Utilization of abrasive industry waste as a substitute material for the production of fireclay brick

Abstract

The present work deals with the production of fireclay brick by adding different compositions of 0%, 10%, 20% and, 30% of alumina abrasive waste. Samples are prepared by uniaxial pressing of 150 MPa and fired at different temperatures such as 900 °C and 1100 °C. The physical properties such as bulk density, apparent porosity, linear shrinkage, and water absorption were estimated for the prepared fireclay brick samples with and without alumina abrasive waste. The results show that fireclay brick samples of BFC30 possess an increase in strength and bulk density. BFC30 formulation exhibited the maximum compressive strength of 31.15 MPa, with lower water absorption of 5.84% and linear shrinkage value of 1.64%. The highest bending strength value of 35.34 MPa was observed in the BFC30 sample. Furthermore, the increase in alumina abrasive waste weight percentage improves the mechanical properties by increasing the alumina and silicon dioxide content in the produced fireclay brick. The lowest volumetric wear rate of 2.4 g/mm3 was observed on the BFC30 sample at the lowest impingent angle of 30°. Replacement with abrasive waste tends to improve the refractory property. The substitution of alumina abrasive waste is beneficial in terms of waste utilization and cost reduction in fireclay brick production.