BRICKS

BRICKS
• A brick is a type of block used to build walls,
pavements and other elements in masonry
construction. Properly, the term brick denotes
a block composed of dried clay, but is now
also used informally to denote other
chemically cured construction blocks.
 Size and Weight of bricks
• The BIS has recommended the bricks of uniform size. Such
bricks are known as the modular bricks and the actual size of
a modular brick is190 mm x 90 mm x 90 mm.
• With mortar thickness, size of such a brick becomes 200 mm
x 100 mm x 100 mm and it is known as the nominal size of
the modular brick.
• Thus the nominal size of brick includes the mortar thickness.
• It is found that the weight of 1 m3 of brick earth is about
1800 kg.
• Hence the average weight of a brick will be about 3 to 3.50
kg.
 Some Basic Definitions
• Stretcher: This is a brick laid with its length
parallel to the face or front or direction of a
wall. The course containing stretchers is called
a stretcher course.
 Some Basic Definitions
• Header: This is a brick laid with its breadth or
width parallel to the face or front or direction
of a wall. The course containing headers is
called a header course.
 Some Basic Definitions
• Frog: A frog is a mark of depth about 10mm to
20mm which is placed on the face of a brick to
form a key for holding the mortar.
 Some Basic Definitions
• Bed: The lower surface of the brick when laid
flat is known as bed.
• Bed joint: The horizontal layer of mortar upon
which the bricks are laid is known as a bed
joint.
 Types of Bricks used in Masonry
Construction
• Different types of bricks are used in masonry
construction based on material such as clay,
concrete, lime, fly ash etc. Field identification of
bricks for their properties, uses and suitability for
different construction works are important.
• Based on the manufacturing process, bricks are
broadly classified into two types,
1. Sun-Dried or unburnt bricks
2. Burnt bricks
 Sun-Dried or Unburnt Clay
Bricks
• Sun-dried or unburnt bricks are less durable and
these are used for temporary structures. Unburnt
bricks preparation involved in 3 steps they are
preparation of clay, moulding and drying.
• After moulding, bricks are subjected to sunlight
and dried using heat from sun. So, they are not
that much strong and they also have less water
resistance and less fire resistance. These bricks
are not suitable for permanent structures.
 Burnt Clay Bricks
• Burnt bricks are good quality bricks but
however they also consist some defected
bricks. So, burnt bricks are classified into four
types and they are
• First class bricks
• Second class bricks
• Third class bricks
• Fourth class bricks
 First Class Bricks
• First class bricks are good quality bricks compared to
other classes. They are moulded by table-moulding
and burnt in large kilns. So, these bricks contain
standard shape, sharp edges and smooth surfaces.
• They are more durable and having more strength.
They can be used for permanent structures. However,
because of their good properties they are costly than
other classes.
• Water Absorption % by weight is 20%
 Second Class Bricks
• Second class bricks are moderate quality bricks and
they are moulded by ground-moulding process. These
bricks are also burnt in kilns. But because of ground
moulding, they do not have smooth surfaces as well
as sharp edges.
• The shape of bricks also irregular due to unevenness
in ground. These also will give best results in strength
and durability. Smooth plastering is required on the
brick structure.
• Water Absorption % by weight is 22%
 Third Class Bricks
• Third class bricks are poor quality bricks which
are generally used for temporary structures like
unburnt bricks.
• These are not suitable for rainy areas.
• They are ground-moulded type bricks and burnt
in clamps.
• The surface of this type of bricks are rough and
they have unfair edges.
• Water Absorption % by weight is 25%
 Fourth Class Bricks
• Fourth class bricks are very poor quality bricks
and these are not used as bricks in the structure.
• They are crushed and used as aggregates in the
manufacturing of concrete.
• They are obtained by over burning, because of this
they gets over heated and obtains brittle nature.
• So, they can break easily and not suitable for
construction purpose.
• Water Absorption % by weight is 28%
 Fly Ash Bricks
• Fly ash bricks are manufactured using fly ash and
water.
• These bricks have better properties than clay
bricks and great resistant to freeze thaw cycles.
• These bricks contains high concentration of
calcium oxide which is used in cement production,
thus it is also called as self-cementing brick.
• Fly ash bricks are lightweight and thus it reduces
self weight of structures.
 Fly Ash Bricks
• The advantages of fly ash bricks over clay
bricks are that they have high fire insulation,
high strength, uniform sizes for better joints
and plaster, lower water penetration, does not
require soaking before use in masonry
construction.
 Concrete Bricks
• Concrete bricks are manufacturing using concrete
with ingredients as cement, sand, coarse aggregates
and water.
• These bricks can be manufactured in sizes as
required.
• The advantages of using concrete bricks over clay
bricks are that they can be manufactured at
construction site, reduces quantity of mortar required,
can be manufactured to provide different colours as
pigmented during its production.
 Concrete Bricks
• Concrete bricks are used for construction of
masonry and framed buildings, fences, and
provide an excellent aesthetic presence
 Engineering Bricks
• Engineering bricks have high compressive
strength and are used special applications
where strength, frost resistance, acid
resistance, low porosity is required.
• These bricks are commonly used for
basements where chemical or water attacks are
prevalent and for damp proof courses.
 Composition of Good Earth Brick
• Alumina: It is the chief constituent of every kind
of clay. A good brick earth should contain about
20% to 30% of alumina.
• This constituent imparts plasticity to the earth so
that it can be moulded.
• If alumina is present in excess, within adequate
quantity of sand, the raw bricks shrink and warp
during drying and burning and become too hard
when burnt.
 Silica
• It exists in clay either as free or combined. As free sand, it
is mechanically mixed with clay and in combined form, it
exists in chemical composition with alumina.
• A good brick earth should contain about 50 per cent to 60
percent of silica.
• The presence of this constituent prevents cracking,
shrinking and warping of raw bricks. It thus imparts
uniform shape to the bricks.
• The durability of bricks depends on the proper proportion
of silica in brick earth. The excess of silica destroys the
cohesion between particles and the bricks become brittle
 Lime
• A small quantity of lime not exceeding 5 per cent is
desirable in good brick earth.
• It should be present in a very finely powdered state
because even small particles of the size of a pin-head
cause flaking of the bricks. The lime prevents
shrinkage of raw bricks.
• The sand alone is infusible. But it slightly fuses at
kiln temperature in presence of lime. Such fused sand
works as a hard cementing material for brick
particles.
 Lime
• The excess of lime causes the brick to melt
and hence its shape is lost.
• The lumps of lime are converted into quick
lime after burning and this quick lime slakes
and expands in presence of moisture.
• Such an action results in splitting of bricks into
pieces.
 Oxide of iron
• A small quantity of oxide of iron to the extent of
about5 to 6 per cent is desirable in good brick
earth. It helps as lime to fuse sand.
• It also imparts red colour to the bricks. The
excess of oxide of iron makes the bricks dark
blue or blackish.
• If, on the other hand, the quantity of iron oxide
is comparatively less, the bricks will be
yellowish in colour.
 Magnesia
• A small quantity of magnesia in brick earth
imparts yellow tint to the bricks and decreases
shrinkage. But excess of magnesia leads to the
decay of bricks.
 Tests on Bricks
• Various types of tests on bricks are conducted
to check the qualities of bricks for construction
purposes.
• Tests on bricks are conducted at construction
site as well as in laboratory.
• Bricks are oldest and important construction
materials because of their durability, reliability,
strength and low cost.
 Tests on Bricks
• To produce good quality of structure, good
quality materials are required.
• To decide the quality of the materials some
tests are to be conducted on bricks.
• The tests which are required to find the
suitability of bricks for construction purposes
are discussed below.
 Tests on Bricks
• Following tests are conducted on bricks to determine its
suitability for construction work.
1. Absorption test
2. Crushing strength test
3. Hardness test
4. Shape and size
5. Color test
6. Soundness test
7. Structure of brick
8. Presence of soluble salts (Efflorescence Test)
 Absorption Test on Bricks
• Absorption test is conducted on brick to find out the
amount of moisture content absorbed by brick under
extreme conditions.
• In this test, sample dry bricks are taken and weighed. After
weighing these bricks are placed in water with full
immersing for a period of 24 hours.
• Then weigh the wet brick and note down its value. The
difference between dry and wet brick weights will give the
amount of water absorption.
• For a good quality brick the amount of water absorption
should not exceed 20% of weight of dry brick.
•
Crushing Strength or Compressive
Strength Test on Bricks
• Crushing strength of bricks is determined by
placing brick in compression testing machine.
• After placing the brick in compression testing
machine, apply load on it until brick breaks.
• Note down the value of failure load and find out
the crushing strength value of brick.
• Minimum crushing strength of brick is
3.50N/mm2 if it is less than 3.50 N/mm2 then it
is not useful for construction purpose.
•
 Hardness Test on Bricks
• A good brick should resist scratches against
sharp things. So, for this test a sharp tool or
finger nail is used to make scratch on brick. If
there is no scratch impression on brick then it
is said to be hard brick.
 Shape and Size Test on Bricks
• Shape and size of bricks are very important consideration.
• All bricks used for construction should be of same size.
• The shape of bricks should be purely rectangular with
sharp edges. Standard brick size consists length x breadth
x height as 19cm x9cm x 9cm.
• To perform this test, select 20 bricks randomly from brick
group and stack them along its length , breadth and height
and compare.
• So, if all bricks similar size then they are qualified for
construction work.
 Colour test of Bricks
• A good brick should possess bright and
uniform colour through out the body.
 Soundness Test of Bricks
• Soundness test of bricks shows the nature of
bricks against sudden impact.
• In this test, 2 bricks are chosen randomly and
struck with one another.
• Then sound produced should be clear bell
ringing sound and brick should not break.
Then it is said to be good brick.
 Structure of Bricks
• To know the structure of brick, pick one brick
randomly from the group and break it.
• Observe the inner portion of brick clearly. It
should be free from lumps and homogeneous.
 Efflorescence Test on Bricks
• A good quality brick should not contain any soluble
salts in it.
• If soluble salts are there, then it will cause
efflorescence on brick surfaces.
• To know the presence of soluble salts in a brick, placed
it in a water bath for 24 hours and dry it in shade.
• After drying, observe the brick surface thoroughly.
• If there is any white or grey color deposits, then it
contains soluble salts and not useful for construction
 Qualities Of Good Bricks
• The bricks should be table-moulded, well burnt in kilns,
copper-coloured, free from cracks and with sharp and
square edges. The colour should be uniform and bright.
• The bricks should be uniform in shape and should be of
standard size.
• The bricks should give a clear metallic ringing sound
when struck with each other.
• The bricks when broken or fractured should show a
bright homogeneous and uniform compact structure free
from voids.
 Qualities Of Good Bricks
• The brick should not absorbs water more than 20%
by weight, for first class bricks and 22% by weight
for second class bricks, when soaked in water for a
period of 24 hours.
• The bricks should be sufficiently hard. No impression
should be left on brick surface, when it is scratched
with finger nail.
• The bricks should not break into pieces when
dropped flat on hard ground from a height of about
one meter.
 Qualities Of Good Bricks
• The bricks should have low thermal
conductivity and they should be sound proof.
• The bricks, when soaked in water for 24 hours,
should not show deposits of white salt when
allowed to dry in shade.
• No bricks should have the crushing strength
below 3.50 N/mm2.
MANUFACTURIN
G OF BRICKS
Site selection for manufacturing of bricks

• For the manufacturing of bricks, the site should be

selected based on some important considerations such as:
• The ground should be of plain surface.
• The site should be connected with communicating roads
for transporting materials etc.,
• Good brick earth should be easily available.
• The site should offer all facilities to the workers.
Manufacturing process of bricks
• There are four different operations are
involved in the process of manufacturing of
bricks:
• Preparation of clay
• Moulding
• Drying
• Burning
 Preparation of clay
• Preparation of clay for bricks manufacturing is
done in six steps: 
• Unsoiling
• Digging
• Cleaning
• Weathering
• Blending
• Tempering
 Preparation of clay
• Unsoiling of clay We need pure clay for the
preparation of bricks. The top layer of soil may
contains impurities, so the clay in top layer of
soil about 200mm depth is thrown away. This is
called Unsoiling. 
• Digging After the removal of top layer, the clay
is dug out from the ground and spread on the
plain ground. The height of the clay is about
600mm to 1200mm.
 Preparation of clay
• Cleaning In this stage, the clay is cleaned of stones,
vegetable matter etc. if large quantity of particulate
matter is present, then the clay is washed and
screened. The lumps of clay are converted into
powder with earth crushing rollers.
• Weathering The cleaned clay is exposed to
atmosphere for softening. The period of weathering
may be 3 to 4 weeks or a full rainy season.
Generally, the clay is dug out just before the rainy
season for larger projects.
 Preparation of clay
• Blending If we want to add any ingredient to
the clay, it is to be added in this stage by
making the clay loose and spread the
ingredient over it. Then take small portion of
clay into the hands and tuning it up and down
in vertical direction. This process is called
blending of clay.
 Preparation of clay
• Tempering In the process of tempering, the clay is brought to a
proper degree of hardness and it is made fit for the next
operation of moulding. The water in required quantity is added
to clay and the whole mass is kneaded or pressed under the feet
of men or cattle. The tempering should be done exhaustively to
obtain homogeneous mass of clay of uniform character.
• For manufacturing bricks on a large scale, the tempering is
usually done in a pug mill. A typical pug mill capable of
tempering sufficient earth for a daily output of about 15000 to
20000. The process of grinding clay with water and making it
plastic is known as the pugging.
 Moulding
• In the moulding process, prepared clay is
mould into brick shape (generally
rectangular).This process can be done in two
ways according to scale of project.
• Hand moulding (for small scale)
• Machine moulding (for large scale)
 Hand moulding of bricks
• If manufacturing of bricks is on a small scale and
manpower is also cheap then we can go for hand moulding.
• The moulds are in rectangular shape made of wood or steel
which are opened at the top and bottom.
• The longer sides of moulds are projected out of the box to
serve it as handles. If we take durability in consideration
steel moulds are better than wooden moulds.
• In hand moulding again there are two types and they are
1. Ground moulded bricks
2. Table-moulded bricks
 Ground moulded bricks
• In this process of ground moulding, first level the
ground and sand or ash is sprinkled over it.
• Now place the wet mould in the ground and filled it
with tempered clay and press hard to fill all corners of
the mould.
• Extra clay is removed with metal strike or wood
strike or with wire.
• The mould is then lifted up and we have raw brick in
the ground.
• And again wet the mould by dipping it in water and
repeat the same process. The process of dipping
mould every time to make bricks is called slop
 Ground moulded bricks
• Sometimes, the inside surface of mould is sprinkled
with sand or ash instead of dipping in water this is
called sand moulding
• Frog mark of bricks are made by using a pair of pallet
boards. Frog mark means the mark of depth which is
placed on raw brick while moulding.
• The depth may be 10mm to 20mm.Frog mark states
the trademark of manufacturing company and also it
is useful to store mortar in it when the bricks is
placed over it.
 Table-moulded bricks
• This process is similar to ground moulding
process, but here the bricks on moulding on
the table of size 2m x 1m.
• Ground moulding is economical when
compared to table moulding.
 Machine moulding of bricks
• The bricks required are in large quantity, then
machine moulding is economical and also
saves more time. Here also we are having two
types of machines,
1. Plastic clay machines
2. Dry clay machines
 Plastic clay machines
• This machines contain an opening in rectangular
shape and when we place the tempered clay in to this
machine it will come out through this opening.
• Now, the rectangular strips coming out the opening
are cut by wires to get required thickness of brick.
• So, these are also called wire cut bricks.
• Now these raw bricks are ready for the drying
process.
 Dry clay machines
• Dry clay machines are more time saving machines.
• We can put the blended clay into these machines
directly without tempering.
• Means tempering is also done in this machine by
adding some water.
• When the required stiffness is obtained the clay is
placed in mould and pressed hard and well-shaped
bricks are delivered.
• These are called pressed bricks and these do not
require drying they may directly sent to burning
process.
 Drying of raw bricks
• After moulding process the bricks contain some
amount of moisture in it. So, drying is to be done
otherwise they may cracked while burning.
• The drying of raw bricks is to done by natural process.
• The bricks are laid in stacks. A stack consists 8 to 10
stairs.
• The bricks in these stacks should be arranged in such
a way that circulation of air in between the bricks is
free.
 Drying of raw bricks
• The period of drying may be 3 to 10 days. It also
depends upon the weather conditions.
• The drying yards are also prepared on higher
level than the normal ground for the prevention
of bricks from rain water.
• When bricks are needed to dry on a large scale,
then this artificial drying is preferred. They are
dried in special dryers which receive heat from
specially made furnaces for artificial drying.
 Burning of bricks
• In the process of burning, the dried bricks are burned
either in clamps (small scale)or kilns (large scale) up to
certain degree temperature.
• In this stage, the bricks will gain hardness and strength
so it is important stage in manufacturing of bricks.
• The temperature required for burning is about 1100°C.
If they burnt beyond this limit they will be brittle and
easy to break.
• If they burnt under this limit, they will not gain full
strength and there is a chance to absorb moisture from
the atmosphere.
• Hence burning should be done properly to meet the
requirements of good brick.
 Types of kilns
• The types of Kilns used for burning purposes
are
• Clamp or Open Kiln: This is a temporary
structure with some advantages like low initial
cost, low fuel cost and a few skilled labourers
are sufficient to complete the process. The
disadvantage is only a small quantity of bricks
is manufactured at a time and in that only 60%
are good quality bricks.
 Types of kilns
• Intermittent Kiln: When a large number of good quality
bricks are needed, intermittent or continuous kilns are
preferred. In this kilns, the process of burning is
discontinuous.
• Continuous Kilns: In this process, the burning is
continuous and they are of three type’s i.e., Bull's Trench
Kiln, tunnel Kiln and Hoffman's Kiln.
• To get a good quality brick it has to be heated to the
required temperature. The bricks begin to lose their shape
and materials get vitrified if heating of brick earth goes
beyond 1,300°C.
 Clamp Burning
• Clamp is a temporary structure generally constructed
over the ground with a height of about 4 to 6 m.
• It is employed when the demand of the bricks is
lower scale and when it is not a monsoon season.
• This is generally trapezoidal in plan whose shorter
edge among the parallel sides is below the ground
and then the surface raising constantly at about 15
degrees to reach the other parallel edge over the
ground.
 Clamp Burning
• A vertical brick and mud wall is constructed at the
lower edge to support the stack of the brick.
• First layer of fuel is laid as the bottom most layer
with the coal, wood and other locally available
material like cow dung and husk.
• Another layer of about 4 to 5 rows of bricks is laid
and then again a fuel layer is laid over it.
• The thickness of the fuel layer goes on with the
height of the clamp.
 Clamp Burning
• After these alternate layers of the bricks and fuel the
top surface is covered with the mud so as to preserve
the heat.
• Fire is ignited at the bottom, once fire is started it is
kept under fire by itself for one or two months and
same time period is needed for the cooling of the
bricks. 
 Advantages of Clamp burning
• The burning and cooling of bricks are gradual in
clamps. Hence the bricks produced are tough and
strong.
• The burning of bricks by clamps proves to be cheap
and economical.
• No skilled labour and supervision are required for the
construction and working of clamps.
• The clamp is not liable to injury from high wind or
rain.
• There is considerable savings of fuel.
 Disadvantages of Clamp burning
• Bricks at the bottom are over-burnt while at the
top are under-burnt. 
• Bricks loose their shape, and reason may be their
descending downward once the fuel layer is burnt.
• This method can not employed for the
manufacturing of large number of bricks and it is
costly in terms of fuel because large amount of
heat is wasted.
•  It can not be employed in monsoon season.
 Kiln Burning
• Kiln is a large oven used for the burning of
bricks.
• Generally coal and other locally available
materials like wood, cow dung etc can be used
as fuel. They are of two types:
(a) Intermittent  Kilns.
(b) Continuous Kilns.
 Intermittent Kilns 
• These kilns are intermittent in operation which
means that they are loaded, fired, cooled and
unloaded.
• Such kilns may be either rectangular or
circular in plan. They may be over ground or
underground. They are classified in two ways:
(i) Intermittent up-draught kilns
(ii) Intermittent down-draught kilns
Intermittent up-draught kilns
• These kilns are in the form of rectangular structures with
thick outside walls.
• The wide doors are provided at each end for loading and
unloading of kilns.
• The flues are channels or passages which are provided
to carry flames or hot gases through the body of kiln.
• A temporary roof may be installed of any light material.
• Such roof gives protection to the raw bricks from rain
while they are being placed in position. This roof is to
be removed when the kiln is fired.
 Intermittent down-draught kilns
• These kilns are rectangular or circular in shape.
• They are provided with permanent walls and closed tight roof.
• The floor of the kiln has openings which are connected to a
common chimneystack through flues.
• The working of this kiln is more or less similar to the up-
draught kiln.
• But it is so arranged in this kiln that hot gases are carried
through vertical flues upto the level of roof and they are then
released.
• These hot gases move downward by the chimney draught and
in doing so, they burn the bricks.
 Continuous Kilns
• These kilns are called continuous because all the
processes of loading, unloading, cooling,  Heating,
preheating take place simultaneously. 
• They are used when the bricks are demanded in
larger scale and in short time.
• Bricks burning is completed in one day, so it is a
fast method of burning.
• There are two well known continuous kilns:
• Bull’s trench kiln, Hoffman’s kiln, Tunnel kiln
 Bull’s Trench Kiln
• Bull’s trench kiln consist of a rectangular, circular or oval
plan shape.
• They are constructed below the ground level by excavating
a trench of the required width for the given capacity of
brick manufacturing.
• This Trench is divided generally in 12 chambers so that 2
numbers of cycles of brick burning can take place at the
same time for the larger production of the bricks.
• Or it may happen that one cycle is carried out at one time
in all the 12 chambers by using a single process in the 2-3
chambers at the same time.
 Bull’s Trench Kiln
• The structure is under-ground so the heat is conserved to a
large extent so it is more efficient.  
• Once fire is started it constantly travels from one chamber to
the other chamber, while other operations like loading,
unloading, cooling, burning and preheating taking place
simultaneously.
• Such kilns are generally constructed to have a manufacturing
capacity of about 20,000 bricks per day.
• The drawback of this kiln is that there is not a permanent
roof, so it is not easy to manufacture the bricks in the
monsoon seasons.
Bull’s Trench Kiln
 Hoffman's kiln
• This kiln is constructed over ground and hence
it is sometimes known as the flame kiln.
• Its shape is circular in plan and it is divided
into a number of compartments or chambers.
• As a permanent roof is provided, the kiln can
even function during rainy season.
 Hoffman's kiln
• Figure shows plan and section of the Hoffman's kiln
with 12 chambers. Each chamber is provided with the
following:
(a) a main door for loading and unloading of bricks,
(b) communicating doors which would act as flues in
open condition,
(c) a radial flue connected with a central chimney, and
(d) fuel holes with covers to drop fuel, which may be
in the form of powdered coal, into burning chambers.
 Hoffman's kiln
• The main doors are closed by dry bricks and
covered with mud, when required.
• For communicating doors and radial flues, the
dampers are provided to shut or open them.
• In the normal condition, only one radial flue is
connected to the chimney to establish a
draught.
 Hoffman's kiln
• In this type of kiln, each chamber performs
various functions in succession, namely,
loading, drying, burning, cooling and
unloading.
• Chamber 1 - Loading
• Chambers 2 to 5 - Drying and pre-heating
• Chambers 6 and 7 - Burning
• Chambers 8 to 11 - Cooling
• Chamber 12 - Unloading
 Hoffman's kiln
• With the above arrangement, the circulation of the flue
gas will be as shown by arrows in figure.
• The cool air enters through chambers 1 and12 as their
main doors are open.
• After crossing the cooling chambers8 to 11, it enters
the burning section in a heated condition. It then
moves to chambers 2 to 5 to dry and pre-heat the raw
bricks.
• The damper of chamber 2 is in open condition and
hence it escapes into atmosphere through chimney.
 Hoffman's kiln
• The capacity of the kiln will depend upon the
dimensions of chambers.
• If each chamber is of about 11 m length, 4.50 m
average width and2.50 m height, it will contain about
25000 bricks.
• Hence, if it is so arranged that one chamber is unloaded
daily, such a kiln will manufacture about 25000 bricks
daily or about 8 to 9 million bricks annually.
• The quantity of coal dust required for burning one lakh
of bricks is about120 to 150 kN.
 Comparison between
Bull’s Trench Kiln & Hoffman’s
Kiln
Item Bull’s Trench Kiln Hoffman’s Kiln

Burning capacity About 3 lakhs in 12 days. About 40 lakhs in one season.

It stops functioning during It functions all the year round

Continuity of
monsoon as it is not provided with as it is provided with a
working
a permanent roof. permanent roof.
High as consumption of fuel is Low as consumption of fuel is
Cost of fuel
more. less.

It requires more space for drying It requires less space for

Drying space
of bricks. drying of bricks.

Initial cost Low High

 Comparison between
Bull’s Trench Kiln & Hoffman’s
Kiln
Item Bull’s Trench Kiln Hoffman’s Kiln

Nature It is semi-continuous in loose

It is perfectly continuous.
sense.

Popularity More popular because of less Less popular because of high

initial cost. initial cost.

Quality of bricks Percentage of good quality bricks Percentage of good quality

is small. bricks is more.

Suitability Suitable when demand of bricks in Suitable when demand of

monsoon is not substantial. bricks is throughout the year.
 Comparison between
Clamp Burning & Kiln Burning
Item Clamp Burning Kiln Burning

About 20000 to 100000 bricks can Average 25000 bricks can be

Capacity
be prepared at a time. prepared per day

Low as grass, cow dung, etc. may Generally high as coal dust is
Cost of fuel
be used to be used.

Very low as no structures are to be More as permanent structures

Initial Cost
built. are to be constructed.
The percentage of good
The percentage of good quality
Quality of bricks quality bricks is more about
bricks is small about 60% or so.
90% or so.
It is not possible to control or
The fire is under control
regulate fire during the process of
Regulation of fire throughout the process of
 Comparison between
Clamp Burning & Kiln Burning
Item Clamp Burning Kiln Burning

Skilled Not necessary throughout the The continuous skilled super-

Supervision process of burning. vision is necessary.

Structure Temporary structure. Permanent structure.

Suitable when bricks are to Suitable when bricks are

be manufactured on a small to be manufactured on a
Suitability scale and when the demand large scale and when
of bricks is not continuous. there is continuous
demand of bricks.
 Comparison between
Clamp Burning & Kiln Burning
Item Clamp Burning Kiln Burning

Actual time for burning

of one chamber is about
Time of It requires about 2 to 6
24 hours and only about
Burning and months for burning and
12 days are required
Cooling cooling of bricks.
for cooling of bricks.

The hot flue gas is used

There is considerable
to dry and pre-heat raw
wastage of heat from top and
Wastage of bricks. Hence the
sides and hot flue gas is not
Heat wastage of heat is the
properly utilized.
least.