A preformed taphole for a steelmaking vessel such as a BOF furnace or a ladle is made by forming refractory material about a steel pipe, the refractory comprising refractory aggregate, a water soluble binder, metal fibers such as stainless steel fibers, and graphite, preferably flake graphite.
The invention relates to a refractory batch containing at least one refractory metal oxide component, at least one binder component, such as resin or pitch, if appropriate antioxidants, at least one carbon carrier, such as soot and/or graphite, and reinforcement fibers which are formed from a stainless steel material, which at the temperatures of use forms a coat of the refractory metal oxide on its surface, and to a shaped body made from the batch and to a process for producing the shaped body.
