Abstract
Carbide sludge is the by-product of reaction between calcium carbide and water in the production of acetylene gas for welding purposes. This by-product is discarded as waste due to high content of impurities as a result of the reactants and reaction processes. In this research work an attempt was made at developing an appropriate process technology for the recovery of pure slaked lime from Nigeria’s automobile welders’ carbide sludge using solubilisation and evaporation process technology. The percentage purity of the slaked lime recovered through the process was 88%. The recovered slaked limes had pH of 11.93, were soluble in glycerol and dilute acid, insoluble in alcohol, and sparingly soluble in water. The optimum percentage yield was 78.2% at a ratio of 1:1000(w/v) of sludge to water held for 24 h at room temperature. Key words: Carbide, recovery, evaporation, sludge, technology.
Highlights
Proper management of solid waste is critical to the health and well-being of urban residents (World Bank, 2003)
Solid waste management has become a major concern in developing countries, like Nigeria
It causes air pollution as the dry powder becomes air borne on windy days, wastage of valuable resources of calcium hydroxide and handling and disposal problem (World Bank, 2003) Calcium salts currently being marketed derive their calcium from some source which include limestone other than hydrated carbide lime. This is due in large part to the impurities in the hydrated carbide lime, such as metals, slag, minerals and carbon which come from the coal, coke and limestone used in the calcium carbide manufacturing process
Summary
Proper management of solid waste is critical to the health and well-being of urban residents (World Bank, 2003). The sludge are dumped indiscriminately resulting in environmental problems and health hazard such as adverse effects on the fertility of land, as these wastes are deficient in plant nutrients, drainage problems, contamination of water resources It causes air pollution as the dry powder becomes air borne on windy days, wastage of valuable resources of calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) and handling and disposal problem (World Bank, 2003) Calcium salts currently being marketed derive their calcium from some source which include limestone other than hydrated carbide lime. This is due in large part to the impurities in the hydrated carbide lime, such as metals, slag, minerals and carbon which come from the coal, coke and limestone used in the calcium carbide manufacturing process. The urgent need to manage this industrial waste in an environmentally friendly manner and put it to beneficial use is the basis for this research
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