Engineering Properties of Fibrous Paper Mill Sludge from Southern Brazil
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 23, Issue 9
Abstract
The paper recycling process generates a sludge characterized by a high content of cellulose fiber. To understand the behavior of this fibrous material, this article presents an interpretation of the geotechnical behavior of a waste sludge from a paper recycling plant situated in southern Brazil using data from laboratory tests. Engineering properties of compacted paper mill sludges are similar to those of most fibrous organic soils: low hydraulic conductivity upon compression and high compressibility. The waste studied has a water content of approximately 250%, organic content of 48%, mineral charges, and water. The one-dimensional compressibility parameters are indicative of high compressibility. For the determination of the strength parameters of the material, undrained triaxial tests were carried out. An incredibly high effective friction angle () was found, probably because of the fibrous nature of the paper sludge. In addition, hydraulic conductivity tests were performed on a flexible wall permeameter. The hydraulic conductivity of the fibrous paper sludge reached values near. The results showed that the paper mill sludge is a ductile material with reduced hydraulic conductivity and elevated shear strength that could have multiple applications, such as in the construction of bottom liners, cover liners, and steep side-slope liners for solid-waste landfills.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their gratitude to CNPq—Brazilian Council of Scientific and Technological Research (Projects Edital Universal UNSPECIFIED#477397/2009-3, Produtividade em Pesquisa UNSPECIFIED#302705/2010-4, and PNPD UNSPECIFIED#558474/2008-0) for the financial support to the research group.
References
ASTM. (2003). “Standard test method for measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous materials using a flexible wall permeameter.” D 5084, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2004). “Standard test methods for one-dimensional consolidation properties of soils using incremental loading.” D 2435, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2005). “Standard test methods for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils”. D 4318, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2006). “Standard test methods for specific gravity of soil solids by water pycnometer.” D 854, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2007a). “Standard test methods for laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using standard effort.” D 698, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2007b). “Standard test methods for moisture, ash, and organic matter of peat and other organic soils.” D 2974, West Conshohocken, PA.
Brazilian Association of Brazilian Standards (ABNT). (2004). “Solid wastes—Classification.” NBR 10004, Brazil (in Portuguese).
Cabral, A. R., Burnotte, F., Lefebvre, G., and Panarotto, C. T. (2002). “Geotechnical characterization of a pulp and paper (deinking) residue used in cover systems.” Environmental geotechnics, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 207–212.
Casagrande, M. D. T. (2005). “Behavior of fiber-reinforced soils under large shear strains.” Ph.D. thesis, Federal Univ. of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (in Portuguese).
Casagrande, M. D. T., Coop, M. R., and Consoli, N. C. (2006). “Behavior of a fiber-reinforced bentonite at large shear displacements.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 132(11), 1505–1508.
Clayton, C. R. I., and Khatrush, S. A. (1986). “A new device for measuring local axial strains on triaxial specimens.” Géotechnique, 36(4), 593–597.
Consoli, N. C., Casagrande, M. D. T., and Coop, M. R. (2007a). “Performance of fibre-reinforced sand at large shear strains.” Géotechnique, 57(9), 751–756.
Consoli, N. C., Festugato, L., and Heineck, K. S. (2009). “Strain hardening behaviour of fibre-reinforced sand in view of filament geometry.” Geosynth. Int., 16(2), 109–115.
Consoli, N. C., Heineck, K. S., Casagrande, M. D. T., and Coop, M. R. (2007b). “Shear strength behavior of fiber-reinforced sand considering triaxial tests under distinct stress paths.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 133(11), 1466–1469.
Consoli, N. C., Prietto, P. D. M., and Ulbrich, L. A. (1998). “Influence of fiber and cement addition on behavior of sandy soil.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 124(12), 1211–1214.
Festugato, L. (2008). “Mechanical behavior of a microreinforced soils in view of filament geometry.” M.Sc. thesis, Federal Univ. of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (in Portuguese).
Heineck, K. S., Coop, M. R., and Consoli, N. C. (2005). “Effect of micro-reinforcement of soils from very small to large shear strains.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 131(8), 1024–1033.
Kraus, J., Benson, C., Van Maltby, C., and Wang, X. (1997). “Laboratory and field hydraulic conductivity of three compacted paper mill sludges.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 123(7), 654–662.
Maher, M. H., and Gray, D. H. (1990). “Static response of sands reinforced with randomly distributed fibers.” J. Geotech. Eng., 116(11), 1661–1677.
Markewitz, K., Cabral, A. R., Panarotto, C. T., and Lefebvre, G. (2004). “Anaerobic biodegradation of an organic by-products leachate by interaction with different mine tailings.” J. Hazard. Mater., 110(1), 93–104.
Mesri, G., and Ajlouni, M. (2007). “Engineering properties of fibrous peats.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 133(7), 850–866.
Michalowski, R. L., and Cermák, J. (2003). “Triaxial compression of sand reinforced with fibers.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 129(2), 125–136.
Moo-Young, H. K. (1995). “Evaluation of paper mill sludges for use as landfill covers.” Ph.D. thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
Moo-Young, H. K., and Zimmie, T. F. (1996). “Effects of organic decomposition on paper mill sludges used as landfill cover material.” Environmental geotechnics, Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 827–832.
Rowe, K., Quigley, R. M., Brachman, R. W. I., and Booker, J. (2004). Barrier systems for waste disposal facilities, 2nd Ed., Spon, London, 587.
Santos, A. P. S., Consoli, N. C., and Baudet, B. A. (2010). “The mechanics of fibre-reinforced sand.” Géotechnique, 60(10), 791–799.
Schnaid, F., Sills, G. C., Soares, J. M., and Nyirienda, Z. (1997). “Predictions of the coefficient of consolidation from piezocone tests.” Can. Geotech. J., 34(2), 315–327.
Skempton, A. W. (1954). “The pore-pressure coefficients A and B.” Géotechnique, 4, 143–147.
Teixeira, C. E. (2001). “Biochemical evolution of paper mill sludges in the context of valorization as cover liners.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Sherbrooke, Canada (in French).
Tovey, N. K. (1986). “Microfabric, chemical and mineralogical studies of soils: Techniques.” Geotech. Eng., 17, 131–166.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 23 • Issue 9 • September 2011
Pages: 1346 - 1352
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 16, 2009
Accepted: Mar 2, 2011
Published online: Mar 4, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
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.