PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LOW THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY CLAY BRICKS BY ADMIXTURE OF BAGASSE AND PERLITE

In this paper, an investigation on the reduction of thermal conductivity in clay-based construction materials is carried out. Clay is the basic material for brick production, bagasse and perlite were additive elements in clay, which is from sugar industrial waste i.e. Bagasse and perlite, which is from siliceous volcanic rock. Bagasse facilitates the porous nature in brick and perlite consists of rich amount of Al2O3 and SiO2 , while thermal insulation properties improve inclaybased construction materials. Samples were prepared according to laboratory required dimensions of 150x100x50 mm and mixture of clay, bagasse and perlite in the different ratios with required amount of water for plasticity. Green samples' moisture content removed at atmospheric temperature until the reduction of water content. Sun-dried specimens were fired in laboratory induction furnace at the rate of 4.5oC/m until 8000C. Final cured product was tested for evaluation of different properties i.e. Thermal conductivity, compressive strength, SEM-EDS and TGA. The results show that an increasing quantity of the bagasse and perlite in the clay mixture significantly decrease the thermal conductivity of clay brick, and a small reduction in compressive strength was observed