Manufacturing of Bricks using Industrial Sludge
Ranjeet N. Kore *
Dr. S. R. Bhagat
Faculty
Department of Civil Engineering,
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University
Loner e
[email protected];
Faculty
Department of Civil Engineering,
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University
Loner e
[email protected]
Aniruddha N. Chavan
Faculty
Department of Civil Engineering,
Smt. G. D. Tatkare Polytechnic At Gove, Kolad
Abstract: Clay bricks have been made since thousands of years. Apart from clay other alternate
materials have been tried in partial or in full for making bricks. One of the industrial by-products is
Gypsum sludge which can be used as a partial replacement to natural clay for making bricks.
Compared to other part of Maharashtra, Konkan region have less exposed soil surface, this
results in less availability of clay for making bricks. Sometimes, it is observed that fertile soil is
used for making bricks. At the other end in Konkan region various chemical and manufacturing
industries are situated. During various processes some of these industries produce a by-product
called as sludge. One such industrial by-product is Gypsum sludge. Gypsum sludge is inorganic
and non-reactive with the surrounding, so it can be reused for different purposes. This paper
presents the work carried out to check the feasibility of use of Gypsum sludge as partial
replacement of clay in making bricks. From the tests performed, it was observed that the optimum
value of replacement of clay by Gypsum sludge is 30%.
Keywords: Clay, Bricks, Industrial sludge, Gypsum
1.0 INTRODUCTION
B
rick is one of the most ancient of all building
materials and is most popular because of the
properties offered by brick to the owner and
builder. Because of the versatility and availability
of the raw material which can be molded into a
great range of shapes and sizes, and the flexibility
that this gives to design and construction,
buildings in brick has remained cost-effective. The
process of manufacturing of bricks has not
changed over time. However, technological
advancements have made contemporary brick
plants substantially more efficient and have
improved the overall quality of the products.
Due to the chemical and mineral content,
industrial solid wastes are found to be hazardous
in the view of environmental consideration.
Generally, sludge’s are disposed of by spreading
on the land or by land filling [1]. However, for
highly urbanized cities, sludge disposal by land
* Corresponding Author
filling might not be appropriate due to land
limitation. To avoid the drawbacks of the existing
sludge disposal methods, an attempt has been
made to dispose the solid sludge waste from
chemical industries (located at M.I.D.C. Mahad,
Maharashtra). One of the industrial by-products is
Gypsum sludge which can be used as a partial
replacement to natural clay for making bricks.
2.0 NECESSITY
The old practice of brick manufacturing was by
mixing the naturally available resources, forming
the bricks, drying and then firing them. The current
trend in bricks manufacturing has major emphasis
on the use of post- consumer wastes and
industrial by-products in the production process.
Most of the researches went through enhancing
the clay brick quality and properties by mixing the
clay with various sludge wastes as water
treatment sludge, sewage sludge, and textile
laundry sludge [2], [3], [4]. Enhanced construction
activities, shortage of conventional building
materials and abundantly available industrial
wastes have promoted the development of new
building materials [5]. Therefore it is necessary to
use industrial wastes for the formation of bricks
such as gypsum sludge, waste from water
treatment plants, etc. In areas like Konkan, have
less exposed soil surface, this results in less
availability of clay for making bricks. Sometimes, it
is observed that fertile soil is used for making
bricks, which is not a good practice. Mainly the
objective of this paper is to find out the alternative
for the manufacturing of building materials instead
of traditional materials and to check the
feasibility of use of Gypsum sludge as partial
replacement of clay in making bricks.
B. Iron Oxide Sludge
Iron oxides are produced from ferrous sulfate
by removal of water, decomposition, washing,
filtration, drying and grinding. They are produced
in either anhydrous or hydrated forms. Their range
of hues includes yellows, reds, browns and blacks.
Molar Mass of Fe2O3=159.6882g/mol.
Table 2: Percentage composition by element
Symbol
Atomic
mass
No. of
Atoms
Mass%
Iron
Fe
55.845
2
69.943
Oxygen
O
15.994
3
30.057
Element
3.0 BRICKS USING INDUSTRIAL SLUDGE
Table 3: Details of Proportions
A. Gypsum Sludge
Sludge
(S) = (100-C) %
Basically gypsum sludge produced in
chemical industries is a by-product of the
manufacturing processes of chemicals, fertilizers
etc. Gypsum is a translucent or transparent
mineral found in various colors: white, yellow,
brown, red, gray or clear colorless.
S
N
Proportion
(S:C) (%)
Table No. 1 Chemical analysis of Gypsum
Sludge
1
S.N. Description
Clay
(C)
kg
Total
wt.
(2.5*8=
20) kg
Gypsum
(0.95S)
kg
Iron
Oxide
(0.05S)
kg
30:70
5.70
0.3
14
20
2
40:60
7.60
0.4
12
20
Quantity
Unit
3
50:50
9.50
0.5
10
20
1
Aluminum
60
mg/kg
4
60:40
11.40
0.6
8
20
2
Ammonia
581
mg/kg
5
3
Color
Whitish
-
6
70:30
80:20
13.30
15.20
0.7
0.8
6
4
20
20
4
Loss on ignition
11.1
%w/w
90:10
17.10
0.9
2
20
5
Loss on drying
14.3
%w/w
7
8
100:00
19.00
1.0
0
20
6
Calcium
15138
mg/kg
7
Chloride
6958
mg/kg
A. Crushing and Grinding
8
Calcium nitrate
15274
mg/kg
9
Total nitrogen
136
mg/kg
10
Potassium
200
mg/kg
The raw material collected had heavy solid
masses with presence of water and moisture.
Necessary treatment was done to get the required
form of material. For this crushing and grinding
was carried out.
11
pH
7.56
-
12
Phosphorous
450
mg/kg
13
Nitrate (NO3 )
136
mg/kg
4.0 MANUFACTURING OF BRICKS
B. Sludge proportioning
The main aim was to find out feasibility of use
of Gypsum sludge as partial replacement of clay
in making bricks with best possible results
associated with its strength, water absorption,
weight, etc. Therefore this step was most
important apart from all the steps involved in the
whole manufacturing process. The work was
completed on the trial and error basis of practical
considerations.
Therefore
every
possible
proportion was worked out.
C. Sludge Blending
The process followed by the proportioning is
the process of blending. Blending is nothing but
the mixing of all the ingredients which concludes
the final mixture in which all the ingredients are
completely mixed with each other.
c)
Apart from only size and shape, texture and
appearance of the brick was also checked.
B. Water Absorption Test
This test was mainly conducted to check the
water resistance and absorption offered by the
bricks. Completely dried brick specimen was
immersed in clean water at a temperature of 27 ±
2°C for 24 hours [6]. The specimen was then
removed, cleaned with a damp cloth and weighed.
Weighing was completed 3 minutes after the
specimen has been removed from water [7].
C. Efflorescence
D. Moulding
Moulding is immediate to blending because
the blended material containing mixture with water
has some possibilities to segregate, reduction in
amount of water, that’s why to prevent the adverse
effects the moulding gets initiation. The moulds
used in this process were 21.2*9.5*7 cm in size.
Water absorption causes alkalis present in
the bricks get accumulated on the surface of
bricks which causes whitish/greyish patches on
the bricks. To check this effect of water treatment,
this test was carried out. Results of this test were
Nil as there was no perceptible deposit of
efflorescence [7].
E. Drying
D. Crushing Strength Test
The process involving passive phase of the
work concludes drying of the bricks. Bricks are
allowed to dry as soon as the moulding completes.
The filled moulds were emptied in such an area
where the sunrays are about to fall directly on wet
bricks.
The crushing strength was found by using
compression test machine (CTM). The bricks
which gone through the above three tests were
used for calculating the crushing strength. In this,
firstly the frogs of bricks were filled by a 1:6
cement mortar. These frog-filled bricks were
allowed to dry for a while and then taken for the
testing. Actual testing was done by placing these
bricks in between two horizontal plates of CTM.
The bricks were placed such that load distribution
along the whole should be uniform. After that
loading starts with increasing force gradually from
both the plates. The loading stops on failure of
the brick. Then the required strength was
calculated by working out applied force and the
total area [7].
F. Firing
Firing is defined as the process in which
bricks were allowed to burn under controlled
conditions by means of fuel. This process was
another most important process in manufacturing.
The main characteristics of bricks can be achieved
through this step only. This process will define
actual texture of the bricks, its appearance, etc.
5.0 TESTING
Compressive strength
Several abilities of bricks will be checked by
conducting following tests on it.
A. Shape and Size Test
In this test, following features of the bricks
was tested.
a) Whether the manufactured bricks were in
rectangular shape or not.
b) Whether the required sizes of the bricks
were achieved or not.
Fig.1: Testing of Bricks.
Table 4: Water Absorption Test Results
Proporti on
(S:C)
S.
N.
Weight (kg)
Before
Avg.
increase
(%)
After
I
II
I
II
1 30:70
2 40:60
3 50:50
1.7
1.68
1.64
1.83
1.5
1.63
2.23
2.27
2.39
2.25
2.1
2.39
28
35
45
4 60:40
5 70:30
1.5
1.36
1.44
1.49
2.18
2.14
2.12
2.32
46
56
6 80:20
7 90:10
1.38
1.43
1.36
1.39
2.2
2.27
2.1
2.28
57
60
Table No. 5 CTM Results
Sr.
No.
1
Proportion
b) Does not require any special equipment apart
from sieves, furnace, weighing balance.
c) Does not require plastering.
d) Lightweight bricks, reduces dead load of the
structures.
e) Application can be done in dry humid areas,
for low-stored buildings, pavements, etc.
f) Cost of purchasing is lower than traditional
clay bricks.
g) Attractive in appearance.
h)
Manufactured in-situ
affordable arrangements.
by
making
some
Dis-Advantages of bricks using Industrial sludge
Area
(mm2 )
20140
Strength
(Mpa)
1.65
a) High water absorption value.
30
Load
(KN)
33.3
2
40
32.5
20140
1.61
c) Cannot be used in tropical and wet regions.
3
50
30.6
20140
1.52
4
60
29.5
20140
1.46
5
70
20.7
20140
1.02
6
80
30.5
20140
1.51
7
90
28.8
20140
1.43
b) Low strength compared with traditional clay
bricks.
d) Transportation cost will be high if industries
are located far away from manufacturing site.
6.0 CONCLUSIONS
a. Optimum value of replacement of
Gypsum sludge is 30% by weight. It
good bricks formation having
strength, well-finished surfaces, and
in manufacturing.
clay by
results in
sufficient
economy
b. The industrial sludge’s bricks are a good
alternative in case of deficiency of traditional
clay bricks.
c.
Gypsum is found to be an economic and
efficient alternative material for clay.
d. The texture and finish on the surface of the
bricks made from the mixtures of clay and
sludge are good, and they may acceptable for
use as facing brick.
e.
Fig.2: Analysis of strength
Advantages of bricks using Industrial sludge
a) Easy manufacturing process.
Water absorption of the bricks increases with
increase in the percentage of sludge. This
indicates that durability of the bricks would be
lower at higher percentages of sludge.
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