Performance assessment of fired bricks incorporating pomegranate peels waste
Eman M. Abdel Hamid, M.F. Abadir, Mahmoud M. Abd El-Razik, K. A. M. El Naggar, Hamada Shoukry
Abstract
Abstract This research investigated the reuse potential of pomegranate peels waste (PPW) in the production of fired clay bricks with improved thermo-physical and mechanical properties. PPW was used as a substitute for natural clay with different replacement ratios ranging from 0 to 12.5% with a stride of 2.5 wt%. The impact of adding PPW on compressive strength, total porosity, water absorption, bulk density, thermal conductivity and microstructure characteristics has been assessed for bricks fired at 900, 1000 and 1100 °C. With the increase of PPW replacement ratio, the bulk density, thermal conductivity and compressive strength decreased. The obtained results confirm the possibility of using PPW as a sustainable pore forming agent in brick industry. The incorporation of 12.5 wt% PPW showed the lowest bulk density (1230 kg/m 3 ), the lowest thermal conductivity (0.2 W/mK), the lowest compressive strength (5.5 MPa), the highest water absorption (38%), and the highest total porosity (48%) for bricks fired at 1000 °C. The obtained compressive strength satisfies the minimum acceptable requirements for clay bricks. The contribution of the newly developed bricks to the energy consumption performance of a building model has been evaluated by using DesignBuilder energy simulation software. A considerable reduction in the annual energy consumption by about 23.3% has been attained as compared to the traditional bricks.