Industry Newsletter

‘FLY ASH’ is the extremely fine ash ‘flying’ along with flue gases which is trapped in electro-static precipitators (ESP) and is col-lected. It is also called Pulverized Coal Ash (PCA).

Fly Ash Bricks are made by using fly ash as a main raw material. The strength of the fly ash bricks can be engineered by varying compositions. Equipment used can be manual or mechanised. Mechanised machines deploy hydraulic compaction to produce a variety of bricks and can be operated through electric or diesel power.

Fly Ash Bricks

Clay Bricks - Traditional

Clay bricks are made by burning a block made of clay in a kiln.

Fly Ash Bricks - Modern

Fly Ash Bricks are made by Pulverised ash brick (PAB) technology. It is the process of converting industrial waste materials i.e. fly ash into quality building materials. At present, the technology is used for converting thermal power plant waste into quality bricks.

PAB technology uses dry ash (fly ash collected from ESP or silos of thermal power plants), filler materials (usually coarse sand or stone crusher dust) and additives (lime, gypsum or cement).

Clay Brick

Varying colour as per soil

Uneven shape as hand made

Lightly bonded

Plastering required

Heavier in weight

Compressive strength is around 35 Kg/Cm2

More porous

Thermal conductivity1.25 – 1.35 W/m2 ºC

Water absorption 20-25%

Fly Ash Brick

Uniform pleasing colour like cement

Uniform in shape and smooth in finish

Dense composition

No plastering required

Lighter in weight

Compressive strength is around 100 Kg/Cm2

Less porous

Thermal conductivity0.90-1.05 W/m2 ºC

Water absorption 6-12%

Technology Advantages

The Ministry of Environment and Forests issued directives for proper utilization of fly ash discharged from coal or lignite-based thermal power plants. The notification was supported by the High Court of Delhi.

Within a radius of 100 km from coal or lignite based thermal power plants, no person shall manufacture clay bricks, tiles or blocks (for use in construction activities) without mixing at least 25% of ash with soil on weight basis.

Every thermal power plant shall make available ash, for at least ten years without any payment or any other consid eration for the purpose of manufacturing ash-based products.

Every construction agency engaged in the construction of buildings within a radius of 100 km from thermal power plants shall use fly ash bricks in construction projects. It shall be the responsibility of the construction agencies (either undertaking the construction or approving the design or both) to ensure compliance.

Quality Control and Standards: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has formulated and published for maintaining quality of the Fly ash Brick and for testing purpose.

IS 12894:1990 Specification for Fly Ash Lime Bricks

• Emaar MGF (DDA Common Wealth Games)• IJM (MCD Civic Center Minto Road)• Globe Civil Projects Pvt. Ltd. 500 Bedded GTB Hospital Karkardooma Court Lawyers Chambers Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium Geeta Colony Engineering Collage• Ajay Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. (EROS GROUP) Kenwood Tower Brentwood Towers Rosewood City Royal Retreet-I • Mahindra Life\space Developers Ltd. (Housing Project)• Jyoti Swarup Mittal (IIT Girls & Boys Hostels Delhi)• R.S Sharma Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. (DDA)• Makhijani Constructions (PWD Kamla Market Police Station)

Some Projects/Builders using Fly Ash Bricks

Government Regulation

• Emaar MGF (DDA Common Wealth Games)• IJM (MCD Civic Center Minto Road)• Globe Civil Projects Pvt. Ltd. 500 Bedded GTB Hospital Karkardooma Court Lawyers Chambers Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium Geeta Colony Engineering Collage• Ajay Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. (EROS GROUP) Kenwood Tower Brentwood Towers Rosewood City Royal Retreet-I • Mahindra Life\space Developers Ltd. (Housing Project)• Jyoti Swarup Mittal (IIT Girls & Boys Hostels Delhi)• R.S Sharma Construction Company Pvt. Ltd. (DDA)• Makhijani Constructions (PWD Kamla Market Police Station)

Pressing in Moulding Machine

Grinding & Mixing

Fly-ashStorage

LimeStorage

Curing/Autoclaving

coolingWaterStorage

Stain &otherchemicals

Storing

The Manufacture of Flyash-Sand-Lime Brick

Removal & Stackingfor curing/autoclaving

• Screw feeders• Bucket Elevator• Double Shaft Mixers• Hydraulic Press• Autoclave• Boiler• Pulverizer

• AHP Machines, Maharashtra• Jayem Manufacturing Co., Uttar Pradesh• Expo Hydra Tech India (P) Ltd, Tamil Nadu• Orbit Intelligent Engineering, Gujarat• JVP Equipments, Tamil Nadu

• Sand Plast (India) Limited, Delhi• Puzolana Green Bricks, Delhi• Shirke Brick Industries, Maharashtra• Brickwell, Andhra Pradesh• Sri Vaari Bricks - Group of Lakshmi&Co, Tamil Nadu• Sarvodaya Brick Industries, Andhra Pradesh• Buildmat Bricks & Tiles Co. Limited, West Bengal• Shree Balaji Flyash Bricks Pvt. Ltd., Haryana• Jagdamba Flyash Bricks Industries, Bihar• Eco Bricks Industries, Delhi• Lokanath Fly Ash Bricks, Odisha

Major Plant Equipment and Machinery

Some Machine Manufacturers

Some Fly Ash Brick Manufacturers

For understanding the challenges and issues in the Fly ash brick industry, our research analyst conducted the telephonic interview with some of the major builders and fly ash brick manufacturers etc

Survey Outcomes

Awareness - As per the survey findings, most of the builders or manufacturers have limited knowledge about fly ash bricks, their advantages etc. Even some of them are not aware that such kind of bricks exists in the market.

Familiarity - Most of the builders client are not familiar about the fly ash bricks and its advantage leading to its acceptance over clay bricks.

Availability - Fly ash bricks are readily available in the near-by areas of thermal power plants or industries having fly ash as their wastage product. While in other areas, supply is limited with respect to demand.

Prices - Fly ash bricks cost is higher due to their bigger size compared to the normal bricks and also the transportation cost is additional.

Difference in Size - Fly Ash Bricks are manufactured in somewhat bigger size than the normal clay bricks as only modular size can be produced.

Weak Mechanical Bonding – Fly Ash bricks require less amount of plastering material for their bonding, therefore limiting their mechanical bonding strength.

Market Survey

Fly Ash Bricks future prospects seem quite bright as most of the major real estate players are using fly ash bricks in their projects. Moreover, incentives and subsidies from government will encourage further growth. However, the industry needs to overcome its present challenges and issues for fast track growth in future.

Future Prospects

For Setting up Flys Ash Brick Enterprises

• Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGMSE)• Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS)• Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP)• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

Carbon Credits

World Bank issued Letter of Intent for the purchase of 800,000 tons of carbon credits from fly ash brick technology and block industry @ US$ 5/ton of CO2eq. This has helped to promote the new method by enabling entrepreneurs to earn carbon credit revenues. So far, the project has enabled 108 fly ash brick plants to earn about INR 14.5 Crore.

Other

Various state governments are providing land, building and sales tax etc to encourage projects based on fly ash bricks.

Subsidies and Benefits