Construction Materials

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/jcoma.15.00087
Paper 1500087
Received 31/12/2015
Accepted 01/02/2016
Keywords: brickwork & masonry/energy conservation/
materials technology

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as

a novel insulator for dwellings
Mangesh Madurwar PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Construction Management, National Institute
of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR), Pune, India
(corresponding author: mangesh_bits@yahoo.com)

Rahul Ralegaonkar PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Visvesvaraya National
Institute of Technology, Nagpur, India

Sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA), which is generally landfilled, was characterised on the basis of its physico-chemical
properties. The characterisation proved its suitability as a pozzolanic material. SBA bricks were then fabricated
incorporating quarry dust as fine aggregate and lime as a binder. The developed SBA bricks were tested for their
physico-mechanical and thermo-physical properties in accordance with Indian standards. The physico-mechanical
results showed that the SBA bricks were light in weight and met the necessary strength requirements. To analyse the
indoor temperature of the developed material over conventional commercially available material, building simulation
models were developed using TRNSYS software. The building simulation models were created by providing the
thermo-physical properties of the developed SBA bricks and commercially available fly ash (FA) bricks. The simulated
model was executed for annual hourly indoor air temperature against hourly outdoor ambient temperature. The
temperature analysis revealed that the simulated model house constructed with FA bricks was 13% cooler than the
ambient temperature, whereas the simulated model house constructed with SBA bricks was 22% and 10% cooler
than the ambient temperature and the FA brick model, respectively. The obtained results prove that the developed
SBA brick is a novel thermally insulated masonry construction material as compared with the commercially available
masonry product.

1.

Introduction

The production of conventional building materials involves the

consumption of much thermal and electrical energy and in
turn results in air, water and land pollution. The disposal of
solid waste generated from agricultural and industrial production activities is another serious problem in developing
countries such as India (Madurwar et al., 2013). The accumulation of these wastes is not only a burden on industry, but also
adversely affects the environment. Therefore, the development
of new technologies to recycle and convert waste materials into
reusable materials is critically important for protection of the
environment and the sustainable development of society.

et al. (2012) developed bricks incorporating recycled paper

mill waste (15 wt%), cotton waste (8985 wt%) and cement
(10 wt%). Hai (2010) investigated the effect of adding unburnt olive husk on the thermo-mechanical properties of clay
bricks. Demir (2006) utilised several organic residues having
long cellulose fibres such as sawdust and tobacco residues in
clay bricks. The results indicated that the insulation capacity of
the bricks increases with the increasing porosity of the clay
body. It was also observed that the fibrous nature of residues
did not create extrusion problems. Various types of agro-waste
can thus be utilised in an environmentally safe way as organic
pore-forming agents in clay bricks.

Brick is one of the most accommodating masonry units as a

building material due to its properties. Attempts have been
made to incorporate various industrial solid wastes into the
production of bricks; for instance, petroleum effluent treatment
plant sludge, billet scale, red mud, fly ash, granulated blastfurnace slag, steel industry dust and sewage sludge have been
used to develop bricks and other construction materials
(Amrilphale and Patel, 1987; Dominguez and Ullmann, 1996;
Malhotra and Tehri, 1995; Sengupta et al., 2002; Shakir et al.,
2013; Tay, 1987). Several researchers have investigated the
effect of using agro-wastes in the production of bricks. Rajput

Annually, Asia alone generates 44 billion tonnes of solid

wastes (Pappu et al., 2007). The majority of waste generated
from agricultural sources is sugarcane bagasse. India is the
second largest producer of sugarcane in the world after Brazil.
India generates more than 90 Mt of bagasse every year as a
solid waste from the sugarcane industry, which is further
reused as biofuel for industrial boilers and power plants. The
burnt residue of sugarcane bagasse is, called sugarcane bagasse
ash (SBA), is the final waste resulting from agro-industrial processes, with no possibility of reducing it further (Lima et al.,
2012).
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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

This study focuses on the characterisation of SBA and the

development of SBA brick combinations. The optimal brick
composition was obtained by evaluating the physico-mechanical and thermo-physical properties of the developed bricks. To
analyse the indoor air thermal behaviour of the developed
material compared with conventional commercially available
material, building simulation models were developed using
TRNSYS software. The building simulation models were
created by providing the thermo-physical properties of developed SBA bricks and commercially available fly ash (FA)
bricks. The simulated model was executed for annual hourly
indoor air temperature against hourly outdoor ambient temperature. A feasibility analysis was carried out by comparing the
software-simulated results of the developed SBA bricks with
commercially available FA bricks.

and all the brick samples were similarly prepared. All the
samples of bricks were dried for 3 d, followed by 7 d wet
curing and 7 d sun drying.

2.
2.1

Materials and methods

SBA characterisation and development of
bricks

The principal raw material SBA sample was collected from

M/s, Shri Satyasai Oil Industries and Refinery, Nanded
(Maharashtra), India. Samples were collected during the cleaning operation of the boilers in the factory. The SBA thus
obtained was used for making building bricks by mixing
quarry dust (QD) and lime (L) in different proportions. Raw L
was used as the binding material. QD (as a replacement for
natural river sand, i.e. fine aggregate) of size 6 mm and
smaller was obtained from a local aggregate crusher plant in
Nagpur (Maharashtra), India. Particle size distribution analysis of the SBA was carried out using a hydrometer test.
Chemical analysis of the SBA was done using an energydispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The x-ray diffraction pattern was recorded with a scan rate of 2/min in the
2 range of 5100. Thermogravimetric differential thermal
analysis was carried out to determine thermal stability. Field
emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM)
images were also recorded (JSM-7600F, Japan). An automated
brick plant was used to make building bricks of dimensions
230
110
80 mm3. Mixes of SBA, QD and L with 35 different compositions were prepared. The SBA, QD and L weight
percentages in the composition mix varied from 90 to 50%,
0 to 40% and 10 to 30%, respectively, with 5 wt% variation.
About 20 samples for each of the 35 compositions (SBA:QD:
L) were prepared. For the mixing process of the samples, L
and water were placed in the mixing unit of the automated
plant and mixed for around 30 s. In order to obtain a more
homogeneous mix, SBA and QD were later added into the L
slurry while the mixer was operated for 2 min. Afterwards, the
freshly prepared mix was fed through a conveyor onto the
pressing unit. The mix was pressed in moulds until the adjustable pressure reached 20 MPa in the pressure gauge. After pressing, the bricks were taken out from the moulds automatically

2.2

Test methods

The physico-mechanical tests were carried out on the sun-dried

products according to recommended Indian standards. The
tests were compressive strength IS 3495 (Part-I):1992 (BIS,
1998a), water absorption IS 3495 (Part-II):1992 (BIS, 1998b)
and brick density IS 2185 (Part-I):1979 (BIS, 1979). The compressive strength was determined using a compression testing
machine. For each composition, after complete drying, six
samples were tested for compression strength. Three samples
each were tested for water absorption and dry density and the
average was obtained. Similarly, thermo-physical properties
such as thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of the
developed SBA brick compositions were also evaluated. The
thermal conductivity (k value) was experimentally determined
using the laboratory-based Lees disc method. The optimal
composition of the SBAQDL brick was decided on the
basis of the average highest crushing strength and the highest
obtained thermal conductivity. The specific heat capacity of
the optimal composition of the SBA brick was experimentally
determined in a building and material testing laboratory.

2.3

Development of simulation model

Ralegaonkar (2010) used TRNSYS software for analysing

different building models based on actual site conditions in a
specific location. The presented approach for thermal performance evaluation of building systems was found to be useful for
optimally deciding and designing the parameters for thermal
comfort conditioning inside the buildings. Two different simulation models were built using TRNSYS with a similar modelling technique, one from the optimal composition of the
developed SBA bricks and another from commercially available FA bricks. The simulation models consisted of a singleroom house of 1 m height, 1 m length and 1 m width. One
door of size 03 m
07 m on the wall panel on the northern
side and one window of size 03 m
03 m on the wall panels
of each of the remaining three sides were provided for both the
software-generated model houses. The total area of the openings was 027 m2 excluding the area of the door, as per the
requirement of SP 7-2005 (BIS, 2005) (the national building
code of India). The model houses created with SBA and FA
bricks are hereafter called M1 and M2, respectively. Reinforced
cement concrete (RCC) slabs of 100 mm thickness and standard cement : sand (1 : 4) mortar of 10 mm thickness were considered for the masonry and internal and external plaster of
both the model houses. The evaluated thermo-physical properties (i.e. thermal conductivity k value and specific heat
capacity) of SBA and FA bricks were provided to the simulation model as input variables. The simulation models

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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

generated the expected hourly ambient temperature as well as

the hourly inbuilt air temperature for model houses M1 and M2.

The SBA bricks for each composition were manufactured

using a batch of 50 kg including all ingredients. Physico-mechanical tests such as dry density, water absorption, efflorescence
and compressive strength were carried out for the developed
SBA building bricks of all compositions.

3.
3.1

Results and discussion

Characterisation of SBA and brick analysis

The particle size distribution of the as-received SBA sample

was determined without any further grinding. Table 1 shows
the specific gravity and particle size analysis of the SBA. The
SBA mainly contained silica (5950), as shown by the x-ray fluorescence scan data in Table 2. The x-ray diffraction pattern
(Figure 1) of virgin SBA at an angle 2 shows amorphous
peaks between 20 and 30, which is typically a characteristic
of pozzolanic material. The FEG-SEM images (Figure 2) for
SBA show individual ash particles with rough surfaces and
many fine pores. The thermogravimetric analysis curve
(Figure 3) reveals that the bricks made out of SBA can withstand a maximum temperature of 650C.

In the developed compositions (Table 3), all the compositions

except mixes 17 (with 10% L), mixes 10 and 11 (with 15% L),
mix 18 (with 20% L) and mix 25 (with 25% L) met the compressive strength requirement of class 3.5 of burnt clay brick as
per IS 1077:1992 (BIS, 1992). Figure 4 shows the variation of
compressive strength with respect to the specific density of the
SBA bricks. The figure clearly indicates that as the weight percentage of SBA in the composition increases the specific
density of the brick decreases with further decrease in compressive strength. The regression analysis carried out for different
compositions with respect to compressive strength is indicated
in Figure 4. Coefficients of regression (R 2) were found to be

Distribution: %
Specific gravity

Mean particle size: m

Gravel

Sand

Silt

Clay

450

061

7515

2304

120

24

Table 1. Particle size distribution analysis of SBA

Silicon dioxide:
%

Aluminium oxide:
%

Ferric oxide:
%

Calcium oxide:
%

Magnesium oxide:
%

Sulfur trioxide:
%

LOI:
%

240

334

1475

211

092

890

5950

Table 2. X-ray fluorescence chemical characterisation of SBA.

LOI, Loss on Ignition

6000

Intensity: cps

5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0

200

400
2: degrees

600

800

Figure 1. X-ray diffraction pattern of virgin SBA

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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

The water absorption values remained very close to around

20% for all 35 compositions. This was due to the water-holding
phenomenon of SBA in surface pores. No efflorescence was
observed on the developed SBAQDL brick compositions
when soaked in water for 24 h. As the SBA bricks developed
with 20% L showed the most significant results, the same compositions were considered for the evaluation of thermo-physical
properties. Lees disc method of thermal conductivity was used
to determine the thermal conductivity of the developed SBA
bricks. The results are listed in Table 4.
The maximum thermal conductivity of 047 W/m.K was
observed for the optimal composition of the SBA brick. The
specific heat capacity of the optimal composition was experimentally evaluated. The specific heat is the amount of heat
required to change the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by 1. The heat supplied to a unit mass can be
expressed as

Figure 2. Particle image (SEM) of virgin SBA

1:

0913, 0919, 0986, 0977 and 0976 for 1030% L at an interval of 5% increment, indicating that 20% L compositions are
the most significant. For 20% L compositions, compressive
strength increases with increasing density with a maximum of
659 MPa at 1386 kg/m3.The maximum crushing strength of
the developed SBAQDL brick (mix 24) was double that
of the commercially available burnt clay brick and equal to
that of the commercially available FA brick.

dQ mc dt

where dQ is the heat supplied (kJ), m is the unit mass (kg), c

is the specific heat (kJ/kg.K) and dt is the temperature
change (K).
Expressing specific heat using Equation 1
2:

dQ
m dt

100
99
Y = 2176%

98

Weight %: (%)

97
Y = 2753%

96
95

Y = 2753%

94
93
92
91
90
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Temperature: C
Heating from 50C to 960C at rate 500C/min

Figure 3. Thermogravimetric analysis of SBA

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800

900

1000

Construction Materials

Composition (SBA:QD:L)
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix
Mix

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

(90:00:10)
(85:05:10)
(80:10:10)
(75:15:10)
(70:20:10)
(65:25:10)
(60:30:10)
(55:35:10)
(50:40:10)
(85:00:15)
(80:05:15)
(75:10:15)
(70:15:15)
(65:20:15)
(60:25:15)
(55:30:15)
(50:35:15)
(80:00:20)
(75:05:20)
(70:10:20)
(65:15:20)
(60:20:20)
(55:25:20)
(50:30:20)
(75:00:25)
(70:05:25)
(65:10:25)
(60:15:25)
(55:20:25)
(50:25:25)
(70:00:30)
(65:05:30)
(60:10:30)
(55:15:30)
(50:20:30)

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

Density: kg/m3

Compressive strength: MPa

1045
1121
1140
1183
1225
1244
1281
1314
1337
1121
1136
1160
1174
1201
1265
1384
1419
1051
1063
1123
1142
1194
1268
1386
1055
1169
1205
1279
1289
1338
1087
1154
1194
1282
1311

296
303
310
316
329
336
336
356
375
323
339
362
369
375
402
422
481
329
369
382
408
432
520
659
332
357
375
400
408
428
382
415
428
468
501

Remark
Design mix with 10% L

Design mix with 15% L

Design mix with 20% L

Design mix with 25% L

Design mix with 30% L

Table 3. Composition and physico-mechanical properties of

developed SBA brick

The evaluated specific heat capacity is given in Table 5. An

overall comparative analysis of SBA against FA building brick
was carried out and the results are shown in Table 6.

3.2

TRNSYS software simulation assessment

The thermal performance of a building refers to the process

of modelling the heat transfer between a building and its
surroundings. For a conditioned building, it is the estimation
of the heating and cooling load and hence the sizing and
selection of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC)
equipment can be correctly made. For a non-conditioned

building, it is the calculation of the temperature variation

inside the building over a specified time, which helps to estimate the duration of uncomfortable periods. These quantifications enable determination of the effectiveness of the design
of a building and help in evolving improved designs for realising energy-efficient buildings with comfortable indoor conditions. The thermal performance of a building depends on a
large number of factors. They can be summarised as (a) design
variables (geometrical dimensions of building elements such as
walls, roof windows, orientation, shading devices etc.)
(b) material properties (density, specific heat, thermal
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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

10% L

15% L

20% L

25% L

30% L

70
65

R = 0986

Compressive strength: MPa

60
55
50

R = 0976
R = 0919

45
R = 0977

40

R = 0913

35
30
25
1000

1050

1100

1150

1200
1250
Specific density

1300

1350

1400

1450

Figure 4. Variation of compressive strength with respect to

specific density of SBA bricks

SBA:QD:L

Thermal
conductivity:
W/m.K

Mix 24

50:30:20

048

Mix 23
Mix 22
Mix 21
Mix 20
Mix 19
Mix 18

55:25:20
60:20:20
65:15:20
70:10:20
75:05:20
80:00:10

0477
0474
047
0465
046
0455

Maximum thermal
conductivity

Table 4. Thermal conductivity of SBA bricks by Lees disc method

conductivity, transmissivity etc.), (c) weather data (solar radiation, ambient temperature, wind speed, humidity etc.) and (d)
a buildings usage data (internal gains due to occupants, lighting and equipment, air exchanges etc.). Two software simulation models were developed. One model was considered with
conventional FA bricks and the other with the developed SBA
building bricks. Both the building models were considered to
be non-conditioned. The design variables and weather conditions for both building models were considered to be the
same. Both the buildings were considered to be without any

internal gains due to occupants, lighting and equipment, air

exchanges and so on. Only the materials properties were provided to the software-simulated model. Figure 5 shows the
simulation model developed in TRNSYS for SBA building
bricks (M1).
The executed simulation models provide the annual indoor
air temperature curves (8760 h) (internal room temperature,
also called internal operative temperature as no or zero occupancy was considered) for both the models of different
materials. The output file also provides the annual hourly
indoor temperature readings for both models (FA and SBA)
with respect to the annual hourly ambient temperature
(outdoor temperature). From the resulting output data the
annual maximum hourly indoor air temperature for the FA
building model and SBA building model was obtained and
plotted against the respective ambient temperature (Figure 6).
In order to conserve energy inside the buildings, the use
of wall materials with lower thermal conductivity is recommended by Indian standard SP 41-1987 (BIS, 1987). This
can be achieved by using prudently chosen materials, as
demonstrated in this study. In accordance with guidance on
the functional requirements of buildings (other than industrial
buildings) (SP 41-1987 (BIS, 1987)), 1827C is the comfortable temperature range. In this study, temperature curves were
calculated using Simpsons rule for integration. The temperature analysis in Figure 6 revealed that the simulation model

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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

Brick
type

Mass, m:
kg

Heat supplied,
dQ: kJ

Initial temperature,
ti: C

Final temperature,
tf: C

Temperature change,
dt: K

Specific heat, c:
kJ/kg.K

SBA

2675

2100

305

3648

598C = 27913K

28125

Table 5. Specific heat capacity of bricks

Type of brick
Burnt clay
FA
SBAQDL (mix 24)

Density:
kg/m3

Compressive
strength:
MPa

Water
absorption:
%

Thermal
conductivity:
W/m.K

Thermal
conductivity:
%

Energy/1000
bricks: GJ

Brick
energy:
%

1600
1800
1386

350
650
659

20
12
 20

125
105
0480

100
84
38

4250
2366
2282

100
56
53

Table 6. Comparative analysis of SBA, FA and clay bricks

Figure 5. TRNSYS simulation model (M1)

house constructed with FA brick was 13% cooler than the

ambient temperature, whereas the simulation model house constructed with SBA bricks was 22% and 10% cooler than the

ambient temperature and the FA brick model, respectively.

Based on this annual temperature data, it was estimated that
the comfortable range for the model houses M1 and M2 was

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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

50

Max ambient

Max SBA

Max FA

Min CT

Max CT

45

Temperature: C

40
35
30
25

31-Dec-13

17-Dec-13

3-Dec-13

19-Nov-13

5-Nov-13

22-Oct-13

8-Oct-13

24-Sep-13

10-Sep-13

27-Aug-13

30-Jul-13

13-Aug-13

16-Jul-13

2-Jul-13

18-Jun-13

4-Jun-13

21-May-13

7-May-13

23-Apr-13

9-Apr-13

26-Mar-13

26-Feb-13

12-Mar-13

29-Jan-13

12-Feb-13

1-Jan-13

15

15-Jan-13

20

Date

Figure 6. Simulation output (simulation time 1 January 2013 to

31 December 2013, i.e. 8760 h). CT, comfort temperature

Average annual
temperature
reduction: C

Particular
Ambient temperature against room air temperature of FA model
Ambient temperature against room air temperature of SBA model
Room air temperature of FA model against room air temperature of SBA model

4
7
3

Table 7. Comparative analysis of ambient against indoor air

temperature for simulated FA and SBA brick models

68% and 34%, respectively. Maximum temperatures of 3458C

(M1), 3893C (M2) and 4653C (ambient temperature) were
observed in summer, whereas 184C (M1), 2072C (M2) and
2342C (ambient temperature) were observed in winter. The
temperature in model house M1 (SBA) was, on average, 7C
less than that of the ambient temperature, whereas the temperature in model house M2 (FA) was 4C less than that of the
ambient temperature over the simulated time duration. The
recorded temperature of M1 was, on average, 3C less than
that of the M2 temperature (Table 7). Scientifically, the SBA
bricks were proven to be more porous than the FA bricks.
These pores contain air and hence conducted less heat,

thus making the SBA brick less thermally conductive than the
FA brick. The energy demand for cooling was minimised
through reduction of the indoor temperature of the built
environment. The maximum outdoor temperature throughout the year was higher than the maximum threshold value of
the comfortable temperature range (Figure 6). Selection of
appropriate construction materials is essential for the control
of temperature inside a building. The simulation analysis
of temperature inside the developed models revealed that
the temperature inside model M1 was low when compared
with model M2, which in turn will reduce the energy demand
for achieving a comfortable indoor temperature.

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Construction Materials

Sugarcane bagasse ash brick as a novel

insulator for dwellings
Madurwar and Ralegaonkar

4.

Dominguez EA and Ullmann R (1996) Ecological bricks made

Conclusion

A simulation modelling technique was effectively applied for

indoor temperature assessment of building materials made
from sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) and fly ash (FA). The SBA
brick showed lower thermal conductivity and higher physical
stability with respect to the commercial brick. The SBA brick
model house was found to be more thermally resistant than
the FA brick model house. This shows significant potential
and scope for utilising agricultural solid waste in the manufacture of building materials that are lightweight, thermally insulated, energy efficient and sustainable.

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