Substitution of natural clay by Moroccan solid mining wastes to manufacture fired bricks

Abstract

The objective of this work is to assess the feasibility of using solid mining waste (SMW) belonging to the Moroccan mining industry as an alternative raw material to manufacturing fired bricks instead of natural clay (CN). The feasibility was evaluated through: i) conducting physico-chemical and mineralogical characterizations on SMW. ii) Evaluation of the effect of CN substitution by solid SMW on technical properties of fired bricks. iii) Quantify the influence of firing temperature on physical, mechanical properties of fired bricks. For this reason, five mixtures containing 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of SMW as a substitute of CN were studied. The bricks specimens were fired at 900, 1000 and 1050 °C. The obtained results indicated that bricks containing up to 80% by weight of SMW and fired at 1000 and 1050 °C temperatures present the required technical properties that meet the applicable civil engineering and environmental standards. It can be concluded that these wastes can be successfully incorporated in the fired brick manufacturing industry which is in accordance with the concept of circular economy aimed to produce marketable products from the wastes.