Development of High-Strength Insulating Refractory Bricks Using Locally Sourced Materials

The country depends largely on foreign insulating and refractory bricks even though researches have shown that the necessary raw materials which are Ball clay, kaolin, saw dust, charcoal, and rice husk were used for the production of refractory bricks are prevalent and available in the country. The uses of locally sourced materials are to be encouraged in the production of refractory bricks rather than importing refractory bricks from other countries. The aim of the study is to produce insulating refractory bricks from locally available materials that exhibit good thermal and mechanical properties. The experimental method of research was adopted to formulate the refractory bricks using the sourced clay and other locally available materials. The samples of the bricks produced were passed through series of tests; compressive load tests, thermal shock test, porosity test, shrinkage test, physical observation, and water absorption for certainty about the bricks to be referred to as refractory bricks. With the varying compositions of the materials, it was observed that the more the percentage composition of clay and kaolin than the combustible such as rice husk in a refractory brick, the higher the compressive load strength; with the increased level of combustible in a refractory brick, the higher the water absorption which is not appropriate for a good refractory brick. All these factors were incorporated into making several insulating refractory bricks and were eventually used in the repair of kiln. The properties of the locally produced bricks were compared to those with imported materials and could be observed that the properties were alike. Based on the finding of this study, the conclusions can be summarized as: the locally sourced materials can equally perform the same functions with the foreign materials.