Received:

22 May 2018
Revised:
Energy efficient production of
1 September 2018
Accepted:
23 October 2018
clay bricks using industrial
Cite as: Mary Lissy P.N.,
Carolin Peter, Kavya Mohan,
waste
Shone Greens,
Sneha George. Energy
efficient production of clay
bricks using industrial waste.
Mary Lissy P.N.∗, Carolin Peter, Kavya Mohan, Shone Greens, Sneha George
Heliyon 4 (2018) e00891.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2018. Department of Civil Engineering, Muthoot Institute of Technology and Science, Varikoli, India
e00891
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M.L. P.N.).

Abstract

Clay brick manufacturing is a sector which involves a lot of firing processes

requiring higher temperature. To maintain this temperature, large amount of fuel
in the form of wood, coal, biomass etc. need to be burnt in the kiln causing
serious issues of air pollution. Also, with the increase in the number of industries
coming up, large amount of un-disposable waste gets accumulated. If suitable
remedies are not adopted for its safe disposal, it may pollute the water bodies
through runoff. This project is an effort to reduce the brick firing temperature in
the kiln to about 600
C thereby reducing the cost of production and making the
whole process environmental friendly. This work will put forward a suitable
alternative for the safe disposal of industrial debris like quarry dust and glass
powder by incorporating them as a partial substitute for river sand which is one
of the costly constituent of clay brick and thereby further reducing the cost of
production. Experimental results showed higher compressive strength of 21.31 N/
mm2when the brick was casted with mix proportion of Cement: Sand: Red earth:
Glass Powder: Quarry Dust ¼ 4:1:1:1.5:2.5. The strength measured at
temperature 600
C met the requirements of the National Standards.

Keyword: Civil engineering

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1. Introduction
Brick firing is an energy intensive process consuming around 24 million tons/year of
coal and is a potential source of air pollution [1]. Even in the world of modern tech-
nology, between one-half and two-thirds of the world’s population, in both tradi-
tional societies as well as developed countries, still live or work in buildings
made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing struc-
ture and this sector also proves to be the livelihood of large number of unskilled la-
bour. As per estimates the temperature required in the kiln is around 1400
C which
requires burning lump sum quantity of fuel causing emission of highly polluted
gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3) and
in some cases chlorine and fluorine which are unsafe [2, 3]. Because of huge quan-
tities of toxic emissions, brick kilns cause serious health issues. Even though, the
impact of pollution caused locally by small isolated brick kilns is not significant,
large kilns near towns and cities are an important cause of concern.

In developing countries like India open dumpsites are common scenes, due to the lack
of skilled manpower and low budget for waste disposal. These wastes can be potential
hazards to the environment and human health unless properly stored, transported,
disposed of or managed [4]. Even though the disposal of hazardous wastes and efflu-
ents are regulated, solid wastes are often disposed of indiscriminately into environ-
ment posing health risks. In this view, management of such wastes, their disposal
in environment friendly and economically viable way is very important and this paper
put forward suggestions to cope up with this risk. Quarrying of lateritic stone pro-
duces 15e20% of soil wastes which poses a problem of disposal [5]. Similarly waste
glass generated from glass industry is industrial debris whose disposal needs to be
taken care of. Out of the total glass produced in India only 45% is recycled which
shows that there is a need for proper procurement and management of waste glass [6].

Through this work, we are putting forward an efficient alternative for safe disposal of
industrial by products such as quarry dust and glass powder by incorporating them
partially in clay bricks by replacing river sand which is a costly constituent and
whose availability is scarce. Our goal is to seek out innovative production of energy
efficient brick, environmentally friendly in the manufacturing process and for the end
use of clay brick products. We are on the quest to seek clay bricks that provide
exceptional energy efficiency, durability, recyclability, and low maintenance with
minimal impact on the environment from which they originate.

1.1. Experiment procedures

Firstly, the major constituents such as sand, clay, red earth, glass powder and quarry
dust required for the casting of samples are collected and sieve analysis is conducted.
The constituents are then taken according to trial proportions and mixed properly in dry

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state followed by adding required quantity of water to get a proper consistency. Table
moulding is adopted for casting the samples where first the mix prepared is filled into
the mould and extruded out after proper finishing of the surface. The samples so pre-
pared are properly dried in 3 different stages, initially, they are dried under the shade for
duration of 3 days, then they are exposed to direct sunlight for a duration of 5 days and
finally burned in the muffle furnace for 3 more days. The fired brick samples are then
tested for compressive strength and water absorption to identify the quality and desig-
nation of these bricks so as to identify their suitability for use in different type of works.

2. Materials and method

2.1. Materials
The various materials used in the production of clay bricks in this work are clay,
sand, red earth, quarry dust and glass powder as shown in Fig. 1. A brief description
of these materials is as follows:

Clay (C): These are finely-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or
more clay minerals with possible traces of quartz, metallic oxides and organic mat-
ters. They are plastic due to particle size, geometry as well as water content and
become hard, brittle and noneplastic upon drying or firing [7].

Sand (S): Natural river sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of
finely divided rock and mineral particles. Its composition is mostly silica (silicon di-
oxide), usually in the form of quartz. It is mined from the river beds and is used as a
fine aggregate. Indiscriminate mining of sand causes damages to the environment.
Recently due to the difficulty in the availability of natural sand its cost is quite high [8].

Fig. 1. (a) sand (b) glass powder (c) red earth (d) quarry dust (e) clay.

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Red earth (RE): It is generally derived from crystalline rock and is commonly found
in warm, temperate, moist climate under deciduous or mixed forest, having thin
organic and inorganic-mineral layers overlying a yellowish-brown leached layer
resting on an alluvial red layer. Their red colour is contributed mainly due to ferric
oxides occurring as thin coatings on the soil particles. Its chemical composition in-
cludes non-soluble material 90.47%, iron 3.61%, aluminum 2.92%, organic matter
1.01%, magnesium 0.70%, lime 0.56%, carbon dioxide 0.30%, potash 0.24%, soda
0.12%, phosphorus 0.09% and nitrogen 0.08% [9].

Quarry dust (QD): It contains silica which is a colourless crystalline compound

which is mainly found in natural sand, quartz, flint etc. and is an important constit-
uent in enhancing the strength property in materials. Quarry dust is a byproduct of
the crushing process and is disposed to landfills. Quarry dust contains silica and can
satisfy the requirement of a fine aggregate. With its incorporation into brick as a sub-
stitute for natural sand, the requirement of land fill area for its disposal gets reduced
and can also help in solving the problem of natural river sand scarcity because of its
low cost and similar properties [10].

Glass Powder (GP): It is principally composed of silica. Once waste glass is formed
it is disposed into landfills, million tons of waste glass is being generated annually all
over the world. The practice of dumping into landfills is quite un-sustainable as glass
does not decompose into the environment. Use of ground waste glass in brick as par-
tial replacement of sand could be an important step towards finding a way to safely
dispose waste glass [11].

2.2. Method
This work is an attempt to reduce the firing temperature conventionally adopted in
brick kiln and also to find a sustainable disposal method for industrial wastes such
as quarry dust and glass powder. The work started with a visit to the brick kiln from
where the collection of all the raw materials was done. Bricks were cast with varying
proportions of quarry dust and glass waste being incorporated on a trial and error basis.
Sand, clay and red earth needed for the work were collected from Peruva brick
manufacturing unit. Quarry dust was collected from a Quarry at Thrissur and glass
powder was collected from Coimbatore. Moulds with size 8  4  4 cm were made
for casting bricks. This helped in the small scale production of bricks for the work [12].

2.2.1. Casting of samples

The materials required for the casting such as quarry dust, glass powder, sand, red
earth, and clay were collected and the materials of proper sieve sizes were mixed
manually in dry state till a uniform colour was achieved and then water was added
gradually as per the requirement to achieve the required consistency during the

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mixing stage, the proportions were fixed based on a trial and error basis. The inner
surface of the mould was properly oiled and the prepared mix was then filled in the
mould up to the brim in layers by providing proper tamping and the top surface was
finished with a trowel to get a proper surface finish as shown in Fig. 2 [12].

2.2.2. Drying of prepared clay brick samples

Firstly, the bricks were kept for shade drying for duration of 3 days, this is done to
prevent plastic shrinkage cracks formed as a result of evaporation of water from the
surface of brick in the early stages. After which the bricks are subjected to direct sun
rays drying for a period of 5days. After sun drying the bricks are to be kept in the
muffle furnace for 3 days at a temperature of 600
C.Various stages of drying process
are shown in Fig. 3.

2.2.3. Testing of prepared clay brick samples

 The samples were then taken out for testing process. The properties such as
compressive strength, water absorption etc. were tested as shown in Fig. 4. Those
samples which give compressive strength more than 5 N/mm2 can be treated as a
building unit. The water absorption of a good brick should not exceed 20% as per
the standards.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Compressive strength
In every set of proportions, 40% replacement of natural river sand is done with glass
powder and quarry dust thereby reducing the percentage of sand to 10%. The red

Fig. 2. (a) mixing of materials (b) filling into the mould (c) levelling of surface.

Fig. 3. (a) Raw brick (b) Sun dried brick (c) Brick in muffle furnace (d) Fired brick.

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Fig. 4. (a) Testing for compressive strength (b) Test for water absorption.

earth was added for about 10 % during casting to impart colour. The percentage
replacement of glass powder was done from 5% to 30% with simultaneous alteration
of the quantity of quarry dust being used. Table 1 shows the percentages of different
constituents used for all proportions.

3.1.1. Proportion No.1 C: S: RE: QD: GP ¼ 4: 1: 1: 3.5: 0.5

In this proportion, 40% of natural river sand is replaced by the combination of quarry
dust and glass powder. Here, QD replaces 35% and GP replaces 5% of natural sand.
Five samples were casted using this proportion and the samples were tested for
compressive strength, the results of which are given in Table 2 and the graph
showing the compressive strength results of different samples are shown in Fig. 5.

3.1.2. Proportion No 2 C: S: RE: GP: QD ¼ 4:1:1:1.5:2.5

In this proportion, 40% of natural river sand is replaced by the combination of quarry
dust and glass powder. Here, QD replaces 25% and GP replaces 15% of natural sand.
Five samples were casted using this proportion and the samples were tested for
compressive strength, the results of which are given in Table 3 and the graph
showing the compressive strength results of different samples are shown in Fig. 6.

3.1.3. Proportion No.3 C: S: RE: GP: QD ¼ 4:1:1:2.5:1.5

In this proportion, 40% of natural river sand is replaced by the combination of quarry
dust and glass powder. Here, QD replaces 15% and GP replaces 25% of natural sand.
Table 1. Brick sample proportions.

Proportion no: Clay (%) Sand (%) Red earth (%) Quarry dust (%) Glass powder (%)

1 40 10 10 35 5
2 40 10 10 25 15
3 40 10 10 15 25
4 40 10 10 10 30

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Table 2. Observation table of proportion 1.

Sample no. Load (N) Length (mm) Width (mm) Area (mm2) Compressive strength (N/mm2)

A 40000 75 37 2775 14.41

B 40000 76 38 2888 13.85
C 35000 77 38 2926 11.96
D 45000 75 39 2925 15.38
E 0 75 37 2775 0
Average compressive strength ¼ 11.12 N/mm2.
Sample standard deviation ¼ 6.33.

Fig. 5. Graph showing compressive strength of proportion no: 1.

Five samples were casted using this proportion and the samples were tested for
compressive strength, the results of which are given in Table 4 and the graph
showing the compressive strength results of different samples are shown in Fig. 7.

3.1.4. Proportion No.4 C: S: RE: GP: QD ¼ 4: 1:1:3:1

In this proportion, 40% of natural river sand is replaced by the combination of quarry
dust and glass powder. Here, GP replaces 30% and QD replaces 10% of natural sand.
Five samples were casted using this proportion and the samples were tested for

Table 3. Observation table of proportion 2.

Sample no. Load (N) Length (mm) Width (mm) Area (mm2) Compressive strength (N/mm2)

A 55000 74 38 2812 19.55

B 55000 75 36 2700 20.37
C 60000 75 36 2700 22.22
D 63000 76 38 2888 22.50
E 60000 74 37 2738 21.91
Average compressive strength ¼ 21.31 N/mm2.
Sample standard deviation ¼ 1.28.

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Fig. 6. Graph showing compressive strength of proportion no: 2.

Table 4. Observation table of proportion 3.

Sample no. Load (N) Length (mm) Width (mm) Area (mm2) Compressive strength (N/mm2)

A 50000 76 38 2888 17.313

B 50000 78 38 2808 17.80
C 50000 78 36 2808 17.80
D 54000 77 37 2849 18.95
E 55000 76 38 2888 19.04
Average compressive strength ¼ 18.18 N/mm2.
Sample standard deviation ¼ 0.77.

compressive strength, the results of which are given in Table 5 and the graph
showing the compressive strength results of different samples are shown in Fig. 8.

3.1.5. Comparative study

The comparative study of average compressive strength obtained for various propor-
tions are given in Fig. 9. The graph indicates that the compressive strength of sample

Fig. 7. Graph showing compressive strength of proportion no.3.

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Table 5. Observation table of proportion 4.

Sample no. Load (N) Length (mm) Width (mm) Area (mm2) Compressive strength (N/mm2)

A 35000 77 39 3003 11.65

B 25000 77 38 2926 8.54
C 30000 74 35 2590 11.58
D 45000 76 38 2888 15.58
E 50000 74 37 2738 18.26
Average compressive strength ¼ 13.12 N/mm2.
Sample standard deviation ¼ 3.8.

Fig. 8. Graph showing compressive strength of proportion no.4.

proportion P2 is higher than the other samples. The mix proportion P2 shows that
more strength is achieved when quarry dust is more than the glass powder.

3.2. Water absorption

Table 6 represents the results of water absorption test. All the four samples which
gave maximum compressive strength were tested for water absorption and are

Fig. 9. Comparative study of average compressive strength.

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Table 6. Observation table for water absorption.

Sample Initial weight (gm) Final weight (gm) Water absorption (%)

A 188.4 214.6 13.906

B 188.2 214 13.70
C 189.6 215.3 13.55
D 186.8 211.9 13.43

Fig. 10. Graph showing water absorption.

represented in Fig. 10. It shows that all the water absorption percentage arelesser
than 15 % which suits the criteria of first class brick.

4. Conclusion
Proposed method for the manufacturing of energy efficient fired clay bricks using
industrial derbies introduce an effective means for waste disposal. This work focuses
on the partial replacement of natural river sand by industrial wastes such as quarry
dust and glass powder. The clay brick samples fired in the muffle furnace at a
reduced temperature of 6000Cwere tested for compressive strength after 3 days of
firing which showed that the value ranges from 11N/mm2 to 21N/mm2. Experi-
mental results inferred that glass powder and quarry dust in the ratio 1.5:2.5 gave
higher compressive strength of 21.31 N/mm2 with a standard deviation of 1.28.
The water absorption of the sample was also checked and the results showed less
than 15% which corresponds to the water absorption of a first class brick. The
compressive strength and water absorption results show that these samples belong
to first class bricks category with a class designation of 20 as per IS 1077:1992.
These bricks casted with reduced temperature incorporating industrial debris will
put forward a new aspect to revolutionize the clay brick manufacturing sector in In-
dia and can be used for the construction of external walls and load bearing structures.

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Declarations
Author contribution statement
Carolin Peter, Kavya Mohan, Shone Greens, Sneha George: Conceived and de-
signed the experiments, Performed the experiments, Analyzed and interpreted the
data, Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data, wrote the paper.

Mary Lissy P N: Conceived and designed the experiments, Analyzed and interpreted
the data.

Funding statement
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public,
commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information
No additional information is available for this paper.

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