In the production process of autoclaved aerated concrete blocks, choosing an accurate curing method and a set of quality aerated concrete equipment manufacturers is essential. Autoclaved curing during production is a necessary condition for achieving strength and other performance characteristics. It not only affects the quality of the finished product but also relates to production efficiency and energy consumption. The best curing regimen not only provides adequate and reasonable curing for the green body, enabling the finished product to reach the designed strength in a short time, but also maximizes the avoidance of potential damage to the green body and the finished product.
Saturated steam at a certain pressure is an indispensable condition for autoclaved curing. Experiments have shown that aerated brick block equipment generally uses saturated steam with a gauge pressure greater than 0.8MPa. Such pressure can, within a certain period, quickly cause the silica in fly ash to react with the active calcium oxide in lime, generating the required hydrated calcium silicate gel to bond the fly ash particles and obtain the desired strength for the aerated concrete blocks. The autoclaved curing regimen should be determined based on the quality of raw materials used, the size of the steam pressure, and the required strength of the product. Both too long or too short autoclaved curing times are detrimental to the production of fly ash autoclaved bricks.
During the autoclaved curing process, a vacuum pump is first used to evacuate air from the autoclave for 30 minutes, ensuring that the pressure inside the autoclave is pure steam or close to pure steam pressure, thus guaranteeing the temperature required for the chemical reaction of the mixed material. To avoid cracks in the brick blanks caused by thermal stress differences, the temperature should be increased slowly and evenly over 1.5 hours until the pressure inside the autoclave reaches a gauge pressure of 0.8MPa, corresponding to a temperature of approximately 170°C to 174.5°C. At this temperature, it should be maintained for 7 hours to allow sufficient time for the active calcium oxide in the lime to chemically react with the silica in the fly ash, generating the required hydrated calcium silicate gel to bond the fly ash particles and achieve the desired strength. Subsequently, the steam inside the autoclave should be released gradually, taking 1.5 hours to cool down, preventing the blocks from cracking due to rapid cooling-induced thermal stress. The entire autoclaved curing cycle lasts 10.5 hours. When the steam pressure inside the autoclave drops to zero and the temperature is below 70°C, the autoclave door can be opened to remove the bricks. If steam pressure between 1.0MPa and 1.2MPa gauge pressure is used for curing, the constant-temperature time can be significantly shortened, reaching the required strength in 4.5 to 6 hours, greatly enhancing the utilization rate of the autoclave.
The essence of steam-cured brick equipment lies in ecological economics, with its core being the improvement of ecological environment utilization efficiency. Viewing the circular economy as a new mode of production, it is considered a new technical and economic paradigm when the ecological environment becomes a limiting factor for economic growth and excellent ecological environments become public goods. Its essence involves adjusting human production relationships, aiming for sustainable development.
Autoclaved curing for aerated bricks is an indispensable necessity. Therefore, we require investors to pay attention to these aspects to avoid losing more for less and causing unnecessary losses to their investments.
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