Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Energy Conservation and Pollution Control

Literature Survey for Energy Audit on Brick Factory

Done by: Shalom Abebaw GSR/6781/14

Submitted to: Dr. –Ing Edessa Dribssa

Date: 11/25/2021
Table of Contents
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. - 3 -
Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
What is Brick Factory?............................................................................................................................... - 5 -
A Typical Brick Factory ....................................................................................................................... - 5 -
The Main Processes of Brick Production................................................................................................... - 6 -
1. Mining and storage of raw materials (Silica, clay, lime …etc.).................................................... - 6 -
2. Preparing raw materials ................................................................................................................ - 6 -
3. Forming the brick .......................................................................................................................... - 6 -
3.1 Stiff-Mud Process .................................................................................................................. - 6 -
3.2 Soft-Mud Process .................................................................................................................. - 6 -
3.3 Dry-Press Process .................................................................................................................. - 6 -
4 Drying ........................................................................................................................................... - 6 -
5 Firing and cooling ......................................................................................................................... - 6 -
5.1 Final Drying ........................................................................................................................... - 6 -
5.2 Dehydration .......................................................................................................................... - 6 -
5.3 Oxidation ............................................................................................................................... - 6 -
5.4 Vitrification............................................................................................................................ - 6 -
6 Cooling.......................................................................................................................................... - 6 -
7 De-hacking and storing finished products .................................................................................... - 6 -
Typical Brick Production Process, Flow Chart ........................................................................................... - 7 -
Plant Equipment ....................................................................................................................................... - 8 -
1. Quarry Machines ........................................................................................................................... - 8 -
2. Inclined Vibrating Screen ............................................................................................................. - 9 -
3. Pug Mill ...................................................................................................................................... - 10 -
4. Automatic Cutter (slices through the clay column to create individual brick) ........................... - 11 -
5. Dryer Chamber............................................................................................................................ - 11 -
6. Tunnel Kiln ................................................................................................................................. - 12 -
Energy Consumption ............................................................................................................................... - 13 -
References .............................................................................................................................................. - 15 -
List of Tables

Figure 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Figure 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... - 7 -
Figure 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... - 8 -
Figure 4 ..................................................................................................................................................... - 9 -
Figure 5 ................................................................................................................................................... - 10 -
Figure 6 ................................................................................................................................................... - 11 -
Figure 7 ................................................................................................................................................... - 12 -
Figure 8 ................................................................................................................................................... - 14 -
Acknowledgement
First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to Almighty God for providing me with this chance.

Next, I'd want to express my gratitude to my instructor, Dr. Ing Edessa Dribssa, for providing me with
this assignment, which has helped me gain a better understanding of literature surveys and energy
audits in general.

Last but not least, I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped me make this survey a
success.
What is Brick Factory?

A brickworks, often known as a brick factory, is a facility that produces clay or shale bricks. The raw
ingredients of Bricks are:

• Silica (Sand) – The main raw material

• Alumina (Clay)
• Lime
• Others…

A Typical Brick Factory

Figure 1
The Main Processes of Brick Production
Brick production involves the following main processes:
1. Mining and storage of raw materials (Silica, clay, lime …etc.) – Quarry mining
equipment is used to extract raw minerals from quarry pits.
2. Preparing raw materials - Before mixing, the raw material is reduced in size.
3. Forming the brick - We can use three alternative process ways to make a homogeneous
plastic clay mass: stiff-mud, soft-mud, and dry-press.
3.1 Stiff-Mud Process - About 10 – 15% of water is mixed with clay to produce
plasticity.
3.2 Soft-Mud Process - This method is suitable for clays containing water in the
percentage of 20% - 30%.
3.3 Dry-Press Process - This process is suitable for clays with less than 10%
percentage of water.
4 Drying - Depending on the formation procedure, wet brick from molding or cutting
machines contains 7 to 30% moisture. The majority of this water is evaporated in dryer
chambers at temperatures ranging from 38 to 204 degrees Celsius before the firing process
begins.
5 Firing and cooling - Depending on the kiln, bricks are burnt for 10 to 40 hours. Natural gas,
coal, and methane gas fuels may be used. There are five general phases to firing.
5.1 Final Drying - takes place at temperatures up to about 204 ºC.
5.2 Dehydration - takes place at temperatures from about 149 ºC to 982 ºC.
5.3 Oxidation – takes place from 538 ºC to 982 ºC.
5.4 Vitrification – takes place from from 871 ºC to 1316 ºC.
6 Cooling - The cooling procedure comes after the firing phase. Cooling is a crucial step in
brick production since it affects color directly.
7 De-hacking and storing finished products - is the procedure for removing bricks from a
kiln or kiln vehicle after they have cooled.
Typical Brick Production Process, Flow Chart

Figure 2
Plant Equipment

1. Quarry Machines

Figure 3
 2. Inclined Vibrating Screen

Figure 4
 3. Pug Mill

Figure 5
 4. Automatic Cutter (slices through the clay column to create individual brick)
5. Dryer Chamber

Figure 6
 6. Tunnel Kiln

Figure 7
Energy Consumption
Brick firing is a high-energy process that consumes roughly 24 million tons of coal per year and could
pollute the environment.
The temperature required in the kiln, according to estimates, is around 1400 °C, which necessitates the
burning of a huge amount of fuel, resulting in the release of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide
(CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3), and, in some cases, chlorine and fluorine. Due to massive
levels of toxic chemicals, brick kilns cause serious health problems.
- Uses Fuel and Electricity.
- There will be an energy used for transportation of the clay and shale to the plant and back again
for re-transporting the materials. A typical quarry truck consumes 0.35L of fuel per km. The type
of fuel used is Diesel instead of Benzene, for economical purposes.
- If we assume that 1,000 bricks are produced in a typical brick factory, then the energy required
for material extraction, processing and manufacturing is around 4,250MJ.
- The electrical power demand of a typical brick factory is 1.18MW

Typical Primary Fuel: Firewood or Coal for production and drying, for transportation Diesel Fuel is
used.
Figure 8
References

1. A comparative study of life cycle carbon emissions and embodied energy between sun-
dried bricks and fired clay bricks. - MarwaDabaieh, JukkaHeinonen, DeenaEl-Mahdy, &
Dalya M.Hassan
2. Fired clay bricks manufactured by adding wastes as sustainable construction material – P.
Muñoz Velascow & L. Muñoz Velasco.
3. American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, The American Institute
of Architects, Canada, 1998.
4. Campbell, J. W. P. and Pryce, W., Brick, A World History, Thames and Hudson, New
York, NY, 2003