Geomechanics and Engineering

Techno-Press (테크노프레스)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Strength properties of composite clay balls containing additives from industry wastes as new filter media in water treatment

  • Rajapakse, J.P. (Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland university of Technology) ;
  • Gallage, C. (Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland university of Technology) ;
  • Dareeju, B. (Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland university of Technology) ;
  • Madabhushi, G. (Engineering Department, Cambridge University) ;
  • Fenner, R. (Engineering Department, Cambridge University)
  • Received : 2014.12.09
  • Accepted : 2015.04.29
  • Published : 2015.06.25
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Pebble matrix filtration (PMF) is a water treatment technology that can remove suspended solids in highly turbid surface water during heavy storms. PMF typically uses sand and natural pebbles as filter media. Hand-made clay pebbles (balls) can be used as alternatives to natural pebbles in PMF treatment plants, where natural pebbles are not readily available. Since the high turbidity is a seasonal problem that occurs during heavy rains, the use of newly developed composite clay balls instead of pure clay balls have the advantage of removing other pollutants such as natural organic matter (NOM) during other times. Only the strength properties of composite clay balls are described here as the pollutant removal is beyond the scope of this paper. These new composite clay balls must be able to withstand dead and live loads under dry and saturated conditions in a filter assembly. Absence of a standard ball preparation process and expected strength properties of composite clay balls were the main reasons behind the present study. Five different raw materials from industry wastes: Red Mud (RM), Water Treatment Alum Sludge (S), Shredded Paper (SP), Saw Dust (SD), and Sugar Mulch (SM) were added to common clay brick mix (BM) in different proportions. In an effort to minimize costs, in this study clay balls were fired to $1100^{\circ}C$ at a local brick factory together with their bricks. A comprehensive experimental program was performed to evaluate crushing strength of composite hand-made clay balls, using uniaxial compression test to establish the best material combination on the basis of strength properties for designing sustainable filter media for water treatment plants. Performance at both construction and operating stages were considered by analyzing both strength properties under fully dry conditions and strength degradation after saturation in a water bath. The BM-75% as the main component produced optimum combination in terms of workability and strength. With the material combination of BM-75% and additives-25%, the use of Red Mud and water treatment sludge as additives produced the highest and lowest strength of composite clay balls, with a failure load of 5.4 kN and 1.4 kN respectively. However, this lower value of 1.4 kN is much higher than the effective load on each clay ball of 0.04 kN in a typical filter assembly (safety factor of 35), therefore, can still be used as a suitable filter material for enhanced pollutant removal.

Keywords

References

  1. Cheeseman, C.R. and Virdi, G.S. (2005), "Properties and microstructure of lightweight aggregate produced from sintered sewage sludge ash", Resour. Conserv. Recy., 45(1), 18-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2004.12.006
  2. Chemani, B. and Chemani, H. (2012), "Effect of adding sawdust on mechanical-Physical Properties of ceramic bricks to obtain lightweight building material", World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology; Int. Sci. Index, 6(11), 11497, 1600-1604.
  3. Chiang, K., Chou, P., Hua, C., Chien, K. and Cheesema, K. (2009), "Lightweight bricks manufactured from water treatment sludge and rice husks", J. Hazard. Mater., 171(1), 76-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2009.05.144
  4. Dodoo-Arhin, D., Konadu, D.S., Annan, E., Buabeng, F.P., Yaya, A. and Agyei-Tuffour, B. (2013), "Fabrication and characterisation of Ghanaian bauxite red mud-clay composite bricks for construction applications", Am. J. Mater. Sci., 3(5), 110-119.
  5. Elangovan, C. and Subramanian, K. (2011), "Reuse of alum sludge in clay brick manufacturing", Water Sci Technol.: Water Supply, 11(3), 333-341. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2011.055
  6. Hegazy, B.E., Fouad, H.A. and Hassanain, A.M. (2012), "Incorporation of water sludge, silica fume, and rice husk ash in brick making", Adv. Environ. Res., Int. J., 1(1), 83-96. https://doi.org/10.12989/aer.2012.1.1.083
  7. Rajapakse, J.P. (2011), "Handmade clay balls and recycled crush glass as alternative media in water filtration", Proceedings of International Conference on Water, Energy and Environment (ICWEE2011), Phuket, Thailand, December.
  8. Rajapakse, J. and Fenner, R. (2011), "Evaluation of alternative media for pebble matrix filtration using clay balls and recycled crushed glass", ASCE J. Environ. Eng., 137(6), 517-524. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EE.1943-7870.0000350
  9. Rajapakse, J.P. and Ives, K.J. (2003), "Field trials of a simple surface water treatment package for rural supply (Part I)", Environ. Eng., 4(1), 16-20.
  10. Rajapakse, J.P., Madabhushi, G., Fenner, R. and Gallage, C. (2012), "Properties of hand-made clay balls used as a novel filter media", Geomech. Eng., Int. J., 4(4), 281-294. https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2012.4.4.281
  11. Ramadan, M.O., Fouad, H.A. and Hassanain, A.M. (2008), "Reuse of water treatment plant sludge in brick manufacturing", J. Appl. Sci. Res., 4(10), 1223-1229.
  12. Raspati, G., Menaia, J., Raat, K., Rosa, M.J., Gonzalez, B. and Sivertsen, E. (2013), "Assessment of current treatment works to handle climate change related pollutants and options to make current multi-barrier systems climate change proof", Summary of Prepared Research; Prepared EU Report; Deliverable number 2013.046. URL: http://www.prepared-fp7.eu/viewer/file.aspx?fileinfoID=365 (Accessed on 22 April, 2014)
  13. USEPA (1999), Environmental Regulations and Technology, Control of pathogens and vector attraction in sewage sludge; EPA/625/R-92/013, Chapter 6. URL: http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/625r92013/625R92013chap6.pdf (Viewed on 10 June 2014)
  14. Viruthagiri, G., Nareshananda, S.N. and Shanmugam, S. (2013), "Analysis of insulating fire bricks from mixtures of clays with saw dust addition", Indian J. Appl. Res., 3(6), 469-473. https://doi.org/10.15373/2249555X/JUNE2013/157
  15. Wendling, L. (2008), Organic carbon and nutrient removal from surface waters using low-cost materials, CSIRO Land and Water (www.csiro.au)
  16. Wright, B., Stanford, B., Weiss, J., Debroux, J., Routt, J. and Khan, S. (2013), "Climate change: How does weather affect surface water quality?", AWWA Publication, Opflow, 39(1), 10-15. URL: http://www.hazenandsawyer.com/uploads/downloads/Wright_Stanford_et_al_2013_Climate_Change_Opflow.pdf (Viewed on 17 June 2014). https://doi.org/10.5991/OPF.2013.39.0001

Cited by

  1. Estimation of Poisson’s Ratio and Variation of Tensile Yield Strength of Composite Clay Balls Used in Pebble Matrix Filtration vol.29, pp.9, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001957
  2. ε-polylysine biopolymer for coagulation of clay suspensions vol.12, pp.5, 2015, https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2017.12.5.753