Development of Rice Bran Mixed Porous Clay Bricks for Permeable Pavements: A Sustainable LID Technique for Arid Regions

Abstract

Permeable pavement provides sustainable solutions for urban stormwater management. In this research, the potential of rice bran mixed porous clay bricks were evaluated for permeable pavements. Physical, mechanical and hydrological properties along with stormwater treatment capabilities of the brick samples were assessed. The study found that ratio of rice bran and clay soil has significant impacts on the properties of the produced bricks. Water adsorption and porosity increased with increasing rice bran ratio. Compressive strength of brick samples decreased from 29.6 MPa to 6.9 MPa when the ratio of rice bran was increased from 0% to 20%. The permeability coefficient increased from 4 × 10−4 to 1.39 × 10−2 mm/s with the increase in rice bran from 0% to 30%. The preamble clay bricks were efficient to remove turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), five days’ biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and heavy metals (Mn, Cu, and Zn) from stormwater to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) standard for wastewater reuse application. The bricks with ≤10% of rice bran achieved the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard of the desire compressive strength and permeability coefficient for pedestrian and light traffic pavements. The porous bricks prepared in this study can be used to construct permeable pavements and would be a sustainable low impact developments technique for stormwater management in urban areas.

Evaluating Permeable Clay Brick Pavement for Pollutant Removal from Varying Strength Stormwaters in Arid Regions

“…The bricks were manufactured by mixing the clay soil with rice bran at a ratio of 90% and 10% by weight. At this mixing ratio, the bricks achieved sufficient compressive strength and permeability coefficients, meeting the American society for testing and materials(ASTM) standards for pedestrian and light traffic [29]. Figure 1 briefly outlines the steps involved in the brick making procedure.…”

“…Finally, the bricks were fired at 900 • C for 2 h at a rate of 10 • C/min. Table 1 presents the main physical and hydrological properties of the clay bricks [29]. The details on the permeable clay bricks' manufacturing can be seen in Al Harbi et al [29].…”

“…strength and permeability coefficients, meeting the American society for testing and materials(ASTM ) standards for pedestrian and light traffic [29]. Figure 1 briefly outlines the steps involved in the brick making procedure.…”

“…The effect of variations in SW quality on the PPs' performance needs to be further studied. Recently, Al Harbi et al [29] used a mixture of clay soil and rice bran to develop a novel porous clay brick to apply as a permeable pavement surface layer. The unique materials and fabrication process of the brick can lead to a distinct performance in comparison with the existing permeable bricks.…”

“…The present research assessed the performance of the permeable clay bricks to apply it as a permeable pavement surface layer, developed by Al Harbi et al [29], in terms of infiltration capacity and pollutant removal using a laboratory setting. The pollutant removal efficiency of the brick was evaluated for two different strengths of contaminated SW.…”