SBIR Phase I: Compacting Fly Ash to Make Bricks

SBIR 第一阶段：压实粉煤灰制砖

• 批准号: 0419311
• 负责人: Henry Liu
• 金额: $ 9.79万
• 依托单位: Freight Pipeline Company
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-01 至 2004-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0419311&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Compacting; Fly; Ash

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a new method to make bricks using fly ash, which is a byproduct or waste material generated at coal-fired power plants. This new method for making bricks is simple and effective. It uses pressure instead of high temperature to make bricks, thereby reducing cost and conserving energy, at the same time recycling an otherwise wasted material. Preliminary research showed that strong bricks could be made this way, though the resistance of such bricks to freezing/thawing encountered in winter needs substantial improvement before such bricks can be used commercially. While current industry standards requires that bricks must pass at least 50 freezing/thawing cycles, the fly ash bricks produced at present can pass less than 10 cycles. This research explores several novel methods to improve the freezing/thawing property of such bricks, enabling them to meet standards and become commercially viable. The information generated will enhance current knowledge in the freezing/thawing effects on bricks, and in the understanding of crack formation during manufacturing of compacted products. The research enhances the state-of-the-art of a few technologies in making bricks. The broader impacts from this project could be significant. Much of the fly ash generated at coal-fired power plants is unused, ends up in landfills and slurry ponds. Using fly ash to make bricks not only produces a valuable commercial product but also reduces a major waste disposal problem for power plants. Furthermore, manufacturing ordinary clay bricks requires using high temperature (around 2,000 degrees F), which is energy-intensive and costly. In contrast, the fly ash bricks can be produced at room temperature, using only a fraction of the energy used in making clay bricks. The energy cost of making conventional clay bricks is very high, fly ash bricks are expected to cost much less than clay bricks to produce. As compared to conventional concrete bricks, which use cement, this new technology uses low-cost fly ash and hence costs less to produce.

该小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目将开发一种利用粉煤灰制砖的新方法，粉煤灰是燃煤发电厂产生的副产品或废料。这种制砖新方法既简单又有效。 它使用压力而不是高温来制砖，从而降低成本并节省能源，同时回收原本浪费的材料。初步研究表明，这种方法可以制造出坚固的砖块，但这种砖块在冬季的抗冻融能力还需要大幅提高才能投入商业使用。虽然现行行业标准要求砖必须经过至少50次冷冻/解冻循环，但目前生产的粉煤灰砖只能经过不到10次循环。这项研究探索了几种提高此类砖的冷冻/解冻性能的新方法，使其能够满足标准并具有商业可行性。生成的信息将增强当前对砖块冻结/解冻影响的了解，以及对压实产品制造过程中裂纹形成的理解。该研究提高了一些制砖技术的最先进水平。 该项目的更广泛影响可能是巨大的。燃煤发电厂产生的大部分粉煤灰都没有得到利用，最终进入垃圾填埋场和泥浆池。使用粉煤灰制砖不仅可以生产有价值的商业产品，还可以减少发电厂的主要废物处理问题。此外，制造普通粘土砖需要使用高温（约 2,000 华氏度），这是能源密集型且成本高昂的。 相比之下，粉煤灰砖可以在室温下生产，仅使用制造粘土砖所用能源的一小部分。制造传统粘土砖的能源成本非常高，粉煤灰砖的生产成本预计比粘土砖低得多。与使用水泥的传统混凝土砖相比，这项新技术使用低成本粉煤灰，因此生产成本较低。