Baking energy efficient bricks

Thema:: Building materials

9 September 2020

Bricks are normally baked in ovens at a temperature that can gradually rise to 1100 °C. Unmistakably a process that uses a lot of energy. But it can be made more energy efficient.

TNO developed an alternative process and then got together with entrepreneurs to test the method in practice and optimise it. In the new method the clay – the main raw material – is not baked but the particles are, as it were, stuck together by a chemical process. The new method can be applied at room temperature.

Benefits new baking method:

The new method can be applied at room temperature which means a significant reduction in production costs (with energy costs cut by more than half) and production time (with the bricks not requiring cooling).
The low temperature means that the bricks are not subject to stresses during the production, which makes for much greater design freedom.
More variation is also possible in terms of texture, strength, colour and dimension. Which is particularly good news for architects who will be able to give more rein to their creativity.
Suppliers of the materials are also subject to less stringent specifications. And finally, this new technology allows the building debris to be recycled into new bricks.

In short: Lower energy costs, less CO₂ emission, faster production, greater design freedom, more liberal material specifications and sustainable processing. All of which are not a big deal with this new TNO method.