Cleaner production of geopolymer bricks using Solar-LPG hybrid dryer

Bricks are a common building material produced in various methods by harnessing energy. To meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is an urgent demand for sustainable bricks that utilize less energy and produce less pollution. This research aims to develop and build a hybrid solar-LPG dryer system for drying geopolymer bricks, a cutting-edge technology for making bricks. The present study employs a method encompassing the design of a solar dryer, mix design for geopolymer concrete, production of geopolymer bricks, solar-LPG dryer drying of bricks, and the performance analysis of dryer and the bricks are analysed. The solar dryer, drying chamber, LPG heater, and solar collector are the parts of the geopolymer brick dryer where energy is stored and transferred. Geopolymer bricks are manufactured using an automatic brick-making machine and dried in a hybrid solar-LPG dryer. The findings indicate that the system's drying efficiency is 30% while the backup LPG system operates at a temperature of 30 degrees C. As the geopolymer bricks dry, the collector's maximum output temperature rises to 60 degrees C. Within 10 h of drying, the moisture content of the geopolymer bricks decreases from 20% to 0% using solar drying system, which provides 70.93% of the heat energy. The bricks produced perform better than conventional bricks with a sustainable energy drying method.