Looking for recommendations on specs for fire bricks and other refractory material to line the fire pan on an oil fired Consolidation.

(Kevin, thanks for pointing out the correction in the name.)

McMaster Carr offers several off the shelf firebricks and several types of mortar. Primarily for stationary furnaces etc. Not sure how well they would hold up in a moving firebox ?

https://www.mcmaster.com/firebricks/

Perhaps the "hard" / abrasion resistant version would work.

I think the key would be careful fitting of the bricks so they could not move or slide around. But you would probably need to account for expansion of the bricks at high temperature (ie fit them a little loose and count on them expanding to allow very little motion when at operating temperature).

Good luck, Cheers Kevin.

I have experience with two methods of applying refractory materials to fire boxes in oil burning locomotives in both daily service and infrequent excursion service.

One method is using a castable for the main fire pan and side sheet lining along with a plastic material that is rammed in place for the flash wall. Both of these must be properly anchored to the pan and fire box sheets and the castable will hold up much better if reinforced with the addition of stainless steel needles made for the purpose. Proper curing is a must before firing the engine. When all of the proper procedures are followed, this makes a solid, very durable lining. As with all things related to boilers, expansion and contraction is your enemy and cracking and chipping is inevitable, requiring repairs to keep it in good condition. Mixing the castable per the manufacturers instructions is a must. It is easy to get it too wet which will weaken it after curing, causing premature cracking and chipping. As for specific materials, I recommend talking with the manufacturer and explaining what you are doing. There are several different materials available with specific qualities and they can recommend what will work best for your application.

The other method I am familiar with is the traditional individual brick stacked and mortared in place. I am currently employed by the Durango & Silverton Railroad and involved with the design and conversion of our fleet of coal burning locomotives to oil firing. (For which we will all surely burn in narrow gauge hell!) We are currently using this method although we have experimented with castable materials in a few locations. The bricks are easy to work with and individual bricks can be replaced when necessary. A properly designed fire pan with the brickwork properly applied will stand up well, but again, expansion and contraction are the enemy along with the vibration of the locomotive going about its business. We are still experimenting with different methods of installing the brickwork to make it hold together well. The the side sheet walls and front wall around the burner opening are the most troublesome, particularly the front wall. Along with the standard smooth sided bricks there is also an interlocking style available which holds up much better in the problem areas. Applying a glaze over the finished brick work to seal it and help keep sand from working into the joints between the bricks is also helpful. I also recommend designing in expansion joints between the different areas of the pan to avoid buckling from expansion. Ceramic fiber works for sealing these expansion joints and still allowing movement.

My opinion is that the castable, properly reinforced and installed, makes for a more durable installation. The down side is that it is not as easily repaired as replacing individual bricks. Cleaning out the broken areas and patching with either the castable or plastic rammed into place is possible. Also, it is much more difficult to remove for replacement or when required for inspections. I can't speak as to the cost comparison between the two. Initial installation is probably a little easier with the brick.

https://www.mtsavage.com/Home/tabid/128/Default.aspx

The folks at Mt. Savage may be of help. They are local to the Western Maryland Scenic and have helped them in the past.

Greetings:
At Illinois Railway Museum we used Harbison-Walker firebrick for the floor, ends and side walls. Plastech(?) plastic firebrick was used to form the corners. The brick was all mortared and a finish coat of mortar applied over everything.
The interlocking bricks were the best, but very difficult to remove for repairs.
Good luck!
J.David

Monticello Railway Museum is using Plibrico products, mostly because they handle the "local" steel industry near Indianapolis. We're using the castable (Plicast LWI 28 insulating refractory) product mostly, with a small amount of plastic refractory (Super F Air Bond Plastic Refractory), and as Russ noted, stainless steel needles for the castable product, 1.5 lbs per 50 lb bag of castable. You'll also need lots of steerhorn anchors if using castable and rammed up plastic to hold the refractory. We've used loose brick mortared into place in those locations where we'll need to access flexible bolts during the annual inspections, and the 5 year flexible bolt inspections. There are also "end papers" as they call it, which is a 1/8" thick or 1/4" thick ceramic "blanket" used between the refractory and the firepan. Russ tells us D&S has used it on some and not on others, and is not sure it makes any difference. We did not use it for the first 9 years of operation, but we did put it in this time around, and will be curious if we see any difference in heat radiated from the exterior of the firepan. I can't imagine it will make much, if any difference.

If you go with castable, you'll need a small concrete vibrator to help get the refractory to flow where it needs to go, and have a box or two of plastic on hand to fix the inevitable voids in the castable.

Kent

Thanks for the inputs.