Immobilization of Metals in Fired Clay Brick Incorporated with Aluminium-Rich Electroplating Sludge: Properties and Leaching Analysis

Azini Amiza Hashim, Aeslina Abdul Kadir, Noor Amira Sarani, Mohd Ikhmal Haqeem Hassan, Arunraj Kersnansamy and Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah
Additional contact information
Azini Amiza Hashim: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Aeslina Abdul Kadir: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Noor Amira Sarani: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Mohd Ikhmal Haqeem Hassan: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Arunraj Kersnansamy: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Parit Raja, Batu Pahat 86400, Johor, Malaysia
Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah: Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology (CEGeoGTech), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Arau 02600, Perlis, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: Electroplating sludge is the hazardous waste discarded from the plating and extractive metallurgical process which can only be disposed of at a secured landfill. In this study, the physical and mechanical properties, as well as metal leaching analysis, of fired clay brick incorporated with electroplating sludge (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) were determined. The physical and mechanical properties of bricks, such as firing shrinkage, dry density, initial rate of absorption, water absorption and compressive strength, were tested according to British standard 3921:1985 and British standard EN772:1. Furthermore, the metal leachability was determined by using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) method 1311. The results show that the utilization of an electroplating-sludge brick up to 4% could enhance physical and mechanical properties, such as reducing the water absorption from 18.3% to 16.1% and increasing the compressive strength from 25.6 MPa to 41.6 MPa. The result also show that 4% of aluminium-rich electroplating sludge incorporated into the brick is the most suitable amount, as it leached less metal concentration and complied with USEPA standards. The metals which were most present in the electroplating sludge (aluminium and iron) drastically reduced from 193,000 ppm to 0.1372 ppm and from 4160 ppm to 0.144 ppm, respectively. Therefore, the electroplating sludge could be fully utilized in the fired clay brick as an alternative to producing low-cost building materials whilst decreasing the levels of disposal of metal sludge on the secured landfill.

Keywords: fired clay brick; electroplating sludge; heavy metal; waste recycling; physical and mechanical properties; toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8732/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/14/8732/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:14:p:8732-:d:864554

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().