Environmental and technical aspects of the utilisation of tannery sludge as a raw material for clay products

This paper is a report on the results of a feasibility study on the immobilisation of tannery sludge by producing a ceramic product. The main purpose of this work was to test the clays used in the manufacture of a ceramic that could incorporate tannery sludge. The raw materials, tannery sludge and clay, were mixed together in different proportions. The ceramic specimens were characterised with respect to water absorption, porosity, linear shrinkage and transverse rupture strength. Leaching tests, in accord with the Brazilian and German regulations, were done on ceramic bodies made with different additions of sludge. In order to evaluate the possibility of air contamination during the firing process, preliminary studies of air emissions were carried out The mechanical properties of the samples evaluated were similar to those specified for ceramic bricks. All the leaching tests have shown that the main sludge contaminant i.e. chromium, could be immobilised within a finished ceramic product. The studies of air emissions have shown that zinc and chlorine are mainly collected from gas emissions and hence are not immobilised by the ceramic system. The study shows that the properties of the ceramic materials produced are acceptable for applications such as bricks for the building industry.