Revival of the production of ceramic building materials in Georgia as one of the ways to solve environmental problems
The essence of the project
Ceramic building materials such as bricks, blocks, ceramic finishing slabs, clinker bricks are one of the cornerstones of the construction industry and are widely used in the building of walls, road cladding, facade decoration, etc. The production of ceramic building materials is accompanied by lower air emissions and less use of thermal energy resources for their production; the synthesis of ceramic bricks requires 900-1000°C whereas the synthesis of cement clinker – 1450-1500 ° C. At the same time, a wall made of ceramic bricks is breathable and safer for human health than a wall made of cement/concrete.
Currently, only the Metekhi brick factory operates in Georgia, using the clay from the Metekhi deposit. Metekhi clay deposit on the verge of depletion; The CaO content in the remaining layers of clay is high (12-19%), which negatively affects the quality of the brick. Brick clays from other deposits are also characterized by a high CaO content, causing white spots on the brick surface and a decrease in frost resistance. In contrast, the Kvareli shale is characterized by a low CaO content (1-2%).
It is known, that in the Kakheti region, in the gorge of the Duruji River, as a result of extensive natural processes, more than 20 million m3 of sediment accumulated, and the annual increase is about 500 thousand m3. Mudflow processes of destructive force periodically develop in the gorge, creating the risk of an ecological disaster for the local environment and, in particular, for the town of Kvareli and its population of 10 thousand people living in this risk zone.
Gorge of the Duruji River near the town of Kvareli
There is no doubt that for the purpose of restoration of ecological balance in the region, it is necessary to remove the mass of rocks, accumulated in the outskirts of Kvareli during years.
The fact is that the rock sediment deposited by the Duruji River is crashed clay shale – a natural source of useful raw materials, with appropriate use of which many types of products can be produced with significant economic benefits, not to mention environmental problems.
The way out of this situation is to utilize the created sediments and develop technologies for creating new directions for the production of as many useful products as possible, of which the production of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient building materials is more promising.
The purpose of this work is to develop technologies for producing modern building ceramic materials: building bricks and clinker bricks from Kvareli clay shales, which will contribute to the revival of the production of building ceramics and a certain solution to environmental problems in Georgia.
Under laboratory conditions, technologies were developed for the production of ceramic materials from Karelian shales: building bricks and clinker bricks, as well as wall and floor tiles. To regulate the operational parameters in the form of corrective additives, clays of various deposits and dust from the electro filters of the Zestafoni silicomanganese plant were used.
