In case of architectural purposes, generally, two different types of bricks are used- the regular ones with which the houses and the buildings are made and the fire bricks which form the heart of your fireplace.
Firebrick walls are definitely the epitome of rustic decor, which suits any type of architectural style and enhances the beauty of the place. This particular decor style is mainly found in places like the fireplace, the kitchen, and the foyer. No matter how old the wall is, it always looks fantabulous with the burnt sienna color of the old bricks and the brown mortar present in between them.
The regular bricks on the other hand are burnt in the furnaces where they harden and become brittle. The color varies according to the changing temperature and hence, deeper the shade of brown, harder the brick will be.
Both the firebricks and the regular bricks might look similar in appearance with negligible differences if not taken a deep look but they do have their own differences. And these differences mainly come in the form of the features which make both these types inherently appropriate for building an entire architectural structure.
DIFFERENCE IN TEMPERATURE TOLERANCE
As the name sounds, the firebricks are used in places with high temperature. Their chemical composition enables them to withstand very high temperature and hence, they decompose at a slower rate. This is the reason why they are used in fire hearth, fireplace oven, industrial furnace linings, and so on.
On the other hand, the regular bricks are generally used for the construction purposes as because they cannot withstand very high temperature. In fact, they will start decomposing at a temperature of twelve hundred Fahrenheit.
DIFFERENCE IN COMPOSITION
The firebricks manufacturers in West Bengal make sure to keep the chemical composition in a way which will make the bricks heat tolerant and sturdy. As a matter of fact, the firebricks contain 23% alumina or the industrial aluminium oxide, and 73% silica or silicon dioxide. The rest is composed of oxides of metals like iron and titanium.
However, in the case of the regular bricks, the chemical composition varies from silica, alumina, magnesia, lime, iron oxides, and various water-soluble alkalis. While making the bricks, the percentage of each chemical compound is fixed so that the brick is not harmed. The bond strength in ppm is more in case of the firebricks than the regular ones and hence, it is quite difficult to break the bonds and decompose the material.
DIFFERENCE IN COLOR AND SHAPE
When we are considering the color of the firebricks, the natural and the most common one is the white. However, if impurities are added during the manufacturing, the color varies from moss green to red and jet black. The ranging colors will help you in matching the bricks with the surroundings. Considering the regular bricks, their color varies according to the color of the soil which is used to manufacture the bricks.
Firebricks are perfectly rectangular with proper edges and sharp corners. However, the rectangular bricks might be rectangular or they might be irregular in shape. This irregularity results in the deformity of the regular bricks.
DIFFERENCE IN THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
When we consider the thermal conductivity of the bricks sold by the ceremic brick suppliers in India, the regular bricks can conduct more heat than the firebricks. The firebricks are heat tolerant as they can withstand high temperatures without decomposing itself. However, these bricks cannot transfer heat from one point to another and hence, they have zero or almost negligible thermal conductivity.
However, the regular bricks are able to conduct the heat and hence they have considerable value for thermal conductivity.