Silka

The supporting power of comfortable buildings

Silka sand-lime brick is a solid, natural material, made of sand, lime and water. This composition gives Silka products unique properties and processing advantages. As a result, with Silka you can build fast, good, flexible and labor-friendly. There is a Silka solution for every challenge, from residential construction to renovation and from non-residential construction to budget sector.

The production of Silka requires relatively little energy, no harmful substances are released and the material is fully recyclable. Building with sand-lime brick therefore means building with a sustainable material.

Sand and lime
The main raw materials of sand-lime brick, as the name implies, are sand and lime. Sand-lime brick consists of about 93% sand and about 7% lime. The sand for production is extracted at the Silka sand-lime brick production sites in the immediate vicinity. The lime is prepared by burning limestone from Belgium and Germany.

Mixture
Lime, sand and a small amount of water are dosed and mixed in the correct amounts. This mixture is passed to a reactor in which the quicklime reacts with water. From here the mixture finds its way to the presses where it is compressed into the desired shapes ( stones , blocks or elements ). Subsequently, curing takes place in the autoclave. This production process is energy efficient: there are no harmful emissions, because gas is used for power generation.

Recycling
Production waste is produced during the production of sand-lime bricks. This consists of rejected products and sawing residues. Today, most of the production waste is reused by breaking it and feeding it back into the production process. The broken rubble serves as a substitute for sand. A smaller part is reused as foundation material in road construction. A new application of this broken rubble is as surfacing for bicycle paths in nature reserves. Due to the natural appearance of the rubble and the very limited maintenance required by the material, this application is highly appreciated.