This work has as its objective to evaluate the effect of incorporation of up to 20 wt.% of fine steel sludge, from an integrated siderurgic plant, on the microstructure of a kaolinitic clay used to the fabricate bricks and roofing tiles, as well as to evaluate the inertization of potentially toxic elements through solution and leaching tests in the incorporated ceramic. Specimens were obtained by 18 MPa uniaxial pressure and than fired in laboratory furnace at 900ºC. The microstructure of the fractured region, obtained from the mechanical strength test of the fired specimens, was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The identification of the fired crystalline phases was done by X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that the fine steel sludge contributes to the increment of hematite on the fired ceramic and its incorporation up to 20 wt.% changes the microstructure of the clayey ceramic creating voids that contributing to decrease the mechanical strength.
Red ceramic; fine steel sludge; environmental; microstructure; waste
