Abstract:
Pakistan has approximately 20,000 operational brick kilns, mostly traditional-FCBTK (Fixed Chimney Bull Trench Brick Kiln) which contributes significantly to ambient air pollution. They also produce about 1.81% of the total bricks baked in the South Asian region. Little is known about their emissions, which are consequently not represented in regional/global emission inventories and also using a huge amount of energy. Only 20% of energy is used in making of bricks and remaining is wasted. The first objective in this study was the comparison of production performance of both brick kilns. The results indicate that 44000 bricks/ batch are produced by the Zig-Zag brick kiln, while on the other hand traditional fixed chimney Bull Trench Brick Kiln produces 24000 bricks / batch. The results show that Zig-Zag brick kiln productivity is higher as compared to traditional fixed chimney Bull Trench Brick Kiln. The second parameter is the consumption of coal and its energy efficiency for both kilns which is compared.The results indicate that in a Zig-Zag brick kiln, the coal consumption is 5.2 toe/fired bricks batch. On the other hand the traditional-FCBTK coal consumption is 4 toe/fired bricks batch. By the productivity rate, the specific energy consumption for the Zig-Zag is 1.1 MJ/kg and for the traditional-FCBTK, is 2.1MJ/kg which is much higher than that of Zig-Zag brick kiln. Carbon dioxide emissions from both brick kilns from the consumption of coal were also calculated and the results show that the Zig-Zag brick kiln emission is 0.407 x 103kg of CO2/ 1000 fired bricks which is less as compared to the FCBTK which is 0.864 x 103kg of CO2/ 1000 fired bricks. Therefore, it is concluded that Zig-Zag brick kiln is more energy efficient and carbon emission is less as compared to the traditional-FCBTK.
