Ash Brick Manufacturing technology

Hi

Generally the ASH BRICK MANUFACTURING is done by MIXING a BINDER Then moulding it into BRICK SHAPE IN A normally hydraulic press & THEN CURING in the STEAM HEATED OVEN FOR Hrs. if interested for information TEL No91-20-24532278 MAIL:anantr@goowy.com

REGARDS

RANADE

if you have a standard ash of fixed composition, say from burning the same coal for years. This fly ash can be used in varying amounts for bricks etc. The proportions need to be determined by test and the strength needed.

For strong bricks = less ash and so on.

The local Cement institute will help.

repeat this search with the term +USA or your country added after the quotes.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22Cement+institute%22&btnG=Google+Search

Not all ash is equal.

LOI (Loss of ignition) based on state law determines whether ash can be utilized. Fed law limit is 6% LOI. State law may be more restrictive. If LOI is stable never exceeding state & fed legal limit. The use of ash also requires absence of heavy metals, mercury, arsenic, VOC, contaminants, etc. If not, store the ash.

Properly firing the boiler can easily maintain LOI below 6%. For whatever reason, few plants comply. LOI at some plants approaches 20% routinely.

Some ash needs no additives other than moisture to set up. Each ash is different. Variations in boiler operator experience, boiler equipment condition, sulfur content, LOI, the fuel supply variations will affect results. Routine measurements are absolutely necessary to verify continuous compliance.

LOI = Loss on Ignition = how mush the ash loses if you burn it in a reference oven at a high temperature.

They do not want you making bricks out of ash that is still 20% coal, or it might start fire again in some building fire.

The 6% is the max they can tolerate. As stated ash varies and is the assorted calcium and other oxides left behind after high temp combustion. Often they will take part in cement forming hydration reactions and so tests need to be done to see how much ash you can get rid of this way. As stated, you cannot have any leachable metals in there. This is why some household garbage and some industrial garbage cannot be used in brick making

Look at a company from Stlouis. customsuperhomes.com they are building with this material but I think it is in slabs not bricks.

Expanded shale is the left over ash from processing oil shale. Heating the shale in an oven to drive off the VOC (oil), causes the shale to expand, a bit like popcorn, leaving lots of pockets of air. The ash is oil free and commonly used as the main aggregate for lightweight concrete block production. The extra cost of the blocks will not be something you would want to pay for to build a basement foundation, but if you are building a skyscraper, lightweight block are an advantage. The building frame would need to support less weight in the form of concrete block walls.

I have seen "waste to energy" thermal plants where the people promoting the construction of the plant claimed the ash could be used to make concrete blocks. Other than the miniature samples the plant salesman were giving out, I have never seen blocks made from trash incinerator ash. The reasons for this are stated earlier in this thread. In older "Cinder Blocks" the ash (cinders) from coal boilers was used as the main aggregate in concrete block production.

Our ash wasn't suitable for making bricks so we excavated a very large pit to store it in. The pit was so large, it used to attract a lot of attention. I can still remember standing at the rim and hearing passersby exclaim. "Hey, look at that big ash hole!"

Two years ago we bought a 50 year old house. There was a bit of a moisture problem in some of the walls (actually still is) and over the years some of the plaster became soft and paint came off. Only solution was to try to stop moisture (still can't stop it ) and re-plaster large sections of all the inside walls. Also at some places the plaster just popped up, almost as if it was pushed from behind.

When we started to strip the old plaster we found (to my dissapointment) that all the inside walls was made of large ASH BRICKS. This was the main cause of the problem. Two things happened here and is still happening. These bricks are like sponges sucking up moisture (seems that the damp-cor layer between the foundation and the walls became brittle as well as the roof leaked onto some of the walls) . This caused the bricks to weaken and some of the coal in the ash expanded and this makes the plaster to pop out . I would never build a house with this type of brick. You think it saves you money but at the end you will spend more fixing up if something like moisture gets into the wall. Maybe you can build a store or workshop of these bricks and leave it un-plastered...only seal it well on the outside or mix something like latex into the mix of the ash brick. Also put in extra heavy duty damp-cor and a good roof. Then again, you wanted to save money in the first place? Now the rest of the building costs more...