ADVANCE MATERIALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION – AIR

PURIFYING BRICKS

BY,
S. ISWARYA LAKSHMI
IIIRD YEAR – ‘A’ SEC
CONTENT
• INTRODUCTION
• PRINCIPLE OF AIR PURIFYING BRICKS
• MATERIAL AND COMPONENTS OF AIR PURIFYING BRICKS
• WORKING PROCESS OF AIR PURIFYING BRICK
• BREATHE BRICK ASSEMBLY
• APPLICATIONS
• ADVANTAGES OF POLLUTION ABSORBING BRICKS
• DISADVANTAGES OF POLLUTION ABSORBING BRICKS
AIR PURIFYING BRICKS
INTRODUCTION
• Indoor air quality (IAQ) is becoming a more important concern for commercial
real estate as we gain a better understanding of how built environments affects
the health of those who live and work in them.
• There is no shortage of ways to improve IAQ, but most of them require active
energy use to filter the air.
• That approach emits more carbon and other pollutants into the air over the long
term.
• Developed by California Polytechnic State University architecture professor
Carmen Trudell, assistant professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s school of
architecture and founder of Both Landscape and Architecture, has invented a
passive system that makes use of the bricks on the outside of the building to
filter out the heavier particles in the air as it enters the space.
• The concrete bricks funnel air into an internal cyclone filtration section that separates
heavy elements and drops them down into a hopper at the base of the wall.
• Clean air is then pulled into the building, either mechanically or passively, and
maintenance can simply remove and empty the hopper on a periodic basis.
• In tests, the system removed about a third of fine particulate matter and 100 percent of
coarse particles.
• Better still, Trudell’s system is inexpensive relative to alternative options.
• Breathe Brick is a masonry system that filters polluted outdoor air so that it becomes
healthy enough to bring directly into occupied spaces.
• Breathe Brick does not require any energy to operate, as it works with pressure and
temperature differentials.
• The modules are vertically aligned via recycled polymer couplers, and particulates fall
into a collection hopper in the bottom course.
• The wall system acts as a load-bearing exterior wall assembly that can be customized or
mass-produced based on the application.
• Breathe Brick is optimal for one- or two-story structures in areas with poor air quality.
PRINCIPLE, MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS
PRINCIPLE OF AIR PURIFYING BRICKS
• Pollution Absorbing Bricks work on the basic principle of air filtration. It filters the outside
air and provides it to the interior of the structures.
• These bricks filter the air and separate the pollutants and other particles like dust.
• The inspiration behind this genius innovation was the concept of cyclone filtration that we
can see in a vacuum cleaner.

MATERIAL AND COMPONENTS OF AIR PURIFYING BRICKS

• The bricks are in the form of porous concrete block.
• They are specifically designed and shaped in a faceted manner, so as to direct the airflow
inside the system.
• Shafts are provided for structural reinforcement.
• A coupler made of recycled plastic is provided between two bricks and a hopper is provided
at the base for the collection of particles.
• According to the test, which was carried out to detect the filtration capacity of the brick, it
was inferred that the bricks, filters 30% of particles spanning up to2.5 microns or smaller in
diameter, which is equal to smoke or haze, and it filters 100% of coarse particles with
diameter more than and equal to 10 microns.
Brick plastic coupler
 Concrete Brick
• The cyclonic separator is embedded within the masonry component.
• It is having the same dimensions as the typical masonry unit.
• Since no separate filter is installed in it, the brick is designed to have a faceted surface to
direct the airflow into the system.
• The air itself creates the filtration effect.

Cyclonic Separator
• It is the simplest and cheapest separator with no moving parts and virtually no maintenance.
• It shows 98% efficiency in removing particles moving at about 15m/s.
• The upper portion of cyclonic separator is cylindrical and lower portion is conical in shape.
• The principle of separation in cyclonic separator is to increase the effect of sedimentation by
centrifugal force by introducing tangential absorption of air to the device.

Recycled plastic coupler

• It helps to align bricks and creates a route from the outside into the
brick's hollow center.
• Internal baffles are provided to induce directional flow of air within the
chamber.
• It also provide connection to another cyclonic chambers.
WORKING PROCESS OF AIR PURIFYING
BRICK
• The Air Cleaning brick uses concrete brick that has been used extensively and modifies its form by making a
few hollow centers that allow the air to filter through it. It is also known as Breath Brick.
• The Breathe Brick is designed to form a part of a building's regular ventilation system, with a double-
layered facade of the specialist bricks on the outside, complemented by a standard internal layer providing
insulation.
• At the center of the Breathe Brick's function is cyclone filtration, an idea borrowed from modern vacuum
cleaners, which separates out the heavy pollutant particles from the air and drops them into a removable
hopper at the base of the wall.
• The system is composed of two key parts: concrete bricks, and a recycled plastic coupler, which both helps
to align bricks and creates a route from the outside into the brick's hollow center.
• The concrete bricks themselves feature a faceted surface which helps to direct airflow into the system, and
a separate cavity for inserting steel structure.
• The Breathe Brick can function with both mechanical and passive ventilation systems, as the brick simply
delivers filtered air into the wall plenum; this air can then be delivered to the building interior through
mechanical equipment or through trickle vents driven by passive systems such as stack ventilation.
• Breath brick works as a vacuum cleaner which sucks out all the impurities in the air and acts as a
ventilation at the same time. There are other methods as well to keep air conditioned and clean but they
are equally harmful because they use harmful chemicals and releases hazardous gases.
• This is the reason Air cleaning bricks are superior to any other methods for cleaning the air passively.
 The Breathe Brick can work in conjunction with
a passive solar chimney to improve efficiency
Breathe Brick modules
of filtration, and promote distribution of filtered
are connected via a
air through the occupied spaces.
coupler that aids in
collecting particles,
protects the cyclone
and facilitates module
alignment during
construction.

A Breathe Brick wall can be a structural gravity and lateral

load bearing system, while also collecting air pollution into a
cleanable hopper at the base of the wall.

The Breathe Brick can work in conjunction with a passive

conditioning system, such as a geothermal labyrinth and a solar
chimney. The Breathe Brick efficiency would be improved when
acting in tandem with a ventilation system, and the natural
ventilation system would be improved by distributing filtered
outdoor air.
Three possible configurations of Breathe Brick walls,
starting with the simple double-wall construction where the
interior wall provides insulation, while the outer wall
provides filtered air into a plenum space between the two
walls. The middle image shows the double wall with a
window, where filtered air can be brought into the unit
through user-operated trickle vents. The third version uses
mechanical heating/cooling equipment to condition the
filtered air before introducing it to the occupied space.
BREATHE BRICK ASSEMBLY
• The breathe brick is an assembly of 4 modules which are joined together by coupler.
• The first module consists of cyclonic separator and cavity for reinforcement bars.
• The second module which has waste tube and reinforcement cavity is kept close to the first module and they
are connected by coupler.
• The third module consists of cyclonic separator ,waste tube and reinforcement cavity. The third unit is kept
above the first and second modules.
• It should be arranged such that the cyclonic separator of first module is coupled with the separator of third
module.
• Similarly the waste tube in second module is coupled with the waste tube of third module. The fourth module
consists of only cavity to insert reinforcement bars.
• These 4 modules are combined together to function as the purifying unit.

Breathe brick assembly

 APPLICATIONS
• Breathe Brick is optimal for one or two-story structures in areas with
poor air quality.
• Added to that, it is specifically designed for regions with elevated
outdoor particulate matter.
• It can be used to construct exterior walls, such as a plenum or courtyard,
sound walls along freeways, and school playground enclosures.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES OF POLLUTION ABSORBING BRICKS
• Cheap
• It is environment friendly and is sustainable.
• Energy efficient since it operates without electricity and makes a part of the ventilation system.
• Passively filter outdoor air prior to introduction to an indoor environment.
• Breathe brick system can operate as active; integrated into existing HVAC system, or passive as independent system
• The energy used in the production of this system is less as it does not use any mechanical components.
• It is inexpensive in comparison with the mechanical air filtration techniques used in large scale.
• There is no requirement for skilled labors to construct the system, making it cost-effective.

DISADVANTAGES OF POLLUTION ABSORBING BRICKS

• Breathe bricks passive filtration system is that the exterior wall takes as much as double the original space, which leads to contraction of
the Interior space.
• Pollution Absorbing Bricks can not be used in load-bearing structures than two-storeys.
• The alternate material like breathe bricks, serves as a potent aspect for a greener tomorrow. It is beneficial in areas with the heavy
particulate outdoor matter. It can mostly be used in regions with poor air quality. Small municipalities and developing regions can use
this solution to curtail air pollution while providing a healthy environment for the residents.