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Lime based steam autoclaved fly ash bricks

Article in Construction and Building Materials June 2007
DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2006.01.005

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Construction
and Building

MATERIALS

Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 12951300

www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Lime based steam autoclaved y ash bricks

Tayfun Cicek *, Mehmet Tanrverdi
Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mining Engineering, 35160 Buca, Izmir, Turkey
Received 5 June 2005; received in revised form 26 January 2006; accepted 31 January 2006
Available online 28 August 2006

Abstract
About 10 million tonnes of y ash are produced yearly as waste from coal red thermal power plants in Turkey. Only a small portion
of this waste is utilized as a raw material in the production of cement and concrete. In this study, Seyitomer power plant y ash was
investigated in the production of light weight bricks. Fly ash, sand and hydrated lime mixtures were steam autoclaved under dierent
test conditions to produce brick samples. An optimum raw material composition was found to be a mixture of 68% y ash, 20% sand
and 12% hydrated lime. The optimum brick forming pressure was 20 MPa. The optimum autoclaving time and autoclaving pressure were
found 6 h and 1.5 MPa, respectively. The compressive strength, unit volume weight, water absorption and thermal conductivity of the y
ashsandlime bricks obtained under optimum test conditions are 10.25 MPa, 1.14 g/cm3, 40.5% and 0.34 W m 1 K 1 respectively. The
results of this study suggested that it was possible to produce good quality light weight bricks from the y ash of Seyitomer power plant.
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Fly ash; Bricks; Lime; Sand; Steam autoclave

1. Introduction
A large amount of y ash is produced from the coal red
power plants as waste. In Turkey, over 10 millions of tonnes of y ash are produced yearly. This waste material is
considered an environmental problem in Turkey because
only a portion of it can be utilized. Characterization results
of the y ash samples received from the dierent Turkish
coal red power plants have shown that the majority of
them was found suitable for use in dierent section of the
industry [4].
In Turkey and abroad studies on characterization and
industrial utilization of y ash have increased substantially
over the years. As a result of these studies, y ash can now
be utilized in many dierent areas like cement, ceramic,
paint, plastic, agriculture, environmental and construction
[5,7,1113]. In Turkey, y ash has been mainly used in
cement and concrete production. However, the y ash
usage is much lower than in other countries due to diculties of obtaining the y ash product with consistent quality.
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 4127548; fax: +90 232 4530868.
E-mail address: tayfun.cicek@deu.edu.tr (T. Cicek).

0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2006.01.005

Lack of research and development studies aiming the utilization of y ash in other industrial elds also contributes to
this low usage.
The production of the construction materials like sand/
lime or silica/lime bricks is based on mainly CaOSiO2
H2O (CSH) formation [2,3,9,10]. Calciumsilicate
hydrate is formed by the reaction of Ca(OH)2, SiO2 and
H2O under pressurized steam at 125200 C. In the beginning of this reaction, a lime-rich Tobermorite gel is formed.
The composition of this gel is probably C7S4Hn. This phase
reacts with residual SiO2 to form C5S4Hn and nally the
low-lime C2S3H2 phase [1]. The steam autoclaved y ash
bricks based partly on the formation of this CSH phase.
CaOAl2O3SiO2H2O (CASH), Hydrogarnet is also
found to be formed in the presence of Al2O3 [6,8]. Thus,
mainly CSH and CASH phases contribute to the
hardening of y ash/lime materials since y ash contains
considerable amounts of Al2O3 and SiO2.
2. Material and test procedure
In this study, a y ash sample from Seyitomer power
plant/Turkey, hydrated lime and sand were used for

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T. Cicek, M. Tanrverdi / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 12951300

making bricks. Physical and chemical properties of the y

ash sample are presented in Table 1. The particle size distribution of the y ash is shown Fig. 1. As silica additives,
quartz sand with 99% SiO2 and washed river sand with
78% SiO2 were used. The Ca(OH)2 content of the hydrated
lime was 95.4%.
Firstly, optimum y ashsandlime mixing ratio, brick
forming pressure, steam pressure and autoclaving time
were determined. Twenty-two dierent types of brick specimens were produced under the conditions given in Table 2.
Brick specimens of about 100 g were prepared with 14%
moisture and formed with the aid of a hydraulic press into
cylinders with B = 45 mm. The specimens were pre-cured
for about 24 h prior to autoclaving. The specimens were
steam autoclaved in an autoclave brand ELE with max.
operating pressure of 4 MPa. Autoclaved specimens were
tested for their volume weight, compressive strength and
water absorption according to Turkish Standards TS 705

Table 1
Physical and chemical properties of Seyitomer y ash
Lignite

Bulk density (g/cm3)

SiO2 (%)
Al2O3 (%)
Fe2O3 (%)
CaO (%)
MgO (%)
K2O (%)
Na2O (%)
TiO2 (%)
Loss on ignition (%)
Cd (ppm)a
Pb (ppm)a
Zn (ppm)a
Cu (ppm)a
Cr (ppm)a
Ni (ppm)a
Mn (ppm)a

0.90
57.21
20.39
10.89
2.75
4.96
1.36
0.40
0.81
0.94

79.0
112.6
98.8
454.5
1975.9
790.4

100
80

Passing, cum. %

3.1. The eect of sand addition on compressive strength

The specimens T1T5 (Table 2) were prepared to determine the eect of quartz sand addition on compressive
strength. The results of compressive strength tests are given
in Fig. 2. The compressive strength of the specimens was
increased from 2.2 to 3.74 MPa by increasing the amount
of quartz sand. The highest compressive strength of
3.74 MPa was achieved at 40% quartz sand addition. Sand
addition of 20% was accepted as optimum, because the
value of the compressive strength was slightly lower than
that of 40% quartz. The improved mechanical strength of
the specimens by addition of quartz can be explained to a
greater extend by the increased amount of free SiO2 which
is more readily reacting with lime than the y ash.

The results of compressive strength tests conducted on

specimens T6T9 in order to determine the eect of lime
addition and to obtain the optimum lime addition percentage are given in Fig. 3. The specimens were prepared at
20% quartz sand addition. Lime addition of 12% gave
the highest compressive strength of 4.75 MPa. Higher lime
addition had no signicant eect on the mechanical
strength of the specimens. Hence, 12% lime was accepted
as the optimum lime addition. This amount of lime is comparable with the amount of lime addition in sand/lime
bricks production process.
3.3. Eect of brick forming pressure on the compressive
strength
The specimens T10T14 containing 68% y ash, 20%
quartz sand and 12% lime were formed under pressures
of <0.5 , 10, 20, 25 and 30 MPa. The compressive strengths
of these specimens are given in Fig. 4. The highest compressive strength of 6.17 MPa was achieved at 20 MPa forming
pressure. The compressive strength of the bricks deteriorated above 20 MPa forming pressure. This can be
explained by the mechanical deformation of the bricks
under very high forming pressures.

Ref. [4].

60

3.4. The eect of autoclaving pressure on compressive

strength

40
20
0
0.01

3. Experiments

3.2. The determination of the optimum lime addition

Coal type

[14]. For compressive strength tests eight specimens were

used for each brick type.

0.1
Particle Size (mm)

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of Seyitomer y ash.

To determine the eect of autoclave pressure on compressive strength of the bricks, specimens T15 T18 were
prepared and cured at dierent autoclave pressures. The
results of the compressive strength tests of these samples
are shown in Fig. 5. As seen from the gure, the compressive strength of the bricks at autoclave pressures 1.5 and

T. Cicek, M. Tanrverdi / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 12951300

1297

Table 2
Test parameters
Bricks code

Quartz
sand (wt%)

Fly ash (wt%)

Lime (wt%)

Moisture (wt%)

Forming
pressure (MPa)

Autoclaving
pressure (MPa)

Curing time (h)

Number of bricks

T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7
T8
T9
T10
T11
T12
T13
T14
T15
T16
T17
T18
T19
T20
T21
T22
T23
T24a

0
10
20
30
40
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20

90
80
70
60
50
72
70
68
66
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68
68

10
10
10
10
10
8
10
12
14
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
12

14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14
14

<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
10
20
25
30
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0.5
1
1.5
2
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5

9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
3
6
9
12
6
6

10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
20

Five bricks for each size fraction of river sand ( 0.1,

0.2,

0.5 and

1 mm).

12

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Compressive Strength (MPa)

12
10
8
6
4
2

10
8
6
4
2
0

0
0

10

20

30

40

Quartz Sand (%)

10

12

14

Lime (%)

Fig. 2. The eect of quartz sand addition on compressive strength of y

ashsandlime bricks.

Fig. 3. The eect of lime addition rate on compressive strength of the

bricks.

2 MPa are almost the same. Therefore, 1.5 MPa pressure

was considered as optimum autoclaving pressure. The
1.5 MPa autoclaving pressure is on the high side of the
pressures applied in the production processes of sand/lime
bricks and aerated cellular concrete.

curing time of 6 h was found sucient for producing bricks

with the highest mechanical strength. The curing time is
comparable with the curing times of sand/lime bricks production process.

3.5. Eect of curing time on the compressive strength

3.6. The eect of river sand addition and sand particle size on
the compressive strength

To determine the eect of curing time on compressive

strength of the bricks, specimens T19T22 were prepared
and autoclaved at dierent curing times. The results of
the compressive strength tests are presented in Fig. 6. A

The usability of the river sand with low SiO2 was investigated. For this purpose, specimens with 1, 0.5, 0.2,
and 0.1 mm river sand (T24) were prepared and cured
under previously determined optimum test conditions.

1298

T. Cicek, M. Tanrverdi / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 12951300

12

C o m p r e s s iv e S tr e n g t h (M P a )

Compressive Strength (MPa)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

0.4
0.8
0.6
Particle Size (mm)

1.0

8
6
4
2

10

15

20

30

25

35

0.0

0.2

Forming pressure (MPa)

Fig. 4. The eect of the brick forming pressure on the compressive
strength.

1.2

Fig. 7. Eect of river sand addition and sand particle size on the
compressive strength.

quartz sand. This can be explained by the low SiO2 content

of the river sand. An increase of the mechanical strength of
the bricks toward coarser size of river sand was observed.

12

Compressive Strength (MPa)

Quartz Sand

10
8

3.7. Water absorption test

6
4
2
0
0.0

1.0
1.5
2.0
Autoclave Pressure (MPa)

0.5

2.5

Fig. 5. The eect of the autoclave pressure on the compressive strength.

The compressive strength test results are presented in

Fig. 7.
As seen from Fig. 7, the bricks made with river sand
show lower compressive strength than that of bricks with

The results of the water absorption tests conducted on

specimens T23T24 are given in Table 3. The water absorption values of y ashsandlime specimens were ranging
from 33% to 40% depending on the sand particle size.
The specimens with quartz sand gave higher water absorption values than the specimens with river sand. The water
absorption values of the specimens are quite high which
is in general not preferred in construction bricks (max.
18% for solid clay bricks, TS 705). This high water absorption values indicate that most of the pores of the specimens
are open to outside.
3.8. Determination of the thermal conductivity
The thermal conductivity of the y ashsandlime bricks
were determined using Hot-wire method with a Showa
Denko Shotherm QTM thermal conductivity measuring
device according to Turkish Standards of TS 825. The thermal conductivity of the y ash specimens with quartz sand
and river sand were measured as 0.34 and 0.36 W m 1 K 1
respectively.

12

Compressive Strength (MPa)

River Sand
10

10
8
6
4

Table 3
Results of water absorption tests

Particle size and sand type

0
0

6
8
Curing Time (hour)

12

15

Fig. 6. The eect of the curing time on the compressive strength.

0.2 mm (Quartz sand)

0.1 mm (River sand)
0.2 mm (River sand)
0.5 mm (River sand)
1 mm (River sand)

Water absorption (%)

40.5
34.7
34.5
34.1
32.8

T. Cicek, M. Tanrverdi / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 12951300

1299

Table 4
Properties of the ashsandlime bricks produced under optimum conditions
Quartz sand ( 0.2 mm)
Sand (%)
Fly ash (%)
Lime (%)
Moisture (%)
Forming pressure (MPa)
Autoclave pressure (MPa)
Curing time (h)
Volume weight (g/cm3)
Thermal conductivity (W m 1 K 1)
Compressive strength (MPa)
Water absorption (%)

River sand ( 1 mm)

20
68
12
14
20
1.5
6

1.14
0.34
10.25
40.5

4. Summary of the results and conclusion

The properties of the y ashsandlime specimens
(named as T23 and T24) produced under optimum conditions are summarized and compared with the properties
of solid clay bricks type 1.8/100 according to Turkish Standard TS 705 in Table 4.
In this study, the following results were obtained:
 Steam autoclaved bricks can be produced using the y
ash from the Seyitomer power plant, sand and lime.
 Positive eects of sand addition on the compressive
strength of the bricks were observed. Twenty percent
of sand addition was estimated as optimum.
 The optimum lime addition was determined as 12%.
 Brick forming pressure has a great positive inuence on
the mechanical strength of the bricks. However, forming
pressures above 20 MPa have an adverse eect.
 The optimum autoclave pressure and curing time were
determined as 1.5 MPa and 6 h, respectively.
 The compressive strength of the bricks prepared with
quartz sand is higher than that of the bricks produced
with river sand.
 The unit volume weight of the y ash bricks prepared
with quartz sand addition is 1.15 g/cm3, whereas the
unit volume weight of the bricks with river sand addition is 1.27 g/cm3. Thus, the unit volume weights of
the y ash bricks are much lower than that of the traditional clay bricks.
 The water absorption of the y ashsandlime bricks
ranges from 30% to 40%.
 The thermal conductivity of the y ashsandlime bricks
with the value of 0.340.36 W m 1 K 1 is much lower
than that of the traditional clay bricks.
The y ashsandlime bricks produced in this study
seem to be suitable for use as construction material. The
production of this type of bricks will certainly contribute
to the recycling of the y ash and hence minimize the negative impact of the y ash land lls on the environment. On
the other hand, the reduction in clay usage for the produc-

Solid clay bricks TS 705

Brick type: 1.8/100

1.27
0.36
7.8
32.8

1.8
0.7
min. 7.8
max. 18

tion of conventional clay bricks will help to protect the

environment. Furthermore, the hazardous emissions from
the clay brick burning kilns will be reduced. The considerably low volume weight and low thermal conductivity of
the y ash bricks will reduce the construction and heating/cooling costs of the buildings
Acknowledgement
zture Holding A.S./Izmir
The authors acknowledge O
for their support.
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Chamber of Civil Engineers Publication, vol-1;1991: p. 385

394.
[14] TS 705 for solid and vertically perforated clay bricks, Turkish
Standard Institute, UDK 691.421; March 1985.