Calderys at IREFCON 2026: sharing refractory innovation for a sustainable tomorrow

Organized by the Indian Refractory Makers Association (IRMA), this edition is themed “Innovative solutions for a sustainable tomorrow” and brings together refractory makers, the industries they serve and the research community.

Calderys experts will be at the heart of the program. Ish Mohan Garg, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, will deliver a keynote on “Future-proofing the refractory industry: Beyond products, Towards sustainable value creation”, and Dr. Saumen Sinha, Director Innovation & Technology, Asia Pacific, chairs the IREFCON 2026 Technical Committee.

Calderys teams will also present more than 20 technical papers, sharing practical advances for the iron and steel, cement and other high-temperature industries:

Iron and steelmaking

• Zone-specific Al₂O₃–SiC–C refractory systems for torpedo ladles: wear mechanisms, field investigation and refractory optimization — Presented by Alok Patro, Deputy General Manager, Iron & Steel Sales, Calderys India

• Improvement of tap hole clay drilling behavior for high-severity blast furnace operation — Presented by Souvik Palui, Manager, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India

• Development of eco-friendly taphole clay for blast furnace — Presented by Tuhin Patranabhish, General Manager, Taphole clay, Quality & New product development, Calderys India

• Development of Indigenous basic hearth mass for the cold and hot repair of electric arc furnace (EAF) and conarc furnace — Presented by Pravash Gaurav, Innovation & Technology manager, Quality & New product development, Calderys India

• Development of indigenous gunning mass for EOF (energy-optimized furnace) and establishing its performance for the hot maintenance — Presented by Pravash Gaurav

• A case study on lance performance improvement at Tata Steel Kalinga Nagar through customer collaboration — Presented by Samik Sarkar, Deputy Manager – Production, Industrial Operations, Calderys India

• Lance: delivering customized solutions for diverse customer needs — Presented by Subhasis Das, Senior Manager, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India

Magnesia-based refractories for steel and cement

• Energy-efficient magnesia carbon bricks solution for steel ladle — Presented by Avishek Mitra, Deputy General Manager Innovation & Technology, Quality & New product development, Calderys India

• Development of hydration-resistant magnesia-based bricks for steel and cement industries — Presented by Avishek Mitra

• Development of an advanced alkali–sulfur corrosion-resistant magnesia spinel refractories in high-AFR cement kilns — Presented by Avishek Mitra

Continuous casting and metallurgical fluxes

• Advanced mold flux design for improved surface quality in high- and low-speed casters — Presented by Rahul Kumar, Senior Process Development Scientist/Engineer, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India

• Fundamental design approach for synthetic slag — Presented by Rahul Kumar

• Development of mini-automatic flux feeder for small and medium steel plants — Presented by Dhananjoy Ghosh, Engineer - Customer Service (Steel casting fluxes, Automatic flux feeder)

• Reducing thermal expansion of magnesia–carbon refractories used in continuous casting of steelmaking — Presented by Shekhar Shrivastava, Director Growth projects, Industrial operations, Calderys India

Monolithic refractories and services

• Tailoring low-cement castable rheology via micro silica properties — Presented by Gaurav Sinha, General Manager, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India 

• Development of a plastic gunning mix: a unique system for mechanized application — Presented by Santosh Upadhyay, General Manager (Installation), Project application & services, Calderys India

• Advantages of single-component plastic refractory in skid and post areas of walking beam furnaces — Presented by Rishi Mukherjee, Sales Manager, Iron & Steel (East), Calderys India

• Hydrojetting technology for refractory dismantling in CFBC boiler maintenance — Presented by Rishi Mukherjee

• From variability to consistency: the impact of stabilized microsilica on castable performance — Presented by Sumit Samanta, Deputy Manager, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India

From across Asia Pacific

• Research on Slag Adhesion Treatment Technology in the Melting and Casting Industry — Presented by Chunxia Chen, Product and Application Manager, Calderys China

• Bauxite–zircon castable for aluminum applications: numerical analysis of rapid drying behavior — Presented by Hirotaka Goto, Technical engineer, Calderys Japan

Sustainability initiatives 

• Sustainable use of recycled silicon carbide in monolithics: a viable replacement for virgin SiC — Presented by Suparna Basu, QA & Quality Process Control (South West Asia), Calderys India

• Systematic evaluation of reclaimed materials from industrial sources for low-cement castables — Presented by Bhavna Kumari, Senior Engineer, Quality & Process Control, Calderys India

As Title Sponsor, Calderys will also be present across the venue, with standees and its audio visual for Calderys in India on the main stage, and looks forward to meaningful conversations with refractory makers, customers and researchers as the industry advances toward a more sustainable tomorrow.

Contact our team to discuss your project needs.