Analysis of Technological Models used in South Africa

The brick sector is a key player in the South African industrial landscape. The 100 or so industrial brick companies produce some 3.5 billion bricks annually. While most of this production takes place in clamp kilns, there are a number of fixed kilns used, including tunnel kilns, Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns, Hoffman kilns and others.

As part of the Bricks Initiative project in Colombia, a site visit was conducted to South Africa to assess the efficiency in terms of use of fuels and energy efficiency to evaluate its transferability to Colombia's brick sector and local circumstances.The following report provides a comparative analysis of the technological models used for brick production in South Africa. This report aims to transfer knowledge to brick entrepreneurs and decision makers interested in advancing technological changes in the sector.