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expanded clay aggregate

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Also known as Expanded clay pellets

substrate suitable for hydroculture applications

Wikidata facts

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Commons category
Leca
has characteristic
hygroscopy
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Encyclopedic overview

Heat-expanded lightweight pebbles

Expanded clay (exclay) or lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) is a lightweight aggregate made by heating clay to around 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) in a rotary kiln. The heating process causes gases trapped in the clay to expand, forming thousands of small bubbles and giving the material a porous structure. LECA has an approximately round or oblong shape due to circular movement in the kiln and is available in different sizes and densities. LECA is used to make lightweight concrete products and other uses.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “expanded clay aggregate” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.