With 40 years of experience in refractory materials, Dr. Guo Zongqi went to Shandong Hengjia High Purity to guide the purification process of magnesium materials

In the field of refractory materials in China, Dr. Guo Zongqi's name has always been closely linked to technological innovation. As the chief expert of Jiachen Group and a distinguished professor at Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, he studied under industry leaders in his early years and laid the foundation for scientific research at Luoyang Refractory Research Institute. Later, he moved to international refractory giants such as RHI and AIR, becoming one of the few compound experts with both academic attainments and industrial practical experience. Recently, Dr. Guo visited Shandong Hengjia High Purity Aluminum Technology Co., Ltd. to provide technical guidance on the flotation purification process of high-purity magnesia (MgO>98%). His profound theoretical accumulation and practical experience once again injected new momentum into the industry.

In the production workshop of Hengjia High Purity Aluminum, Dr. Guo focused on the flotation enrichment process of magnesite. According to the field data (as shown in Table 1), the magnesium concentrate yield after flotation reached 75%, the MgO content after calcination was stably over 98%, and the content of impurities such as SiO₂ and CaO was significantly reduced (all <0.5%). This achievement is due to the "multi-stage gradient flotation" technical solution proposed by Dr. Guo:

：Accurately analyze the associated mineral phases such as talc and dolomite in the ore through X-ray diffraction (XRD) to optimize the crushing particle size distribution;

: Use composite inhibitors (such as sodium hexametaphosphate) to selectively passivate silicate impurities and improve MgO enrichment efficiency;

：It is recommended to adopt a dynamic calcination curve to avoid MgO lattice defects and ensure high density of the final product.

Dr. Guo specifically pointed out: "The bottleneck of China's magnesia refractory materials is not the reserves, but the refinement of the purification process. Hengjia's practice has verified the feasibility of the flotation-calcination combined technology to break the international monopoly of high-purity magnesia."

Dr. Guo Zongqi's career is a microcosm of China's refractory materials from "following" to "running side by side". While studying for a doctorate at the University of Montreal in his early years, he systematically studied the erosion mechanism of high-manganese refractories for slag gasification furnaces and became one of the pioneers in this field; during his tenure at RHI, he led the development of resin-bonded magnesia-carbon bricks, which solved the pain point of short converter lining life. During this trip to Hengjia High Purity Aluminum, he further emphasized: "The future competition in refractory materials will be a dual competition of basic research and engineering capabilities. Enterprises need to build a 'problem-oriented' R&D chain with universities."

In addition to the technical inspection, Mr. Shao, general manager of Shandong Hengjia High Purity Aluminum Technology Co., Ltd., and Dr. Guo Zongqi had an in-depth dialogue on the innovation direction and industrial upgrading of high-purity refractory materials.

Mr. Shao first introduced to Dr. Guo the strategic layout of Hengjia High Purity in the field of special refractory raw materials such as high-purity alumina and magnesia in recent years, and emphasized the company's exploration of green and low-carbon preparation technology. He said: "The current international market demand for high-purity refractory materials is becoming increasingly refined. Hengjia hopes to break the situation of high-end products relying on imports through technological innovation."

Dr. Guo deeply agreed with this, and based on his own experience, he pointed out: "The core competitiveness of high-purity materials lies in the dual guarantee of 'purity' and 'stability'." He especially shared the advanced concepts of European companies in precise control of impurities and microstructure design, and suggested that Hengjia High Purity further strengthen the full-chain R&D system of "basic research-process optimization-application evaluation".

The two sides also discussed the industry-university-research cooperation model. Dr. Guo took the joint laboratory of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology and enterprises as an example, emphasizing the importance of "targeted research and development": "The mechanism research of universities can provide theoretical support for the process optimization of enterprises, and the engineering practice of enterprises can feed back the actual value of academic research." Mr. Shao responded positively and said that in the future, he will strengthen the linkage with universities and research institutes to jointly promote the localization process of high-purity refractory materials.

This exchange not only deepened the consensus between the two sides at the technical level, but also outlined a collaborative innovation blueprint of "academic leadership and industrial implementation", providing new ideas for the high-quality development of China's refractory materials.