API TR 979 is the second in a series of three API reports covering the use of refractory concrete (castables), plastics, and ramming mixes for applications for the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI). Its content is complemented by the two other reports in this series:
API TR 978, Monolithic Refractories: Manufacture, Properties and Selection,
API TR 980, Monolithic Refractories: Installation and Dryout.
These technical reports update and add to the original reports written by Committee 547 of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) in 1979 and 1989. These are ACI 547.R-79, State-of-the Art Report: Refractory Concrete, and ACI 547.1R-89, State-of-the Art Report: Refractory Plastics and Ramming Mixes.
TR 979 focuses specifically on the information on the applications of refractories contained in two ACI refractories documents:
ACI 547.R-79, State-of-the Art Report: Refractory Concrete,
ACI 547.1R-89, State-of-the Art Report: Refractory Plastics and Ramming Mixes.
The original content of these reports was focused primarily on steel- and glass-making applications, which represent the largest refractory markets. API, in tailoring the revision of this content to the HPI, has greatly expanded the text pertaining to the specialized oil-refining and petrochemical-processing applications. At the same time, API has retained and updated the information covering applications outside of the HPI (see Section 5) because of the similarities and applicability that this information has for refractory professionals in these other industries.