Economic analysis of geopolymer brick manufacturing: A French case study

Abstract

This paper presents an economic analysis of manufacturing geopolymer bricks for use in the construction sector. The manufacturing processes of both geopolymer bricks and traditional fired bricks were investigated. For this study, we collected and analyzed all phases of geopolymer brick production from the extraction of raw materials to storage. Seven formulations of geopolymer bricks based on clay and waste bricks were analyzed. We considered the cost of raw materials and logistics operations in the production line of brick manufacturing. The results of this study prove that the manufacturing cost of geopolymer bricks based on clay provides an economic gain of 5% compared to fired bricks for the same compressive strength of 20 MPa. In the case of waste bricks, for the same production cost, the compressive strength of the geopolymer bricks is double that of fired bricks. Hence, this study shows the economic interest in the industrial production of geopolymer bricks. It also confirms that future research is needed that focuses on necessary changes to the current industrial production chain required for the manufacture of geopolymer bricks.