Sand Lime Bricks

Sand lime brick consists of natural raw materials such as sand, quicklime and water. Sand lime bricks can
be used for exterior and interior walls. They can be also used with other building materials, for example
wood, to build a variety of facing brickworks. Sand lime brick is a massive building material with good
sound insulation, high robustness and resistance.
Thanks to its strength density and so its heaviness, sand lime sound absorbing interior wall can be built.
Sand lime brick has a very good heat storage capacity. As a result all fast temperature fluctuations could
be balanced.
Raw materials
Raw materials used in the production of sand lime bricks are silica sand, quicklime (as a binder) and
water. Alternatively fly ash could be used instead of sand. The suitability of fly ash must be checked in
special tests. Furthermore the production of cement-bound bricks is possible.
Manufacture

Every raw material is stored separately. According to the production recipe sand / fly ash and lime are
weighted in weighing containers and forwarded to the mixer. Here the raw materials are mixed to a
homogeneous mixture in short time. According to the sand moisture and the recipe some water can be
added to the mixture. One mixing cycle lasts for ca. 3 minutes.
A belt conveyor transports the sand lime compound into the reactor. After approximately two hours, the
reaction of lime and water is completed. Calcium oxide and water have combined to calcium hydroxide.
This pre-mix is processed in the press.
The press plant is the heart of the sand lime brick making process. The hydraulic HDP presses are
electronically controlled and enable a uniform, one-sided or doublesided compaction over the complete
brick height.
The sand lime bricks are hardened by means of steam in hardening chambers (autoclaves). Besides
pressing, this is the second most important step in the production of sand lime bricks. The freshly

pressed bricks are hardened inside the autoclaves at a temperature of approx. 200 C in an atmosphere
of saturated steam with a pressure of approx. 16 bar. This hydro-thermal hardening process takes
several hours. It provokes a silicate reaction on the surface of the sand grains which stimulates the
desired hardening process.
The transport system is one of the most important components of a sand lime brick making plant.
Hardening cars are used for smooth transport of the fresh and finished products on a rail system
between the individual plant units. Transport to the press as well as transport from the brick placing
robot and the autoclave feeding system are carried out this way. Finally, the products are transported to
the packaging plants.

Details of equipment and Machinery

http://dymachine.en.made-in-china.com/product/ubYmRjEcspUs/China-Autoclaved-Steam-Sand-LimeBrick-Machine-Sand-Brick-machine-Plant.html

References
1. http://www.masa-group.com/images/stories/info-material/sand-lime-brick-productionen.pdf
2. http://www.wuk-industry.com/db/docs/Sand_lime_bricks_production.pdf