• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.38 no.10
• /
• pp.908-913
• /
• 2001

Paper sludge Ash (PA) and Fly Ash (FA) wastes are usually land-filled for reclamation or substituted for cements as a resource. It could also offer some advantages when they are substituted for clay to preserve the environment. To recycle those wastes, the sintered specimen made of PA-FA-Clay system were examined to find the microstructure and physical properties. The ratio of clay to wastes was fixed as 30:70 by wt%, while PA to FA within waste portion were varied in the range of $1:6{\sim}7:0$. Those specimens were fired in $1150{\sim}1350^{\circ}C$. It was found that the relative density of sintered specimen was increased with amount of PA added at low sintering temperature (i.e, $1150{\sim}1200^{\circ}C$). This is due to increased amount of liquid during sintering. It is shown, however that at high sintering temperature ($1250{\sim}1350^{\circ}C$), the relative density of specimens was decreased with amount of PA added. This is because of overfiring phenomenon which may be able to induce an inhomogeneous microstructure and increased porosity. The mechanical properties of sintered specimen were depended upon the homogeneity of microstructure in accordance with SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) and pore size distribution analysis. For example, the compressive strength of 10PA-60FA-30Clay specimen sintered at $1225^{\circ}C$ was twice higher than that of 70PA-30Clay specimen even thought the relative density of those specimen was similar. This decreased strength of 70PA-30Clay specimen appears to be an inhomogeneity of microstructure due to overfiring.