SBIR Phase I: Compacting Fly Ash to Make Bricks

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将开发一种利用飞灰制造砖的新方法，飞灰是燃煤发电厂产生的副产品或废物。这种新的制砖方法简单而有效。它利用压力而不是高温来制砖，从而降低了成本和节约了能源，同时回收了原本废弃的材料。初步研究表明，这种方法可以制造出坚固的砖，尽管这种砖在冬季遇到的抗冻/融化性能需要大幅提高，才能投入商业使用。虽然目前的行业标准要求砖必须经过至少50个冻融循环，但目前生产的飞灰砖可以通过不到10个循环。这项研究探索了几种新的方法来改善这种砖的冻结/融化性能，使其达到标准并具有商业可行性。产生的信息将加强对砖的冻结/解冻效应的现有知识，以及对压实产品制造过程中裂缝形成的理解。这项研究提高了几种制砖技术的尖端水平。这个项目带来的更广泛的影响可能是巨大的。燃煤发电厂产生的大部分飞灰都没有得到利用，最终进入了垃圾填埋场和泥浆池。利用飞灰制造砖块不仅可以生产有价值的商业产品，还可以减少发电厂的一个主要废物处理问题。此外，制造普通粘土砖需要使用高温(约2000华氏度)，这是能源密集型和昂贵的。相比之下，可以在室温下生产飞灰砖，只需使用制作粘土砖所用能量的一小部分。传统粘土砖的能源成本很高，预计生产成本远低于粘土砖。与使用水泥的传统混凝土砖相比，这种新技术使用的是低成本的飞灰，因此生产成本更低。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a new method to make bricks using fly ash, which is a byproduct or waste material generated at coal-fired power plants. This new method for making bricks is simple and effective. It uses pressure instead of high temperature to make bricks, thereby reducing cost and conserving energy, at the same time recycling an otherwise wasted material. Preliminary research showed that strong bricks could be made this way, though the resistance of such bricks to freezing/thawing encountered in winter needs substantial improvement before such bricks can be used commercially. While current industry standards requires that bricks must pass at least 50 freezing/thawing cycles, the fly ash bricks produced at present can pass less than 10 cycles. This research explores several novel methods to improve the freezing/thawing property of such bricks, enabling them to meet standards and become commercially viable. The information generated will enhance current knowledge in the freezing/thawing effects on bricks, and in the understanding of crack formation during manufacturing of compacted products. The research enhances the state-of-the-art of a few technologies in making bricks. The broader impacts from this project could be significant. Much of the fly ash generated at coal-fired power plants is unused, ends up in landfills and slurry ponds. Using fly ash to make bricks not only produces a valuable commercial product but also reduces a major waste disposal problem for power plants. Furthermore, manufacturing ordinary clay bricks requires using high temperature (around 2,000 degrees F), which is energy-intensive and costly. In contrast, the fly ash bricks can be produced at room temperature, using only a fraction of the energy used in making clay bricks. The energy cost of making conventional clay bricks is very high, fly ash bricks are expected to cost much less than clay bricks to produce. As compared to conventional concrete bricks, which use cement, this new technology uses low-cost fly ash and hence costs less to produce.