR / USAC accredited, valid through 17 Sept 2027).
Frequently Asked
Insulation Bricks questions, answered
How do I pick the right IFB group?
The group number indicates the maximum hot-face temperature in degrees Fahrenheit ÷ 100 (so Group 23 = 2300 °F = 1260 °C). Pick the lowest group that comfortably covers your operating temperature plus a ~50 °C safety margin. Going higher than necessary just costs more for no service benefit.
Can IFBs be used as the hot face?
Only in low-abrasion, low-pressure service like petrochemical reformers and certain ammonia secondary reformers, where the gas atmosphere is clean and the dust loading is negligible. In most furnaces and kilns, install dense brick or castable in front and use the IFB as backup.
How much fuel do IFBs save?
Depends on the existing lining and operating temperature. For typical reheat furnaces, replacing a 100mm dense backup with 100mm IFB drops shell temperature 30-50 °C and trims fuel by 4-8%. We can run the heat-loss calculation for your geometry on request.
Talk to a Refractory Engineer
Tell us about your application
Share the basics — furnace type, operating temperature, atmosphere, the lining zone you are specifying. Our technical team responds within one working day with grade recommendation, indicative quote and lead time.