ARTICLE IN PRESS

Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1274–1278

www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

An investigation on the production of construction

brick with processed waste tea
Ismail Demir
Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Technical Education, ANS Campus, 03100 Afyon,Turkey
Received 15 July 2004; accepted 5 May 2005

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the utilization potential of processed waste tea (PWT) in clay brick. The effects of
processed waste tea material addition on the durability and mechanical properties of the bricks were investigated. Due to the organic
nature of PWT, pore-forming (in fired body) and binding (unfired body) ability in clay body was investigated. First, PWT material
was dispersed in water for 24 h. Afterwards, in order to get comparable results, different ratios of the waste (0, 2.5, and 5% by mass)
were added to the raw-brick clay. Test specimens were produced by the extrusion method. The samples were tested by using the
standard test methods and compared with the specifications. The compressive strength of the unfired and fired samples significantly
increased as compared to pure samples. As a result, it was concluded that PWT can be utilized in unfired and fired building bricks by
taking advantage of low cost and environmental protection.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Waste tea; Clay; Brick; Recycle

1. Introduction ability bricks is increasing. Thermal conductivity is a

Increased agricultural production and the deve-
lopment of agro-based industries in many countries
of the world have brought about the production of
large quantities of agricultural wastes, most of which
are not adequately managed and utilized. Agricul-
tural wastes were used for animal feed, fertilizer and
fuel for energy production, but little work has been
carried out to develop utilization of these wastes in
the production of building materials. The need to
conserve traditional building materials that are facing
depletion have obliged engineers to look for alternative
materials [1].
Environmentally friendly, energy saving recycle prop-
erty of material production has been one of the very
important research fields for decades. Due to environ-
mental regulations, the demand for high insulation
Tel.: +90 272 2281311; fax: +90 272 2281235.
E-mail address: idemir@aku.edu.tr.
decisive factor for the heat-engineering concept of
thermal insulating material.
One method of increasing the insulation ability of
brick is generating porosity in clay body. Combustible
organic types of pore-forming additives are most
frequently used for this purpose, among this, processed
waste tea (PWT) was accumulated during green tea
processing on the plants. This type of residue is utilized
for agricultural purposes or in particleboard manufac-
tured and other applications [4–7].
Black tea is one of the most important industrial
plants of Turkey. In all, 552 tons of green tea were
raised while 94 tons of black tea were produced in 2003
(Table 1) [2]; 204,112 producers have produced green tea
on 76,653 hectare area in Turkey. Green tea is processed
to produce black dry tea on 46 plants by Caykur (public
tea-producing plants of Turkey).
Approximately 10% of processed green tea becomes
waste. The waste was separated from the production
process as straw, fibre and dust [3].

0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2005.05.004
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I. Demir / Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1274–1278 1275

Table 1
Some statistical data on tea production between years 1998 and 2003 [2]

Some data Unit 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Green tea purchase Ton 717.971 843.094 499.098 546.970 552.463

Production amounts (black tea) Ton 130.405 153.228 91.373 94.749 94.231
Production productivity % 18.16 18.17 18.30 17.32 17.07

Table 2
Black tea analysis [2]

Properties (Ts 4600) ISO 3720

Total dust tea weight basis (m/m) % Max 14 14

Water extract (on dry weight basis) (m/m) Min 29 32
Total ash ratio (on dry weight basis) (m/m) % Min 4 4
Max 8 8
Water-soluble ash of total ash (m/m) % Min 45 45
Acid insoluble ash (% 10 HCl) (on dry weight basis) (m/m) % Max 1 1
Alkalinity of water-soluble ash (KOH) % Min 1 1
Max 3 3
Crude fibres (on dry weight basis) (m/m) % Max 16.5 16.5
Caffeine (on dry weight basis) (m/m) % Min 1.5 —
Dioxide parts (m/m) % Max 8 —
Colouring agents Must not be —

Waste tea has been used to produce mushroom,
organic fertilizer and particleboard, to resist biological
resistance of wood, and in other applications [4–7].
Fresh leaves contain 22.2% polyphenols, 17.2%
protein, 4.3% caffeine, 27% crude fibre, 0.5% starch,
3.5% reducing sugars, 6.5% pectin, 2% ether extract
and 5.6% ash per 100 g; the leaf is reported to contain
293 cal, 8 g H2O, 24.5 g protein, 2.8 g fat, 58.8 g total
carbohydrate, 8.7 g fibre, 5.9 g ash, 327 mg Ca, 313 mg P,
24.3 mg Fe, 50 mg Na, 2700 mg beta-carotene equivalent,
0.07 mg thiamine, 0.8 mg riboflavin, 7.6 mg niacin and
9 mg ascorbic acid [8].
The main objective of this study is to investigate the
effects of PWT addition on the properties of unfired and
fired building bricks.
Production of tea in Turkey and chemical properties
of the PWT are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. In
order to produce the test samples, the clay was taken
from raw material stockpiled in the production area.
Chemical properties of the clay are given in Table 3. The
clay is made up of very tiny particles and a few very
coarse particles, which were calcium carbonate (Fig. 1).
DTA-TG curves of the PWT are given in Fig. 2.
It is possible to explain the lines on the DTA-TG test
curves (Fig. 2) as follows: (1) At the beginning, due to
the loss of free water within the particles, an endother-
mic curve occurs at 90–110 1C. (2) Burning begins
at 200–250 1C. (3) Burning is speeded up at 250–320 1C.
(4) Burning continues slowly at 320–450 1C. (5) It is
completed at 500 1C. In brief, the burning time has quite
a wide scale. This factor helps the furnace procedure.

2. Materials and methods 2.2. Determination of mixture composition and

In order to measure the mechanical properties and
feasibility of using recycled PWT material for brick
production, the materials and methods are explained in
this section.
2.1. PWT additive and brick raw material
PWT materials, used in the study, arise from the tea
processing of the plant. Waste leaves of Camellia sinesis
were obtained from the residues of black tea production
of the public tea-producing plants of Turkey (Caykur).
preparation of samples
Different amounts of PWT material containing plastic
pastes were produced to observe the moulding and
drying behavior. Crack-free samples were produced up
to 5% PWT content during shaping and drying.
In order to investigate the extent of the binding and
porosifying effect of PWT, various contents of the waste
(0 control mix, 2.5% and 5% by weight) were added to
the raw-clay body. For this purpose, first PWT was
dispersed in water for 24 h and then mixed with clay.
Brick clay was passed through the drum type crusher
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1276 I. Demir / Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1274–1278

Table 3
Chemical composition of the clay

Al2O3 SiO2 Na2O K2O CaO Fe2O3 MgO LOI

20.75 51.86 0.76 3.68 3.75 6.48 1.75 9.3

100

90

80

70

60
% Passing

50

40

30

20

10

0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
Particle size (mm)

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of the clay.

Fig. 3. Raw materials and shaped samples (PWT in left, clay right).

obtained. Drying shrinkage of the samples was mea-

Fig. 2. DTA-TG curves of the PWT material.
having a 1 mm opening. The solid brick clay samples
were manufactured using standard pilot laboratory
procedures and equipment. Test samples
(40  70  100 mm and no perforation) were shaped
with a laboratory-type extrusion machine (Fig. 3).
Enough numbers of specimens were prepared for each
test series. Shaped samples were dried at laboratory
conditions (21 1C, 60% relative humidity) for 72 h and
kept in an oven at 10575 1C until constant weight was
sured.
In order to achieve comparable results, the samples
were divided into two groups. One group of samples was
fired at 900 1C and the other group was unfired.
The fired samples were heated at the rate of 2 1C/min
until 600 1C and then at 5 1C/min to 900 1C. The
specimens remained in the furnace at the maximum
temperature for 2 h. The samples were cooled to room
temperature in the furnace. After firing, shrinkage of the
samples was measured. Fired samples were tested for
water absorption, bulk density, apparent density,
porosity and compressive strength. The second group
(unfired) samples were tested for drying shrinkage, unit
weight density, and compressive strength. The tests were
performed according to BIA [9], ASTM C67 [10],
TS (Turkish Standard Code) 704 [11] and TS 705
standards [12].
3. Test results and discussion
At least 10 samples were used in each test for all
categories and the average values are presented and
discussed in this section.
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I. Demir / Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1274–1278 1277

3.1. Physical properties
No defect was observed after drying. No cracks,
bloating and other firing defects were observed after
firing.
For every mixture, plasticity water (Ps) and drying-
shrinkage (Sd) of the samples are shown in Table 4. It
was found that increase in PWT addition to clay body
increases the required water content for the plasticity of
the clay–waste mixture. The ability of PWT fibres to
absorb water into their naturally existing water channel
is the main reason for the increase in water demand for
plasticity. Depending on PWT addition, change in the
plasticity and drying shrinkage of the clay body was
measured. PWT addition was increased plasticity and
drying shrinkages compared to the control mix. PWT
addition contains cellulose-like compounds and this
may increase the plasticity. PWT addition contains not
only cellulose but also pectin, starch, sugar, ether extract
and protein [8]. Most of these materials can be dissolved
in water and have gel-forming properties when mixed
with water, and this may contribute to the plasticity.
Unfired brick sample was investigated with SEM.
According to SEM investigations, PWT fibre thick-
nesses are between 25 and 50 mm and scattered in unfired
body (Fig. 4).
Loss of ignition values increase with PWT addition. It
is shown from the DTA-TG analysis that PWT can be
completely burned off from clay body at early stages
and in a fairly wide scale (at 200–500 1C) in the furnace
(Fig. 2). This shows that PWT addition can also
contribute to the heat input of the firing furnace. No
cracking and bloating were observed on the fired
samples.
3.2. Mechanical properties
Porosity, bulk density, apparent density and water
absorption of the fired samples (first group) were
measured. Only compressive strength and unit weight
values were determined for second group specimens due
to the unfired properties. Mechanical properties of the
samples are given in Table 5. The increase in the amount
of PWT addition causes a reduction in the brick density.
The main reason for such a result is the burning of PWT
addition as an organic material which can easily burn
out during the sintering period. Depending on PWT
addition, porosity increases continuously.
It was found that in the PWT added samples the
water absorption exceeds specification (18% water
absorption by weight) [9,11]. It was thought that an
increase in water absorption value for these series is due
to an increase in porous structure because of PWT
addition. This also gives the reason for lower density.
The values of bulk density (fired samples) and unit
weights (unfired samples) decreased with increasing
PWT ratio in the mixes. The values of apparent density
slightly decreased with PWT addition according to
control mix.
Table 5
Mechanical properties of the fired and unfired samples
Mechanical properties (A) Series (B) Series (C) Series

PWT content (wt%) 0 2.5 5

Porosity (%)a 30 35 41.4
Table 4
Bulk density (g/cm3)a 1.67 1.55 1.50
Plasticity, drying shrinkage and loss on ignition of the samples
Apparent density (g/cm3)a 2.63 2.54 2.52
A B C Water absorption (%)a 17.95 22.5 27.30
Comp. stgh. (MPa)a 15.5 19.5 22.7
PWT content (wt%) 0 2.5 5 Comp. Stgh. (MPa)b 3.5 5.5 7.6
Plasticity water (%) 24 29 36.5 Unit weight (kg/dm3)b 1.70 1.57 1.52
Drying shrinkage (%) 3.6 4.5 5.2 a
LOI (fired samples at 900 1C) 4.1 4.6 5.5 Fired samples.
b
Unfired samples.

Fig. 4. SEM (back-scattered image) images of PWT fibres.

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1278 I. Demir / Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1274–1278
A device with a testing capacity of 25 kN pressures
was used in the compressive strength testing process.
The minimum average crushing strength was given in
Turkish standard code as 5 MPa for burnt clay bricks
[12] and 1 MPa for unfired clay brick. [13–15]. It was
observed that in all series, even those with an unfired
mixture, the compressive strength of the samples was
above 5 MPa. In spite of increasing the porosity with
PWT addition, the compressive strength of the samples
(B and C) was increased dramatically. This may be
caused from burning of the PWT in the clay body at the
furnace and generating extra heating energy.
4. Conclusions
Based on the experimental investigation reported in
this paper, the following conclusions are drawn:
(1) PWT addition increases the required water content
for plasticity.
(2) Fibrous characteristics of the waste do not create
any problem during shaping at used addition levels.
Extrusion defects was not observed.
(3) PWT is easily burnt out and it has wide range
burning from the clay body during firing. No black
coring and bloating were observed after firing.
(4) An increase in the content of the waste addition
leads to an increase in the drying shrinkage. Also an
increase of additive leads to an increase in the total
shrinkage. Firing loss increased as the amount of
waste additive increased.
(5) The waste additive increased the open porosity and
this effect decreased the bulk density and improved
the thermal insulating properties.
(6) Organic characteristics of PWT give extra contribu-
tion to the heat input of the furnace.
(7) Compressive strength values increase with increasing
the amount of waste additive. These values meet the
required specification both on fired and unfired
bricks.
(8) PWT can be used as an organic kind of pore-forming
additive in the clay body without any harmful effect
on the other brick manufacturing parameters.
(9) According to test results, a mixture of up to 5%
PWT waste additives can be used in brick produc-
tion. The most economical firing temperature was
determined as 900 0C. Usage of waste material in the
clay mixture improved the physical and mechanical
properties. The use of PWT waste in brick produc-
tion provides an economical contribution and also
helps the protection of the environment.
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