Home/Services/Hot Repairs
02 · Hot Repairs

Repair your furnace hot, usually without stopping production.

Planned or in an emergency, our hot repairs take place during the campaign to extend your furnace's life, without having to cool it down. They cover the superstructure as well as the glass-contact zone, and are usually carried out without stopping production.

Request a hot repair
Cooled lance performing internal ceramic welding inside a hot glass furnace
Signature service

Ceramic Welding

Ceramic welding lets us work hot on the superstructure of glass furnaces. A specially designed refractory powder is sprayed with a flow of oxygen: the exothermic reaction turns it into a solid ceramic mass. Applied from the inside, it rebuilds and protects worn areas; from the outside, it seals joints and cracks.

Every furnace is different: after a site visit or a review of your drawings, our project managers work with your teams to design the right solution, down to the spray lances. We then carry out the work with our own machines, high-purity powders and qualified teams.

Unique know-how and materials, right inside your furnace.

Explore ceramic welding →
BeforeOver the campaign, the glass eats into the new blocks: the glass line wears into the wall and the tuckstones above break up.
Cross-section after Hot Tank Repair: the worn glass line rebuilt with new blocks and refractory concrete
AfterHTR rebuilds it hot: new blocks and castable, anchored back to the original profile, without draining the glass.
Patented solution

Hot Tank Repair (HTR)

HTR is IRF's patented solution to renew the glass line hot, together with the critical area just above it, where tuckstones are often broken and the steel structure is exposed to heat.

HTR advantages:
  • Alternative to classic overcoating
  • Original furnace dimensions restored
  • Flexible configurations
  • Energy savings
  • No glass draining
  • Limited impact on production
  • Suitable for all glass markets
Worn glass-furnace bottom seen from inside, with debris on the paving blocks
Patented solution

Hot Bottom Repairs

A specific, long-lasting solution to repair the bottom of glass furnaces, after glass draining and temperature stabilisation at around 1300 °C, using AZS monolithics. IRF is the only company to offer two methods, depending on the furnace configuration:

  • ▸Lances introduced through the superstructure, for nearby areas.
  • ▸Lances introduced directly through the bottom, for large surfaces and cross-fired furnaces: an IRF patent.

Turnkey option: furnace draining, supply of AZS monolithics, installation and refilling.

Our other hot repairs

From bottom to crown, we work on every part.

Complementary methods to extend furnace life and keep its structural & thermal efficiency.

Ceramic Welding

Rebuild worn areas from the inside, seal from the outside, without cooling the furnace.

Explore ceramic welding →

Hot Bottom Repairs

Two methods depending on furnace configuration, including our lances introduced through the bottom, a patented process.

Crown Repairs

Holes plugged with hanging bricks or by replacing bricks. Depending on the condition of the crown: overcoating, shotcrete or ceramic welding.

Hot Block Repairs

Hot replacement or restoration of tank, superstructure, tuckstone and feeder blocks.

Anchoring

Cooled hooks hold the blocks in place and stabilise the furnace structure.

Glass Draining

Complete furnace emptying prior to hot bottom repair.

Regenerators

Hot work on regenerators: wall repairs, thermal cleaning of the checkers, and more.

Electrodes

Removal and insertion of electrodes & holders.

Overcoating / Shotcrete

New protective and insulating layers to reinforce the refractory and reduce heat losses: casting, shotcrete or bricklaying, as required.

Add years to your campaign.

Planned work or emergency, our qualified teams respond quickly anywhere in the world, with turnkey hot-repair solutions.

Contact a teamSee cold repairs