Recycling of foundry by-products in the ceramic industry: Green and core sand in clay bricks

Green and core foundry sand are mixed with clay in proportions 0-50% and fired at 850-1050 degrees C to produce ceramic bricks. The specimens are physically and mineralogically evaluated, the scaling-up analyzed, and an optimization study developed. Clay/green sand bricks fired at 1050 degrees C have the better physical properties values, while the mineralogy is not significantly affected. The industrial quality brick can be estimated with laboratory trials, and the optimum amount of sand is found to be 35% of green sand and 25% of core sand. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.