Evaluation of Cost Effectiveness of Onibode Fire-Clay for Production of High Quality Refractory Bricks

David Ehigie Esezobor; Friday Ichifu Apeh; Mfon Okon Udo; Mustapha Fabiyi; Enebi Solomon Apeh

doi:10.4236/jmmce.2015.35042

Home > Journals > Chemistry & Materials Science | Engineering > JMMCE

Journal of Minerals and Materials Charac... > Vol.3 No.5, September 2015

Evaluation of Cost Effectiveness of Onibode Fire-Clay for Production of High Quality Refractory Bricks ()

David Ehigie Esezobor^1*, Friday Ichifu Apeh², Mfon Okon Udo³, Mustapha Fabiyi², Enebi Solomon Apeh²

¹Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
²Engineering Materials Research Department, Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute, Ota, Nigeria.
³Department of Marine Engineering, Federal Collage of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2015.35042 PDF HTML XML 5,568 Downloads 6,104 Views Citations

Abstract

In establishing a plant or factory, the cost-benefit analysis is needed to determine the viability for such financial investment on the project. In this paper, the cost establishing a factory of 200,000 bricks per annum capacity, for the production of high quality refractory bricks from locally available raw materials in Nigeria was evaluated. The evaluation was conducted on the virgin refractory material (100%) as well as with varied percentages (10% - 40%) of alumina additions. The result of cost benefit analysis indicated that, the project was viable, with the highest cost at N1,203.66 per brick as against N1,800 (at 3 years projections) of the imported brick. The payback period for the capital investment was very short (within two years). The findings will aid investors in decision makings.

Keywords

Cost-Benefit-Analysis, High-Temperature, Refractory Bricks, Steel Plants

Share and Cite:

Esezobor, D.E., Apeh, F.I., Udo, M.O., Fabiyi, M. and Apeh, E.S. (2015) Evaluation of Cost Effectiveness of Onibode Fire-Clay for Production of High Quality Refractory Bricks. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 3, 399-408. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2015.35042.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Amuda, M.O.H., Lawal, G.I. and Majolagbe, F.O. (2005) Characterization of Some South West Clay Deposits. NSE Technical Transactions, 40, 13-23.
[2]	Hassan, S.B. (2005) Effects of Silicon Carbide on Some Refractory Properties of Kankara Clay. Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, 5, 21-26.
[3]	Apeh, F.I., Esezobor, D.E. and Lawal, G.I. (2010) Effect of Alumina Addition on the Refractoriness and Other Properties of Some Fire-Clays for Use as Furnace Lining. NSE Technical Transactions, 45, 26-35.
[4]	Apeh, F.I. (2014) Enhancement of Refractory Characterization of Selected Nigerian Fire-Clays for Furnace Linings, Doctoral Thesis at the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
[5]	Nnuka, E.E., Ogo, D.U.I. and Elechukwu, J. (1992) Sustainable Refractory Sourcing of Our Industries. Proceedings of Annual Conference of NMS, Jos.
[6]	Nnuka, E.E. and Adekwu, J.O. (1999) Refractory Characteristics of Kwi Clay Deposit in Plateau State. NSE Technical Transaction, 32, 35-39.
[7]	Apeh, F.I., Esezobor, D.E. and Lawal, G.I. (2011) Characterization of Onibode and Owode-Ketu Fire-Clay for Use as Refractory Materials in Foundry Industry. Journal of Engineering Research, University of Lagos, 16, 69-77.
[8]	Adeniyi, A.A. (2004) Management Accounting. 3rd Edition, Value Analysis Publishers, Lagos, 415-424.
[9]	Akinsulire, O. (2006) Financial Management. 4th Edition, Ceemol Nigeria Limited.
[10]	ASTM C27-98 (2008) Standard Classification of Fireclay and High-Alumina Refractory Brick, Philadelphia.
[11]	(2015) CBN Exchange Values of Naira. www.cenbank.org