Agrostone production technology

in Ethiopia

Civil and Urban Engineering Department

Institute of Technology
Hawassa University

Abebe Dinku, Prof. (Dr.-Ing.)

October 2017
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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN ETHIOPIA
JUSTIFICATION
Why do we prefer Agrostone production technology to Ethiopia?
• It reduces the construction cost and save time.

• It increases the strength of the building and beauty of the

house.
• It comprises five important properties in a single product.

• It is possible to produce it at different size, shape and at

different forms.
• It utilizes large labor forces and is convenient for developing
countries.
• It is manufactured from waste material as well as light and
cheap mineral products.
• It goes inline with our mineral resource potential.
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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN Ethiopia
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
• The Chinese Agrostone technology utilizes agricultural wastes
as filler, chemical raw materials as binder and fiber glass as
reinforcement.
• The agricultural raw materials can be from different sources
as long as it is not chemically reactive and reduces
workability. Preferably, raw materials with high tensile
strength such as bagasse and coir are important.
• We have partly reduced the agricultural materials by light
weight mineral fillers and the selected materials are cheap,
light and easily available in the country.

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Agrostone technology utilizes several admixtures in a
very negligible amount to enhance the physical
property of the products and make it adaptable to
different environmental conditions.

Ethiopia is endowed with a variety of industrial

minerals that can be utilized by the Agrostone
products. Light weight mineral fillers are largely
available in the country such as pumice, red ash, and
diatomite. High quality magnesite deposit is also
available in the country and efforts are underway in
developing MgO from this mine.
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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
IN ETHIOPIA
Magnesium chloride is also found in the Denakil
Depression, at the northern part of the country.

It is hosted by potash minerals and tens of

millions of potash ore is found in the area.
Moreover, Magnesium chloride is found at the
mouth of hot brines spreading over the surface.

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TYPE OF PRODUCTS
The main agrostone products are:
 Partition board
The partition boards have variable length and
thickness but constant width. The length of the
boards can vary to a maximum of 3.5meters and
there are a 10cm and 20cm thick boards.
 Reliefs
Hundreds of different types of decoration items
are available and any one can bring his own design
and produce reliefs. The reliefs include roman
colons, roofing materials, wall boards, corner
lists etc.
 Doors

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 Pattern manufacturing

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 Initial stage of board production

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 Construction of Model House

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Various Relief Products made from Agrostone materials

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 Straw Kicks-off the Ambo Stone

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 The Model house being visited by foreigners

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 Challenging the strength of the board

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 FLOW DIAGRAM FOR AGROSTONE PRODUCTION
FILLER RAW MATERIALS BINDING REINFORCING
MATERIALS MATERIAL

FILLERS CHEMICALS CHEMICAL

SOLUTIONS

Agricultural MgO MgCl2 Fiber glass

and/or minerals

Mixing
CRUSHING (MgCl2 + water + Additive)

Additives)
(
STORAGE
MIXING
(MgCl 2 + H 2O +
PUMPING
Additives)
WEIGHING WEIGHING
MIMIXING
(MgCl2 + H2O +

Additives)
MIXING
XING
(MgCl2 + H2O +
14 MOULDING Additives)
 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN ETHIOPIA

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE PRODUCTS

The physical properties of the agrostone products as per the test
results obtained from different laboratories are:
 It is non-poison and resistant to radiation

 It is water and acid resistant and sound proof

 It can withstand fire up to 118 minutes

 Dry shrinkage is very small compared to the masonry structures

 It can carry load weighing 7.3 times its own weight without bending

 The binding cement has a comprehensive strength of more than

10 000psi (700Kg/cm2) or about 70Mpa.

 It is shock and impact resistant

 It has good resistance for single point hanging load

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN Ethiopia

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
IN Ethiopia

Production Cost
 Calculation on the production cost of agrostone
products have considered various variables including
 Raw material
 Manpower
 Utility
 Depreciation (machinery/building), etc.
 Moreover it has considered cost of fitting of the
products such as manpower and chemicals
 Comparisons had also been made between partition
boards and hollow concrete products on meter square
of area.

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN Ethiopia

Cost of Materials required for producing partition boards

with dimension of 10cmx60cmx250cm (1.5m2)
Description Unit price Birr per m2 Birr per
(Birr/Kg)) board

1 Magnesium Oxide 2.02 28.64 42.96

(MgO)

2 Mangnesium Chloride 1.85 16.45 24.68

(MgCl2)

3 Fiberglass 4.72 3.17 4.76

4 Red ash/pumice 0.15 0.80 1.20
5 Bagasse 0.75 1.52 2.28
6 Steel bar (4mm) 13 0.91 1.37
7 Admixtures 16.34 1.34 2.01
8 Additional materials 5.40 Birr/m 1.26 1.89
Advertising cloth 11.00 Birr/liter 0.37 0.56
Lubricating oil 500 Birr/m2 1.00 1.50
Rubber mat

Total 55.46 83.21

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 Cost comparison of partition boards and hollow
concrete blocks per m2 of area
Partition Board Hollow concrete blocks

Partition board Birr/m2 Hollow concrete Birr/m2

blocks

1 Product cost 72.95 Product cost 52.00

2 Manpower cost 7.19 Cement 8.00

for fitting

3 Chemicals for 2.45 Plastering 50.00

fitting

4 Labor 4.00

5 Others 2.00

Total 82.59 Total 116.00

Cost saving: 116.00-82.59=33.41 Birr; 33.41/116=30%

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
IN ETHIOPIA

EXISTING CONDITIONS OF AGROSTONE

 Agrostone Production center is established by improving and

constructing new production rooms on the existing storage.
 The agrostone production center currently owns 90 working
tables and produces equivalent amount of boards per day.
 The center had a laboratory facility to prepare the mix designs
suitable for its production.
 We have different types of stores for the raw material as well
as for finished goods.
 We have 30 well trained operators for the production of boards
and relief and about 100 daily laborers that had been trained
since the commissioning of the project.
 So far, we have produced 9477 boards of which 1859 have a
width of 20 cm boards and 7618 boards of 10 cm size.

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Existing conditions of Agrostone (contd.)
 Major problems
 Shortage of supply of MgO
 Limitation of production rooms,
 Storage problems,
 Inconsistency in supply of chemical raw materials
from the supplier, and
 Delay in the design and construction works of the
expansion project
 The project office is trying to erect MgO
production factory locally to rectify the problem
 An expansion project worth about 6.5 million Birr is
underway by local construction companies.
 The full scale production of the boards incorporates
more than 300 working forces and a production of
1000 boards per day.

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN Ethiopia

Assembling of Agrostone Products

 The assembling of Agrostone products require
 Special training and proper care for fitting,
 Appropriate size of the existing structure to fit the
size of the board,
 A 60 cm module from column to column
 boards of appropriate size to fit the existing
structure,
 Structural frames with good finishing surfaces,
 Chemicals for fitting boards,
 Training had been given to 24 professionals
from three MSE, 40 technicians from
technical and vocational centers, 76 foremen's
and site supervisors.
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Assembling of Agrostone products (contd.)
 Major Problems:
 irregularity of the structural column,
 Improper leveling of the floor,
 Columns spacing is not adjusted to 60cm module,
 Requires too much chiseling at every working face
 Handling of the partition boards and transportation
 Shortage of additional materials required for board fitting
 Lack of skilled manpower and close supervision
 All this problems has to be considered during the
design and the construction work

 Assembling cost
 Manpower = 7.19Birr/sq. m
 Chemicals = 2.45Birr/sq.m

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN
ETHIOPIA

MgO Production Technology

 Magnesite is converted directly into

magnesium oxide by burning or calcination
process. The burning can be done either by
horizontal rotary kilns or vertical shaft kilns,
by firing with oil/gas or coal.

 Calcination temperature of between 500 and

1000oC produce light burnt magnesium oxide
with a relatively high specific surface area,
low bulk density and high specific gravity.
Such product is the main component for the
production of magnesia cement.
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 The calcination of Kenticha magnesite is mainly
aimed for the production of light burned MgO to
fully or partially replaces the imported MgO
chemical used in the production of magnesia
cement.
 Magnesia cement also known as magnesium
oxychloride cement is the product of the reaction
of light burned magnesia with aqueous magnesium
salt solution.
 The aqueous salt solution preferably has a specific
gravity of about 1.18 to about 1.4. Such cement is
the main binding material for producing partition
boards and relief's.

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN Ethiopia

The MgO oxide production plant is now under

construction at the technically and economically viable
location to the source materials after signing an
agreement with the Chinese Company.

The plant is located in the vicinity of Kibre Mengist town

at about 70Km from the Magnesite source area. The
magnesite, the main raw material for the production of
MgO, had a resource potential of more than one million
tons enough for several tens of years to come ahead.
The magnesite raw material is being supplied by the
Ethiopian Mineral Resource Share Company.

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  Our current annual demand is about 20 000 tons of
magnesite for the production of 10 000 tons of MgO.
The resource is a high quality material for the
production of the required MgO and for the
production of boards.

 Pilot plant production at Ziway have gained

remarkable success in producing high quality MgO.

 The MgO production plant is now under construction

and is supposed to be completed by the end of
January, 1999, Eth.cal.

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 AGROSTONE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY IN
ETHIOPIA

The Project Office is now trying to make a breakthrough to decrease

the dependency on cement and concrete blocks by adopting an
Agrostone technology for the production of partition boards, reliefs
and imitation stones.
This technology is assumed to increase the variety of construction
materials in Ethiopia and is a major leap from small size clay bricks and
hollow concrete blocks to partition boards.

2. BACKGROUND
The Agrostone production technology probably gets its origin in Asia
and Latin America, grow in Asia and widely spread in China by the
Sichan Xinghe Building Materials Co. LTD.
This technology utilizes Agricultural materials and mineral products as
the main input and produces a product capable of resisting extreme
behaviors in nature such as fire and water, sound and shock and is an
environmentally friendly technology. Being made from agricultural
waste yet it is aging proof.

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 Magnesite Quarry at Kenticha

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 Production of magnesite

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 Caustic Soda Processing Plant at Ziway

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 The first MgO Product from the local Source

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 Laboratory trial on production of relief's
from local MgO

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 Some discussion points
 Read and enrich your knowledge about the
production and uses of Agrostone.

 Study and give your opinion on the financial

analysis made by the government office in
comparing the prices of HCB and Agrostone wall.

 Do you have any recommendation to make for

further improvements of Agrostone walls? List and
discuss.

 The Ethiopian government at one point decided to

have Agrostone production units in almost all
regions. Try the status of Agrostone production
and uses in your region. Do you have any
recommendation to make?
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 Kessem Sugar Factory Project
Residential Buildings under Construction


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36
 YIBEL Industrial Park

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 Quick Facts About YIBEL

 Year of Formation: 2009

 Capital: 17.5 Million USD
 Products & Services:
I. Magnesium Panel Production
II. Magnesium Board Production (4.5-10)mm thick
III.Light Gauge Steel Frame (LGS)
IV. Prefabricated Steel Truss Structures
V. LGS/CLC Construction Technology
 Production Capacity: Magnesium Board = 9000 m2/day
Magnesium Panel = 300 m2/day
LGS = 12 ton/day

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 What are the different types of building blocks
available in our country?
1. Masonry
2. Fired bricks
3. Soil blocks
1. Hydraform
4. Concrete products
1. Hollow concrete blocks
2. Precast elements
5. Boards
1. Gypsum boards
2. Calcium Silicate Boards
3. Magnesium Boards
 YBEL INDUSTRIAL PLC

Sandwiched
Sandwiched Agrostone
Panel
Panel Panel

LGS/Mag. PEB Steel

Board
PRE-FAB BUILDING SYSTEM Truss
1. Why do we need to look for alternative building materials?
A. The construction industry of the country is booming, however
There is a huge gap between the demand and supply of houses
The building systems employed have low performance.

B. The construction cost of the houses have been greatly

elevated .
The building materials are entirely dependent on cement and
iron products.
There is limited effort done to introduce alternative building
materials which reduces cost and time.
There are no research centers working towards introducing
new building materials’
2. Basic criteria for the selection of building
technology
a) Investment cost of the technology
b) Time and cost saving
c) Relatively better quality than the existing
practice
d) Convenient for huge construction projects
e) Utilize mainly local building raw materials
f) Reduce dependency on foreign currency
g) Employ large quantity of workers
h) Environmentally friendly
i) Suitable for various weather conditions
On going Projects
I. Magnesium Panel Production Technology
Magnesium Panel:
 a fire-proof green composite panel
 without a separate face sheet
 with holes along its length to reduce the weight
and pass utility lines.
 Product specification of Magnesium Panel :
 length :1000-3000mm,
 width : 600mm
 thickness :100mm
Physical Properties
 It is non-poison and resistant to radiation
 It is water and acid resistant and sound proof
 It can withstand fire up to 118 minutes
 Dry shrinkage is very small compared to the masonry
structures
 It can carry load weighing 7.3 times its own weight with
out bending
 It is shock and impact resistant
 It has good resistance for single point hanging load
YBEL FGC PANEL, Stock Piling of Panels
AGROSTONE PANELS, Transporting of Panels
AGROSTONE PANELS, Erection of Panels
AGROSTONE PANELS, Front View of Hidase Prj.
AGROSTONE PANELS, Perspective View of Hidase Project
AGROSTONE PANELS, Internal Finishing
 II MAGNESIUM BOARD
 Magnesia boards (MgO Boards) is a factory-made, non-
insulating sheathing board product
 It can be used for a number of applications including
wall and ceiling linings, fascias, tile backing and
underlayment.
 MgO board is a type of sheathing board-sort of like
gypsum board or cement fibre board’s-however with
several improved characteristics such as;
 fire resistance, weather ability, strength, resistance
to mould and mildew, flexibility, adherence advantages
and so on.
MAGENESIUM BOARDS, Production of Boards
MAGNESIUM BOARDS, Stock piling of boards
 Sandwiched Panels
Sandwiched Panels

 Sandwiched panels have wooden frame and Styrofoam

as a core and magnesium board as cladding material.
 A board-styrofoam-board combination is also possible
 Styrofoam sandwiched by magnesium board and
Egasheet internally and externally, respectively
Have wide application if there is high impact from
outside
 The products can be safely disassembled after the
project work is completed
SANDWICHED PANELS, Field Camp House
SANDWICHED PANELS, Office
II.LIGHT GAUGE STEEL (LGS)
 Steel building system in which the load-bearing

structure, consist of the wall framing, columns, beams,

trusses, panels or any combination of these, to make a
steel building.

 Inputs: The major inputs required for the steel

building system is steel coil and mineral boards

(Magnesium oxide) or Cement fiber board for internal
and external wall cladding and panel for floor.
 LIGHT GAUGE STEEL

 Advantages of LGS
 Cost Effective
 Time Efficient
 Environmentally Friendly
 Durable and Safe
 Design Flexibility
 Non-combustible
 Outstanding quality
LIGHT GAUGE STEEL, Under Construction
LGS Product Specification
Residential Building
Apartment
LIGHT GAUGE STEEL, Under Construction
LIGHT GAUGE STEEL, Completed
PREFABRICATED STEEL STRUCTURE
PREFABRICATED STEEL STRUCTURE
PREFABRICATED STEEL STRUCTURE
 COMPARISON ANALYSIS, PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE DIFFERENT PRODUCTS
Properties Magnesia board Gypsum Calcium Cement
(6mm) board (9.5mm) silicate board board (6mm)
(6mm)
Density (g/cm3) 0.9-1.4 1 1.3 0.6-1.9
Flammability It does not burn It does not burn at It tends to It does not
or show any 800oC, but may break bread apart at burn
change at 800oC into pieces because of 800oC
dehydration
Bending strength (MPa) ≥16 3.5 4-9 7-13
Impact Strength (KJ/M2) ≥3.6 low high 1.9-3.0
Water absorption (%) ≤18 ≤10 ≤10 20-32
Bending Strength when No change Decline Decline No change
wet (MPa)
Moisture resistance Good Bad Good Good
Freeze resistance No change after -- -- --
25 cycles
Poisonous material None None Few Few
Decorative suitability Suitable for all Selective Selective Selective
Cut ability Easy Easy Difficult Difficult
Visible bending strength bends to certain Hard to bend Hard to bend Hard to bend
extent
Finished cost Moderate Low High High
COMPARISON ANALYSIS, PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
TECHNICAL SPECIFCATION OF AGROSTONE PANEL
No. Technical Specification Product Standard Local Test Results
1 Weight per Sq. meter ≤ 50Kg/m2 ≤ 43Kg/m2
2 Compressive Strength ≥ 3.5 Mpa ≥ 3.5 Mpa
3 Bending Resistance ≥ 1.5 x its wt. ≥ 2.5 x its wt.
No crack after No crack after
4 Shock Resistance
clashing 5 times clashing 20 times
5 Sound Insulation Insulated up to 45 dB
6 Fire Endurance 4 hrs 4 hrs
7 Thermal Conductivity ≤ 2 w/m2-k
1000N hanging 72 Kg of sand bag hanging
8 One Point Hanging
no change after 24 hrs no change after 7 days
Sudden Cold and Sudden No change after 20 times No change after 30 cycle
9
Hot
Acid and Alkali Resistance No change after 7 days
10
in 5%HCl and 15% NaOH immersion
11 Radiation No emission of radiation
12 Asbestos Free Free from Asbestos Free from Asbestos
13 Water Absorption ≤ 22% ≤ 28%
No change after several
14 Durability Test times immersion in cold
water and stem
COMPARISON ANALYSIS, PRODUCT SPECIFICATION

ANALYSIS OF THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

 As per the comparison analysis of the technical specifications of

the different board products the magnesium boards have superior

quality to gypsum boards and is comparable to cement boards.

 The magnesium boards have the lowest density, high bending

strength, and devoid of any poisonous/toxic materials.

 Similarly, the agrostone panels have the lowest thermal

conductivity, high shock resistance which makes them suitable for

earthquake prone areas and hot climates.

 It is fire and sound proof, non-poisonous, resistant to radiation,

and had minimum dry shrinkage.

Houses Made of Sandwiched Panel
Houses Made of Sandwiched Panel
Houses Made of Sandwiched Panel
 ~1900 in
Addis

Are we significantly better in

technique than 100 years ago?

2015 in Addis
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 We have a lot to change CMC
in this country. apartments
(1980’s)
 Improvement in concrete
technology is a key for all

 Transition from
traditional to NC to HSC
is essential for many
reasons.
Rural
accommodation
(2015, >70%
Condo’s
Eth.)
 Thank you!!

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