Smoke comes out from kilns at a brickfield on the outskirt of Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 6, 2021.
Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto by way of Getty Pictures/NurPhoto
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Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto by way of Getty Pictures/NurPhoto
Through the dry winter months in Bangladesh, hundreds of staff shovel hundreds of thousands of tons of coal into kilns throughout the nation. As columns of hand-packed bricks bake and harden, darkish plumes of smoke pour out of greater than 8,000 smokestacks that mark the skyline of each rural and concrete areas.
“It is numerous black smoke, impacting the employees and close by villagers, but additionally the general air high quality of the area,” stated Sameer maithelan engineer with Greentech Information Options, a consulting agency in Delhi, India.
Bangladesh’s air constantly ranks among the many most polluted on Earth. Brick kilns contribute wherever from 10 to 40% of the tiny particles that make up that air pollution. These particles can enter our lungs and even our bloodstream, inflicting well being issues, together with respiratory illnesses, stroke and even cognitive issues.
However one thing so simple as stacking the bricks a distinct means might put a important dent in that air pollutionin response to a brand new examine of over 275 kilns printed in Science by Maithel and his colleagues.
“That is great proof of how easy low value interventions can have a big effect on power use,” stated William Checkley, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins College who wasn’t concerned within the examine. “If we will implement these, we might have a major impression in power use and emissions, enhancing air high quality all through southeast Asia.”
The need of brick
Bricks are the principle constructing block for Bangladesh. The densely populated and quickly urbanizing nation produces practically 30 million bricks a 12 months – greater than 90% from loosely regulated, coal-burning kilns.
“It is fairly easy and cheap to arrange traditional-style brick kilns, so that they’ve simply proliferated,” stated Nina Brooksa world well being researcher at Boston College.
The method goes one thing like this: First, dun-colored clay bricks are molded with a wood field and stacked within the solar to dry. Subsequent, lots of of hundreds of bricks are stacked within the firing chamber and lined with ash. Then, staff shovel heaps and plenty of coal because the bricks fireplace, firming them up.
“The combustion effectivity of those brick kilns is absolutely low,” stated Brooks, that means they find yourself burning much more coal than they should, “Which is why they’re so closely polluting right here.”
Every kiln can make use of as much as 200 staff. They’re essentially the most straight impacted by the smoke, with one examine discovering practically 80% report some form of respiratory issues. However they are not the one ones. Kilns are sometimes near densely populated areas, including to the smog that comes from metropolis life.
Brick staff stability stacks of bricks on their heads because the carry them from the kiln close to Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/Anadolu Company/Getty Pictures/Anadolu
Whereas there are laws on the place kilns can and may’t function, they are not at all times adopted, stated Brooks. “We discovered that 77% of brick kilns are illegally positioned too shut to a college.”
Fashionable, high-tech kilns produce considerably much less air pollution, however they’re as much as 25 occasions dearer to construct and function. “They’ve probably not taken off,” stated Brooks.
As a substitute, the workforce seemed for options that might be simpler and cheaper for the common brick producer to undertake.
Easy interventions
In his a long time of working with brick kiln house owners in India as a consulting engineer, Maithel has seen questionable practices.
Many kiln operators pack too many bricks within the kiln too tightly, he stated. That tight spacing chokes out oxygen circulation, which is required for environment friendly burning. It additionally means scorching coals get caught on the high of the stack as an alternative of falling to the underside, main some bricks to be overbaked and others not fired sufficient.
He is additionally seen that staff usually shovel coal in bouts, working arduous in groups of two or three, after which all taking breaks collectively. That leads to uneven fueling, which may stymie effectivity too.
As an power programs engineer, Maithel knew that a couple of easy adjustments might actually assist. Merely stacking the bricks in a zig-zag sample that will increase airflow and making certain coal will get delivered extra constantly ought to assist the kilns function extra effectively, he stated.”The higher you’ll be able to present gasoline and air mixing, the likelihood of black smoke shall be much less.”
To see if such easy interventions might assist cut back air air pollution and enhance earnings, the workforce deliberate a large experiment throughout 276 kilns. One group of kiln house owners and staff had been taught find out how to implement these interventions. One other group obtained the identical coaching plus information on how the adjustments would lower your expenses. The management group obtained no coaching.
Then, throughout firing season within the winter, the researchers measured numerous points of kiln efficiency, together with gasoline use.
So, did it work?
The outcomes had been promising.
Kilns that adopted these measures noticed important advantages. On common, gasoline use dropped by about 23 %, the examine discovered. The researchers estimate that would scale back the carbon dioxide and particulate matter popping out of the kilns by about 20%.
“We confirmed that straightforward, low-cost interventions can actually cut back air pollution,” stated Mahbubur Rahman, an environmental well being researcher on the Worldwide Centre for Diarrhoeal Illness Analysis, Bangladesh.
And the adjustments improved each employee circumstances and the underside traces for kiln house owners. Over the season, they’d saved near $40,000 every due to diminished gasoline use, stated Brooks. Brick high quality went up as nicely.
In truth, kiln house owners had been so impressed {that a} 12 months later, people who had adopted the brand new practices had been nonetheless training them.
However to actually make a dent in Bangladesh’s air air pollution, many extra kilns must signal on. The analysis workforce, which incorporates scientists from the U.S., India and Bangladesh, are actually working with the Bangladeshi authorities to develop this coaching.
“It is a hopeful story,” Brooks says, “of a spot the place options are fairly possible.”
