NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Engineering
Chemical Engineering Department
Student Name: Prince Mukokowondo

Number: N01519001P

TCE 5204

test 1
 1.a. Describe the brick manufacturing process stage by stage from the raw materials up to the
final product.

Ans

Origin and distribution of raw materials

There is an enormous range and variety of brick making clays. According to (Twala and Twala,
2008) the term clay is frequently applied to any very fine grained, plastic raw material,
regardless of its origin, particle size distribution, mineralogical association and chemical
constitution. The varying attributes of the individual clayey materials are responsible for
differences in their technical behavior. For brick manufacturing, clay must possess some specific
properties and characteristics. Such clays must have plasticity, which permits them to be shaped
or molded when mixed with water; and must have sufficient wet and air-dried strength to
maintain their shape after forming. Also, when subjected to appropriate temperatures, the clay
particles must fuse together. Origin, particle size and mineral association are the most important
properties of raw material for bricks. Clay minerals typically derived from rock weathering.
Mechanical and chemical weathering causes disintegration and decomposition of rocks. This
results in formation of secondary minerals, including clay minerals. The severity of weathering
depends on geographical relief, climate, exposure time and vegetation. Clay as a raw material for
brick making comes from a wide variety of sources including bedded shale mudstone formations,
weathered hydrothermally altered igneous and metamorphic rocks, as well as alluvial and
colluvial soils.

Types of Clay

Clays occur in three principal forms, all of which have similar chemical compositions but
different physical characteristics.

 Surface clays: Surface clays may be the upthrusts of older deposits or of more recent
sedimentary formations. As the name implies, they are found near the
surface of the earth.
 Shales: Shales are clays that have been subjected to high pressures until they
have nearly hardened into slate.
 Fire clays: Fire clays are usually mined at deeper levels than other clays and have
 refractory qualities.
Surface and fire clays have a different physical structure from shales but are similar in chemical
composition. All three types of clay are composed of silica and alumina with varying amounts of
metallic oxides. Metallic oxides act as fluxes promoting fusion of the particles at lower
temperatures. Metallic oxides (particularly those of iron, magnesium and calcium) influence the
color of the fired brick. The manufacturer minimizes variations in chemical composition and
physical properties by mixing clays from different sources and different locations in the pit.
Chemical composition varies within the pit, and the differences are compensated for by varying
manufacturing processes. As a result, brick from the same manufacturer will have slightly
different properties in subsequent production runs. Further, brick from different manufacturers
that have the same appearance may differ in other properties.

Manufacturing

Although the basic principles of manufacturing are fairly uniform, individual manufacturing
plants are tailored to fit their particular raw materials and operation. Essentially bricks are
produced by mixing ground clay with water, forming the clay into the desired shape, drying and
firing.

Phases of manufacturing

The manufacturing process has six general processes:

1. mining and storage of input material

2. preparing raw materials

3. forming the brick

4. drying

5. Firing and cooling and

6. packing and storing finished products.

Mining Surface/ near surface mining techniques are generally applied using: Scrapers,
excavators, bulldozers, front end loaders or conveyor systems. The most
common and practical method is open-cast “bench-mining” using excavators
 and dump trucks. The method enables maximum removal of clay from the pit,
and allows ease of access of the dump trucks. Bench mining also allows for
easier blending of clays should it be necessary.

Preparatio To break up large clay lumps and stones, the material is processed through size
n reduction machines before mixing. The equipment required for preparation of
the clay is dependent on the type of clay being mined in a particular area.

Forming
The first step in the forming process is called tempering, under which a homogeneous, plastic
clay mass is produced. Usually, this is achieved by adding water to the clay in a mixing
chamber with one or more revolving shafts with blade extensions. After pugging, the plastic
clay mass is ready for forming. There are three principal processes for forming bricks:
1. Extrusion: Stiff-Mud Process.
Clay is mixed with 10-15 percent water to produce plasticity. After preparation the clay
goes through a de-airing chamber that maintains a vacuum of 375-725 mm of mercury.
De-airing removes air holes and bubbles, giving the clay increased workability and
plasticity, resulting in greater strength. The clay is extruded through a die to produce a
column of clay. As the clay column leaves the die, textures or surface coatings may be
applied.
2. Pressing: Dry-Press Process
It is particularly suited to clays of very low plasticity. Clay is mixed with a minimal
amount of water (up to 10 percent) then pressed into steel molds under pressure from
3.4 to 10.3 Mpa by hydraulic or compressed air rams.
3. Hand-thrown: Soft-Mud Process
It is particularly suitable for clays containing too much water for the extrusion process.
Clays are mixed to contain 20 to 30 percent water and then formed into brick molds.
To prevent clay from sticking, the molds are lubricated with either sand or water to
produce “sand-struck” or “water-struck” brick. Brick may be produced in this manner
by hand or machine.

Cutting Two most common methods of cutting the bricks to size are:
 Reel cutter:
Cuts the clay column into brick units as it leaves the extruder.
Push trough cutter:
Cuts a slug the length of the cutter, which is sent into the cutter by conveyor.
The push through would then push the column through the cutter wires and
returned ready for the next column. The cut brick in the meantime would be
removed by another conveyor to the offset belt.

Drying Wet brick from molding or cutting machine contains 7 to 30 percent moisture,
depending upon the forming method. Before the firing process begins most of
the water is evaporated in drier chambers at temperatures ranging from 38 to
240°C. The extent of drying time varies with different clays; it is usually
between 24 to 48 hours. Heat may be generated specifically for dryer chambers.
It is usually supplied from the exhaust heat of kilns to maximize thermal
efficiency. In all cases heat and humidity must be carefully regulated to avoid
brick cracking.

Hacking Hacking is the process of loading a kiln car or kiln with brick. The number of
brick on the kiln car is determined by kiln size. The brick are typically placed
by robots or mechanical means. The setting pattern has some influence on
appearance. Brick placed face to face will have a more uniform color than brick
that are cross-set or placed face-to-back.

Firing The most commonly used methods of firing are:

Clamp kilns:
These date back to the ancient times, but are still widely used. In this case
bricks are packed into a block formation with coal placed in specific areas to
assist with firing. This method is very much dependant on good weather.
Transverse arch kilns
They consist of a number of chambers on either side of a building. The dry
bricks are placed in the chambers which are bricked up. Heat is pulled through
the chamber by an exhaust fan. Coal is fed through burners on top of the
 chambers and these are moved with the fire. Hot air from the rear of the fire is
circulated through the drier.
Tunnel kilns
operate continuously as bricks packed on kiln cars move from the dryer into the
kiln. The fire remains in one place and the cars move through increasing until
fired, they enter a cooling zone where the hot air is removed and re-circulated
to the dryer.

Cooling. After the temperature has peaked and is maintained for a prescribed time, the
cooling process begins. Cooling time rarely exceeds 10 hours for tunnel kilns
and from 5 to 24 hours in periodic kilns. Cooling is an important stage in brick
manufacturing because the rate of cooling has a direct effect on color.

De-hacking. De-hacking is the process of unloading a kiln or kiln car after the brick have
cooled, a job often performed by robots (see Photo 5). Brick are sorted, graded
and packaged. Then they are placed in a storage yard or loaded onto rail cars or
trucks for delivery. The majority of brick today are packaged in self-contained,
strapped cubes, which can be broken down into individual strapped packages
for ease of handling on the jobsite. The packages and cubes are configured to
provide openings for handling by forklifts.

Sorting Sorting the fired products into various grades is in most cases done by hand, or
performed by robots in modern systems. Bricks are sorted, graded and
packaged. They are placed in a storage yard or loaded into rail cars or trucks for
distribution.

1.b. Referring to (a) indicate the sources of pollutants and explain how these pollutants can
be prevented from polluting the environment.

Ans

Emission points
  Mining (PM)
 Raw material treatment, raw material grinding and screening (PM)
 Kilns and drying (PM, NOx, COx, SOx, HF)

Emissions from brick manufacturing facilities include particulate matter (PM) less than or equal
to 10 microns in aerodynamic diameter, others less than or equal to 2.5 microns in aerodynamic
diameter sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, metals, total organic compounds (TOC) (including methane, ethane, volatile organic
compounds [VOC], and some hazardous air pollutants [HAP]), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and
fluoride compounds.

The primary sources of emissions 2.5-10 microns are the raw material grinding and screening
operations and the kilns. Other sources of PM emissions include sawdust dryers used by plants
with sawdust-fired kilns, coal crushing systems used by plants with coal-fired kilns, and fugitive
dust sources such as paved roads, unpaved roads, and storage piles.

Combustion products, including SO2, NOx, CO, and CO2, are emitted from fuel combustion in
brick kilns and some brick dryers. Brick dryers that are heated with waste heat from the kiln
cooling zone are not usually a source of combustion products because kilns are designed to
prevent combustion gases from entering the cooling zone. Some brick dryers have supplemental
gas burners that produce small amounts of NOx, CO, and CO 2 emissions. These emissions are
sensitive to the condition of the burners. The primary source of SO2 emissions from most brick
kilns is the raw material, which sometimes contain sulfur compounds. Some facilities use raw
material with a high sulfur content, and have higher SO 2 emissions than facilities that use low-
sulfur raw material. In addition, some facilities use additives that contain sulfates, and these
additives may contribute to SO2 emissions. Data are available that indicate that sulfur contents of
surface soils are highly variable, and it is likely that sulfur contents of brick raw materials are
also highly variable.

Organic compounds, including methane, ethane, VOC, and some HAP, are emitted from both
brick dryers and kilns. These compounds also are emitted from sawdust dryers used by facilities
that fire sawdust as the primary kiln fuel. Organic compound emissions from brick dryers may
include contributions from the following sources:
 (1) Petroleum-based or other products in those plants that use petroleum-based or other
lubricants in extrusion,
(2) Light Hydrocarbons within the raw material that vaporize at the temperatures
encountered in the dryer, and
(3) Incomplete fuel combustion in dryers that use supplemental burners in addition to waste
heat from the kiln cooling zone.

Organic compound emissions from kilns are the result of volatilization of organic matter
contained in the raw material and kiln fuel. Hydrogen fluoride (HF) and other fluoride
compounds are emitted from kilns as a result of the release of the fluorine compounds contained
in the raw material. Fluorine typically is present in brick raw materials in the range of 0.01 to
0.06 percent. As the green bricks reach temperatures of (500 to 600 degrees C), the fluorine in
the raw material forms HF and other fluorine compounds. Much of the fluorine is released as HF.

Abatement measures

Approach road within the premises of brick kiln area should be pucca/ stabilized with brick bats
etc. They should use crushed coal for better burning efficiency. Bricks should be laid in such a
staggered manner for baking to entrap maximum particulate matter at the source itself. They
should use a properly designed gravity chamber. Permanent stack should be provided at the brick
kiln and height of chimney /stack should be at least 30 meters. No moving chimney shall be
allowed. Water sprayers shall be installed and operated at strategic locations. The approach road
to site of brick kiln (including the storage site if it is at different place) from the nearest public
road for the transportation of raw material/final products must be paved or hard surfaced. Active
haul roads inside the works should be adequately wetted with water (Preferably recycled and
treated waste water). Exhausts of trucks for transportation of materials within the site should be
directed upward. Wheel cleaning facilities should be provided, for delivery trucks leaving the
works, for the removal of mud.

A variety of control systems may be used to reduce PM emissions from brick manufacturing
operations. Grinding and screening operations are sometimes controlled by fabric filtration
systems, or process raw material with a relatively high moisture content (greater than 10
percent). Most tunnel kilns are not equipped with control devices, although fabric filters or wet
scrubbers are sometimes used for PM removal. Particulate matter emissions from fugitive
sources such as paved roads, unpaved roads, and storage piles can be controlled using wet
suppression techniques.

Dry scrubbers that use limestone as a sorption medium may be used to control HF emissions.
Scrubbers, which use a soda ash and water solution as the scrubbing liquid, provide effective
control of HF and SO2 emissions.

Process controls are also an effective means of controlling kiln emissions. For example, facilities
with coal-fired kilns typically use a low-sulfur, low-ash coal to minimize SO2 and PM
emissions. In addition, research is being performed on the use of additives (such as lime) to
reduce HF and SO2 emissions.