Application of Fly Ash Mixed with Electroplating Sludge and Activated Sudge Manufacture Ceramsite

This paper describes a laboratory study on ceramsite manufacture using electroplating sludge mixed with pulvized fly ash (PFA) and activated sludge. The extraction toxicity of electroplating sludge and the mixing scale of sintering materials were studied. An orthogonal test was conducted to select the best manufacturing conditions such as warm-up temperature, warm-up time, sintering temperature and sintering time. The test results reveal that the sintering temperature and sintering time are the two major effecting factors during the ceramsite preparation. The strongest ceramsite could be obtained at an optimal condition: the ratio of raw material scale at fly ash: electroplating sludge: activated sludge = 85:10:5, warm-up temperature at 700°C, warm-up time at 15 minutes, sintering temperature at 1200°C, and sintering time at 30 minutes. The quality of the ceramsite produced at optimal condition complies with the referenced Chinese Standard (GB/T17431-1998). Accordingly, it can be concluded that the ceramsite made from electroplating sludge with fly ash and activated sludge is feasible and practicable. Comparing with traditional fly ash ceramsite methods, this method is considered to be more economic and effective in electroplating sludge safe disposal and fly ash ceramsites manufacturing.