Corobrick invests in new Extrusion Technology

Corobrik has taken another important step towards aligning all its operations with recognised international best practise, reducing energy consumption in manufacture and delivery of its bricks, while enhancing product attributes and affording cost savings to building contractors.

Consequent to extrusion technology advancements in brick manufacture in Europe, Australia and perfected in the USA, Corobrik has been busy over the past year verifying the benefits of the technology at its Phesantekraal factory located outside Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.

Explains Dirk Meyer, Operations Director for Corobrik, “The two important matters driving change at our factories has been the requirement that industry [in general] should pursue innovations designed to achieve incremental reductions in energy consumption and hence lower greenhouse gas emissions, and secondly that we pursue product innovations that will give our customers ever better products with concomitant productivity improvements.”

Says Chris Dickinson, Sales Director, “Notwithstanding that research undertaken for us by the CSIR confirms that our burnt clay bricks have a very low embodied energy commensurate with best international standards, Corobrik is mindful that every incremental saving in energy consumed will in time translate into lower greenhouse gas emissions benefiting our fragile natural environment. The advanced extrusion technology affords enhanced perforation to the brick body whilst increasing the brick’s fundamental integrity as a weather proof and structural building material.

From an in the wall application perspective, the structure of the 10 core holes afforded by this technology result in bricks of significantly greater strength and excellent weather resistance.

Independent tests on web loading undertaken by the SABS concluded that the bricks with the new 10 core hole configuration are fully fit for purpose in terms of various wall mounted units such as basins, wall hung toilets, toilet cisterns, awnings and such like.

In terms of resistance to wind driven rain, the same face bricks performed equally admirably, passing the 6 hour SABS rain penetration test.

From a productivity perspective, the new core design as tested by the SABS resulted in an 8,7% saving in the use of mortar when compared with a traditional 3 core hole brick.

The lighter mass of the bricks also affords opportunity for increase bricklayer productivity. The National Productivity Institute some years back established that a bricklayer can typically handle 2000kgs of material a day before productivity takes a tumble. A bricklayer doing straight brickwork using bricks with an individual mass of 2.9 kg would lay approximately 690 bricks in a day. The web structure facilitated by the new extrusion process results in a brick mass of approximately 2.6 kg, providing the opportunity to lay approximately 769 bricks a day, this a productivity increase in excess of 10 percent.

In the case of transport, the lighter mass of the bricks affords the opportunity to transport more bricks with each delivery and bring about a reduction in diesel consumption per 1000 bricks delivered.

Dirk Meyer adds,” This is one of those ‘perfect’ cases where we have been able to combine the proven benefits of international best practice with reduced energy consumption and hence greenhouse gas emissions to the South African environment, which is hugely satisfying. Although the energy reductions we will be achieving at each of our factories may be considered individually small, in the overall scheme of things, every incremental reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is vital in the context of their cumulative effect over time”.

For further information about Corobrik’s energy efficiency goals, contact Peter du Trevou on 031 560 3111.

There seems to be a debate raging on the energy-efficiency of different types of bricks – clay vs cement vs neolite vs those made from recycled materials. What are your thoughts? Let us know at info@desigmind.co.za