This UNITECR 2022 paper is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, CC-BY 4.0, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. STEEL MEETS REFRACTORY – A NEW PLATFORM FOR TECHNICAL EXCHANGE IN GERMANY A. Buhr*, Almatis GmbH, Germany P. Quirmbach, University Koblenz-Landau, Germany J. Pischke, Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, Germany E. Steinle, Deutsche Feuerfest Industrie e.V., Germany ABSTRACT The dialogue and networking between experts from the refractories and the steel industries is essential for successful development of new refractory concepts, products, and solutions. It becomes even more relevant with the upcoming challenges when transforming the carbon-intensive steel making process to carbon neutrality. New technologies in steel making require adjustments of refractories, and refractories have an influence on the process performance in multiple ways, both technically and economically. This paper discusses the long tradition of technical cooperation between the steel and refractories industries in Germany and how the new platform “Steel Meets Refractory” continues this important technical exchange between experts of both industries. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Refractories are fundamental for the steel making process as linings for furnaces and treatment and transport vessels. Often they also fulfill a functional role in order to perform metallurgical processes in principle such as purging plugs in the bottom of steel ladles. When looking back a couple of decades it becomes clear that the strategic role of refractories for steel making companies has undergone changes because of significant developments in the steel making technology such as the transfer from open heart furnaces to oxygen blowing converters, the continuous casting of steel, and the introduction of secondary metallurgy in the steel ladle. As consequence two major trends took place with regard to refractories: a drastic reduction of specific refractory consumption in steel making from 50 to less than 10 kg per ton of steel (fig. 1) and new higher performance and quality refractory materials which can cope with the much higher challenges of the modern steel making processes. Fig. 1. Specific refractory consumption in steel making and technology changes[1]. In the 1960 and 1970s many steel companies had own refractory manufacturing plants or companies in order to secure supply and consequently they also had dedicated refractory departments. The German Steel Association VDEh had a refractory committee, where refractory experts from the steel companies regularly met and discussed trends, technical challenges or experiences with testing refractories. The following topics were discussed and published just to give a