Manufacture of articles from fly ash

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of forming a shaped article having a matrix that contains sintered fly ash. The method comprises the step of blending fly ash together with water to produce a fly ash dough. The water is added in excess of that which is absorbed by the fly ash so that the dough contains free water so as to be in at least a partially fluid state. The method also comprises the steps of forming a green article in a desired shape from the fly ash dough, and removing at least a portion of the free water from the fly ash dough during and/or after forming of the green article. The green article is subsequently fired so that the shaped article is hardened by sintering its fly ash matrix. The present invention also provides a building element having a matrix of sintered fly ash.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.