Today, bricks are produced all over the world using two main technologies.
These are technologies of non-firing and firing brick production.
Throughout the history of brick consumption, the technologies for its production have constantly changed and improved. Until the middle of the 19th century, the molding process was carried out manually, it was quite difficult and laborious. Brick drying was carried out exclusively in summer, for this purpose large-volume floor ovens were used.
A little later, innovations in production technology began to appear: clay working machines, a belt press and an annular kiln. All these innovations served as an impetus for the active development of brick production on an industrial scale in the middle of the 19th century.
Today, marl and light-alloy sandy clays are used in the manufacture of bricks. Technology for the production of baked bricks.
Clay mined in a quarry is prepared in special concrete pits and remains in them for a couple of days. After that, the clay, which was previously filled with water and leveled, is sent for special machine processing. The clay is cleaned of large solid fractions and stones are removed from it, after which it is sent to a special box feeder. The clay is then ground and fed into a belt press. The clay is fed through the belt press to the cutting machine, where it is cut and placed on the backing frames. After that, the packaged raw brick is placed in a drying chamber.
Brick drying takes place in a warm exhaust steam environment. After preliminary drying, the brick is sent to a tunnel or ring kiln for subsequent firing. The temperature of brick baking in the kiln is about 1000°C and continues until the sintering of the material begins.
A high-quality brick has a matte surface without chips and cracks; at a break, the brick has a homogeneous porous structure. When struck, a high-quality brick makes a ringing sound.
Technology for the production of non-fired bricks. To date, the technology of hyperpressing has been widely used. This process is the welding of bulk mineral materials in a pressurized environment using water and binders. The raw materials undergo appropriate preparation. It is subjected to grinding and crushing, sent to a special receiving hopper. Raw materials are fed to the belt conveyor from the supply hopper and the feed dispenser. Through it, the material is sent to a concrete mixer, in which, mixing with cement, it acquires a homogeneous structure. This homogeneous mass is conveyed to the molding plant by a conveyor.
After the molding process and the pressing procedure, the finished brick is placed on technological pallets, which are sent to the warehouse for normal aging for 3 to 7 days. Aged brick is delivered to the warehouse of finished products, and then to the final consumer.
Scope of a brick is various. It is a durable and reliable building material that can bring originality to the aesthetic appearance of buildings and structures, give them beauty and originality.