Abstract
Bricks production is of vital importance for the sustenance and development of Nigerian ceramic potteries, ceramic tiles, red bricks and glass industries. Ceramic brick is the unit of kiln construction which without, ceramic production is impossible. Despite the availability of raw materials for potters kiln brickmaking locally everywhere in this country, little has been done in terms of investigating and designing standard brickmaking processes in Nigeria. Right from the inception of soft mud brickmaking method which is the main method for local production of potters kiln bricks has been associated with some problems. The production of brick (handmade brick) is found to be very slow, time consuming and labour intensive. This method of production is associated with irregular shapes due to its poor compaction capacity which affect lifespan of the kiln and insolation performance as well. Hence, there is need to attempt to produce potters kiln bricks with manual brickmaking machine which will minimize these problems. These manual bricks making machine was made primarily to produce concrete cement brick. The successful completion of this research will therefore lead to replacement of the soft mud brickmaking process, and also substitute the high-tech motorized Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) machine, with locally constructed brickmaking machine it will also improve the quality of the thermal and mechanical properties of the brick in terms of shape and form using the standard compaction pressure which is equivalent to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) stabilization standard. This will also help in reducing the cost of buying imported ceramic brick at a higher rate, as well as create self-employment opportunities and support the growth of contemporary pottery and ceramic entrepreneurship programme in Nigeria. Keywords : Kiln, brick, pottery, refractory DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-11-04 Publication date : April 30 th 2019
Highlights
Potters kiln brick is a block of refractory ceramic material fired to a very high temperature and usually smaller than the normal concrete block, used in lining furnaces, kilns, fire boxes, and fire places
1.1 Importance of bricks production in Nigeria The refractory bricks production using manual brickmaking machine for kiln building will serve as a means to address the long-term problems of brickmaking in this country
This study will improve the production capacity of made in Nigeria bricks in commercial quantities that will in the long run help reduce the price of imported bricks
Summary
Potters kiln brick is a block of refractory ceramic material fired to a very high temperature and usually smaller than the normal concrete block, used in lining furnaces, kilns, fire boxes, and fire places. Bricks have smaller units either solid or with small cores usually made of clay. The fired solid brick material density is approximately 1900kg/m3 while the perforated brick is between 1400- 1500kg/m3. Refractories are inorganic nonmetallic material which can withstand high temperature with slight physical changes while remaining in contact with molten slag, metal and gases, Steven (2017). In view of the facts that refractories are produced to meet range of differing processing conditions, the refractory range incorporates fired, chemically and carbon bonded materials that are made in different combinations and shapes for diversified applications (Gupta, 2017)
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