Re: [papercreters] Re: rice hulls anyone?

Dear S. Guy,

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  I plan on trying some tests during the national holiday here next Wednesday.   I was thinking on making small test panels 30cm x 30cm x 5 cm (12" x 12" x 2").  Maybe 3 different cement/paper ratios and each of these with 3 different rice hull dosages.  Does that sound appropriate?  What should the drying conditions be?  It's still rainy season here and I was thinking to make the blocks in a open shed we have... do we need direct sun light for drying?

 

Do you think the rice hulls should soak before testing?    They are pretty crunchy and crispy things, should give lite weight blocks. Would Calcium Chloride in the soak water help?  The CaCL is sometimes used in making woodwool/cement panels to help the cement bond with the wood.

 

On a side note, I saw a house made from peanut shell/cement blocks some years ago in Indonesia.... but no details of construction were available at the time of my visit.  We tried coconut fibre/cement panels here once, but the results were not so good and the group I was working with got discouraged too quickly before we could get the bugs out.

 

I also researched the rice hull ash thing some years ago.  Apparently it's very important to control the burn temp so that the crystal structure is not melted.  Then the ash should be ball milled to such and such microns to get maximum pozzolanic action.

 

I have been looking for several years, but no baling machine here in Cambodia.  Thought about building a hand baler, but I sort of doubt the results will be satisfactory for bail stacking.  Anyway, rice straw is already used for animal feed during dry season here, everyone in the countryside has a old fashion hay stack in front of their house.

 

Looking forward to more feedback,

 

Robert-

 

 

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: slurryguy

To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 2:31 AM

Subject: [papercreters] Re: rice hulls anyone?

Hi Robert, Welcome to the group.

I personally have not heard of anyone using rice hulls in
papercrete. That does NOT mean it would not work. In fact it might
work extremely well.

I have heard of many instances of using rice hull ASH as a concrete
additive. My understanding is that it acts as a pozzolan. While I
do not think un-burned rice hulls will act as a pozzolan, they might
still work well in papercrete if the proper mix ratio can be
determined.

There is always one best way to find out. TRY IT AND SEE! I would
suggest mixing up a series of 5 - 10 different small samples. Each
sample would have a progressively larger amount of rice hulls. Once
the samples are cured and dried you would be able to compare them and
see what the best mix ratio is for your purposes.

Of course, PLEASE post your results to the group.

On a related topic: There are several instances of people using rice
straw bales to build straw-bale homes. Rice straw is actually the
most preferred straw to use for strawbale construction, but it is not
widely available in the U.S.

I look forward to learning more about your efforts. It certainly
makes sense to take advantage of the resources that are available in
your local area. When you can take advantage of an unused waste
product it especially makes sense.

--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "phnompenh44" <robdeutsch@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Builders,
>
> I'm new to this group, so please excuse me if this is an old topic.
I
> was wondering if anyone has worked with rice hull papercrete or rice
> hull stabilized earth (earth with lime or cement added)?
>
> I was thinking that material might be a winner here in Cambodia for
> low-cost housing, either as panels or blocks. Could be tipped up
into
> place or block set-up like cinder block with mortar joints. Could
> even do hollow blocks.
>
> What kind of hull/cement/soil or paper ratios would be required?
Does
> anyone have a recipe book?
>
> Has anyone tried papercrete panels with internal bamboo frames? How
> about shattered bamboo added to the mix?
>
> How will the stuff hold-up in a wet monsoon environment??
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Robert in Cambodia
>

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