Reutilization of dredged harbor sediment and steel slag by sintering as lightweight aggregate

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of lightweight aggregate (LWA) made from dredged harbor sediment and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag to increase their reutilization. The effects of preheating, sintering and raw materials proportion on the properties of LWA were discussed in term of particle density, water absorption, and compressive strength. Microscopic structure, water-soluble chloride and heavy metals leachability of the LWA were also examined. Results showed that the mixture of the dredged harbor sediment and BOF slag under the manufacturing process with preheating temperature at 500 °C for 10 min and sintering temperature at 1175 °C for 15 min was conducive to be a low water absorption and high strength LWA, which had as low as 1.73 g cm−3 and 3.45% for dry particle density and water absorption respectively. Its compressive strength reached 23.2 MPa when the addition of BOF slag was up to 27%. The LWA prepared in this study also have very low water-soluble chloride and heavy metals leachability, all compliant with Taiwan regulatory standards, thus would be suitable for further civil engineering application. The results of this study provide useful information on co-treating of wastes and recycled resources as LWA.