An investigation of the use of rice husk on the production of bricks

The objective of this study is to produce bricks with better insulation and engineering properties by using rice husk (RH) addition. Rice husk addition to the clay bricks was carried both in the raw and ground forms with 5, 10 & 15 % by volume. Clay and rice husk were obtained from Çorum region. The shaped brick samples were fired at different temperatures (700, 800, 900 ve 1000 oC) and then the physical and mechanical properties of sintered samples were determined. According to the findings, RH addition increased the loss on ignition rate, water absorption and apparent porosity. However, as the addition amount increased, the net unit weight & compressive strength of the brick samples decreased. As the firing temperature increased the thermal conductivity of the bricks also increased. On the other hand, as the amount of rice husk addition increased the thermal conductivity of the bricks decreased. As far as the compressive strength of the bricks are concerned, 10 % raw rice husk (RRH) & 15 % ground rice husk (GRH) addition could be used. In addition to this, the brick with RRH have the better thermal conductivity properties. The type of RH addition did not affect the other properties of bricks. As a result, it can be think that bricks with the RH fired at 800 oC and above can be used in constructions as division wall materials except specimens with 15 % RRH.