Zig
zag Brick kiln—A positive step towards carbon emission in Bangladesh
Carbon-di-oxide
is the main culprit for carbon emission which leads to climate change &
environmental pollution in a country. Bangladesh is most vulnerable to climate
change & environmental pollution due to huge amount of carbon emission in
the atmosphere. There are several factors responsible for carbon emission. Brick kiln is one of them which emits a huge
amount of carbon-di-oxide gas in the
atmosphere of the country. The Bull Trench Kilns had the largest market share
for long one hundred & fifty years. Then comes the Fixed Chimney kilns
(FCK).There are other brick kilns like Zigzag kilns, gas fired Hoffman kilns
(HK) and Hybrid Hoffman kilns (HHK) to produce bricks. One
study reveals that in 2006, market share for different brick kilns in
Bangladesh was FCK-75.4 per cent, BTK-19.2 per cent, Zigzag kiln-4.8 per cent
and HK-0.6 per cent. Though Hybrid Hoffman kiln & tunnel kiln are the
latest kilns technology to produce bricks, yet Zig zag technology is the pioneer because Zigzag
kilns are comparatively better in terms of fuel use and carbon emission. Both
BTKs and FCKs are poorly constructed and cause excessive leakage through the
kiln walls. The conventional BTK and FCK consume huge amount of fuel but fail
to utilize the effective heat energy for burning bricks. In the back drop of
the present context, remission of carbon emission is a vital issue for
ecological balance. In the mean time, the Bull Trench Kilns (BTK) & the
Fixed Chimney kilns (FCK) have lost their appeal. It is estimated that a Fixed
chimney (with 120 ft stack height) brick kiln (BTK requires almost the same)
requires approximately 4-5 acres of land including around 2 acres for the kiln
itself to install and operate. The gas fired Hoffman kilns and Hybrid Hoffman
kilns are comparatively new addition in this country and they operate round the
year. As the utility companies discourage gas supply to brick kilns, a limited
number (approximately 30) of gas fired Hoffman kilns operate in the country and
they are mainly established in and around Dhaka. The Tunnel kiln has no market
share in our country because it has not become popular so far. The Zig zag kiln
is the most prominent kiln technology in term of fuel consumption & carbon emission though its heat insulation system generally is not
significantly better than FCK.
