Development of Light Weight Bricks for Energy Efficient Buildings Using Rice Husk

Authors : Bishnu Pada Bose, Diptasri Ghosh

Pages : 12-20

View : 22 | Download : 20

Publication Date : 2024-05-15

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Rice husk is a waste material and finds use as a fuel. It seems to hold a lot of promise to meet many desired qualities of bricks though its use in the raw form. In this study, produced lightweight bricks using rice husk in raw form, mixing it with fly ash and cement. Prepared samples of a varying percentage of rice husk, cement, and fly ash and measured their compressive strength and porosity besides testing other usual mechanical properties. We fitted the resulting data in a model that may work as a benchmark of compressive strengths for bricks of different percentages of husk and cement. The weights of the bricks are reduced with an increasing percentage of rice husks and are lower than standard fly ash bricks by up to 45% with 12% husk content, whereas the porosity is on the higher side. In the separate batch of experiments added sand along with the above ingredients to observe slightly improved compressive strengths of the bricks. The cost of the rice husk reinforced brick is estimated to be less than standard fly ash or fired clay bricks. The higher porosity and silica-rich husk reduce the heat conductivity of the bricks. Their uses in building construction, particularly high rises, and green buildings, are expected to be beneficial. The process does not involve incineration at any stage and, therefore, has a low carbon footprint.
Keywords : Waste material, Rice husk, Light weight brick, Green building, Carbon footprint

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