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it solidified, thereby automatically sealing the thermocouple. The metallic tube protected the thermocouple from damage during the laying and heating of the lining and also from the moisture in refractory clay. A deflector (Fig. 2, 1) consisting of one or two bricks was provided above the protruding end cap in order to protect it from being damaged by a piece of brick in laying the upper rows of lining, a piece of ore, or a piece of lime when cooling additions are introduced in the bath. As was expected, the resistance of the end pieces was greater when theywere located closer to the converter39。s bottom where the amount of slag emulsion in the metal was lower. End caps mounted at the metal surface lasted 58 min. At a depth of 200 mm below this level, they lasted 1519 min. At a level of 320 mm from the converter39。s bottom, the end caps lasted throughout the entire smelting process. It has been established by investigations that, in parison with the chemical action of slag, the effect of metal convection flow on the durability of end caps is negligible. The end caps fitted into the lining (Fig, 1, 3) were screened from the flow by refractory brick. This did not improve their resistance. Simultaneously with testing the resistance of end caps at the insertion place, we determined the degree to which the temperature readings were representative of the temperature of the converter bath. On the basis of the converter39。s symmetry with respect to the oxygen stream, we assumed that the convective metal flow and the metal temperature were uniform along the converter39。s perimeter. With the thermocouples installed at different levels in the metal zone, we recorded the beginning and the rate of changes in the metal temperature at the moment when the cooling admixtures were added and also the rate of temperature increase during the blowingthrough process. The thermocouples were mounted at distances of 320 and 800 mm from the converter39。s bottom. The placement of the thermocouple at different depths in the metal hardly exerted any influence on the riseof the metal temperature during the blowingthrough process (Fig. 3). The thermocouples installed closer to the metal surface were found to be more sensitive to the action of cooling additions. Thus, it was found that, for zirconinmboride end caps, the most suitable measurement zone in 50ton converter