Demand for Permeable Bricks Surges by 24.5%: Selection of Specialized Brick-Making Machines for Sponge City Construction

Demand for Permeable Bricks Surges by 24.5%: Selection of Specialized Brick-Making Machines for Sponge City Construction

With the acceleration of global urbanization, urban flooding, the heat island effect, and water shortages are becoming increasingly severe. The advancement of China's "sponge city" construction strategy has led to a surge in demand for permeable bricks as a core stormwater management material. Industry data shows that the market size of permeable bricks in my country exceeded 54 billion yuan in 2025, and the demand growth rate is expected to reach 24.5% in 2026. This trend places higher demands on the selection of specialized brick-making machines—equipment must balance solid waste resource utilization, intelligent production, and compatibility with sponge city standards.

I. Upgraded Demand Drives Equipment Iteration: Special Requirements for Brick-Making Machines in Permeable Brick Production

Compared to ordinary concrete bricks, permeable bricks, due to their dual characteristics of "high permeability" and "high strength," place higher demands on the raw material adaptability, molding precision, and process compatibility of brick-making machines, highlighting the increasingly prominent technical shortcomings of traditional brick-making machines.

1. From a product performance perspective, national standards require permeable bricks to have a permeability coefficient of no less than 1×10⁻² cm/s and a 28-day compressive strength ≥28MPa, while also possessing good frost resistance and anti-clogging properties. This necessitates that brick-making machines can achieve uniform and dense molding of raw materials while preserving a reasonable internal pore structure to avoid excessive compression leading to blockage of permeable channels.

2. From a raw material trend perspective, current permeable brick production widely utilizes solid waste raw materials such as lithium smelting slag, construction waste, and fly ash. Lithium slag, after activation, has an activity index of 91%–93%, which can replace 30% of cement or 40% of natural sand, reducing raw material costs by 18% and improving permeability. This presents new challenges to the raw material compatibility and mixing uniformity of brick-making machines.

3. From a policy perspective, since the release of the "Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Construction of Sponge Cities" in 2015, the national level has issued more than 20 related policies, explicitly requiring that the permeable paving rate in newly built urban areas be no less than 80%. First-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have mandated the use of permeable bricks in municipal roads, squares, and other areas through legislation. For example, Beijing's 14th Five-Year Plan proposes that by 2025, the proportion of areas meeting sponge city standards will reach 35%, directly driving an annual demand for permeable bricks exceeding 200 million square meters.

II. Key Selection Points for Dedicated Brick Making Machines: Comprehensive Consideration of Parameters and Scenarios The selection of dedicated brick making machines for permeable bricks should revolve around four core aspects: performance suitability, raw material compatibility, environmental compliance, and efficiency matching. Accurate decisions should be made based on production scale, product positioning, and policy requirements, focusing on the following dimensions:

(I) Molding System: Balancing Strength and Permeability Molding pressure and vibration parameters determine the performance of permeable bricks. It is recommended to choose a large-tonnage hydraulic brick making machine with a molding pressure of 1200-1500t, using graded pressurization technology to ensure strength and permeability. The vibration system should adopt a high-frequency, low-amplitude design, with a frequency of 2800-3200r/min and an amplitude of 0.5-1mm, equipped with variable frequency speed control to adapt to different raw materials. For the production of irregularly shaped bricks, innovative brick-making machines are selected, such as layered side-mounted material distribution layouts and integrated movable mold frames, to solve secondary material distribution losses and accurately form various brick shapes. Simultaneously, mold precision is checked, selecting high-precision steel molds with dimensional deviations ≤ ±2mm and uniform pore distribution.

(II) Raw Material Matching and Mixing System: Adapting to the Trend of Solid Waste Utilization

Raw material matching capability determines the solid waste blending ratio and product stability. The mixing system uses a "dual-shaft forced mixing + premixing device," with dry mixing ≥1min and wet mixing ≥2min, ensuring uniform mixing of solid waste with cement and aggregates. The silo is equipped with grading and screening devices and moisture content detection devices to automatically adjust the water addition, maintaining the slump of the mixture at 30-50mm to ensure consistent molding. For large-scale solid waste utilization production lines, brick-making machines with raw material pretreatment modules are selected, along with crushing and screening equipment, processing raw materials to a particle size of 5-10mm. An additive metering system enhances the activity of solid waste, achieving a solid waste blending ratio of over 40%. (III) Environmental Protection and Energy Consumption Indicators: Adhering to Green Production Policies

Under the "dual-carbon" policy, energy consumption and environmental performance are key selection criteria for brick-making machines. Priority should be given to non-fired brick-making machines, which reduce energy consumption by more than 40% compared to traditional sintered brick production lines, have no waste gas emissions, and are equipped with sealed silos and high-efficiency dust removal systems to control dust and noise. The target equipment unit energy consumption is ≤24.3 kWh/10,000 bricks, meeting energy-saving standards; high-end models can further reduce consumption. If CO₂ mineralization curing technology is used, select a brick-making machine with compatible processes, and equip it with a curing kiln and gas circulation system to fix carbon, reduce energy consumption, and improve brick durability.

(IV) Intelligentization and Capacity Matching: Balancing Efficiency and Quality

Select equipment capacity based on production scale. For small and medium-sized brick factories (daily output 10,000-30,000 bricks), choose a semi-automatic hydraulic brick-making machine equipped with a simple PLC control system; for large production lines (daily output over 100,000 bricks), choose an intelligent assembly line integrating AI visual quality inspection and IoT remote operation and maintenance functions, achieving a defect identification accuracy rate of over 98%, and allowing adjustment of molding parameters to improve the pass rate. Select equipment with a mold change time ≤ 30 minutes, equipped with a modular mold design, allowing flexible switching of brick types and improving equipment utilization.

(V) After-sales Service and Adaptability: Ensuring Long-Term Operation
Select manufacturers with a complete technical service system, verify the warranty period of core components, and ensure 24-hour fault response and on-site service. Consider regional adaptability; in cold northern regions, select equipment with heat-insulating molding and anti-freeze curing functions; in rainy southern regions, focus on moisture-proof design and raw material moisture content control capabilities. Verify whether the equipment meets the requirements of green building materials equipment certification to enjoy policy benefits and reduce investment costs.

In conclusion, the ongoing development of sponge city construction will drive the permeable brick market to maintain high growth, and the technological level of specialized brick-making machines directly determines a company's market competitiveness. During the selection process, it is necessary to move beyond the traditional mindset of "only looking at production capacity" and focus on molding precision, raw material compatibility, environmental protection and energy consumption, and the level of intelligence. This should be combined with the company's own production scale, product positioning, and policy requirements to select equipment that combines stability, compatibility, and economy. Meanwhile, with the continuous iteration of solid waste resource utilization technology and intelligent equipment, brick-making machines will upgrade towards "multi-raw material compatibility, multi-brick type compatibility, and low-carbon throughout the entire process," helping the permeable brick industry achieve a dual improvement in environmental and economic benefits, and providing solid equipment support for sponge city construction.