Hempcrete Blocks from Hurd, Lime and Biochar BB’s at Utopia Hemp.

Hempcrete Building Blocks are made with spheroidal Biochar BB sized particles reinforcing the morphology of cast cement building blocks is here with a process and machinery that blends “Biochar BB ‘s” with lime and water on demand. An automated conveyor articulates an empty mold into the filling position then tamps down the slurry before moving out of the machine.

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The dry materials are blended into a slurry progressively as water is injected and finally mixed into a slurry with the right density just prior to mold deposition.

Each rotor has 0.75 HP of power available to it spinning at about 200 RPM. The interior of the machine is totally washable from the inside after a duty cycle

Reference: Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli
Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Turin, Italy; devid.falliano@polito.it (D.F.); juan.carvajal@studenti.polito.it (J.F.C.);
adriana.bravoceli@polito.it (A.C.B.C.); giuseppe.ferro@polito.it (G.A.F.); luciana.restuccia@polito.it (L.R.) “The improvements of mechanical properties are due to biochar acting as a micro-reinforcement in the cementitious paste, contributing to a more compact matrix, and an increase in the toughness of a brittle material.”

The “Biochar BB’s” distribute firmly in the wet slurry matrix due to their extreme light weight. They diffuse evenly throughout the wet lime slurry during blending..

They provide a 15% increase in flexural strength and impact resistance however, the real value is in the energy savings over time with improved thermal performance wit the added carbon..

The composite cast morphology consists of Biochar BB’s, lime and Hurd and perhaps some pre-mixed silica (sand) filler too.

Biochar adheres positively with lime forming a carbon-calcium composite matrix that outperforms typical conventional cement building block morphologies in terms of flexural and compressive strength, R value..

Traditional block sizes and types are possible with the mold geometry providing for the various sizes and types of traditional time proven and building code approved building blocks.

Building Code Compliant Block manufacturing

This novel approach adds water on demand in five progressive mixing stages after initial dry blending of the constituent materials and allows controlling the rate of hydration producing a block that is both stronger and with a higher R value over existing technology.

The Helical Rotors are fabricated as mild steel weldments in both R.H. and mirror imaged L.H. so the splines can mesh with the adjacent rotors as shown above here.

The rotors are 8″ in diameter and 18″ long. They provide a very homogenous mixture prior to being hydrated then dropped into the mold as a slurry. The splines on the rotors mesh with each other as they spin.

Helical rotors provide increased surface contact areas with more aggressive shearing forces to produce an aqueous slurry of multiple ingredients of varying densities.

Three helical splines provide the blending kinetics for a homogenous blend morphology. A fabrication fixture is available on a different post on this site for the manufacture of this unique blending rotor.

The helically splined rotors shown here are 18″ long x 6″ in diameter. They are extremely efficient in diffusing particulate solids into a homogenous blended morphology with the increased surface area provided by the helical geometry..

The blending kinetics are equally aggressive in each subsequent vertical blending stage thus providing matrix uniformity and consistent high quality raw material for the cast block.

This machinery is available for manufacture with full engineering shop CAD drawings and IP license.

Enquire herein for price and info.