SBIR Phase I: Compacting Fly Ash to Make Bricks

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将开发一种新的方法来使用粉煤灰制造砖块，粉煤灰是燃煤发电厂产生的副产品或废料。这种制砖的新方法简单而有效。 它使用压力而不是高温来制砖，从而降低成本和节约能源，同时回收利用否则会浪费的材料。初步研究表明，可以用这种方法制造出坚固的砖，尽管这种砖在冬季遇到的冻结/解冻的阻力需要大幅提高，然后才能在商业上使用。虽然目前的行业标准要求砖必须通过至少50次冻融循环，但目前生产的粉煤灰砖只能通过不到10次循环。这项研究探索了几种新的方法来改善这种砖的冻融性能，使它们能够达到标准并具有商业可行性。所产生的信息将增强目前的知识，在砖的冻/融效应，并在压实产品的制造过程中的裂纹形成的理解。该研究提高了一些制砖技术的先进性。 这个项目的广泛影响可能是巨大的。燃煤发电厂产生的大部分飞灰都没有被利用，最终被填埋在垃圾填埋场和泥浆池中。使用粉煤灰制砖不仅可以生产有价值的商业产品，而且还可以减少发电厂的主要废物处理问题。此外，制造普通粘土砖需要使用高温（约2,000华氏度），这是能源密集型和昂贵的。 相比之下，粉煤灰砖可以在室温下生产，仅使用制造粘土砖所用能源的一小部分。制造传统粘土砖的能源成本非常高，粉煤灰砖的生产成本预计比粘土砖低得多。与使用水泥的传统混凝土砖相比，这种新技术使用低成本的粉煤灰，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.