VietNamNet Bridge – The idea of making bricks from the SIT waste by three students in Hanoi has helped rescue the environment in the coal exploitation areas.

Tran Dai Nghia, Tran Duc Nam and Nguyen Huy Binh from the Hanoi Architecture University met big difficulties when starting their research work on the Phan Me coal mining site in Phuc Linh commune of Dai Tu district, in the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

For coal mining, miners have to remove the natural gravelly soil layer covering the open cast coal mines and the rocks in coal as well. The process then generates SIT waste.

This means that the exploitation of a big amount of coal every year in Vietnam produces a huge volume of waste to the environment. The only way to do with the waste was to pile it up.

A report showed that of the five billions of tons of SIT waste discharged so far in Vietnam, Thai Nguyen, the large mining area, makes up 20 percent.

This kind of waste not only caused serious pollution to the environment, it has been described as the “ticking time bomb,” which could bring danger to local people at any time. The piles of waste kicked dust on sunny days and threatened to cause landslide on rainy days.

In December 2012, the huge SIT waste ground in Phan Me suddenly broke and buried 10 houses and killed seven people.

Nghia, the head of the students’ team, said that he and the other two members watched the tragic accident on TV and they became determined to take actions to help clear the waste.

They found out that SIT waste can absolutely be reused, and decided to analyze the mineralized components to make bricks for construction works.

Binh, one of the three students, said when they came to the field they realized that the accident was even more serious than what they saw on TV. Local people did not have clean water for daily use, because the underground water got polluted with oil.  In the bad weather, no one dared to stay at home, because they feared the “mountains” of waste may fall any time.

The students have finally found the way to both clear the mountain of waste and generate new useful products - interlocking block bricks.

The product has a lot of advantages. According to Nghia, it has the compression strength of up to 600 kg/cm2. The bricks can be made into different shapes and colors.

Especially, mortar is not necessary during the construction work to adhere different bricks. This allows to easily disassemble construction works, especially the underground ones. The bricks, therefore, can be suitable to the areas that bear high loading capacity such as airport, pier, storehouse, pavement, amusement or sports areas.

The outstanding advantages of SIT-made bricks have been recognized by the Material Technology Institute. Meanwhile, the Hanoi-based Nam Song Hong Construction Company has decided to manufacture 2,000 square meters in the first period.

The production cost of the block bricks made of SIT waste is lower than the other block bricks made of macadam, thanks to the plentiful source of SIT waste.

Mai Chi