{"id":3906,"date":"2020-04-22T22:32:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T02:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hajim.wdev.rochester.edu\/senior-design-day\/biochar-bricks-for-building-materials\/"},"modified":"2020-05-03T18:17:28","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T22:17:28","slug":"biochar-bricks-for-building-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/senior-design-day\/biochar-bricks-for-building-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Biochar Bricks for Building Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Team Members<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Maxwell Barton
Joshua Kim
Brina Patel
Aime Laurent Twizerimana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supervisors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Clair Cunningham, Chemical Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ithaka Institute<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our goal was to create and characterize full scale bricks based on prototypes that are comparable to other building materials for implementation in residential and academic buildings in developing countries. Bricks will be of two types: (1) Biochar and Cement and (2) Biochar, Plastic, and Additives. Characterization consists of hardness, water absorption, insulation value, compressive strength, and flammability tests on prototype bricks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Snapshot of Team Jackalope<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Who are we? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Team Jackalope consists of four very powerful jackalopes who have taken home in Gavett 145. They live off of softwood biochar and enjoy making bricks for their friends. Occasionally, they hop over to Gavett 119 to weigh their creations and visit with their advisor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Team
Team Jackalope (Brina, Laurent, Josh, and Max) in action at the machine shop!<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Our favorite prototype brick<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Prototype
Prototype biochar and cement brick made by Team Jackalope<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What were we doing?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n
  1. Characterization of 75% biochar, 25% cement brick (not changing ratios)<\/li>
  2. Exploration of biochar, plastic, and additives bricks <\/li>
  3. Characterization of above bricks<\/li>
  4. Implementation of the design cycle throughout experiments to optimize prototypes<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The figure shows our prototype plastic bricks cooking in the oven!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Project Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The project consists of evaluating biochar bricks as building materials for implementation in third world countries for residential and academic buildings. This topic is important to explore due to the limited knowledge on biochar building materials and the potential to reduce global CO2<\/sub> emissions, recycle organic and plastic waste materials, and create more jobs for the residents in these countries.  Biochar is a charcoal-like substance made from organic matter decomposition at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen [1]. The current usages consist of soil additives to improve water absorption, plaster to capture humidity, and energy alternatives to replace fossil fuels [2]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What are the benefits of biochar?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Using biochar in building materials will reduce much of the greenhouse emissions and pollution caused by waste plastics, concrete, and organic waste. By sequestering the carbon from organic waste materials, biochar reduces the methane and carbon dioxide emissions released from landfill gas. If all of organic waste from landfills were to be converted to biochar, the reduction in landfill gas would amount to a potential 11% global reduction in human-sourced methane emissions [3]. Furthermore, the addition of biochar in concrete bricks would reduce the amount of used cement, and thus, reducing the carbon dioxide released in the process. The current brick available for testing is composed of three parts biochar and one part portland cement. If these composite bricks are scaled globally, there is potential for a 6% decrease in the original 8% global carbon dioxide emissions produced from cement [4]. Biochar can be used with waste plastic to create bricks to reduce global plastic waste as well. This was one of the routes Team Jackalope explored to see the viability of the brick in comparison to the biochar and cement and concrete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What does the previous work look like?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    The previous work conducted with biochar consists of a plaster, an energy source, and a soil additive among other uses.  The plaster composition is  50% biochar, 30% clay, and 20% sand, and it serves as an alternative to styrofoam insulation. This type of plaster allows houses to become carbon sinks as it absorbs smells and toxins. It has the potential to be implemented in hospitals, factories, and residential places among other buildings. As previously mentioned, the water absorption ability and low thermal conductivity allows for the biochar plaster to be an ideal replacement for insulation [5]. Next, biochar has been implemented as a carbon neutral energy source, but was proven to be an expensive process due to the pyrolysis process of certain biomass [6]. Therefore, this use of biochar is not observed in many places, but with more research and testing, it has the potential to serve as a cost-effective energy source. The steps toward a bioenergy world with biochar would start at the potential genetic engineering of plants to produce more biomass to convert to biochar. The last and most common use of biochar consists of it as a soil additive to improve soil quality through the retention of nutrients and water. It also has the ability to sequester carbon in the soil. However, this does allow for perturbation of the soil and subsequent release of carbon into the atmosphere. Alternative uses of biochar consists of waste management and air quality control [6].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Methods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Let’s dive into our prototypes!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n