الصناعات الخرسانية وصناعة الطوب والقصارة العازله للحرارة والمقاومه للحريق

1- Pozzolana uses

In Agriculture -
Our tuff laboratories practice digging, sifting, grinding, loading, smashing, processing and grading, and conduct phased research to develop them, in order to identify the multiple aspects of the uses of volcanic tuff in agriculture and construction. We will be able to support the promising results that were obtained locally in farms for roses and various ornamental plants, which will be generalized to seasonal and field crops, vegetables and fruits, whether they are protected or exposed, in light of the results obtained in European countries that have proven agricultural production exceeding About seven times the yield in normal and even fertile soils. 

Summarize the methods of using tuff for cultivation as follows:
• The tuff is used as an isolated planting bed (isolated from the ground) in which flowers and roses are grown in order to reach specifications acceptable to the international stock market, ie cultivation for export.
• Cultivation in environmental pots of all types of ornamental plants and multiple cut flowers with international standards.
• Cultivation of vegetables and field crops, whether in agricultural reserves or open fields.
• Cultivation of fruit trees such as apples, vines, mangoes, and others.
• Cultivation of medicinal and herbal plants.
• Sports fields and jogging tracks.
• Industrial uses, such as in the manufacture of lightweight cement buildings and bricks.
• As protective and insulating layers in shelters, as a preservative mattress for pipe extensions, and as compressive and absorbent layers in tennis courts.
• It is used in mixtures for the production of fruit seedlings and ornamental plants, in specific proportions with peat moss and perlite, bearing in mind that mixtures of tuff alone have also proven remarkable results in the production of seedlings.
• It is used in the purification of natural gas.
• used in the treatment of animal waste.
• A useful substance in animal feed.
• Treatment of industrial waste water and sewage.
• Use in nuclear power plants.
Drying of wet grains and anti-jamming materials in fertilizer stores.
• Cement industry and building materials.
Cultivation methods with volcanic tuff:
As previously mentioned, tuff is used as a bed for growing types of roses, vegetables, flowers and trees, and there is an optimal way to use it with each product, and the methods differ according to the requirements of the product, and some of these methods can be summarized as follows:

1- The excavated channels method:

This method is particularly suitable for growing roses in open and greenhouses alike. Before digging canals, it is recommended that the grower ensure that the designated surface has slopes in one direction of at least 1.5%. The channels are cut while maintaining the slope ratio mentioned above, with a width ranging between 60-70 cm and a depth ranging between 20-30 cm. Here we would like to point out that planting by channels and in this way can be applied in two ways:
A- The method isolated from the natural ground by wrapping the canal with plastic strips.
B- Connected roads, without an insulator separating the soil of the mother earth and the tuff.
(In this method there is no tilt requirement)
The canal shall be provided with two types of tuff of different sizes (coarse and fine). Coarse tuff shall be placed in the lower part, at a height of 20-25% of the depth of the canal, and its size ranges between (4-14 mm). aforementioned to the drainage hole at the end of the agricultural lines; Excess irrigation water is disposed of outside greenhouses in the irrigation of fruit trees.
The upper part of the channel shall be filled with tuff (0-8 mm) to provide the required cultivation medium.
The advantages of this method are low costs and ease of cleaning, whether for the tuff itself as an agricultural medium for the plant, or for the used house.

2- Cultivation in styroform vessels:

It is used for all types of soil-based cultures and is particularly good for plants sensitive to soil diseases.
This method is simple and easy to implement. It is preferable to place tuff of coarse size (4-14) at the bottom of the pot, and size (0-8) in the agricultural layer of the styroform pot. In order for the water to be drained outside the greenhouse, the inclinations should be followed as mentioned in Method No. (1) above. As we mentioned, the coarse tuff works to collect the excess water that the plant needs to drain.
This method is distinguished by the fact that the incubator greenhouse is environmentally prepared, pure, and has low sensitivity to draining water outside the greenhouse, in addition to that separating the plants by cultivating them in separate containers prevents the transmission of soil diseases among plants, through their spread as a result of plant contact through the soil, without The effect of salinity (if any) on plants.

3- Cultivation in containers made of semi-plastic panels made of mopal or polygal:

These containers are formed from panels (slices) of mopal or polygal by spreading them in the reserve or the plastic house, then raising their sides lengthwise to form a container in the form of a letter (U) that extends from the beginning of the house to its end, and separates between them roads for services so that one house contains several rows Among these containers, the lifting or folding of the containers to form the sides is basically of well-defined dimensions, and it can be implemented based on the farmer’s desire and the type and density of cultivation, while making sure that the sides (walls) are present to ensure that they are not opened by the use of corsets or belts of iron wire in the lower part of the vessel. bowl.
Coarse tuff (size 14-14) is placed at the bottom of the container, while the (growing medium) is at the top.
The advantages of this method, in addition to the advantages of the method of cultivation in Styroform containers, are that the price of pots manufactured on greenhouse soil in this way is less expensive and guarantees greater flexibility in work, in addition to a low cost per unit agricultural area (dunum).

4- Free farming without walls (free dumps):

It is recommended to use this method for all types of flowers, in addition to the necessity of focusing on ensuring the inclination of the floor of the channels is not less than 2% at the very least, in order to ensure the drainage of water outside the greenhouse, and to obtain rapid drainage in the planting outfall, the center of the outflow can be raised or started (according to the system used in Drainage) by 5-7 mm, and this height can be created by using cheap local soil or sea sand, with the necessity to emphasize that the path between one inlet and another is also inclined to ensure that the water comes out of the outflow, but if the tuff bed is to be separated from the ground For reasons related to the condition or quality of the used mother land, one of the following two methods can be followed:
• Using a regular plastic sheet placed on the ground as a mattress separating the tuff from the bottom of the pouring pan.
• Using mattresses made of polystyrene or mobil, making sure that these, in turn, have inclinations within the limits mentioned above.
• In this method, tuff is placed in pots with a height of 15-20 cm, depending on the type of cultivation required. The advantages of this method are summarized as follows:
• Flexibility in diversifying crops and exchanging them in successive seasons.
• Ease of dealing and speed of completion without the need for many preparations.
• Remarkably lower expenses.
• Ease of cleaning and sterilization.

5- Cultivation in buckets and plastic bags:

This method is recommended for one-time types of crops such as Telegernium and various vegetables. This method is characterized by the low cost of cultivation, as the prices of bags and buckets are reasonable and buckets can be used many times, in addition to the fact that the amount of bedding is less than 35 cubic meters per dunum.
Separating plants as a result of growing them in separate bags or buckets prevents contamination with plant root diseases (such as tomatoes), and it is recommended to use tuff of size (0-8 mm).

6- Agriculture without isolation from the soil:

This method provides the roots with the possibility of breaking through the tuff layer and extending and branching in the natural land, and thus agriculture enjoys the advantages of cultivation with tuff and fixation or clinging to the ground, and this method is recommended for many field ornamental plants such as safari plants and wax flower, as well as in commercial plantings such as fruit trees such as apples and bananas whose cultivation has achieved impressive results in terms of type and quantity.
In this method, the tuff is not seen as a separate mattress, but rather as a factor for growth and quality improvement, for the following reasons:
• The tuff creates an additional aeration environment in the root zone.
• Strengthens basic solubility and facilitates easy absorption of trace elements.
• It maintains the soil's heat as a result of its porosity, which contains some amount of air, which is considered a heat insulator.
As a total result of the impact of tuff in agriculture in general and whatever the methods followed in its uses as detailed above, we see that tuff with its various uses has added a new dimension as it transformed part of the production in agriculture into an economic industry that left its mark on agricultural production in quantity and quality. By acquiring tuff, the farmer has acquired an infrastructure that has been operating for many years with flexibility that was not easy to obtain without the use of tuff. In addition to that is the economy in the expenses of irrigation water and fertilization, as a result of the properties of tuff that retains moisture and the fertilizers in it that are in excess of the plants’ need to return it to it when it needs it.
In this case, it represents a clean and efficient warehouse that is easy to deal with in all circumstances.

Importance of tuff as an agricultural medium:

Interest in industrial agricultural media began to develop with the beginning of the eighties, and most of this interest was concentrated in economically developed countries, despite the urgent need to seize the benefits of these media and take advantage of their impressive effects on agricultural production in quantity and quality in developing countries.
Perhaps the reason for this was because the developed countries enjoyed economic capabilities capable of pursuing research and spending on it in order to reach results that guarantee high domestic production that compensates for the small area available for agriculture in relation to the population, which in turn forced them to import many agricultural products to cover their food needs.
In addition to that, the high cost of labor, coupled with the rise in the standard of living in general, and then the increase in demand for these products, which increased the interest of these countries in searching for relatively low-cost means and means that have an effective impact on both qualitative and quantitative productivity.
Perhaps the focus on this goal is what prompted some Middle Eastern countries that have the financial capabilities to spend on such a development, to do their best to benefit from the results reached by developed countries, while focusing on keeping the cost as low as possible.
By the end of the eighties, the problem of the availability of quantities of water necessary for human use had begun to leave its mark on some of these countries to the extent that it affected in a negative way the mere thought of expanding agricultural areas, which were considered a major source of per capita income and state income in general, where agricultural exports were a non-existent source. It is insignificant for hard currencies depending on the volume of agricultural exports.
Accordingly, it was necessary to search for a radical solution that includes two main conditions:
A- Saving the amount of water consumed in agriculture.
B- Increasing production to cover the needs of the local market and to preserve foreign markets without the need to increase the agricultural area. Here, the importance of volcanic tuff emerged as an industrial hydro-volcanic soil. Scientific and practical experiments showed that it has properties that cover the requirements of these two basic conditions. Tuff has the following advantages:
1) A small amount of water consumption, despite the plant's need for a greater number of daily irrigations, until the required water savings in some cases reached 50%.
2) A larger quantity of production, which in some cases reached 7 times the production in natural lands, even fertile ones.
3) Additional savings in water and fertilizer consumed due to the need for agriculture by using modern methods of irrigation and injection to ensure the success of agriculture.
4) Saving the labor costs required for agriculture as a result of the use of irrigation techniques, modern injections and software, that saving that compensates many times the increase in spending on modern technologies in the long run.
5) Save on pest control costs because tuff is a volcanic material that does not decompose in the soil and an agricultural environment that is less attractive to pests, in addition to being easy to sterilize, clean and drain if it happens to be contaminated.
6) Save the time of the supervising body as a result of the uses of modern irrigation and fertilization methods, which gives room for specialized engineers and supervisors to allocate more time for development and scientific research, which is of general benefit to the agricultural operations as a whole.
7) Greater flexibility in agriculture for ease of transportation from one crop to another according to the successive agricultural seasons and without the need for many steps to prepare and treat the soil, as the volcanic tuff has proven its validity without the need for much effort for a period of more than 15 years.
The exorbitant expenditures required to be invested in order to maintain a neutral environment for the natural agricultural medium are in vain and are not successful if the needs of the environment surrounding the root group of plants are neglected.
The most important step that a scientifically advanced person can go through in the fields of agriculture is to weave and separate the environment required for plants in detail, according to the type of plants and their needs, so that this provides the ideal environment for what is to be cultivated. The results of many years of scientific research in the fields of agriculture have been put at the disposal of the farmer to benefit from it, and he could not without resorting to mediation that guarantees the provision of the appropriate or ideal environment, especially around the root group, where experiments have proven that the industrial medium (Kaltouf) is the most likely to ensure success.
We do not fail here to mention that the economic factor or the economic feasibility of investing in agricultural fields (which is a subject that has the highest priorities began to impose volcanic tuff as the best solution to create the appropriate root environment for crops within the narrowest limits of the required expenditures, due to its advantages that have been previously detailed.
In the past, and to this day, it was common to use organic materials that are subject to rapid degradation (Compost & Manure), in addition to other materials that are more resistant to decomposition, (Peat), and sometimes granular organic materials such as sand or a mixture of these components are added to them. Undoubtedly, these have proven their effectiveness, although they were not without many defects, as they are unstable mixtures that change in their parameters depending on the extent of their decomposition, which forces them to change within a relatively short period of time. Soil mixtures, and the soil itself, are a dynamic system in which the property changes according to This results in, at some point in time and without warning, the soil being unable to provide the roots of plants with the necessary ventilation, and thus difficulty in controlling irrigation and the supply of food, which may cause suffocation of plants.

The artificial medium for cultivation (Kaltoof), if it is enhanced by modern purification methods in irrigation and fertilizer injection, provides the solution, as it maintains a good moisture content with a low pressure surface tension associated with high and constant root aeration, as it weighs between 770-850 kg per cubic meter, if What was dry, depending on the size of the constituent particles of the agricultural elite (the size of the toffee mixture). As for the case
pressure, it weighs 2.8 grams per square centimeter, and this in turn means that every cubic meter of tuff used as an industrial medium for cultivation contains (650-750) liters of air hidden in the spaces available between the tuff particles that make up the artificial litter, and this in itself is several times greater. Once the air in normal soil is well ventilated. Tuff allows for greater freedom of gas exchange and thus gives greater ease of cleaning and sterilization if necessary. In addition, even the smallest particles of tuff mixes used in agriculture (size from 0-8) store no less than 350 liters of water in each cube of tuff mix before the plant takes its maximum water need during the irrigation process. While the tarpaulin medium is kept with water after irrigation with an amount of not less than 300 liters of air.
Research conducted in research centers has proven that tuff with mixture (0-8 mm) has a Withering Point of 10%.
Important note: (Withering Point) is a measure of the amount of water that can be present in a unit weight of the agricultural medium after the plant takes its need of water.
Accordingly, it is proven that there is an abundant amount of stored water provided by tuff for cultivation in it, and it is in the range of 150-250 liters per cubic meter of normal moisture tuff not shortly after the end of the irrigation process. This quantity is much greater than the quantities that can be provided by ordinary soil.

* General methods for the uses of tuff inside plastic houses: -

   Flowers, cut roses, and vegetable and seasonal crops are usually grown in tophus of gradual size (0-8 mm), and the ideal thickness of the toff is within the range of 20 cm. They are placed in containers of foamed polystyrene, whether isolated from the mother soil or not. The average area of ​​the plastic house to accommodate pots containing tuff is within the limits of 1000 square meters for every 600 square meters occupied by the pots, while an area of ​​400 square meters is free for services and roads inside the greenhouse. The channels are between 20-30 cm and a depth of 20-25 cm so that the layer is 10-20 mm in size.
The drip irrigation method is used to irrigate agriculture and it is recommended that the irrigation network be controlled by an automatic irrigation regulator linked to a fertilizer injector.
 All crops with surface root spreads, such as strawberries and many vegetables, can be grown even on concrete flats or rocky lands, after covering them with a layer of tuff with a height of not less than 20-30 cm.
This applies to palm trees to cover large areas, even if their floors are concrete or rocky, after covering them with a layer of tuff as mentioned above.
* Properties of red tuff (0-10 mm):-

• Clay 0.30%
Silt 1.80%
Sand 13.30%
• Partcle Density 2.87 g/cm3
• Bulk Density g/cm3 0.89 g/cm3
• Porosity 96.000 %
• Specific surface area: 3,800 mm2/g

* Cultivation with tuff inside hydroponic culture:

 Houseplants are grown inside hydroponic containers containing tuff, coarse at the bottom and fine at the top, with ease. In this case, all that is needed is sealed containers filled with washed tuff, a moisture meter, and a simple special regulator for fertilization. This cultivation has many advantages, the most important of which are:
• No special method of exchange is required.
• The container is placed anywhere in the house without fear of the carpet or the surrounding environment getting wet.
• The way to take care of the plant is very easy.
• Plants are watered according to the data of the moisture meter once a week or even twice every three weeks.
• Provide the plant with fertilizer once or twice throughout the year and at most.
• Any plant can be grown in a tiny container, provided that it is supported for fear of falling if the plant is heavy and tall.
Coarse tuff of 10-20 mm size can be used in this way without the slightest reservation and without additions of any kind to the tuff used as a hydrophone medium.