Thermophysical properties of fired clay bricks with waste ceramics and paper pulp as pore-forming agent

In the present study, four fired clay bricks recipes with addition of recycled waste ceramics resulted from building demolition and waste paper pulp as pore-forming agent in different proportions are investigated. The purpose of the work is to analyse the impact of pore-forming agent and wastes on the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the resulting products. The raw materials and the samples were analysed from chemical, mechanical and thermophysical point of view by XRD, SEM with EDX analysis, lock-in thermography and PPE calorimetry techniques, mercury porosimetry and image analysis. It was found that the compressive strength decreases from 53 MPa for a porosity of 3.5% until 7 MPa for a porosity of 35%, while the thermal conductivity varies from 0.75 to 0.58 W m(-1) K-1.