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International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309

Rice Husk Ash - Lime Blended Building Bricks

DR S. M. ALI JAWAID Civil Engineering Department, M M M Engineering College, Gorakhpur-273010, India Email: smaj@rediffmail.com
Abstract: There is a great demand for environmentally safe reuse of rice husk ash thanks to high rate of its generation in India. This is also need of time to develop alternate methods of brick manufacturing in order to reduce the use of fertile soil in brick manufacturing, thus, protecting it for agricultural use. Utilization of rice husk ash with lime in brick manufacturing is reported in this paper. It is found that building bricks prepared by adding 6% of rice husk ash and 2% of lime with alluvial silts, exhibits compressive strength of 106 kg/cm2 and water absorption of 15%. Keywords: Ash Utilization, Rice Husk Ash, Bricks, Building Industry, Flyash, Waste Disposal Introduction: Rice milling generates a by product know as husk. This surrounds the paddy grain. During milling of paddy about 78 % of weight is received as rice, broken rice and bran and rest 22 % of the weight of paddy is received as husk. This husk is used as fuel in the rice mills to generate steam for the parboiling process. This husk contains about 75 % organic volatile matter and the balance 25 % of the weight of this husk is converted into ash during the firing process, is known as rice husk ash ( RHA ). This RHA in turn contains around 85 % - 90 % amorphous silica (Jaturapitakkul and Roongreung, 2003, Gambhir 1995). So for every ton of paddy milled, about 220 kgs (22 %) of husk is produced, and when this husk is burnt in the boilers, about 40 kgs (20 %) of RHA is generated (Mehta 1986). India is a major rice producing country, and the husk generated during milling is mostly used as a fuel in the boilers for processing paddy, producing energy through direct combustion and / or by gasification. About 20 million tones of RHA are produced annually(Srivastava, 2005). It is classified as pozzolanic material according to ASTM C168 (1997 d). Hydrated (or slaked) lime is very effective in treating clays and silts. Lime reacts chemically with available silica and alumina in soils. Natural cement composed of calcium alumino-silicate complexes is formed, which causes a cementing action. The strength of lime stabilized soil is generally improved due to formation of cementing material. Alluvial soil deposit in Indo-gangetic plains of India, predominantly, consists of silts of low to medium compressibility (ML/MI). These deposits are rich in alumina and silica. The water holding capacity of this soil is around 45%. The objective of this research is to utilize the pozolanic effect of rice husk ash in presence of lime and water for making highly cementious and durable bricks using locally available alluvial soils. This will not only reduce the use of fertile soil of this region for brick manufacturing but also, reduce the waste disposal volume to make a better world. Materials and Methods: Materials used in this experimental program consist of rice husk ash (RHA), hydrated lime (HL) and Low/Medium compressibility Silt (ML/MI). RHA was collected from furnaces located at different industrial units in Gorakhpur industrial area. The ash obtained is sieved through 75 microns Indian Standard Sieve in order to remove the unburnt portion of ash. The major chemical and physical properties of RHA are given in Table 1. The commercially available unslaked lime is used in this study. It was pulverized, sieved through 425 micron Indian standard sieve and stored in polyethylene bag in desiccators. Local alluvial soils were collected for this experimental study. The important engineering and chemical properties of soil is given in Table 2. It is reported that 2% of lime when added with rice husk ash and

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alluvial soil gave maximum strength (Srivastava, 2005). Thus, 2% of lime was added with soil and rice husk ash in this study. Bricks were prepared by mixing the RHA, lime and local alluvial soil in various proportions and conventional brick making technique was adopted (Figures 1 and 2). Improvement in the engineering properties of the brick, so produced, was studied. The percentage of RHA and lime were increased at regular interval and its effect on the compressive strength of the brick was also studied. The same process continued till the RHA-lime-soil mix proportion exhibit a decline in strength. Results and Discussion: The effect of mix proportion on strength, water adsorption capacity and density etc. were studied experimentally and results are tabulated in Table 3. Discussion on results is given in subsequent section. Compressive Strength of Brick: Compressive strength of bricks at different percentage of rice husk ash is shown in Fig. 3. It is evident from Table 3 that the compressive strength of brick so formed increases with increase in rice husk ash content but decreases with the increase in rice husk ash content beyond 6%. Lime reacts with fine pozzolanic component to form calcium-silicate gel with soil particles. The silicate gel proceeds immediately to coat and bind soil particles. In time this gel gradually crystallized into well defined calcium silicate hydrates such as tobermorite and hillebrandite. The reaction ceases on drying and very dry soils will not react with lime or cement (Srivastava, 2005, Ingles, 1972). The mechanism of reaction can be represented as NaS4H + CH NH +CAS4HNS + degradation product NH+C2SH Where S=SiO2, H=H2O, A=Al2O3, C=CaO, N=Na2O and C2SH are the cementitious mixture and contribute to the compressive strength of brick. At an optimum ash percentage, a homogeneous gel formation will take place in the entire soil mass in which all the soil particles will be involved in pozzolanic reaction, which hardens to form cementitious products rendering maximum

compressive strength. Any further increase in ash content will result in excess of rice husk ash which remain unused and prevents the soil particles from point to point contact. The soil grains will float in the matrix of unused ash, resulting in reduction of compressive strength. Density of Brick: It is observed that the density of brick decreases as the percentage of additive (Rice husk ash) increases (Fig. 4). Since the density of the additive (ash) is equal to 0.53 t/m3, it will float in water. The mixing was done with soil by proportion of weight; a great volume of additive will replace the soil volume because of their lower density. This leads to reduction in the density of the brick. Water Absorption of Brick: The major factor affecting the durability of brick is water absorption. The less infiltration of water in the brick, the more durable is the brick. So, the internal structure of brick must be intensive enough to prevent the intrusion of water. The water absorption was determined by using the procedures described in ASTM C67-00 (2000). Fig 5 shows the result of water absorption test for various percentage of rice husk ash-lime soil mixture. It is found that water adsorption property of prepared brick decreases initially with an increase in ash content (Fig 5) up to optimum ash content of 6%. However, it increases afterwards. This is due to fact that addition of additive (ash) to the soil generates the desired heat of hydration which starts the pozzolanic reaction resulting in gel formation. At an optimum ash percentage, a homogeneous gel formation takes place in which all the soil particles will be involve in pozzolanic reaction leading to formation of less porous hard cementitious product. Any further increase in ash proportion in soil will result in excess of ash which remains unused and prevents the soil particles from point to point contact leading to increase in porosity.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309

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Scanning Electron Observations:

Micrographs

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique has been used to visualize the nature of structure of the brick before and after the addition of optimum ash content. The SEM of brick formed with out additive (ash) and with additive at magnification 1546X is shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 respectively. From the micrograph, it can be seen that in conventional brick there are lot of aggregated packets of soil particles (Fig. 6). The soil particles are assembled in such a manner to give higher density and less porosity. Fig. 7 shows the SEM of brick formed after mixing with additive (ash) at optimum percentage. The homogeneous gel formation due to pozzolanic reaction is distinctly seen in the entire soil mass. The silica gel cemented the soil particles to form aggregates crumbs which make the entire soil mass becoming porous. Economic Analysis: Economic analysis was carried out to compare the cost of the construction of brick using conventional soil as well as soil mixed with optimum percentage of ash. The detailed calculation is given elsewhere (Raghatate, 2003). The above analysis reveals the following: 1. There is saving of IRs. 0.80 (US $ 0.016) per brick, if the brick is formed with adding optimum percentage of rice husk ash. 2. By using rice husk ash-lime mixed brick, there is saving of 0.119 m3 of virgin and fertile soil per one thousand bricks. Conclusions: Based on the results obtained in this study, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. Rice husk ash may be successfully used for making bricks. It is found that 6% of ash with 2% lime is optimum percentage to be mixed with Inorganic silt (ML). 2. Compressive strength of the bricks formed by adding optimum ash and lime is 106.0 kg/cm2. Thus, the bricks so formed may be classified as 100 class (I class) brick as per Indian Standards (IS: 1077-1976). 3. Rice husk ash-lime mixed bricks are lighter in weight as compared to

conventional brick. It is due to fact that the density of ash is less than the soil. 4. It is found that water adsorption property of prepared brick decreases initially with an increase in ash content up to optimum ash content of 6% and 2% lime content. However, it increases afterwards. 5. Rice husk ash mixed bricks are showing higher water absorption than the conventional bricks. 6. There is saving of Indian Rupees 0.80 (US$ 0.016) per brick, if the brick is formed with adding optimum percentage of rice husk ash. Also, there is saving of 0.119 m3 of virgin and fertile soil per one thousand bricks. Reference: [1] ASTM (1997). Standard Specification for Coal Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined Natural Pozzolan for use as a Mineral Admixture in Portland Cement Concrete, C618-94a, Annual book of ASTM standards, Vol. 04.02, pp. 294-296. [2] ASTM (2000). Standard Test Method for Sampling and Testing Brick and Structural Clay Tile. C67-00, Annual book of ASTM standards, Vol. 04.05, pp. 41-51. [3] Gambhir, M. L. (1995). Concrete Technology. 2nd Ed. McGraw Hill, New Delhi , pp. 286-287. [4] Indian Standard (1976). Specification of Burnt Clay Bricks (IS: 1077). Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. [5] Jaturapitakkul, C and Roongreung, B. (2003). Cementing Material from Calcium Carbide Residue-Rice Husk Ash. Journal of Materials in Civil Engg, ASCE, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 470-475. [6] Mehta, P. K. (1986) Concrete Structures, Properties and Materials. Prentice Hall, Englewood cliffs, N. J. , pp. 266, 273. [7] Raghatate, S. (2003). TechnoEconomic Feasibility Study of Agro-Waste (Ash) Utilization in Brick Industry. M. Tech. Dissertation, U.P. Technical University, India, pp. 80. [8] Srivastava, A. (2005). Environmental Management of Rice Husk Ash Produced in GIDA Project Area, Gorakhpur. M. Tech. Dissertation, U.P. Technical University, India, pp. 100.

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Table 1: Engineering and Chemical Properties of Rice Husk Ash Engineering Properties S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Property Specific gravity, G Percent retained on 75 sieve Percent passing 75 sieve Atterbergs limits pH value Water Holding Capacity, % Bulk Density, t/m3 Typical value 2.23 17.5 82.5 Nonplastic 7.93 93.9 0.53 S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chemical Composition Typical Constituent Value, % SiO2 88.00 K2O 4.50 CaO 0.55 MgO SO32Al2O3 Fe2O3 0.35 0.24 0.15 0.16

Table 2: Engineering and Chemical Properties of Soil Engineering Properties S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Property Specific gravity, G Sand Content, % Silt Content, % Atterbergs limits pH value Water Holding Capacity, % Bulk Density, t/m3 I. S. Classification Typical value 2.70 15.00 85.00 Nonplastic 7.70 44.62 1.80 ML S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 Chemical Composition Typical Value, Constituent % Total Soluble Solids 0.84 CaCO3 12.14 Si 18.72 Al Fe2O3 37.42 2.11

Table 3: Engineering Properties of Tested Brick Samples S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 % of rice husk ash mixed 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 % of lime mixed 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 Compressive strength, kg/cm2 96.50 102.50 106.00 96.15 86.18 Density of brick t/m3 1.76 1.62 1.50 1.45 1.39 Water Absorption, % 15.65 14.50 14.21 15.10 19.52

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Figure 1: Moulding of Rice Husk Ash Mixed Brick

Figure 2: Finished Rice Husk Ash-Lime-Soil Mixed Brick

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309

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110 Compressive Strength, kg/cm

2

105 100 95 90 85 80 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Rice Husk Ash, %

Figure 3: Effect of Rice Husk Ash Percentage on Compressive Strength of Brick.

1.8 1.7 D ensity, t/m3 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3 0 2 4 6 Rice Husk Ash, %
Figure 4: Effect RHA Percentage on Density of Brick International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309

10

12

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20 Water absorption criteria for 1st class brick: Below 15% Water Absorption, % 18

16

14

12 0 2 4 6 Rice Husk Ash, %

Figure 5: Effect of RHA Percentage on Water Absorption Properties of Bricks

10

12

Figure 6: SEM of Conventional Brick Formed Without Addition of Ash.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309

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Figure 7: SEM of Brick Formed after Mixing Soil with Optimum Ash Content.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 02, April 2010, pp. 302-309