Rawalpindi: Environment-friendly brick kilns start functioning

[Naveed Yaseen]

Rawalpindi
Kicking off a new era of environment-friendly initiatives, two units based on third generation vertical shaft brick kiln technology (3G-VSBK) have started functioning in the city on experimental basis.

Established in Loi Bher, these brick kilns can pave the way for introduction of new technology to reduce environmental hazards.

The work on the construction of third brick kiln based on the same technology has been completed and it would also start functioning next week.

According to experts, the 3G-VSBK is a new Chinese brick manufacturing technology, combining with the energy efficient firing of the vertical kiln with the traditional slow cooling, which is most efficient and can potentially save a tremendous amount of coal if run in an optimal manner. These brick kilns would emit a very low amount of smoke, as compared to traditional brick kilns.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) has provided technical assistance under its energy efficient brick production (EEBP) project to the local owners who themselves financed the plan after its successful implementation in India, Nepal, Afghanistan.

These brick kilns are generally set up over an area of 2 kanals and around 10 labourers are enough to run them in an efficient way.

The VSBK technology is classed as a continuous updraft kiln and represents a comparatively new and unique method of firing bricks. It was developed in China in the late 1960s during the cultural revolution, when there was a large demand for bricks in the rural areas of

China.

Talking to ‘The News’ VSBK Coordinator Suleman Gul said newly set up brick kilns are being run on experimental basis and regular production would be started in the coming weeks. “We would start their regular production in the next few weeks because at the moment, we are reviewing all aspects of working and functioning of these brick kilns,” he said.

A Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) is an energy efficient technology for fired clay brick production.

This technology has about 10,000 kilns running at present. In India, the VSBK technology was introduced at a pilot scale in 1996 and presently 20 kilns are operational. It essentially consists of one or more rectangular, vertical shafts within the kiln structure.

Suleman Gul said that they have tested the quality of bricks prepared in the brick kilns, saying it is a matter of extreme pleasure that their production units are producing high quality bricks with the help of environmental friendly technology.

The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) has already given its nod to the project and is also extending its support to the consultants and the owners as well.

He said that new technology is 70 per cent efficient and can ensure high quality at low cost. The VSBK technology, he said, considerably economizes on fuel costs, with savings of between 30 to 50 per cent when compared to other common firing technologies such as clamps or Bull’s Trench Kilns. “Pollution levels are extremely reduced compared to other prevalent methods of brick firing,” he said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=179792