Seminar Report

On

“Clay-Fly Ash Bricks”

Submitted By

Adnan A. Mullaji

ROLL NO: – 401249 (BE CIVIL II)

Submitted In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree Of

Bachelor of Engineering (civil)

Department of civil Engineering

MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad

Year 2018-2019

1
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the seminar report entitled

“Clay-Fly Ash Bricks”

Submitted By:

Adnan A. Mullaji

ROLL NO: – 401247 (BE CIVIL II)

Has completed as per the requirement of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada

University in partial fulfilment of degree.B.E. (civil)

(Prof. R. S. Jadhav) (Dr. M. D.Sadeque) (Dr. H.H. Shinde)

Guide Head of Department Principal

Department of civil Engineering

MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad

Year 2018-2019

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I avail this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude and whole

hearted thanks to my guide Prof. R. S. Jadhav, for giving her valuable
guidance, inspiration and affectionate encouragement to embark this
seminar.
I acknowledge my overwhelming gratitude, immense respect and sincere
thanks to our Principal Dr. H. H. Shinde, who inspired me a lot to achieve
the highest goal.
Last but not the least I would like to thanks my parents and all my friends
who helped me directly or indirectly in my endeavour and infused their
help for the success of this seminar.

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 CONTENTS
Sr.No Title Page
No.
1 Abstract 1
2 Introduction 2-4
3 Characteristic of fly ash 4-5
4 Fly ash utilization 6-8
5 Fly ash utilization in brick manufacturing 8-9
6 Suitability of mixing fly ash 9-11
7 Change of Properties with Fly Ash 11-13
8 Experimental Work 14-17
9 Results and Discussion 17-18
10 Characteristic of bricks before treatment 19-20
11 Characteristic of bricks after treatment 21-22
12 Financial aspect 23
13 Conclusion 24
14 Reference 25

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 Abstract
Mixing various properties of fly ash in clay material (5-50% by weight, in ratio of dry

fly ash to wet clay, at a step of 5% each) this will from 16 bricks of each proportion

have been manufactured. The manufacturing process uses techniques and equipment

similar to those used in clay brick factories. The bricks produced were up to 10.60%

lighter than clay bricks. The bricks manufactured from fly ash possessed compressive

strength more than 5 N/mm2 which is more than normal clay bricks. This exceeds

some of the best of load carrying clay bricks and is several times better than

acceptable commercially available common clay bricks. Other important

characteristics of the fly ash bricks have been evaluated. These included water

absorption capacity, compressive strength and Efflorescence test. Fly ash bricks

absorb less quantity of water which is under I.S. requirement. Fly ash-clay bricks give

nil efflorescence. The values of these characteristics for fly ash bricks are excellent

and have exceeded those pertaining to clay bricks. Moreover, fly ash bricks have been

produced with a naturally occurring reddish colour similar to that of normal clay

bricks. The new bricks and process have been given the name Fly ash Bricks. This

work presents the results of testing and the advantages gained by this type of bricks

over conventional clay bricks.

1
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background

Fly ash is one of the numerous substances that cause air, water and soil pollution. It

disrupts ecological cycles and set off environmental hazards. It also contains trace

amounts of toxic metals which may have negative effect on human health, plants and

the land where the fly ash decomposed and not reused. The disposal of this waste

material is a matter of great concern from the environmental and ecological point of

view. So, it is very necessary to utilize the huge quantity of fly ash. The ever-

increasing volume of fly ash quantities in the world has not even remotely matched by

its utilization. The most important and popular use of fly ash in India has been the

partial replacement of Portland cement, Clay and manufacturing of building materials.

India shares most of the Western countries in similar methods and traditions as far as

residential buildings are concerned. These include bricks as the main constituent.

Production of building materials, particularly bricks using fly ash is considered to be

one of the solutions to the ever-increasing fly ash disposal problem in the country. It is

therefore natural that the brick industry presents an opportunity for the efficient

utilization of the vast quantities of fly ash. In this dissertation we made the bricks with

use of fly ash and clay. Fly Ash bricks can be extensively used in all building

constructional activities similar to that of common burnt clay bricks. The fly ash

bricks are comparatively lighter in weight and stronger than common clay bricks. Fly

ash is being accumulated as waste material in large quantity near thermal power plants

and creating serious environmental pollution problems, its utilization as main raw

2
material in the manufacture of bricks will not only create ample opportunities for its

proper and useful disposal but also help in environmental pollution control to a greater

extent in the surrounding areas of power plants.

In view of superior quality and eco-friendly nature, and government support the

demand for Fly Ash Bricks has picked up. Also 180 billion tones of common burnt

clay bricks are consumed annually approximately 340 billion tones of clay- about

5000 acres of top layer of soil dug out for bricks manufacture, soil erosion, emission

from coal burning or fire woods which causes deforestation are the serious problems

posed by brick industry. The all above problems can be reduced some extent by using

fly ash bricks.

1.2 Scope and Objective of Dissertation

We believe that fly ash on its own can be an excellent raw material for brick making.

This has now been proven so it is taken for the manufacture of bricks from fly ash.

The response if the ash to firing temperature at 10000C and beyond can be accurately

controlled even in small factories. The potential savings with this approach are many.

These are illustrated in the following sections. Savings in production and

transportation costs and producing bricks of superior qualities to those of standard clay

bricks are in addition to the environmental solution that such venture may bring about.

This may lead to save money which is needed to dispose the fly ash.The objective of

present work is to develop bricks with good strength as replacement of clay by fly ash

3
in 5% to 50% to increase utilization of fly ash and to save environment. The objectives

of this work are as follows

• The main objective of this project is to study the effect of addition of fly ash in
bricks.
• To make the bricks without compromising its strength.
• To protect the environment by disposal of fly ash.

Utilization of fly ash can result not only in reducing the magnitude of the

environmental problems, but it is also to exploit fly ash as raw material for value

added products (and conserve traditional materials), and for extraction of valuable

materials. Use of fly ash in clay bricks saves the huge quantity of soil which is

required for making clay bricks and also saves agricultural land.

2.0 Characteristics of Fly ash

The chemical and physical properties of fly ash depend upon many parameters such as

coal quality, type of coal pulverization and combustion process followed nature of ash

collection and disposal technique adopted, etc.

2.1 Physical Properties

Fly ash is generally gray in colour, abrasive, acidic (in some cases it may be alkaline

depending upon the characteristics of the coal) and refractory in nature. Its specific

surface area varies between 4,000 and 10,000 cm2/g, which is more than cement,

which has a specific surface area of about 3,000 to 3,500 cm2/g. Morphologically, fly

ash consists of 3 types of particles – irregularly shaped particles, solid spheres and

cenospheres. The fly ash particles range in size from about 115 microns to about 5

4
microns. It has unburnt carbon, cinders, minerals etc. and has pozzolanic

characteristics.

Composition Indian fly ash British fly ash American fly ash German fly ash
Silica as SiO2 45 – 65.25 41.5 – 47.8 35 – 52 42.0 - 56.0
Alumina as Al2O3 14 – 31.10 26.4 – 29 15 – 32 24.0 - 33.0
Iron Oxide as Fe2O3 3 – 15.0 9.1 – 13.9 8 – 25 5.4 - 13.0
Calcium Oxide as 0.1 – 6.5 4.2 – 5.3 0.7 – 8.0 0.6 - 8.3
CaO
Magnesium Oxide 0.2 – 3.9 1.5 – 1.9 0.3 – 1.5 0.6 - 4.3
as MgO
Sulphur as SO3 0.4 – 1.8 0.7 – 1.7 0.1 – 2.8 0.1 - 1.9
Loss on Ignition 1 – 11.3 1.7 – 7.3 1.3 – 13.0 0.8 - 5.8
(LOI)

2.2 Chemical Composition

Fly ash is known to consist of small spheres of glass of complex chemical

composition and crystalline constituents, which are mainly quartz (SiO2),

mullite (3Al2O3.2SiO2), magnetite (Fe3O4) and haematite (Fe2O3). Except

Neyveli flyash, which is high in CaO (5.0 - 16.0 %) and MgO contents (1.5 –

5.0 %) and low in SiO2 content (45.0 – 59.0 %), the range of chemical

composition of Indian fly ashes is given in Table 2.2 along with corresponding

data for British and American fly ashes.

3.0 Fly ash utilization

Ash utilization data from different TPS shows that over the years there has been a

substantial increase in amount of ash dispatched. The utilization increased six fold

from 9.2 Mt in 1998- 99 to 66.64 Mt in 2008 -09. The actual ash generated during

5
2008 -09 was 116.69 MT and ash utilized was 66.64 MT and the overall utilisation

percentage was 57.11.

Figure 3.0 Total Ash utilization (1998-99 to 2008-09) (Mt) Source CEA(2009-10)
Figure 3.1 shows the share of different user sectors in total ash utilization.

4.0 Fly ash utilization in brick manufacturing

India is second largest

producer of the brick in the

world after China. The brick
production in India is
estimated at 140 billion bricks,

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 BOX 1: Fact Sheet of the Indian brick industry
consuming 24 million tonnes Brick production : > 1400 billion/year
of coal along with huge Annual turnover: > Rs 100 billion
quantity of biomass fuels. No of units: > 0.1 million
The total CO2 emissions Employment: 80 to 100 million people
Energy and Environment
are estimated to be 41.6
million tonnes and it accounts for o Coal : 24 million tonnes
o CO2 generation – 42 million tones
about 4.5% of total GHG o Top Soil: 350 million tones
emissions from India. Box 1
Source: TERI (2001)
represents the fact sheet of
Indian
brick industry. In the
manufacture of bricks, fly ash
can be an alternative material to
clay. Fly ash can be used
either with clay as part replacement or in combination with other materials like sand,

lime, gypsum etc. to produce a substitute to conventional clay bricks.

From the soil to be used for brick manufacturing, India can be divided into three broad

regions – Northern Mountainous region, Indo-Gangetic plains and peninsular region.

Mountainous soil is coarse and contains parts of partially wathered rocks. The

presence of brick industry in mountainous region is negligible. The Indo-Gangetic

soil is ‘alluvial’ in nature formed by deposition of river Ganges and its tributaries. The

soil is considered good for brick manufacturing and has faint yellow colour and is

generally a mixture of fine sand,silt, clay and organic matter. The Peninsular soils are

generally black cotton, red or lateritic in nature. They are generally considered

difficult for brick making.

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5.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS
The fly ash was collected from the Thermal Power Plant, Parli Vaijnath Dist. Beed .

Bricks are prepared from various mix of fly ash, clay and sand. Its properties such

water absorption, weight per unit volume, compressive strength were measured.

Secondly for fly ash bricks were prepared by using cement and stone powder in

varying proportions. Also, the bricks were prepared from flyash, lime, sand and

gypsum. The bricks were prepared by using different proportions of fly ash, lime,

sand and gypsum.

Initially the lime was slaked with water and made it soft. The flyash was thoroughly

mixed with fly ash shows cementious property. The sand was used as an adulterant

and gave the strength to the bricks. The gypsum was used in the mixture to increase

the speed of hardening. The admixture was tempered by adding required quantity of

water.

The bricks are prepared by moulding it in 10 x 10 cm size mould. The clay in the

mould was compacted by using compaction machine. The blocks were kept in shade

for drying and curing for 7-10 days.

6.0 Suitability of mixing fly ash with clay for producing fired bricks

Two cases are being presented here related to production of clay-fly ash fired clay

bricks:

Case 1: TIFAC in their report on Fly ash bricks has mentioned that with regard to

requirements of fly ash for brick manufacture, it is desirable that the oxide

8
composition should be similar to ordinary brick clays – the silica content should be

over 40%, aluminium oxide not less than 15%, iron oxide not less than 5% and

sulphide and soluble sulphite content should be insignificant. The report further

mentions that the range of chemical compositions of Indian fly ashes indicates that

they are suitable for brick making. However, not all the clays and fly ashes are

suitable for brick making. Fly ash addition as a smaller constituent (8% - 20%) to the

alluvial soil or as a larger constituent (25% - 40%) with sticky plastic alluvial red and

black soils has been found advantageous to improve workability, green and fired

strength and to modify drying behaviour of soils so as to check the incidence of

cracking and fuel value of residual carbon. The characteristics of clay-fly ash bricks

manufactured using alluvial, black and red soil region/ sites is provided in the

following table:

Soil Type Brick Proportion Properties of bricks fired at 1000 + 20oC

manufacturing of fly ash
Compressive Water Bulk density
site / soil (w/w %)
strength absorption (g / cc)
group
(kg/cm2) (%)

Alluvial Soil Haridwar 8 - 10 140 - 170 10 - 16 1.6 – 1.75

Roorkee 8 - 10 135 - 170 10.5 - 16 1.62 – 1.75

Faridabad 15 - 20 100 - 150 12 - 15 1.6 – 1.7

Delhi 15 - 20 116 - 160 11 - 16 1.6 – 1.75

Kanpur 15 - 20 170 - 200 10.5 - 12 1.68 – 1.77

Red soil Korba 30 – 35 160 - 175 11.3 - 16 1.6 – 1.74

9
 Ramagundam 30 - 35 65 - 82 13.5 – 18.5 1.62 – 1.7

Obra 20 - 25 150 - 160 16.4 – 18.3 1.65 – 1.72

Singrauli 25 - 30 100 - 150 12 - 15 1.75 – 1.85

Barauni 40 250 - 300 14 – 15 1.41

Patratu 25 120 - 125 16 - 17 1.45 – 1.6

Bokaro 40 100 - 125 20- 21 1.2

Kargali 25 - 40 75 - 120 19 - 20 1.5 – 1.7

Haldia 10 180 - 200 15 – 17 1.65 – 1.7

Patherdih 25 – 40 85 - 100 16 - 20 1.5 – 1.7

Durgapur 25 - 35 85 - 120 15 – 17 1.45 – 1.65

Black soil Nasik 33 – 40 130 - 155 13.5 – 15.7 1.65 – 1.75

Indore 33 - 35 65 - 80 14.5 – 18 1.58 – 1.7

Following advantages of clay fly ash bricks are mentioned in the report:

Brick confirming to IS: 3102 – 1976 can be manufactured

Fuel saving in the range of 15% - 35% (coal consumption) or coal saving up to 3 –

7 tonne per lakh bricks

Drying losses are checked in the case of plastic black and red soils. Excessive

linear drying shrinkage is reduced

Brick strength in the case of black and red soils is increased by almost one and a

half times (30% - 50%)

Waste material is utilized. 30 – 40 tonne per lakh bricks in case of alluvial soils

and 100 – 125 tonnes per lakh bricks in case of red and black soils

Clay saving in brick manufacture is 10% - 40% by weight

10
Case 2: Aligarh Muslim university (AMU) carried out a feasibility study for mixing

fly ash into the manufacture of fired clay bricks. AMU took samples of soil from the

three brick kiln sites of Aligarh and Hathras districts of Uttar Pradesh. The fly ash

sample was collected from the Kasimpur TPS that was within the designated distance

of brick kilns as per the 1999 notification of MoEF. During the study the fluash was

mixed with sol in different proportions 5%, 10% and 20% by weight and the bricks

were moulded under usual working conditions (same workmen , drying and firing

conditions). The following observations were made:

Fly ash and soil mix requires more water and labour in comparison to soil without

fly ash for making brick.

Bricks moulded from soil and fly ash mix requires three times the longer duration

to dry in comparison to bricks without fly ash

Breakage in handling of green bricks was more in case of soil containing 20% fly

ash

A distinct change in colour was noticed in bricks containing 20% fly ash as

compared to bricks without fly ash. The reddishness in colour was less in bricks with

20% fly ash.

For the three soil samples collected from Uttar Pradesh, the following change in

properties were found while comparing with properties of the bricks without fly ash :

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 20% Fly ash 10 % Fly ash 5 % Fly ash

Reduction in Sample 1: 72.4 %, Sample 1: 42 %, 39 %, 59.57 %,

compressive
Sample 2: 82.5 %, Sample 2: 64.7 %, Sample 1: 39 %,
strength
Sample 3: 58.65 % Sample 3: 1 %
Sample 2: 59.57 %,
Sample 3: increase by
18.6 %

Increase in Sample 1: 91.4 %, Sample 1: 66.3 %, Sample 1: 83.9 %,

water
Sample 2: 119.12 %, Sample 2: 71.98 Sample 2: 87.52 %,
absorption
Sample 3: 17 % %, Sample 3: Not Sample 3: Not
significant significant

Efflorescence Nil (All samples) Nil (All samples) Nil (All samples)

During the study, the black cotton soil using fly ash from the Virudhu Nagar district of

Tamil Nadu was also included and fly ash was mixed in the proportion of 40 – 70 %

by weight. It was found that up to 50 % mixing of fly ash the compressive strength

increased and water absorption decreased and with increased proportions of flay ash

compressive strength decreased and water absorption increased.

The following conclusions were drawn from the study:

The percentage of fly ash by weight that can be mixed in soil for manufacturing

fired clay bricks depends upon the physical properties of soil and it should not be

mixed arbitrarily

On the basis of tests carried out in three sites in Aligarh and Hathras districts, the

maximum percentage of fly ash by weight that can be mixed in soils is not more than 5

– 10 %. It may further reduce depending on the physical properties of soil.

12
 Determination of physical properties of soil is essential before mixing fly ash with

soil for manufacture of burnt clay fly ash bricks.

The use of fly ash in brick making has many advantages and TIFAC has undertaken

many initiatives to promote the use of fly ash in brick making. However, most of the

brick kilns in the Indo-Gangetic belt have not used fly ash for manufacturing bricks

due to following possible reasons:

The hand-moulding process is generally used for green brick making in this region

and mixing of fly ash with clay is difficult by hand moulding. Further, brick kiln

owners felt that no appropriate technology is available for mixing of clay and fly ash

at the scale that is presently being produced by hand moulding.

Difficulty in logistic arrangements by individual brick kiln entrepreneur for

procurement of less quantity from Thermal Power plant and transportation of fly ash

to the brick making sites.

Increase in the cost of the product due to increase in transportation and mixing cost

with no additional premium being fetched by fly ash product in the market.

Market perception of requirement of red coloured bricks also discouraged the brick

kiln owners to start producing fly ash bricks that generally have grey colour of final

product.

Non-availability of reliable and low-cost technology for clay-fly ash brick making

13
The use of fly ash for brick making is quite popular in few States like Maharashtra

where the soil quality is such that the addition of fly ash improves the properties of

soil for brick making.

The benefits from the manufacture and use of fly ash bricks result in reduced energy

use, conservation of top soil and qualifying under clean development mechanism etc.

But in spite of these benefits, barriers on account of non-availability of reliable clay-

fly ash bricks making machinery, mindset of users, lack of awareness etc. pose

significant barriers in tapping the potential of brick making as a gainful use of fly ash.

The density of bricks decreased with the increase in flyash, lime, sand and gypsum

proportion. It is related with the volumetric shrinkage and was found in the range of

1.10 to 1.24 gm/cm3. The water absorption of the blocks were found in the range of

11-14%. As per IS - code percent water absorption in 24 hours should be less than 20

per cent. Compressive strength is the main property which determines the ultimate

crushing strength of the bricks. The compressive strength determined by using

Universal Testing Machine. Mix A, B,C,D,E, were found to be 174, 168, 124, 78 & 64

kg/cm2 respectively. Thus, the maximum compressive strength was observed in the

proportion A & B satisfies the requirement of class-A bricks.

Other tests for bricks revels that no scratch was observed by using nails on the surface

of the brick. There was no efflorescence seen on the surface of the brick. Clear ringing

sound was heard after striking two bricks with each other.The structure after breaking

of the brick was found dense and homogenous.

14
7.0 Change Of Properties With Fly Ash

Water Compressive

Sr. Mix absorption Weight per unit strength

FA:CL:

No. S (%) volume kg/cm3 (kg/cm2)

0:80:20

1. (A) 15.41 1827 62.47

10:70:20

2. (B) 18.50 1491 70.40

20:60:20

3. (C) 19.49 1379 80.10

30:40:30

4. (D) 19.80 1372 93.25

40:30:30

5. (E) 21.80 1320 88.20

15
8.0 EXPERIMENTAL WORK
So, far production of Flash Bricks has been performed in the laboratory. This has been

repeated successfully many times and the testing has produced consistent results. But

we tried to make bricks in the field where we can get water and clay easily. There are

several techniques for manufacturing construction bricks from fly ash, producing a

wide variety of products. One type of fly ash brick is manufactured by mixing fly ash

with an equal amount of clay, then firing in a kiln at about 1000 degrees C. We had

taken a frame of size 23 x 11 x 7 cm and casted bricks.

8.1 Casting of Bricks

In this dissertation, the bricks made with four different processes. These processes are
as follows:

i. In first processes, the bricks made with Clay + Water

ii. In second processes, the bricks made with Clay + Fly ash + Water

• In first process, made the bricks with 100% clay.

• In second process, measure the weight of clay bricks and accordingly added
5-50% by weight, in ratio of dry fly ash to wet clay, at a step of 5% each.
In this study compared the fly ash - clay bricks with normal Clay

Table -1: Fly Ash-Clay Brick Samples

Bricks No. of % of Fly Ash Weight of % of Sand Weight of

16
 Sample Bricks by weight Fly Ash (Kg) by weight Sand (Kg)

A 16 0 0 100 40

B1 16 5 2 95 38

B2 16 10 4 90 36

B3 16 15 6 85 34

B4 16 20 8 80 32

B5 16 25 10 75 30

B6 16 30 12 70 28

B7 16 35 14 65 26

B8 16 40 16 60 24

B9 16 45 18 55 22

B10 16 50 20 50 20

8.2 Testing of Bricks

A series of test were performed on Flash Bricks in order to compare their qualities as

load bearing bricks with those made from clay. The Bureau of Indian Standards

12894 & 13757 – 1993 were applied in all the tests reported here. Commercially

available bricks were tested and compared to the results from Fly ash Bricks.

i. Compressive Strength
• Dry Compressive Strength of Bricks.

ii. Water Absorption

• 24-Hour Immersion Cold Water Test

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9.0 Results And Discussion
9.1 Compressive strength
Dry Compressive Strength of Fly Ash-Clay Bricks
Bricks Average Compressive
Sample Strength (N/mm2)

A 4.348
B1 4.150
B2 4.427

B3 5.020

B4 3.874

B5 3.083

B6 2.213
B7 1.858
B8 1.304

B9 0.949
B10 0.830

Dry Compressive Strength of clay Bricks

Bricks Average Compressive

Sample Strength (N/mm2)

C1 3.123

C2 3.202

C3 3.241
C4 2.253

C5 1.700
C6 1.423

C7 1.265

C8 0.870

C9 0.632
C10 0.395

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9.2 Water Absorption Test
Clay fly ash Brick
Bricks Percentage of Class of

Sample water absorbed (%) bricks

A 21.67 IInd

B1 21.02 IInd

B2 20.11 IInd

B3 19.53 Ist

B4 22.10 IIIrd

B5 24.75 IIIrd

B6 25.73

B7 26.22

B8 28.21

B9 27.47

B10 26.51

Clay Brick
Bricks Percentage of water Class of

Sample absorbed (%) bricks

A 23.43 IIIrd

B1 22.92 IIIrd

B2 23.33 IIIrd

B3 21.21 IInd

B4 23.52 IIIrd

B5 25.87

B6 27.61

B7 28.34

B8 29.33

B9 28.05

B10 29.22

19
10. Characterisation of bricks before treatment
The properties of the brick before treatment are shown in Table

1. Bulk density of conventional bricks varied from 1.85 - 1.90 g/cm3 and clay fly ash

bricks 1.80-1.85 g/cm3. The compressive strength of the conventional ghol brick was

in the range of 50- 55 kg/cm2 and in case of fly ash bricks 50-75 kg/cm2. Fly ash

bricks showed better strength property as compared to the conventional bricks as is

also supported by several researchers (Pandey & Agarwal, 2002; Karade et al., (1995).

The wear and tear performance of conventional bricks was 5.86 mm, which was

slightly greater than that of fly ash bricks (5.14 mm.). Fly ash bricks showed better

wear resistance than that of clay bricks.

The X-ray diffraction analysis of conventional and fly ash bricks showed almost

similar phase constituent. The mineral phases in fly ash improve the strength of bricks

due to the reinforcing effect of high temperature silicates such as mullite present in ash

and also being formed in situ by the clay minerals.

S. No. Type of tests Conventional Bricks Fly ash

(GHOL) Bricks

1. Visual Fair Good

2. Surface condition Fair Good

3 Colour Red Fair red

4 Bulk density (gm/cc) 1.87 1.82

5 Compressive strength (Kg/ cm2) 52.5 72.5

6 Water absorption (%) 14.0 13.5

7 Permeability (10-6m/sec.) 1.91 1.87

8 Wear & Tear (mm) 5.86 5.14

20
 9 Shrinkage (%) 17.0 13.5

10 Efflorescence Nil Nil

11. Characterisation of bricks after treatment

The results revealed that for the clay bricks exposed under accelerated environmental

conditions, the bulk density increased by ~5% with SOx, NOx and alkaline

treatment. Also CO2 , humidity, temperature and moisture and acidic treatment, the

increase in the density was 9% as compared to the bricks of before treatment. Almost

a similar trend was recorded in the case of clay fly ash brick. The effect of 500 days

of treatment, on the performance of clay bricks and clay fly ash bricks are shown in

Table 2 & 3 respectively. The compressive strength of fly ash bricks was decreased by

~6.3 kg/cm2 (8.7%) zwith CO2 treatment ; 9.6 kg/cm2 with UV radiation; 10.92

kg/cm2 (15%) with humidity; ~16 kg/cm2 (22%) with chlorine and SOx treatment.

The decrease in compressive strength may be due to the mechanism of reaction on

carbon dioxide with some constituents of solidified matrix which affects the physical

and chemical properties and which is based on the presence of chemical constituents,

porosity, CO2 and relative humidity (Montemor et al., 2002).

The penetration of water, chloride and other ions in the materials is the most important

factor for the deterioration that affect the durability. It depends on the size distribution

of raw materials, aggregate past volume ratio and micro structure of the solidified

products that mainly control the physico-chemcial, mechanical and mineralogical

phenomena (Byung et al., 2002). As in the case of clay bricks, the decrease in
21
compressive strength was by ~ 4.5% with NOx and alkaline treatment; 8.5% with

saline treatment and 14.7%with UV radiation. The compressive strength might have

decreased under this treatment due to chemical changes, carbonation, precipitation and

oxidation (Sanchez et al., 2002).

The result revealed that the water absorption capacity of bricks under different

treatment and durations, the treatment effect did not increase the water absorption

capacity except there was ~ 1.5 % decrease under saline treatment. The wear rate of

both types of bricks after 300, 400 & 500 days of treatments was found negligible.

When compared to permeability of untreated bricks there was an improvement in the

permeability of bricks, and a decrease in permeability was recorded almost in all the

treatments.

12.0 FINANCIAL ASPECTS

12.1. FIXED CAPITAL :

(a) Land & Building:

S.N DESCRIPTION AMOUNT Rs

1 Land Lease hold 45,000 Sq.f
2 Building (60 x 40 = 2400 Sq. feet.) 3,00,000
3 50,000
Overhead water tank
TOTAL 3,50,000

(b) Machinery and Equipment :

S.N DESCRIPTION QTY RATE AMOUNT

1 Automatic Fly ash Brick making 1 12,00,000 12,00,000

machine hydraulic operated with all
accessories and fitting with 18HP
Motor
2 Pan Mixture 500 KG Capacity with 7.5 1 2,00,000 2,50,000
HP Motor

22
3 Belt Conveyor with necessary fittings 1 50,000 50,000
and 2 HP Motor
TOTAL 15,00,000
60,000
VAT 4 %
GRANT TOTAL 15,60,000

Erecting and Electrification Charges 22,000

5 Office furniture 20,000
TOTAL 16,02,000

23
13.0 CONCLUSIONS

i. The results are indicative of the satisfactory performance of Fly ash Bricks as
load bearing elements. This type of bricks uses 15% fly ash mixing with 85%
clay. It therefore provides a large venue for the disposal of fly ash in a very
efficient, useful and profitable way. This result is better compared to lime bricks
and clay bricks.
ii. The mechanical property of Fly ash Bricks has exceeded those of the standard
load bearing clay bricks. Notable among these properties are the compressive
strength. The wet compressive strength was 40% better than

iii. good quality clay bricks and lime bricks.

iv. The water absorption in cold water of fly ash-clay brick of sample B3 which
contain 15% fly ash and 85% clay absorb 19.53% of water about its weight
which is desirable.
v. There is evidence that the micro-structural features of the surface of Fly ash
Bricks is characterized by a rougher texture than that of clay bricks. This
characteristic is believed to be responsible for the increased bond strength with
mortar.
vi. The edges of Fly ash Bricks are good compared to lime bricks and clay bricks.
vii. The resistance of the bricks to repeated cycles of salt exposure showed zero loss
of mass and indicated excellent resistance to sulphate attack. It means nil
Efflorescence.
viii. The Fly ash bricks produced were about 10.60% lighter than clay bricks.
ix. The reduction in the weight of bricks results in a great deal of savings to the
consumer that results from increased number of units and reduction in the loads
on structural elements.
x. The process of manufacture of Fly ash Bricks indicates clearly that there is
much savings to be done during the making of the bricks. These

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14.0 REFERENCES

[1] Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council, Ministry of Housing &
Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, New Delhi.
[2] Bureau of Indian Standards 12894 – 1990.
[3] Bureau of Indian Standards 13757 – 1993.
[4] Bureau of Indian Standards 2117 – 1991.
[5] Bureau of Indian Standards 3495 – 1976.
[6] ENVIS Newsletter Volume 2, No. 6.
[7] Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Manufacturing
Commercial Bricks with Fly Ash from Illinois Coals, www.commerce.state.il.us.
[8] International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and
Technology Vol. 2, Issue 3, March 2013
[9] International journal on civil and structural engineering volume 1, No 4, 2011
[10] Kumar, V., Mathur, M., and Kharia, P. S. (2003). Fly ash management: Vision
for the New Millenium, Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment
Council, News and Views, 25, March, www.tifac.org.in/news/flymgm.htm.

[11] Lingling, X., et al., study on fired bricks with replacing clay by fly ash in high
volume ratio. Construction and Building Materials. In Press, Corrected Proof.
[12] Ministry of Environment and Forests, Notification, Extraordinary, Part II, Section
3.
[13] Pimraksa, K., Wilhelm, M., Kochherger, M. and Wruss, W., (2001).A new
Approach to the Production of Bricks Made of Fly Ash, International Ash
Utilization Symposium, Centre for Applied Energy Research, University of
Kentucky, Paper # 84, http://www.flyash.info.

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