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ENERGY SAVING LIGHTWEIGHT BRICKS USING

WASTE NEWS PAPER

Conference Paper · March 2012

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2149.0722

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Agilan V
Indian Institute of Science
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Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012
ENERGY SAVING LIGHT WEIGHT BRICKS USING WASTE NEWS PAPER
Mobile: +91 97879 34164 Mail Id: agilan1991@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
There will be more energy loss while
cooling or heating room due to high
thermal conductivity and low frost
resistant of wall panels (bricks). Same
time increasing demands for natural
aggregates is posing a major problem to
the construction industry. It is high time
we need to find the best alternative which
must be economical as well as
environmental friendly. The majority of
abandoned paper waste is accumulated
from the countries all over the world
causes certain series environmental
problems.
This paper presents a parametric
experimental study which investigates the
potential use of waste paper for
producing an energy saving, low-cost and
light weight composite brick as a building
material. These alternative bricks were
made with papercrete. An experimental
investigation has been carried out to
study the compressive strength, unit
weight, and water absorption. In this
study, six different mix proportions were
computed by utilizing the Paper pulp and
industrial by products like Fly ash, Rice
husk ash. And also, due to the addition of
paper pulp the bricks have low thermal
conductivity, and it reduces the energy
requirement for temperature control.
While using paper pulp to make bricks, it
will reduce approximately 50% of weight
of the brick. Therefore these bricks will
reduce the dead weight of the structure to
considerable amount. So it changes our
design and building as economical one.
(Keywords: Energy waste; Abandoned paper,
Compression; Water absorption; Light
weight; Thermal conductivity)
AGILAN.V
INTRODUCTION
The high volume of concrete offers a
holistic solution to the problem of meeting
the increasing demands for concrete in the
future in a sustainable manner and at a
reduced or no additional cost, and at the
same time reducing the environmental
impact of industries that are vital to
economic development. As natural sources
of aggregates are becoming exhausted, it
turns out urgent to develop. The majority of
abandoned paper waste is accumulated from
the countries all over the world causes
certain series environmental problems.
Many previous researches [5-8]
undertaken obtained valuable results to use
the industrial wastes in various forms of
building material production. For instance,
the use of waste rubber, glass powder,
industrial waste fibres, wood sawdust
wastes and limestone powder wastes in
building material production has received
conscribe attention over the past years.
Some researchers carried out in the past
used waste papers in a building material
production [1,3]. In this paper, sand, cement,
and waste materials like paper, rice husk
ash were mixed in various proportions and a
suitable proportion which gave more
strength, less water absorbance and more
eco friendly was found out. And also, the
character of that successive proportions
were analysed in this paper.
MATERIALS USED
In this project waste materials were
utilized to produce building bricks. The following
materials were used in this investigation.
Cement:
43 grade Ordinary Portland Cement
(OPC) conforming to IS: 8112-1989.
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Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012

Test Requirements
Description of test results of IS: 8112 -
obtained 1989
65 Min. 30
Initial setting time
minutes minutes
270 Max. 600
Final setting time
minutes minutes
Fineness (specific
412.92 Min. 225
m2/kg m2/kg
permeability test)
Soundness of cement
0.2 mm Max. 10 mm
( by Le-chatlier method)

Rice husk ash Components Percentage (%)

Silica as Sio2 35-59
Rice husk ash is obtaining by burning Iron as Fe2O3 0.5-2
rice husk ash in a controlled manner Alumina as Al2O3 20-33
without causing environmental pollution. Calcium as CaO 5-16
The specific surface of RHA is between 40 Magnesium as MgO 1-5.5
100 m2/g. Colour of this RHA is grey and Sulphate as So3 0.5-1.5
its size is 25 microns. But the particle size Loss on ignition 1-2
of cement is about 100 microns. So the
RHA can fill that voids formed by cement. Paper
The chemical composition of RHA is Paper is principally wood cellulose.
shown in Table. Cellulose is natural polymer. And Fig
shows the links of cellulose bonds. The
Percentage cellulose chain bristles with polar-OH
Contents
(%) groups. These groups form hydrogen
Amorphous bonds with -OH group on adjacent chains,
90
Silica bundling, and the chain together. The
Carbon chains also pack regularly in places to
5
form hard, stable crystalline region that
K2O give the bundled chains even more stability
2
and strength.

Fly ash While adding more sand or glass to

Fly ash is a residue resulting from the mix results in a denser, stronger, more
combustion of pulverized coal or lignite in flame retardant material, but adds weight and
thermal power plants. About 80% of total reduces R- value. Heavy mixes with added
ash is in finely divided form, which is sand, glass etc., increases strength and
carried away with flue gases and is resistance to abrasion, but also reduces
collected by electrostatic precipitator or flexibility somewhat, adds weight and may
other suitable technology. This ash is called reduce R-value. So the trick is finding the
as dry ash or chimney or hopper ash. The best mix for the application.
balance 20% of ash gets collected at the
bottom of the boiler and is referred as
bottom ash. Fly ash is very fine
comparable to cement, however some
particles have size less than 1 micron in
equivalent diameter.

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Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012

across the stack in alternate layer. Details of

Mix Mix proportions (by mix proportions are tabulated.
No. weight basis)
Rice RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Fly Paper
Cement husk After casting the bricks, they were
Ash pulp
ash analyzed for using as a brick. Various tests
M1 1 2 -- 4 were carried out to check the properties of
the bricks. And the results of that test were
M2 1 3 -- 6 analyzed with the existing and standard
1 results. The following tests were carried out
M3 1.5 -- 4 to check the brick.
M4 1 -- 2 4 1. Compression test
This test only decides the strength of
M5 1 -- 3 6 the brick. This test was carried out by a
universal testing machine. This test was
1
M6 -- 1.5 4 carried out on the 21st days from the date of
casting.
While testing the papercrete brick
great care must be taken, because papercrete
bricks never failed catastrophically, it just
compressed like squeezing rubber. So load
was applied up to full compression. When
papercrete brick failed at the higher load, the
structure was not fully collapsed. Only the
outer faces cracked and peeled out.
A brick that is used for
construction should have compressive
strength more than 3.5 N/mm2 [14]. In these
above 6 bricks, only 5 type of bricks got
compressive strength more than 3.5 N/mm2.
But, they are not suitable for load bearing
walls. Because, papercrete bricks are having
The papers, which were collected, more elastic behavior at failure. It
cannot be used directly. It should be made compresses like rubber. So at heavy load, the
into paper pulp before mixing with other bricks may compress. Due to this
ingredients. compression the roof may be collapsed. So
MIX PROPORTIONS these bricks are suitable only for non-load
After all the ingredients were bearing partition walls. RHA mix proportions
ready, the mixing was done. In these are having lesser compressive strength
investigations, mixing was done manually. compare than Fly ash mix proportions and
After mixing, it should be placed in also M5 resist high compressive strength
the mould within 30 minutes. The bricks because of pozzolanic reactivity.
were moulded manually by hand ie., hand
moulding. And these bricks were ground
Mix Compression
moulded bricks. And there was no special value in N/mm2
care was taken for curing, because paper
M1 3.68
used to hold water for long time. So, only sun
drying was allowed. In this, the bricks were M2 3.11
laid longitudinally in stacks of width equal to M3 3.58
2 bricks. The bricks were laid along and

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Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012

M4 9.64 Mix Water Absorption

in percentage
M5 9.92
M1 71.24
M6 8.74
M2 74.78

2. Thermal Conductivity Test M3 70.22

In physics, thermal conductivity, k, is M4 17.52
the property of a material's ability to conduct M5 15.15
heat. It appears primarily in Fourier's Law for
heat conduction. Heat transfer across M6 25.65
materials of high thermal conductivity occurs
at a higher rate than across materials of low
thermal conductivity. Correspondingly
materials of high thermal conductivity are 4. Weight
widely used in heat sink applications and Lightweight bricks are also the important
materials of low thermal conductivity are objective of this project. So, all the bricks
used as thermal insulation. were tested whether they are having less
Normal clay bricks have thermal weight or not. All the bricks were weighed in
conductivity of 1.25 1.35 W/m2ºC, and the a well-conditioned electronic weighing
fly ash brick have 0.90-1.05 W/m2ºC, machine. The ordinary conventional bricks
weight varies from 30 to 35 N. but the
Mix Thermal papercrete bricks weight varies from 11 to 15
conductivity in N. The maximum weight is less than 15N
W/m2ºC only. In this above proportion rice husk ash
M1 0.68 based bricks are having 1/3 rd of the
M2 0.66 conventional brick weight only. Sand based
M3 0.65 bricks are having weight 2/5th of
M4 0.6 conventional brick weight only. So this
M5 0.54 bricks are light weight and it will also reduce
M6 0.55 total cost of construction due to the reduction
in dead load.
3. Water Absorption Test
Water Absorption Test is used to find Mix Weight in N
out the water absorption ratio. Because the M1 11.42
brick, which are absorbing more water
cannot be used in water logging area or M2 11.47
exterior walls which is open to sky. The M3 12.85
bricks from all the proportion were tested.
M4 11.09
As per standard, the bricks should not
absorb water more than 20% of its weight M5 12.33
[14], but from the table results, bricks M6 14.89
exceeded water absorption ratio more than
20%. In this, the mix that contains only paper
and cement absorbs water more than its 5. Cost Analysis
weight. And the mixes that were mixed in In this project, cost was
1:3:6 ratio absorbed more water. So these calculated for all proportions. And cost for
bricks are not suitable for water logging and production of 100 brick was calculated. From
exterior walls. These bricks can be used for that, cost of one brick was calculated.
interior partition walls only. In this cost analysis, M5 brick
cost is only Rs.1.37 for 1 brick. But the rate

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Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012
of normal conventional clay brick varies
from Rs.3 Rs.5. So the rate of papercrete
brick is varies from 25% to 60% of
conventional brick. So, the total cost of the
building will be reduced.
Mix Cost in Rs.
M1 1.46
M2 1.28
M3 1.26
M4 1.42
M5 1.37
M6 1.33
CONCLUSION
o Papercrete bricks are suitable for
non-load bearing walls only.
o The weight of this brick is 1/3rd to
2/5th lesser than conventional clay
brick.
o Due to less weight of these bricks,
the total dead load of the building
will be reduced.
o Since, these bricks are relatively
light weight and more flexible,
these bricks are potentially ideal
material for earthquake prone areas.
o Papercrete brick does not expand
or contract, so sheets of glass or
glass block can be embedded in
and trimmed with papercrete.
o The papercrete bricks are good
sound absorbent; hence paper is
used in these bricks. So, these
bricks can be used in auditoriums.
o Since, the waste materials are used,
it will reduce the landfills and
pollution.
o Using the papercrete brick in a
building, total cost will be reduced
from 20% to 50%.
REFERENCE:
[1]. B. Fuller, Fafitis and L. Santamaria,
Civil Engineering, Vol. 76, No. 5,
May 2006, pp. 72 77.
[2]. Paki Turgut, Halili Murat Algin,
and Environment, Vol 42, February
2007, pp 301 319.
[3]. Building With
Papercrete & Paper Adobe: A
Revolutionary New Way to Build
Your Own Home for Next to Nothing
Second Edition- 2002.
[4].
from Industrial Waste Fibres a
-CV,
Vol 84, February 2004, pp 287 290.
[5]. roperties of
Journal of Cement and Concrete
Research, Vol 34, 2004, pp 267 274.
[6]. -added utilisation of
Cement and Concrete Research, Vol
34, 2004, pp 81 89.
[7]. Shi C, Wu Y, Riefler C, Wang H,
of Cement and Concrete Research,
Vol 35, 2005, pp 987 993.
[8]. Corinaldesi V, Gnappi G, Moriconi G,
Journal of Waste Management, Vol
25, 2005, pp 197 201.
[9]. Ronaldo S. Gallardo Mary Ann Q.
concrete with paper sludge as fine
aggregate practical replacement
-
Symposium on Infrastructure
Development and the Environment
2006 was held on 7th and 8th October
2006 at university of the Philippines.
[10].
- Building Environment
and Thermal Envelope Council
(BETEC) Symposium was held on
13th to 16th October 2006 at the
Northen New mexico Community
College in EIRito.
[11]. IS: 3495-1992 (Part 1 to 4),
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 Quest for Advancement in Civil Engineering March 15, 2012

Third Revision, New Delhi.

[12]. IS: 383-
coarse and fine aggregates from
, Bureau
of Indian Standards. New Delhi.
[13]. IS: 8112-

Bureau of Indian Standards. New

Delhi.
[14]. IS: 1077-
clay building bricks
Bureau of Indian Standards. New
Delhi.

176

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