Resi2Pores

Duration

01.12.2024 - 30.11.2026

Almost every third residential building in Germany is constructed from bricks. Porous bricks play a decisive role in this. They owe their name to the tiny cavities that give them excellent sound and thermal insulation properties. As a result, porous bricks make an important contribution to saving energy in the building sector. For their production, so-called porosifying agents are added to the brick clay, which burn during the sintering process and leave behind pores. Styrofoam, coal and, in particular, paper catching materials are used as porosifying agents. However, very few porosification agents are completely biogenic and therefore CO2-neutral. In the case of paper pulp, it is the fossil lime that causes CO2 emissions. Porosification therefore contributes to 14 per cent of the emissions from brickworks. However, the technical properties of established porosification agents are not always ideal. The aim of the project is to develop a treatment process for urban sewage sludge via hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) with integrated phosphorus recovery to produce novel biogenic porosification agents for the brick and tile industry with specifically adjusted properties.