1. Potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost for brick making
- Author
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Nirmal Kumar Katiyar, Milica V. Vasić, Milada Pezo, S.K. Kirthika, Gaurav Goel, and P. Dinakar
- Subjects
Laterite soil ,Absorption of water ,0211 other engineering and technologies ,020101 civil engineering ,02 engineering and technology ,engineering.material ,0201 civil engineering ,12. Responsible consumption ,021105 building & construction ,11. Sustainability ,Laterite ,General Materials Science ,Recycling ,Muffle furnace ,Water content ,Civil and Structural Engineering ,Brick ,Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure ,Waste management ,business.industry ,Paper mill sludge compost ,Paper mill ,Building and Construction ,Alluvial soil ,Waste-to-brick ,6. Clean water ,Compressive strength ,Sustainability ,13. Climate action ,engineering ,Environmental science ,Fired bricks ,business - Abstract
This study's focus was to develop a potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost (PMSC) in brick making. Composting reduces the paper mill sludge (PMS) moisture content considerably and shredding becomes easier. The addition of PMSC leads to an increase of porosities in bricks and makes them lighter, besides delivering energy to the firing process from burning organics. Lighter construction materials help minimize construction outlay by reducing labour and transportation costs and lesser expense on foundation construction. The variability in the experimental data and the brick properties were investigated for two types of soils, typical in the brick industry of India (alluvial and laterite soil), blended with PMSC in five mix ratios (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%). The samples of oven-dried bricks were fired at two different temperatures (850 and 900 °C) in an electrically operated muffle furnace representing typical conditions of a brick kiln. Various properties of bricks were analyzed which included linear shrinkage, bulk density, water absorption and compressive strength. Conclusions were drawn based on these properties. It was found that the addition of PMSC to the alluvial and laterite soil by up to 10% weight yield mechanical properties of fired bricks compliant with the relevant Indian and ASTM codes. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests showed that PMSC incorporated fired bricks are safe to use in regular applications as non-load-bearing and infill walls. This study is timely in light of the European Green Deal putting focus on circular economy. Besides, it fulfills the objective of UN sustainable development goals (SDG). © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
- Published
- 2021