Do Xuan Luan et al Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHg 82(06) 131 135 DEVELOPMENT OF BRICK MANUFACTURE IN PHO YEN DISTRICT, THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE TOWARD ENVIRONMENT PRESERVATION Do Xuan Luan''''*, Duong Thanh Ti[.]
Do Xuan Luan et al Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHg 82(06): 131 135 DEVELOPMENT OF BRICK MANUFACTURE IN PHO YEN DISTRICT, THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE TOWARD ENVIRONMENT PRESERVATION Do Xuan Luan'*, Duong Thanh Tinh^ ' College ofAgriculture and Forestry - TNU, 'College of Economics & Business Administration - TN SUMMARY Manufacture of bricks is a potential in Pho Yen district Thai Nguyen province However, it is mostly done with simple technology, which causes environment pollution Annually, through manual brick production, 114,000 m^ of agricultural soil is destroyed and 11,250,000 tons of CO2 are released, which seriously affect agriculture and residents' health Therefore, it is necessary to apply the technology of Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) in brick manufacture in Pho Yen To change the technology, the district needs to synchronize the implementation of such actions as planning material and production areas, advertising the new technology and making essential conditions such as supporting capital and training for technology transformation Keywords: environmental pollution, brick manufacture, Pho Yen, Thai Nguyen STATEMENT AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Pho Yen has approximately 300 brick manufacturing units including industrial ones and mostly handmade ones Besides its contributions to the locality such as creating jobs and increasing incomes for local people, the development of this profession also revealed many shortcomings such as serious environmental pollution, influences on public health and agriculture With a desire to find out current state of handmade brick production, its impacts on the environment, to analyze and propose a new development approach towards friendlier enviroimient, the researcher chose the topic '''Development of brick manufacture in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen province toward friendly environment" RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The researchers used the method of comparison statistics and such data collection instruments as secondary information collection, unstructured and structured interview and SWOT analysis Tel: 0985 946507 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION State of handmade brick manufacture in Pho Yen Pho Yen has many advantages to produce bricks In addition to convenient location and abundant labor forces, it has a rich resource of materials and fuel The district has about clay mines with a volume of approximately 19 million m^ including weathered clay and sediment which are good enough for brick manufacture It is estimated that up to 2020, Pho Yen will have used up million m^, accounting for 37%) of the available material On the other hand, the district nearby two large coal mines has as Nui Hong and Khanh Hoa with a volume of about 63 million tons; therefore, it is very easy to transport coal to brick making units in all communes [3] Brick-making is a traditional craft which has been developed since 1960 in the region At present, bricks are produced in almost all of the communes in the district (15/18), mostiy in Dac Son, Trung Thanh, Van Phai, Tien Phong, Dong Cao, Thanh Cong and Nam Tien [1] Up to 2009, Pho Yen had 290 traditional brick making units and Tunnel ones Most of products were through manual process Annually, 131 Do Xuan Luan el al T^p chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHg the kilns made 75 million bricks, accounting for 75%) of the total bricks in the district They were virtually consumed within the district (70%) to meet the demands of industrialization and urbanization Besides, they were supplied for the surrounding districts such as Soc Son, I liep Hoa, Dai Tu and Phu Binh |4] Each kiln provided employments for 30 to 40 people with an average income of 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 VND per capita per month It was revealed from the investigation that 85% of them were unskilled manual labors They had to work in unsafe, hot and dusty environment where many accidents were caused by pressing machines Due to manual techniques, stages of loading mud bricks into kilns, firing and cooling were discontinuous among firing batches They also took place independently in a burning chamber Therefore, firing process was long, did not use up heat, especially heat stored in kiln walls, which caused waste of fuel and environment pollution Quality of bricks was unequal amongfiringfimes and relied on brick makers' experience That was a challenge to brick craft because customers were having a tendency to buy bricks from the manufacturers who used advanced technology which gave products with standard measures and tested quality and which was friendly to environment Impacts of manual brick manufacture on environment, agriculture and public health 82(06): 131 135 290 brick kilns which were active in the area of 709,000 m^ produced 75 million bricks annually At the same time, 114,000 m^ of soil was dug and taken away The work of ecological restoration in exploited areas was not well, leading to adverse impacts on the environment and natural landscape Traditional brick kilns gave offa large quantity of CC)2 into the atmosphere Research results showed that to make I million bricks, the kilns in Pho Yen would release an average amount of 150,000 tons of CO2 Thus, if they produced 75 million bricks a year, they would emit around 11,225,000 tons of CO2 According to the kiln owners and residents' complaint, if CO2 was blown through fruit gardens and paddy fields, it would cause crop failure Corn and sweet potato fields were also dried by smoke from the kilns However, the influence depended on amount of smoke, growing and developing periods of different kinds of trees In addition, exhausted smoke caused respiratory diseases such as coughing and pneumonia Production of the traditional brick kilns had resulted to arisen many serious problems There had been many lawsuits occurring to cause disunity within villages Every year, the brick kiln owners spent hundred millions dong of compensation for crop damage due to C02 emissions from the brick kilns Table Analysis on state of handmade brick manufacture in Pho Yen Strengths traditional crafl rich resources of material and fuel abundant labor forces Weaknesses - manual techniques - environment pollution - spontaneous development, close to residential areas - unskilled manual labors Challenges Chances Provisions of the state that progressively be supported to change technology eliminated brick kilns contaminating environment attract investment in production by advanced methods until the end of 2010 access to the market to meet great demand of bricks Resources to convert environmentally friendly technology Demand for high quality bricks (According to the authors' generalization of research results 132 Do Xuan Luan et al Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHg General assessment on brick production in Pho Yen By collecting secondary information and interviewing local authorities, kiln owners and residents, the researchers generalized assessments on the profession, and presented them on table It showed that brick-making in Pho Yen had many strengths and chances for development, but still remained a large number of shortcomings and challenges, especially environment problems Hence, to develop this employment, it is necessary to change the technology in the direction of friendly to environment technology and suitable for local conditions Technology of VSBK, a new development approach friendly to environment The traditional brick kilns in Pho Yen with their existing weaknesses caused a lot of serious problems The district currentiy had Tunnel kilns which were not popular because the cost of construction was too expensive, not suitable for small and medium scale production households 82(06): 131 135 VSBK showed many advantages and was a highly feasible solution in the present period Technology of VSBK consistent with small and medium enterprises had been successfully applied in many provinces such as Lai Chau, Bac Kan, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hung Yen , Hoa Binh, Ha Tay, Hai Duong, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, (^uang Binh, Dac Lak, Ben Tre, Dong Nai and Phu Quoc In Pho Yen, research results revealed that VSBK had more strengths than the traditional ones {see table 2) Comparison between them was showed in details with following items Capacity of VSBK: it was designed based on modules Each module had a capacity of about 1.5 million solid 215 x 100 x 60 mm bricks or million hollow bricks in the same size Invested capital: the annual capital invested for each establishment having a capacity of million hollow bricks was about 350- 400 million dongs Saving of energy and environment pollution reduction (see table 3) Table Comparison between two technologies Criteria Exhausted smoke Fuel Brick quality Types of products Labor assignment Traditional kilns VSBK 11.5 times; CO2 and SO2 decreased Smoke reduced More smoke in high heat times; smoke in low heat Waste fiiel Save 45% of fuel, compared to kilns using coal and 35% compared to those using wood type A: 85% ; broken ones 15% Type A: over 95%, broken ones: under 5% Mostly solid bricks and hollow Solid bricks, hollow bricks with holes, holes and bricks with holes holes Part-time labors Due to continuous production, it is easy to arrange work (According to the authors' investigation data) Table Comparison of input parameters of 100 solid bricks (2kg/brick) between t^vo types of kilns Parameters Use of tiny coal Labors Ratio of broken bricks Material Product quality Unit kg labor % m Vietnamese standard 6355-98 VSBK 100 2.1