Researchers from Freight Pipeline Company (FPC) taking part in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored project have found that bricks made from fly ash -- fine ash particles captured as waste by coal-fired power plants -- may be even safer than predicted. Instead of leaching minute amounts of mercury as earlier predicted, the bricks apparently do the reverse, pulling minute amounts of the toxic metal out of ambient air.
Each year, 25 million tons of fly ash are recycled, generally as additives in building materials such as concrete, but 45 million tons go to waste. Fly ash bricks find a use for some of that waste and counter the environmental impact from the high-temperature kiln manufacture of standard bricks.
Once colored and shaped, the bricks are similar to their clay counterparts in both appearance and in meeting or exceeding construction-material standards. Supported by NSF's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, FPC made fly ash bricks more durable by engineering them to resist freezing and thawing due to weather. A second-phase SBIR award will test the brick material's safety and prepare it for market.
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