Abstract: The object of the present invention is to develop an innovative mud material which has the properties of a resin-type mud material for improving the working environment, which mud material is capable of increasing the depth of an iron tap hole and of improving the adhesion to mud material deposited in a furnace at high heat, such adhesion being a drawback of the conventional art.This invention provides a mud material used for an iron tap hole in a blast furnace, wherein 8 to 20 wt % of a solution of a novolak-type phenolic resin having a specific number-average molecular weight and serving as a binder is added to and blended with a refractory aggregate used as a conventional mud material.

Abstract: A compact and inexpensive refractory monitoring temperature sensor and a compact and inexpensive refractory erosion location measuring device which can effect continuous detection of erosion over a wide range and specification of a location of an erosion and further can be re-used and used continuously. The temperature sensor includes at least two metal members and an insulating substance (2) filled between the metal members. The sensor detects a condition of an erosion of a refractory not from a melting breakdown of the sensor but from a variation in insulation resistance of the insulating substance which arises from a high temperature of the refractory due to erosion of the refractory. The measuring device incorporates such temperature sensor and discriminates an amount and a location of erosion of the refractory from a variation in insulation resistance between the metal members.