Investigation of the recycling of ceramic sludge waste from wall tile production in ceramic factory

In ceramic production, vast amount of green process waste is created. Green process waste in other words, sludge waste creates a big environmental problem. It can create water pollution as well as create environmental problems having a big physical change of the stored area., Therefore, the use of sludge waste in the process as raw material is vitally important. The research programme was carried out to use the green process wastes as raw materials in the recipes of various products in Kaleseramik Research and Development Center in Turkey. Firstly, the long term samples were taken in order to observe the fluctuation of the created waste. Then, the chemical and mineralogical characterization of sludge wastes was carried out by using XRF and XRD. Different recipes were prepared by using green process waste. The behavior and the phases of fired products were evaluated by using a double-beam optical non-contact dilatometer and XRD. SEM and EDX were carried out for microstructural and micro-chemical analysis. Finally; the physical, mechanical and color properties of waste added recipes; such as water absorption, linear shrinkage, breaking strength and chromatic coordinates were measured. The results showed that it is possible to develop wall tile body with suitable technological properties by using appropriate mixture of process wastes in the body composition. The usage of sludge waste eliminates environmental problems and also provides the cost advantages as a raw material input. The full results of the case study performed at Kaleseramik Factory is illustrated in details.