Reuse of Industrial Sludge as Pelletized Aggregate for Concrete
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 3
Abstract
Industrial sludge is generated at a rate of 100 metric tons/day, from a copper slag recycling plant. The industrial sludge is currently being landfilled. However, limited availbility of landfill sites has raised the need of an alternative disposal. A renewed interest in converting the industrial sludge into construction materials has been prompted to achieve a viable disposal option in saving the depleting natural resources of raw materials as well as the environment. This study describes the use of sintered sludge pellets as a complete replacement for regular granite aggregates in concrete. The pelletized sludge was fired to a temperature of 1,135°C at which the sintering process occurs, producing a hard fused basalt-like mass. In comparison with normal granite aggregates, the sintered sludge pellets display a higher aggregate strength, a higher porosity, and a lower aggregate density that manifests attributes better than that required of construction aggregates. The concrete cast with the pelletized aggregtes achieved a compressive strength of 38.5 N/mm2 after 28 days and was comparable to the control specimen. Leaching tests conducted on the sludge pellets and concrete showed that all leachate contamination levels determined using the column leaching test are within acceptable ranges after 130 days of stabilization. The experimental results indicated that a complete replacement of conventional aggregates with sintered sludge pellets for structural concrete is both technically and environmentally feasible.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Alleman, J. E. and Berman, N. A. (1984). “Constructive sludge management: Biobrick.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 110(2), 301–311.
2.
Bhatty, J. I., Malisci, A., Iwasaki, I., and Reid, K. J. (1992). “Sludge ash pellets as concrete aggregates in concrete.” Cement, Concrete, and Aggregates, 14(1), 55–61.
3.
Buttermore, W. H., Lawrence, W. F., and Muter, R. B. (1972). “Characterization, beneficiation and utilization of municipal incinerator fly ash.” Proc., 3rd Mineral Waste Utilization Symp., U.S. Bureau of Mines and IIT Research Institute, Chicago, 397.
4.
Francis, C. W., and White, G. H. (1987). “Leaching of toxic metals from incinerator ashes.” J. Water Pollution Control Fed., 59(11), 979–986.
5.
Mayfield, B., and Louati, M. (1990). “Properties of pelletized blastfurnace slag concrete.” Mag. of Concrete Res., 42(150), 29–36.
6.
Okuno, N., Takahashi, S., and Asada, S. (1997). “Full scale application of manufacturing bricks from sewage.” Water Sci. and Technol., 36(11), 243–250.
7.
Sawyer, C. N., McCarty, P. L., and Parkin, G. F. (1994). Chemistry for environmental engineering, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
8.
Tay, J. H. (1985). “Sludge as brick making material.” Proc., On New Directions and Res. in Waste Treatment and Residual Mgmt., Vol. 2, 611–668.
9.
Tay, J. H. (1987). “Bricks manufactured from sludge.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 113(2), 278–284.
10.
Tay, J. H., and Yip, W. K. (1988). “Light weight concrete made with sludge ash.” Struct. Engrg. Rev., 1, 49–54.
11.
Tay, J. H., and Yip, W. K. (1989). “Sludge ash as lightweight concrete material.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 115(1), 56–64.
12.
Tay, J. H., and Yip, W. K. (1990). “Aggregate made from incinerated sludge residue.”J. Mat. in Civ. Engrg., ASCE, 2(2), 84–93.
13.
Tay, J. H., Yip, W. K., and Show, K. Y. (1991). “Clay-blended sludge as lightweight aggregate concrete material.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 117(6), 834–844.
14.
U.S. EPA. ( 1993a). “Maximum contamination level goal for trace inorganic chemical in drinking water.”
15.
U.S. EPA. ( 1993b). “Secondary maximum contamination levels for trace contaminants in drinking water.”
16.
Wainwright, P. J., and Boni, S. P. K. (1981). “Artificial aggregates from domestic refuse.” Concrete, 15(5), 25.
17.
Wainwright, P. J., and Boni, S. P. K. (1983). “Some properties of concrete containing sintered domestic refuse as a coarse aggregate.” Mag. of Concrete Res., 35(123), 75.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 126 • Issue 3 • March 2000
Pages: 279 - 287
History
Received: May 17, 1999
Published online: Mar 1, 2000
Published in print: Mar 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.