Incorporation of Sewage Sludge in Clay Brick and its Characterization

Abstract

This study reports the use of sewage sludge generated from sewage treatment plant (STP) as raw material in a clay brick-making process. The physico-chemical and mineralogical characterization of the sewage sludge and clay were carried out in order to identify the major technological constraints and to define the sludge pretreatment requirements if necessary. Moreover, the effects on processing conditions and/or on changes of typical final characteristics are also evaluated. Bricks were produced with sewage sludge additions ranging from 10 to 40% by dry weight. The texture and finishing of the surface of sludge-amended clay bricks were rather poor. As for the physical and chemical properties, bricks with a sludge content of up to 40 wt.% were capable of meeting the relevant technical standards. However, bricks with more than 30 wt.% sludge addition are not recommended for use since they are brittle and easily broken even when handled gently. A tendency for a general degradation of brick properties with sludge additions was observed due to its refractory nature. Therefore, sludge bricks of this nature are only suitable for use as common bricks, which are normally not exposed to view, because of poor surface finishing.

Zeolitization of Sewage Sludge Ash With a Fusion Method

“…Sewage sludge ash can be used as an additive to the production of building materials e.g bricks (Liew et al, 2004), cement mortar (Monzo et al, 2003) and aggregates (Wainwright and Cresswell, 2001). However, the dominant method of sewage sludge ash utilization is depositing in landfills.…”

Bricks: An Excellent Building Material for Recycling Wastes – A Review

“…Increased plasticity due to the fibrous nature of the waste added makes brick moulding easier (Allemen, 1987;Mesaros, 1989). However, the dry shrinkage results obtained were not in agreement as some cases seemed to involve significant increases in shrinkage with crack formation during the drying process (Mesaros, 1989;Allemen, 1989;Liew et al 2004) while others involved less dry shrinkage and drying sensitivity (Brosnan and Hochlreitner, 1992). In other articles reviewed by Dondi et al (1997a) that utilised sludge from treatment plants revealed an increased percentage of water absorption and firing shrinkage and a decrease in dry density, for example 30% of sewage sludge reduced the dry density by 15% .…”

“…A higher amount of sludge could lead to negative results to the manufactured brick (Mesaros, 1989;Brosnan and Hochlreitner, 1992). Similarly, Liew et al (2004) also concluded in their study that the maximum percentage of sludge should not be more than 30% by mass due to its fragility and that the addition of 20% sludge would maintain the functional characteristics of the brick. The main advantages were related to the amount of energy saved and the environmentally friendly way to dispose the sludge waste (Slim and Wakefield, 1991; Churchill, 1994; Liew et al 2004).…”

Influência da incorporação de resíduo de escória de fluxo de soldagem nas propriedades tecnológicas de argamassa de múltiplo uso e cerâmica vermelha para construção civil

“…Entre os produtos cerâmicos que se destacam estão incluídos as argamassas de revestimento de paredes e tetos de casas e edifícios [6,7] e cerâmica vermelha [8][9][10]. Argamassas e produtos de cerâmica vermelha estão incluídos no grupo de materiais mais consumidos pelo Homem, que utilizam enormes quantidades de matérias-primas naturais.…”