Artificial aggregate made from waste stone sludge and waste silt.

In this research, waste stone sludge obtained from slab stone processing and waste silt from aggregate washing plants were recycled to manufacture artificial aggregate. Fine-powdered stone sludge was mixed with waste silt of larger particle size; vibratory compaction was applied for good water permeability, resulting in a smaller amount of solidifying agent being used. For the densified packing used in this study, the mix proportion of waste stone sludge to waste silt was 35:50, which produced artificial aggregate of more compact structure with water absorption rate below 0.1%. In addition, applying vibratory compaction of 33.3 Hz to the artificial aggregate and curing for 28 days doubled the compressive strength to above 29.4 MPa. Hence, recycling of waste stone sludge and waste silt for the production of artificial aggregate not only offers a feasible substitute for sand and stone, but also an ecological alternative to waste management of sludge and silt.

Leachability of metals from sludge-based artificial lightweight aggregate.

Metal sludge from industrial wastewater treatment plants was mixed with mining residues to be recycled into lightweight aggregate (LWA) through sintering at different temperatures. The physical properties of the LWA thus obtained were examined by scanning electron microscopy analyzer (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX). The sequential extraction method combined with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was employed to determine the concentration and distribution of hazardous toxic elements in the metal sludge-based artificial LWA. The results show that the leaching concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, and Pb present in the non-sintered raw aggregate pellets reached 7.4, 68.0, 96.0, and 61.4 mg/l, respectively, far exceeding the regulatory threshold. Sintering at 1150 degrees C for 15 min results in stronger chemical bonds being formed between the elements. Hence, after the first three steps of sequential extraction, the concentrations of Cr, Cu, and Pb reached 2.69, 1.50, and 1.88 mg/l at 1150 degrees C, while the final residues had total concentrations of 96.1, 88.4, and 60.6 mg/kg, respectively, with Cd undetected in both phases. The concentration levels fell within the regulatory threshold, indicating that the LWA fabricated from recycled metal sludge contains elements that are toxic and hazardous but not leached. Having no harmful effect on the environment, the metal sludge-based artificial LWA is not only safe but also practical with good physical properties.

Production of lightweight aggregates from mining residues, heavy metal sludge, and incinerator fly ash.

In this study, artificial lightweight aggregate (LWA) manufactured from recycled resources was investigated. Residues from mining, fly ash from an incinerator and heavy metal sludge from an electronic waste water plant were mixed into raw aggregate pellets and fed into a tunnel kiln to be sintered and finally cooled rapidly. Various feeding and sintering temperatures were employed to examine their impact on the extent of vitrification on the aggregate surface. Microstructural analysis and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) were also performed. The results show that the optimum condition of LWA fabrication is sintering at 1150 degrees C for 15 min with raw aggregate pellets fed at 750 degrees C. The rapidly vitrified surface envelops the gas produced with the increase in internal temperature and cooling by spraying water prevents the aggregates from binding together, thus forming LWA with specific gravity of 0.6. LWA produced by sintering in tunnel kiln shows good vitrified surface, low water absorption rate below 5%, and low cylindrical compressive strength of 4.3 MPa. In addition, only trace amounts of heavy metals were detected, making the LWA non-hazardous for construction use.