Large Structural Brick

Brick types vary from thin brick to face brick to structural through the wall units. Thin brick allow for less weight and less costly installation. Face brick provide some insulation and are practically maintenance free for the lifetime of a building. Structural clay brick provide greater insulation,  more protection from the elements, and the appeal and durability that have always made clay brick a desirable building material. The manufacturing of large structural clay brick presents challenges to brick makers in two of the critical processes involved in brick making: extrusion and drying. In this blog post we will focus on how to avoid breakage in the extrusion part of the manufacturing process. 

Bentonite  has been used in ceramics for many years due to the way it  performs in terms of plasticity and workability. Nonetheless, there are some alternative approaches that may ease its replacement, as they show some undesirable side effects when introduced into formulations.

 In the past, potters used to “age” their moist clay in damp cellars or storage containers for years to achieve the effects that are now possible after a few minutes of clay mixing. 

raw materials

The raw materials used to make bricks are the most important part of the process. The quality of the brick and the success or failure of the brick plant can often be traced to the raw materials. The planning and implementation of a raw materials program is the backbone of a well-run brick plant. Brick plants are often built in close proximity to the primary raw materials to be used for decades. The quality and consistency of these raw materials normally vary throughout the mine property. When the characteristics of some mined materials are too far out of specifications it may be necessary to avoid these raw materials thus reducing the raw material reserves. Some of the characteristics and some of the ways to optimize the usage of raw materials are described below.

In today’s heavy clay market there is becoming a push for more product in faster lead times. This need is putting extra pressure on manufacturers especially to increase throughput times. Although kilns and sometimes driers can be the bottleneck, there is added pressure on the moulding equipment to produce clay products quicker.

The pressing stage is one of the most demanding in the production of ceramic bodies. Therefore, gaining any improvements here is directly translated into savings along the production process. These improvements will help to optimize the total costs of the manufactured products by reducing losses whilst improving the quality of the shaped materials.

Why does an efflorescence appear?

In chemistry, efflorescence is defined as the migration of a salt to the surface of a porous material, where it forms a coating. The essential process usually involves the dissolving of an internally held salt in water. The water, with the salt now held in solution, migrates to the surface, then evaporates, leaving a coating of the salt. These efflorescent salt deposits tend to appear at the worst times, usually about a month after the building is constructed, and sometimes as long as a year after completion.

Before bricks and tiles can be fired the majority of water used in its moulding needs to be removed from the clay product. Any excess residual water or moisture left in the article as it enters the kiln to be fired will be removed very quickly leading to major problems such as blow out, warpage or in the extreme – as has been seen on numerous occasions – to explode causing serious damage to the kiln and production.

One of the main challenges of the Ceramic Industry is related to the lack of good quality plastic clays. Though there are many reliable sources, its cost is banning industrial usages, especially in a moment when tiles are becoming larger and larger. Furthermore, if we consider how market is moving towards higher performance requirements, this situation is not showing any ways of changing

Generally, refractories are classified as basic, high alumina/silica, fireclay and insulating. There are also classes of “special refractories” which include Silicon Carbide, Silicon Nitride, Graphite, Zircon, Zirconia, fused cast and several others. Most refractory materials are supplied as preformed shapes. However, they also are manufactured in the form of special purpose clays, bonding mortars and monolithic such as castable, plastic refractories, ramming mixes and gunning mixes. In fact, many  refractories materials have been developed specifically to meet the service conditions of a particular process. The characteristic properties of each refractory class are a function of both their raw material base and the methods used to manufacture the refractory products.