{"title":"Sustainable brick production using waste foundry sand and cast-iron slag: Reductions in embodied energy, CO₂ emissions, and cost","authors":"Nilay Kucukdogan","doi":"10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.143889","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Waste foundry sand (WFS) and cast-iron slag (CIS) are industrial wastes that are generated in large quantities during the production of cast iron worldwide, and for which various solutions are sought for their disposal. In this study, these two wastes were used together for the first time in the production of fired bricks to provide clay substitution, as well as to reduce embodied energy, CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, and costs. Modified bricks were produced with varying proportions of WFS and CIS (both up to 20 %) and fired at 850 °C, 950 °C, and 1050 °C. The physical, mechanical, and microstructural properties of the bricks were evaluated, along with an assessment of their embodied energy and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Results showed that bricks fired at 1050 °C met the standards for high-strength load-bearing applications, with water absorption values within acceptable limits. Using 20 % CIS and 10 % WFS resulted in lower water absorption compared to reference bricks, while dual-component mixtures (5 % CIS + 10 % WFS) exhibited superior mechanical performance. Microstructural analysis confirmed that the additives enhanced the densification of the brick matrix. Notably, incorporating WFS and CIS reduced embodied energy by 15.22 % and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by 15.87 %, with bricks containing 20 % WFS being 2.11–2.23 % cheaper to produce. Energy costs were identified as the primary expense, with the energy required to reach firing temperature having a greater impact than the firing process itself. The study concludes that WFS and CIS are effective additives for sustainable brick production, offering significant environmental and economic benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":288,"journal":{"name":"Construction and Building Materials","volume":"497 ","pages":"Article 143889"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Construction and Building Materials","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950061825040401","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Waste foundry sand (WFS) and cast-iron slag (CIS) are industrial wastes that are generated in large quantities during the production of cast iron worldwide, and for which various solutions are sought for their disposal. In this study, these two wastes were used together for the first time in the production of fired bricks to provide clay substitution, as well as to reduce embodied energy, CO2 emissions, and costs. Modified bricks were produced with varying proportions of WFS and CIS (both up to 20 %) and fired at 850 °C, 950 °C, and 1050 °C. The physical, mechanical, and microstructural properties of the bricks were evaluated, along with an assessment of their embodied energy and CO2 emissions. Results showed that bricks fired at 1050 °C met the standards for high-strength load-bearing applications, with water absorption values within acceptable limits. Using 20 % CIS and 10 % WFS resulted in lower water absorption compared to reference bricks, while dual-component mixtures (5 % CIS + 10 % WFS) exhibited superior mechanical performance. Microstructural analysis confirmed that the additives enhanced the densification of the brick matrix. Notably, incorporating WFS and CIS reduced embodied energy by 15.22 % and CO2 emissions by 15.87 %, with bricks containing 20 % WFS being 2.11–2.23 % cheaper to produce. Energy costs were identified as the primary expense, with the energy required to reach firing temperature having a greater impact than the firing process itself. The study concludes that WFS and CIS are effective additives for sustainable brick production, offering significant environmental and economic benefits.
期刊介绍:
Construction and Building Materials offers an international platform for sharing innovative and original research and development in the realm of construction and building materials, along with their practical applications in new projects and repair practices. The journal publishes a diverse array of pioneering research and application papers, detailing laboratory investigations and, to a limited extent, numerical analyses or reports on full-scale projects. Multi-part papers are discouraged.
Additionally, Construction and Building Materials features comprehensive case studies and insightful review articles that contribute to new insights in the field. Our focus is on papers related to construction materials, excluding those on structural engineering, geotechnics, and unbound highway layers. Covered materials and technologies encompass cement, concrete reinforcement, bricks and mortars, additives, corrosion technology, ceramics, timber, steel, polymers, glass fibers, recycled materials, bamboo, rammed earth, non-conventional building materials, bituminous materials, and applications in railway materials.