APPLICATION OF THE ARKOPAL N 100 SURFACTANT IN BRICK& TILE INDUSTRY

The application of ARKOPAL N 100 in brick&tile industry was examined. Surfactant was added to the water and four composites were formed. It's concentration was varied from 0 to 0.07 %. Drying process was monitored on tile samples. A set of isothermal experiments was recorded for each composite. Curves effective diffusivity vs moisture content were constructed. Cube samples were dried (250C and 70% RH) until it's absolute moisture content was reduced to 15, 10 and 5%. Compressive strength vs moisture content curves were also constructed. These curves allowed us to monitor the generation of cracks during drying and to determine the optimal concentration of ARKOPAL N 100 that allows drying without crack formation.