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Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080

MATERIALS
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Cotton and limestone powder wastes as brick material

Halil Murat Algin *, Paki Turgut
Harran University, Engineering Faculty, Civil Engineering Department, Osmanbey Campus, 63300 Sanliurfa, Turkey

Received 12 September 2006; received in revised form 1 March 2007; accepted 7 March 2007
Available online 23 April 2007

Abstract

Large amounts of cotton and limestone wastes are accumulated from the countries all over the world. The majority of cotton wastes
(CW) and limestone powder wastes (LPW) is abandoned, and causes certain serious environmental problems and health hazards. This
paper presents a parametric experimental study, which investigates the potential use of CWLPW combination for producing new low
cost and lightweight composite as a building material. The physical and mechanical properties of concrete mixes having high level of CW
and LPW are investigated. The obtained compressive strength, exural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), unit weight and water
absorption values satisfy the relevant international standards. The results show that the eect of high level replacement of CW with LPW
does not exhibit a sudden brittle fracture even beyond the failure loads, indicates high energy absorption capacity, reduces the unit weight
dramatically and introduces smother surface compared to the current concrete bricks in the market. The process undertaken can easily be
applied in the current brick plants. It results a sturdy lighter weight composite having potential to be used for walls, wooden board sub-
stitute, economically alternative to the concrete blocks, ceiling panels, sound barrier panels, etc. Paper presents the results and draws
conclusions.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cotton; Limestone; Cement; Waste; Brick; Masonry

1. Introduction brought about the need to investigate how this can be

Since the large demand has been placed on building
material industry especially in the last decade owing to
the increasing population, which causes a chronic shortage
of building materials the civil engineers have been chal-
lenged to convert the industrial wastes to useful building
and construction materials. Accumulation of unmanaged
wastes especially in developing countries has resulted in
an increase environmental concern. Recycling of such
wastes as building materials appears to be viable solution
not only to such pollution problem but also to the problem
of economical design of buildings. The increase in the pop-
ularity of using environmental friendly, low cost and light-
weight construction materials in building industry has
* lized in this presented research.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 4143440020/1104; fax: +90
4143440031.
E-mail address: hamalgin@yahoo.co.uk (H.M. Algin).
achieved by beneting to the environment as well as main-
taining the material requirements armed in the standards.
Many previous researches [113] undertaken are
obtained valuable results to use the industrial wastes in var-
ious forms of concrete production. For instance, the use of
waste rubber, glass powder and paper waste sludge in con-
crete mix has received conscribe attention over the past
years. Some researches on the textile waste used in concrete
mix are carried out in the past, such as the textile waste cut-
tings [6], the textile euent treatment plant sludge [8] and
the cotton stalk bre [13]. Although these researches
[6,8,13] using wastes from the textile industry are providing
similar and encouraging results, those wastes are dissimilar
in behaviour than the cotton wastes (CW) which are widely
available in large amount from the ginning industry uti-
The development of new areas for cotton in Brazil,
Africa and Turkey is contributing to the rise in world pro-

0950-0618/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2007.03.006
 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080
duction, such as the expansion of irrigation in South East
Turkey (GAP region) now accounts for 500,000 tons of
production, compared with 164,000 tons in 1995 [14].
Approximately 20.5 million tons of cotton were grown by
about 80 countries in 2004 for the bre production [15].
The residual or secondary wastes of lint in the cotton pro-
duction have little value and are therefore attractive for the
purpose of making lightweight building material. CW used
in this research is generated from the mechanical processing
of raw cotton in the spinning process. Because of the dier-
ences in the manufacturing facilities, it is dicult to deter-
mine the quantity of cotton waste generated. According to
the experience of the cotton manufacturers in GAP region,
approximately 7% of cotton ends up as waste produced in
spinning. Therefore, it may be estimated that 1.5 million
tons of cotton waste, not including lint content, were gener-
ated worldwide by the bre manufacturers in 2004.
In recent years, the several facilities have been proac-
tively locating markets for this waste material. The alterna-
tive use of CW bres includes soil amendment, mulch,
briquetting for direct land application, fuel source, cattle
feed or cultivating Volvariella volvacea on CW, etc. [16].
However, these are not ocially and widely accepted waste
management techniques at the moment. The cotton indus-
try worldwide is expecting to reduce their CW disposal by
alternative options for handling this waste as a by-product
that has a potential as a multiuse product.
Most of CW used in this research is currently disposed in
sanitary landlls or open-dumped into uncontrolled waste
pits and open areas. A perennial dilemma for the ginning
industry has been the disposal of CW generated. This pre-
dicament is not unique to Turkey or the United States. This
is a worldwide energy loss and environmental disposal prob-
lem. Disposal of this product waste is a major problem for
the many small cotton ginning businesses. Assuming an
average landll tipping fee of $20 per ton, more than $30
million is spent on disposal costs alone, and this amount
does not account for the cost of handling and shipping or
the economic benets that can be realized from resource
recovery. From burning to dumping on elds, CW has been
mostly a problem for which hitherto widely acceptable solu-
tion with commercial value has not been reached. Addition-
ally, in 2001 the government measures show that 80 cotton
producing countries are directly supporting cotton produc-
tion totaled $5.8 billion worldwide, equivalent to about one-
fourth of the value of world cotton production [14]. Adding
all the loss through the worldwide cotton production gives
very dramatic gure. Therefore, the acceptable solution of
this problem with a commercial value is crucial.
A treatment and cleaning method for CW has been
developed allowing homogenously mix CW with LPW
and cement. LPW is another not eectively used industrial
waste that is also excessively available in large amount
from limestone processing factories worldwide.
Currently, the blocks of limestone are extracted via
chain saw, diamond wire and diamond saws from quarries
and then the blocks are cut into smaller suitable sizes to be
1075
used as building material [17]. The processing limestone
which includes crashed limestone production is resulting
approximately 20% LPW. The estimated LPW of 21.2 mil-
lion tons in the UK, 18 million tons in Greece and 30 mil-
lion tons in Turkey is reported [17,18]. LPW in GAP region
of Turkey is disposed in landlls or open-dumped into
uncontrolled waste pits and open areas. It causes dust,
environmental problem and pollution because of its ne
nature. It contaminates the air with the storms in the sum-
mer and spring seasons and therefore causes serious health
hazards including specically asthma. The industry suers
to store LPW due to the costs of storage.
There are limited numbers of studies about the possible
utilization strategies of LPW in civil engineering industry
[17,18]. Galetakis and Raka [18] have undertaken some
valuable tests on the limited number of cylindrical samples,
which are however not on the standard brick sample forms.
The exural strength and water absorption values are not
determined in this research [18]. The other engineering
properties required by the international standards such as
ASTM C 67-03 [19] need to be investigated.
Using CWLPW combination as a ne aggregate in its
natural form has allowed economical, lighter and environ-
mental friendly new composite material. This paper pre-
sents the research work undertaken to study the
properties of this new composite material which contains
the various levels of CW, LPW, and small amount of
cement as binder and water. The process undertaken in
the production of this composite can easily be applied into
the current brick plants. The better and smother surface is
obtained. The replacement of these wastes as aggregates in
the tested samples dramatically reduces the unit weight.
This combination provides a unique kind of building mate-
rial, which exhibits concrete like appearance but it behaves
similar to widely used autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC).
Its physical and mechanical properties presented in this
paper show that it has a great potential as a low cost light-
weight building material which may oer signicant sav-
ings not only in labour and transportation, but also in
the amounts of binder and steel reinforcement consumed
in the construction.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Materials
CW used in this research is generated from the mechan-
ical processing of raw cotton in the spinning process. The
large amount of secondary wastes (contain a mixture of
stems, leaves, soils, and lint) from the spinning process of
cotton string manufacturers in the GAP region is currently
disposed into the uncontrolled open waste pits. The CW
used in the sampling is taken from its disposed area nearby
the cotton string manufactures in the GAP region.
Several tests have been undertaken to use CW in its ori-
ginal form. However, it is observed that the original CW
taken from the waste pits does not homogeneously mix
1076 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080

Fig. 1. (a) Cotton waste (CW) and (b) limestone powder waste.

with LPW, cement and water. It becomes lump and accu- [23], produced at the Cement Mill in the region. Tab water
mulates to the one side of the mixer. is used in the brick samples. The properties of the water in
In order to allow homogeneous mix of CW, a treatment this study are of pH 6.2, 5.6 mg/l sulphate content and
process is undertaken that cleans the wastes from oil in hardness of 3.7.
present and causes CW diusing in the mixture. It also
removes waxes and oils from bre to make the bre more 2.2. Mixing and fabrication of bricks
receptive to bleaching. Similar treatment and cleaning pro-
cess is currently used by the textile industry worldwide [20 Six dierent types of mixtures are prepared in the labo-
22]. In this process 90% NaOH, 7% NaCl and 3% Na2C03 ratory trials. All types of mixtures are prepared according
solution is used. NaOH commonly known as caustic soda, to the requirements of BS 6073 [24]. The details of mixes
lye, or sodium hydrate, is a caustic compound which are given in Table 3. The cement and water proportions
attacks organic matter. NaOH is inexpensive and used in in the mixes are taken as constant to determine the eect
many applications in textile industries. It enables greater of various CWLPW combinations.
tensional strength and consistent lustre and provides func- Since the cotton wastes are of higher volume content the
tions of neutralization of acids, hydrolysis, condensation, replacement ratios between CW and LPW are taken as vol-
replacement of other groups in organic compounds of umetric. For instance, the 20% replacement of CW means
hydroxyl ions [21]. For 100 kg CW, 4 kg of Na0H, NaCl
and Na2C03 solution is used. Table 1
The wastes are processed to clean the cotton bres and The properties of CW, LPW, cement and WGP
then it submerged in NaOH and water content in 1 h at Properties CW LPW Cement WGP
9095 C heating in rst 30 min from 40 to 90 C. Then,
SiO2 (%) 29.42 0.26 19.20 70.22
the treated and cleaned CW is rinsed with hot water in CaO (%) 24.35 56.19 52.00 11.13
3040 C. This process allowed the CW bres to homoge- MgO (%) 0.58 1.00
neously mix with limestone and cementwater mixtures. Al2O3 (%) 13.89 0.25 3.70 1.64
In this process, the rinsing is carried out thoroughly to min- Fe2O3 (%) 0.46 0.30 0.16 0.52
SO3 (%) 2.80
imize the NaCl and Na2CO3 content since the remaining of
Na2O (%)
these salts might cause salt damage in the new brick. This K2O (%) 0.27
adopted process of cleaning CW is currently used by the Cl (%) 0.006
textile industries worldwide [2022] and it is a low cost Loss on ignition (%) 29.40 42.65 8.20 0.80
and environmental friendly process. Density 0.5 2.67 3.00 2.42
Specic surface area (m2/kg) 145 500 133
Fig. 1 shows the treated CW and LPW used in the pre-
Compressive strength for 28 days 48
sented research. The measured average length of cotton (MPa)
bres is 100 lm. The pH value of CW is 7.19 prior to the
treatment and measured as 8.36 after the treatment.
LPW used in the brick samples is produced during quar- Table 2
rying operations in the region. The results of chemical and Sieve analysis of LPW and WGP
physical analysis of LPW, CW, cement and waste glass BS test sieve Passing by weight (%)
powder (WGP) which is also used in some of the test sam- LPW WGP
ples are given in Table 1. The WGP is obtained from a 1.18 mm 99.76 99.80
glass bead manufacturer in the region. The grading of the 600 lm 97.06 96.90
LPW and WGP is shown in Table 2. 300 lm 86.39 85.60
Cement used in this study is Portland cement with cal- 150 lm 60.27 69.10
75 lm 44.45 48.87
cite, complies with TS EN 197-1-CEM II/A-L 42.5 R
 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080 1077

Table 3
Mixture proportions
Mix no. Cement (g) Water (g) LPW (g) CW (g) WGP (g) Total (g) Pressure (ton) Volumetric % replacement % Weight replacement
of CW with LPW of CW with LPW
Control mix 376 188 2936 3500 40
LC-10 376 188 2706 32 3302 20 10 1.18
LC-20 376 188 2405 65 3034 10 20 2.70
LC-30 376 188 2117 97 2778 5 30 4.58
LC-40 376 188 1804 130 2498 2 40 7.21
LCG-40/20 376 188 1443 130 361 2498 2 32 9.01

that the 20% of corresponding LPW volume is replaced by
CW in the LC-20 samples (see Table 3). The percentage
weight replacements in the mixes between CW and LPW
are also provided in Table 3. The CW replacement in terms
of the cement used can also be dened in this way, such
that LC-10, LC-20, LC-30 and LC-40 mixes contain
8.5%, 17.3%, 25.8% and 34.6% CW of the cement weight,
respectively.
In the mixing process of samples, LPW, CW and
cement contents are placed in a concrete mixer and mixed
for 1 min. It is observed that CW is uniformly scattered
within the mixes. In order to obtain more homogeneous
mixes, the water is sprayed by air pump onto the mixes
while the mixer is turning. Another 3 min of mixing is
conducted. Afterward, the fresh mixes are fed into the
steel moulds. The total number of samples prepared by
this procedure is 90. Table 4 shows the sample sizes and
the number of samples is prepared for the corresponding
compressive strength, the exural strength and the unit
weight tests.
Using the mixture proportions given in Table 3 the steel
mould is over lled with the mixes. The initial depth cover-
ing the mould is approximately 150 mm. The pressures are
applied for 1 min to compact the material in the mould (see
Fig. 2a). The amount of pressures applied to the material is
given in Table 3. Subsequently, the formed brick samples
are removed from the mould. No damage observed on
the bricks while demoulding (see Fig. 2b). All brick samples
are cured in air room temperature for 24 h. Afterwards, the
bricks are cured for a period of 28 days in the cure tank
lled with lime-saturated water at 22 C. Then, the brick
samples are dried for 24 h by a ventilated oven at 105 C.
The water absorption is obtained from the samples pre-
pared for the unit weight tests. The UPV tests are con-
ducted on the samples made for the exural strength tests.
2.3. Tests methods
The series of tests are carried out according to ASTM C
67-03a [19] to determine the water absorption, the unit

Table 4
Sample sizes and the number of samples prepared for testing
Mix no. For the compressive strength test sample size: For the exural strength test sample size: For the unit weight test sample size:
105 mm 90 mm 75 mm 105 mm 225 mm 75 mm 105 mm 90 mm 75 mm
Control mix 5 5 5
LC-10 5 5 5
LC-20 5 5 5
LC-30 5 5 5
LC-40 5 5 5
LCG-40/20 5 5 5
Total number 30 30 30
of samples

Fig. 2. Fabrication of brick samples. (a) Before compaction and (b) after compaction.
1078 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080

Table 5
Test results
Mix no. Compressive strength Flexural strength Unit weight (g/ Absorption (mass) Absorption (Volume) UPV (m/
(MPa) (MPa) cm3) (%) (%) sn)
Control 24.9 2.1 3.94 0.34 1.88 0.01 12.4 0.0 23.3 1.0 2718 31
mix
LC-10 16.8 0.7 3.75 0.13 1.70 0.03 12.6 1.5 21.5 2.1 2577 25
LC-20 10.3 0.6 3.03 0.33 1.65 0.00 14.8 3.2 24.4 5.3 2137 21
LC-30 7.0 0.3 2.19 0.13 1.51 0.00 17.4 1.4 26.3 2.1 1773 12
LC-40 4.7 0.5 1.51 0.14 1.34 0.01 27.2 0.6 36.4 1.0 1453 51
LCG-40/20 5.1 0.2 1.88 0.10 1.34 0.00 26.9 1.3 36.1 1.7 1627 59

weight, the compressive strength and the exural strength 75 mm3 are tested for the compressive strength. The addi-
values of the brick samples. tional 30 block samples of the same dimensions are tested
After 28 days of curing, the brick samples are tested for for the unit weight and water absorption. All of these tests
water content. They are taken out of the curing tank and are conducted in accordance with ASTM C 67-03a [19].
allowed to drain the surface water by placing them on a The obtained test results show that the minimum compres-
metal wire mesh. The visible surface water is removed with sive and exural strength requirements in BS6073 [24] are
a damp cloth and the samples are weighted immediately. obtained (see Table 5).
After obtaining the saturated weight content, they are
placed into an oven at 105 C and dried to a constant mass 3.1. Water absorption and unit weight
for 28 h, and then taken out from the oven and weighted at
the room temperature. The water content of wet and dry The two water absorption terms corresponding to the
weight of samples is calculated. The brick samples are volume and the mass of samples are calculated. Fig. 3
cooled at room temperature and their each unit weights shows that the water absorption and the percentage CW
are obtained by dividing the mass of the bricks by their content values are proportionate. An improvement of
overall volume. The alternative method [25] providing 40% in the CW content doubles the initial water absorption
more precise results for determining material density has values. In this CW content, 27.2% of water absorption by
not been employed in this research since ASTM C 67-03a mass is in relatively acceptable limit compared to the
standard [19] is used throughout the testing of brick widely used lightweight building materials such as auto-
samples. claved aerated concrete (AAC) which has an approximate
The dry compressive strength of brick samples is deter- water absorption value of 60% [27].
mined by using the servo controlled compression test
machine with a maximum capacity of 800 kN. The com-
pression load is applied onto the face of sample having
the dimensions of 105 90 mm2. The compressive strength
is determined by dividing the maximum load with the
applied load area of the brick samples. The dry exural
strength of samples is determined by the three-point bend-
ing test with a supporting span of 180 mm, a height of
75 mm and a width of 105 mm. The direct UPV measure-
ments are taken for each brick samples according to BS
1881 [26]. The direct path length for the direct UPV is mea-
sured through the brick length of 225 mm. A portable
ultrasonic tester is used to evaluate the direct, indirect
and semi direct UPV measurements. This tester measures
the time of propagation of ultrasound pulses in the range
0.19999.9 ls with a precision of 0.1 ls. The transducers
used are of 50 mm in diameter, and having maximum res-
onant frequencies of 54 kHz.

3. Test results and discussion

Table 5 shows the average test results obtained from the

tests. Thirty brick samples with dimensions of 105
225 75 mm3 are used for the exural strength and UPV
testes. Other 30 samples with dimensions of 105 90 Fig. 3. Graphical representation of some of the results in Table 5.
 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080
The test results conrm that the unit weight values are
inversely proportionate with the volumetric percentage
CW replacement with LPW (see Fig. 3). A 29% reduction
in the unit weight of control mix is obtained from the
40% CW replacement and this replacement value doubles
the initial water absorption value for these samples. This
is an expected result owing to the water absorption nature
of CW. By assuming the average unit weight of ordinary
concrete brick as 2.3 g/cm3 the mixture having 40% of
CW content provides a 58% lighter concrete. A 29% reduc-
tion in the unit weight of control mix is a useful result,
which exhibits the potential of this composite to be used
in the lightweight building material applications.
3.2. Compressive strength
Table 5 shows the results of the compressive strength
values obtained from the testes. The average compressive
strength values are inversely proportionate with the per-
centage CW replacement (see Fig. 3). The strength dramat-
ically decreases with an increase in the replacement level of
CW. A 71% reduction in the strength of control mix is
obtained from the 30% CW replacement (LC-30 mix),
which attains the average result of 7 0.3 MPa complies
with BS6073 [24]. It is also observed that the CWLPW
cement composite even in this compressive strength value
can easily be cut with simple handheld saw (see Fig. 4).
Therefore, the LC-30 mix may be used for the structural
applications such as masonry units whereas the LC-40
and LC-40/20 mixes may be used for the non-structural
applications. It is observed the addition of WGP content
in CWLPW combination increases the compressive
strength as 8.5% in the tested LCG-40/20 samples, which
are having the replacement of WGP with LPW (see Table
3).
3.3. Flexural strength
Fig. 5 shows the relationship between the average ex-
ural strength and the compressive strength values that are
inversely proportionate with the CW content in the test
Fig. 4. CWLPW composite mix can easily be cut with handheld saw.
1079
Fig. 5. The relation between the average compressive strength values and
the average exural strength and UPV values.
samples. BS 6073 [24] requires 0.65 MPa as a minimum
exural strength for the building materials to be used in
structural applications. All of the samples tested for the
exural strength satisfy this requirement (see Table 5 and
Fig. 5). It is observed that the addition of WGP content
in CWLPW combination increases the exural strength
as 24.5% in the tested LCG-40/20 samples (see Table 5).
3.4. Direct UPV measurement
The direct UPV values are measured on the exural
strength samples having 225 mm direct path length
required by BS 1881 [26]. Fig. 5 shows the comparative
relationships of the UPV, the compressive and exural
strength values. Since the UPV is lower through the voids
which are produced by the CW content in the samples,
the reduction in the strength values causes the UPV to be
decreased. The results suggest that the CW content, the
compressive and exural strength values may approxi-
mately be determined without a destructive testing by using
the non-destructive UPV measurements.
4. Conclusions
The physical and mechanical properties of brick samples
with CW, LPW, and glass powder wastes are investigated.
The test results show that the CWLPW combination pro-
vides results, which are of potential for this combination to
be used in the production of lighter and economical new
brick material. The observations during the tests show that
the eect of 1040% CW replacements in CWLPW matrix
does not exhibit a sudden brittle fracture even beyond the
failure loads and indicates high energy absorption capacity
by allowing lower labouring cost. This CWLPW compo-
sition produces a sturdy lighter composite, which is about
60% lighter than the conventional concrete bricks. Con-
crete with 30% replacement level of CW which is attained
7 MPa compressive and 2.19 MPa exural strength values
satises the requirements in BS6073 for a building material
to be used in the structural applications.
The performed tests presented in this paper constitute
only a rst step research on CWLPW combination to
be used as brick materials and the further tests are pos-
1080 H.M. Algin, P. Turgut / Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 10741080
sibly needed prior to use the new bricks as construction
materials. The possible behaviour of the bricks assem-
bled in masonry also needs to be investigated to asses
the physical and mechanical behaviour of the brick/
mortar system. The further tests may be required such
as the water absorption coecient, the pore size distri-
bution and the bond wrench tests as well as the mechan-
ical tests on brick/mortar combination. The variation in
the mechanical strength of these bricks containing the
high percentage replacement of cotton when they are
saturated with water is another research area need to
be investigated. This further information on the new
bricks would allow proposing this composite as new
building material.
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