Solidification and stabilization of chromium laden wastes in cementitious binders

ABSTRACT Solidification/stabilization (S/S) technology was applied to a simulated sludge containing chromium. Leaching tests such as toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), ANS 16.1 and multiple TCLP tests conducted on stabilized blocks showed that chromium was immobilized by the binder studied. A linear relationship was obtained between the cumulative fraction of chromium leached and time1/2 in the stabilized samples proving that chromium is leached by diffusion. The leachability indices obtained for the solidified materials satisfy the guidance value as per US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Chromium concentrations in the TCLP leachates were well within the regulatory levels of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Microchemistry and morphology of the stabilized samples were studied using Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) technique and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). MATERIALS AND METHODS Four different kinds of binder materials, Portland cement, Portland cementfly ash, Portland cementlime and Portland cementgypsum were used for solidification of a synthetic metal containing waste. The cement used was of grade 43 and fly ash was obtained from a coalbased thermal power plant. Lime (Ca(OH)2) and gypsum hemi hydrate (CaSO41/2H2O) were purchased from the local market at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The composition of the Portland cement, fly ash, lime and gypsum used is presented in Table 1. Heavy metal concentrations were found to be negligible in the binders.

Table 1 Chemical compounds of binder materials

The sample preparation has been explained earlier15. The mix ratios prepared were: C (10.26% CrCl3 6H2O; 89.74% cement), FC (10.26% CrCl3 6H2O; 10% fly ash; 79.74% cement), LC (10.26% CrCl3 6H2O; 10% lime; 79.74% cement) and GC (10.26% CrCl3 6H2O; 10% gypsum; 79.74% cement). All the analyses were done in duplicate and the average results are presented. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) of unsolidified and solidified wastes was carried out by extracting at a liquid to solid ratio of 20 : 1 using TCLP leaching fluid as medium. The solidified samples after crushing to size < 9 m along with leaching fluid were placed in a rotary shaker for 18 h. The samples were filtered and analysed for metals. Other aggressive leaching tests, viz. multiple TCLP (MTCLP) and ANS 16.1 test were performed on twomonth-old sample. Diffraction coefficient (De, cm2 s1) and leachability index (LI) were calculated from eqs (1) and (2). CFL=an/A0 =2(S/V) (Det/ ) , LI = log De, (1) (2)

Where an is the total amount of substance released in all leaching periods of time t, A0 the total amount of substance originally present, V the volume of waste, S the surface area of the waste.

RESULTS Results of the TCLP test: Table 2 Concentration of chromium by TCLP

The pH of the leachate ranges from 4.5 to 5.0. It is clearly seen that as the curing time increases the fixation of chromium also increases. Chromium levels in all the mix ratios on the 14th day of curing are less than the TCLP regulatory value (5 mg l1), demonstrating that chromium is well fixed in all the systems studied. The cementgypsum system has excess sulphate, which may be responsible for the impedance in the fixation of chromium. Fly ash acts both as a fine aggregate and as a cementitious component enhancing the binding. Lime increases the pH of the block and enables the formation of insoluble metal hydroxides. Chromium level in plating sludge (10.71 mg l1) was reduced to 0.3782 mg l1 after solidification using binders Results of the MTCLP test: Figure 1 Concentration of chromium by multiple toxixity characteristic leaching procedure test

The cumulative leaching of chromium was found in the range 2.693.06 mg l1, which is considerably lower than the TCLP regulatory limits. Yang and Kao20 have reported that solidification of electroplating sludge using cement and calcium carbonate sludge has reduced the cumulative leaching of zinc from 2.83 to 0.034 wt% and cumulative leaching of cadmium from 18.85 to 0.4 wt%. This indicates that even after subjecting the S/S blocks to rigorous leaching conditions, the stabilized systems exhibit good binding ability for chromium and can be considered chemically durable. Results of the ANS test: Solidified samples were tested according to the American Nuclear Society leaching test procedure, and the results are presented in Figure 2. Figure 2 Cumulative fraction of chromium leached from stabilized system as a function of square root of time

Cumulative fraction of chromium leached (CFL) versus time1/2 over a selected range of leaching data shows linearity which proved that the transport mechanism of chromium from solidified sample by the leaching liquid is controlled by diffusion. The values of De and LI derived are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 Diffusion coefficient and leachability index of chromium by ANS test

The LI values obtained were > 15 for the systems studied, indicating high chromium fixation by the binders investigated. Value of De = 105 cm2/s shows very high mobility or rapid diffusion and De = 1015 cm2/s indicates immobility or very slow diffusion. It could be seen from the table that the LI values range from 16.6 to 17.0 for the mix formulation studied, indicating high chromium fixation. Chan et al [7] have reported LI values for heavy metals, viz. Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu and Fe ranging from 7.6 to 9.1 and from 8.3 to 9.5 in cement and cementactivated carbon matrix respectively. CONCLUSION Four different kinds of binder materials, Portland cement, fly ash, lime and gypsum were tried for solidification of a synthetic metal containing waste. The stability of the solidified blocks was tested using different leaching tests such as TCLP, MTCLP and ANS 16.1. It was observed that the chromium leaching out was below the TCLP and US NRC limits. CFL versus time1/2 over a selected range of leaching data shows linearity, which proved that the transport mechanism of chromium from solidified sample by the leaching liquid is controlled by diffusion. REFERENCES [1] Conner, J. R., Chemical Fixation and Solidification of Hazardous Wastes, Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY, 1990, p. 692. [2] Zhang, J. and Bishop, P. L., Stabilization/solidification (S/S) of mercury-containing wastes using reactivated carbon and Portland cement. J. Hazard. Mater, 2002, 92, 199212. [3] Savvides, C., Papadopoulos, A., Haralambous, K. J. and Loizidou, M., Cement-based stabilization/solidification of metal plating industry sludge. J. Environ. Sci. Health, 2001, A36, 11291134.

[4] Tommaseo, C. E. and Kersten, M., Aqueous solubility diagrams for cementitious waste stabilization systems. 3. Mechanism of zinc immobilization by calcium silicate hydrate. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2002, 36, 29192925. [5] Catalan, L. J. J., Merlire, E. and Chezick, C., Study of the physical and chemical mechanisms influencing the long-term environmental stability of natrojarosite waste treated by stabilization/ solidification. J. Hazard. Mater, 2002, 94, 6388. [6] Wang, Y. M., Chen, T. C., Yeh, K. J. and Shue, M. F., Stabilization of an elevated heavy metal contaminated site, J. Hazard. Mater, 2001, 88, 6374. [7] Chan, Y. M., Agamuthu, P. and Mahalingam, R., Solidification and stabilization of asbestos waste from an automobile brake manufacturing facility-using cement. J. Hazard. Mater, 2000, B77, 209226.

Stabilization/solidification of hazardous and radioactive wastes with alkali activated cements

ABSTRACT This paper reviews progresses on the use of alkali-activated cements for stabilization/solidification of hazardous and radioactive wastes. Alkali activated cements consist of an alkaline activator and cementing components, such as blast furnace slag, coal fly ash, phosphorus slag, steel slag, metakaolin, etc., or a combination of two or more of them. Properly designed alkali-activated cements can exhibit both higher early and later strengths than conventional portland cement. The main hydration product of alkali-activated cements is calcium silicate hydrate (C S H) with low Ca/Si ratios or aluminosilicate gel at room temperature; C S H, tobmorite, xonotlite and/or zeolites under hydrothermal condition, no metastable crystalline compounds such as Ca(OH)2 and calcium sulphoaluminates exist. Alkali-activated cements also exhibit excellent resistance to corrosive environments. The leachability of contaminants from alkali-activated cement stabilized hazardous and radioactive wastes is lower than that from hardened portland cement stabilized wastes. From all these aspects, it is concluded that alkali-activated cements are better matrix for solidification/stabilization of hazardous and radioactive wastes than Portland cement. In later 1957, Glukhovsky first discovered the possibility of producing binders using solutions of alkali metal and a low basic calcium or calcium-free aluminosilicate (clays) [5]. He called the binders soil cements and the corresponding concretes soil silicates. Depending on the composition of starting materials, the binders can be divided into two groups: (a) alkaline earth alkali binding system Me2OMeOMe2O3SiO2H2O and (b) alkaline binding system Me2OMeOMe2O3SiO2H2O. Alkali-activated blast furnace slag cement is a typical example for the first group and alkali-activated metakaolin or fly ash cement for the second group.

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALKALI-ACTIVATED CEMENTS Two important characteristic attracted attentions to alkaline activated cements as host phase for radiation waste: (i) these materials are set at low temperature (10100 C) to give amorphous of semi-crystalline structure, (ii) the product material have some properties superior to cement Portland as chemistry stabilized from acid medium. ME2OMEOME2O3SIO2H2O SYSTEM The main hydration product of alkali-activated slag cement is calcium silicate hydrate (C S H) with a low Ca/Si ratio, and Ca(OH)2 exists. According with RMN MAS techniques the model proposes was based on formation of disordered calcium silica hydrate with a deierketten structure, in witch tetrahedral lineal chains of silicate (Q1 chain end and Q2 units) are linked to CaO layer. In these structures, association of three members units forms tetrahedral chains, two tetrahedral bound to the CaO layer and the third one called bridging tetrahedron, pointing out of the layer. An important part of bridging tetrahedral are occupied by aluminum tetrahedral (AlT) as Q2(1Al) units. It is found that when the slag fineness, nature and dosage of alkaline activator, and curing temperature change, the Ca/Si ratio of C S H, amount of Al incorporated and the chain means length change very little. The minor hydration products also vary with the characteristics of the raw materials used. Thus, alkaliactivated slag cements show much better resistance in aggressive environments than Portland cement. ME2OME2O3SIO2H2O SYSTEM The main hydration product of alkaline binding system Me2OMe2O3SiO2H2O is semicrystalline aluminosilicate gel, which is essentially amorphous to X-rays but NMR studies have revealed a three-dimensional short-range structure in which the Si is found in a variety of environments, with a predominance of Q4(3Al) andQ4(2Al) units. The characteristics of the aluminosilicate used, the nature and concentration of activators, and the curing temperature have the most significant effects on the SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of the hydration products. It is noticed that alkali-activated fly ash cement has quite different microstructures when different alkaline activator are used. The OH ion catalyzes the reaction, whereas the alkaline metal (Na+) and the other ions present in the alkali activator are structure-forming

elements. N A S H contains tetrahedral Si and Al in its structure, randomly distributed along the crosslinked polymeric chains; the gaps so formed are large enough to house the chargebalancing hydrated sodium ions. RESISTANCE TO CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENTS Many publications have reported that alkali-activated cements have a much better resistance to corrosive environments than Portland cement. Figs. 2 and 3 show the corroded depth of alkali-activated slag and Portland cement pastes with time in pH3 nitric and acetic acid solutions. Alkali-activated slag cement showed much less corroded depths than the Portland cement pastes. After 580 days of immersion in pH3 nitric acid solutions, the Portland cement pastes were corroded approximately 2.5 mm, while the alkali-activated slag cement pastes were corroded only about 1.3 mm. High aluminum cement is well known for its good resistance to acid corrosion. Alkali-activated cement can even show much better corrosion resistance in HCl and H2SO4 solutions than high aluminum cement. Figure 2 Corrosion Of Cement Pastes In Ph3 Acetic Acid Solution

Figure 3 Corrosion of cement pastes in pH3 acetic acid solution

It appears that acetic acid is much more aggressive than nitric acid the difference in acid corrosion resistance became more obvious. After 60 days of immersion, 15mmof Portland cement and but only 5mm of alkali-activated slag cement pastes were corroded. This is further confirmed by Bakharev et al. However, it has been reported that, at the same concentration, mineral acids are more corrosive to hardened cement pastes than weak acids. The contradiction can be attributed to the different testing conditionsconstant pH was used in this study and a constant concentration was used by Pavlik. STABILIZATION/SOLIDIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES WITH ALKALI-ACTIVATED CEMENTS Radioactive wastes are generated in most nuclear fuel cycle processes, in some other industries such as hospitals, research facilities, etc. According to the IAEA classification most of these wastes can be classified as low-level wastes (LLW) or intermediate level wastes (ILW). Stabilization/solidification has been widely used to treat LLW and ILW. The leaching resistance of treated products is dependent on the characteristics of the matrix binder, contaminant being leached and leaching environment. STABILIZATION/SOLIDIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES IN ALKALIACTIVATED SLAG CEMENTS Cs is the most difficult radionuclide to be stabilized in radioactive wastes. Several laboratory studies have confirmed that the cesium leachability from alkali-activated slag pastes is much

lower that that from Portland cement pastes. To evaluate the leachability of Cs+ in alkaliactivated slag cements, monolithic specimens were suspended in deionized water in Teflon containers at testing temperature, were transferred to other containers with fresh deionized water at specified intervals, and the concentration of Cs+ in original solutions was measured. Figure 4 Leached fraction of Cs+ in hardened and alkali-activated slag cement pastes a) Portland cement pastes b) Alkali-activated slag cement pastes

The leached fraction of Cs+ in Portland cement and alkali-activated slag cement pastes containing 0.5% CsNO3 after 28 days of moist curing at 25C. The results indicate that the Cs+ in Portland cement pastes shows much higher leached fraction than that in alkaliactivated slag cement pastes at the same temperature. As the temperature increases from 25 to 70C, the leached fraction of Cs+ in both pastes escalates. The leached fraction of Cs+ in Portland cement pastes at 25C is even higher than that from alkali-activated slag cement pastes at 70C. The calculation using Arrhenius equation indicated that the Cs+ leaching activation energy of Portland cement pastes is 19 kJ/mol compared with 25 kJ/mol for alkaliactivated slag cement pastes. The lower leached fraction and higher leaching activation energy of Cs+ in alkali-activated slag cement pastes than in Portland cement pastes can be attributed to the less porous structure and lower C/S ratio in C S H. STABILIZATION/SOLIDIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES IN ALKALIACTIVATED FLY ASH CEMENT The presence of CsNO3 or Cs(OH)H2O in the alkali activated fly ash cement pastes, prepared using 8M NaOH solution as activator, showed no significant adverse effects on mechanical strength or microstructure. Leaching tests following

TCLP and ANSI/ANS 16.1 indicated that the leachability of Cs in the solidified waste form is also very low. Microstructural analysis shows Cs associated with the main reaction product in the AAFA suggesting that cesium is chemically bound rather than physically encapsulated. It is proposed that cesium is incorporated into the alkaline aluminosilicate gel, a precursor for zeolite formation.

Figure 5 TEM Picture

CONCLUSION Alkali-activated cements usually exhibit higher shrinkage than Portland cement when they hydrate at room temperatures, which may result in the cracking of monolithic waste forms. Some alkalis may leach out of the waste forms and enter into the environment if they are immersed in solution. Although the hydration and microstructure development mechanisms of alkali-activated cements are still not clear, it will be very helpful to establish the relationship between the nature of contaminants to be fixed and the nature of raw materials used in the alkali activated cements.

REFERENCES [1] C. Shi, R.L. Day, X. Wu, M. Tang, Uptake of metal ions by autoclaved cement pastes, in: Proceedings of Materials Research Society, vol. 245, Materials Research Society, Boston, 1992, pp. 141149. [2] C. Shi, X. Shen, X. Wu, M. Tang, Immobilization of radioactive wastes with portland and alkali-slag cement pastes, Il Cemento 91 (1994) 97 108. [3] USEPA, Technology Resource DocumentSolidification/Stabilization and Its Application to Waste Materials, USEPA, June 1993 (EPA/530/R- 93/012). [4] USEPA, Innovative Treatment Technologies: Annual Status Report, eighth ed., November 1996 (EPA/542/R-96/010). [5] V.D. Glukhovsky, Soil Silicate Articles and Constructions (Gruntosilikatnye virobi i konstruktsiii), Budivelnik Publisher, Kiev, 1967.

USE OF ARSENIC CONTAMINATED SLUDGE IN MAKING ORNAMENTAL BRICKS

H. M. A. Mahzuz; R. Alam; M. N. Alam; R. Basak; M. S. Islam

ABSTRACT Arsenic contaminated sludge can be substantially found from the treatment of arsenic contaminated ground water. Lake of proper management and reuse of this sludge can create further environmental problem as there is probability of mixing with soil and water. In this paper, effort is taken in order to use of such waste. Here, effectiveness of using this sludge during the process of making ornamental brick has been analyzed and justified. The detailed study was made upon the suitability of sludge in making bricks. Results of different tests indicate that sludge proportion is the key factor for determining the quality of ornamental bricks/tiles. The compressive strength of ornamental bricks mutually decreases with increase of sludge proportion. This study showed that arsenic contaminated sludge could be used safely up to 4 % for making ornamental bricks. Because upper than this limit, the quality of bricks or tiles may be fallen considerably. USE OF ARSENIC Arsenic has found widespread use in agriculture and industry to control a variety of insect and fungicidal pests (Leist et al., 2000). Arsenic tri-oxide is used in manufacturing of agricultural chemicals (pesticides), glass and glassware, industrial chemicals, copper and lead alloys and pharmaceuticals. In agriculture, arsenic compounds such as lead arsenate, copper aceto arsenite, sodium arsenate, calcium arsenate and organic arsenic compounds are used as pesticides. Substantial amount of methyl arsenic acid and diethyl arsenic acid are used as selective herbicides. Chromate copper arsenate, sodium arsenate and zinc arsenate are used as wood preservatives. Some phenyl arsenic compounds such as arsenal acid are used as feed additives for poultry and wine. Small amount of arsenic compounds continue to be used as drugs in some countries. As medicine arsenic is used since the fifth century BC, when hypocrites recommended the use of an arsenic sulfide for the treatment of abscess. Arsenic preparation was used for the treatment of skin disorder, tuberculosis, leukemia, asthma,

leprosy, syphilis, amoebic dysentery, etc. Homeopaths are also using arsenic as drug. Besides, arsenic is used in the preparation at dyes, poisonous gas and transistor, as a component of semiconductor, as a preservative in tanning and in the industry of textile and paper, etc. (Dhaka University Hospital, 2003). After treating, the arsenic contaminated water sludge of arsenic-iron is produced. In another study, it was found that the recommended proportion of this contaminated sludge in brick making is up to 15 %-25 % by weight. (Rouf and Hossain, 2003) Arsenic contaminated groundwater is used extensively in Bangladesh to irrigate the staple food of the region and paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.). To determine whether this irrigation is good for environment or not, a survey on arsenic levels in paddy oils and rice grain was undertaken. It showed that arsenic levels were elevated in zones where arsenic in groundwater used for irrigation was high and where these tube-wells have been in operation for the longest parkperiod of time. (Meharg and Rahman, 2002). The total arsenic content of 150 paddy rice samples were collected from Barisal, Comilla, Dinajpur, Kaunia and Rajshahi districts of Bangladesh. It was found that arsenic concentrations varied from 10 to 420 g/kg at 14 % moisture content. Rice yields and grain arsenic concentrations were 1.5 times higher in the boro (winter) than the monsoon (summer) season, consistent with the much greater use of groundwater for irrigation in the boro season. Mean values for the boro (winter) and aman season (monsoon rices) were 183 and 117 g/kg, respectively (Duxbury et al., 2003). OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH Keeping the above factors in mind, the research work was carried to use this contaminated sludge in making a product, which has some economic values. Therefore, it will definitely reduce the pollution of surface water, ground water and the environment from uncontrolled disposal of arsenic-iron contaminated sludge. ORNAMENTAL BRICK Ornamental bricks are special types of bricks. These are used for decorative work. Real estate companies use ornamental bricks according to the requirements of customer. Different types of ornamental bricks, which are made in the Khadim Ceramic Industry for this research purpose.

Figure 1 Different types of ornamental blocks

MATERIALS AND METHODS The raw material (arsenic sludge) used for this study was collected from arsenic- iron removal plant (AIRP) of Manikganj sadar of Manikganj District near the pourashava office (Fig. 2). Then the basic physicochemical characteristics were examined. It includes determination of moisture content and pH. Heavy metal content, i.e. the concentration of arsenic and iron (Table 2) was determined by acid digestion with a HNO3: HCl volume of ratio of 1:3 (aqua- regia). Mortar in cube 6 shape is a measure to get compressive strength. The mortar used in manufacturing of cube is the mixture of cement, sand and water with a ratio of 1: 2.75: 0.485. In the work, various proportion of oven dried sludge (0.5 %, 1.0 %, 1.5 %, 2.0 %. 2.5 %) were mixed with sand by basis weight. But total proportion of sand in manufacturing ratio of concrete was not changed. After 24 h, the moulds were stripped off and the cubes are further cured in water for 7 days. After 7 days, the cubes were tested to

check the crushing strength. Three cubes of each proportion of sludge were made and took the average of crushing/compressive strength value. Three standard cube samples were also made without using contaminated sludge, only with cement, sand and water maintaining the same ratio of 1: 2.75: 0.485. They were made following the same procedure. Compressive strength of these cubes was also measured for comparison of compressive strength. The clay sample for ornamental bricks was collected from Khadim ceramic limited (KCL) located at Khadim Nagar in Sylhet. At first, various proportion of sludge was mixed with clay soil on basis weight (2 %, 4 %, 5 %, 6 %, 8 % and 16 %) and clay was prepared in batches (3 samples for each proportion). After complete mixing, the clay soil was taken to the brick manufacturing machine. In this research, four types of ornamental bricks e. g. Tapper tiles, Dulpori, CT- 5 and 1" 6" are studied. All the ornamental bricks are produced following the standard rule of KCL. Again, standard samples of those four types of ornamental bricks were also made. The ornamental bricks were then tested for compressive strength. Three bricks of each proportion of sludge were tested and took the average crushing/compressive strength value. This was done to compare the compressive strength of ornamental bricks which have different sludge proportions with the standard ornamental bricks to identify the safe numerical percent value for practical use. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Sand property analysis For concrete sand, FM range is 2.3-3.1 (Mobasher, 1999). The sand used in making the cubes was subjected to different experimental procedures, which gives the unique values to define the sand to a specified category. Table 1 represents the various physical properties of Sylhet sand. Table 1 Physical properties of naturally iron-rich sylher sand

Sludge property analysis The specified physicochemical properties associated with the suitability of sludge in use of manufacturing of ornamental bricks were determined and the findings are represented in Table 2. Table 2 Physicochemical properties of arsenic-iron contaminated sludge

Density of ornamental bricks The density of ornamental bricks decreases with the increase of sludge addition. Table 3 shows the comparison between the densities of ornamental bricks made without sludge and those made using different proportion of sludge. From the figures, it can be concluded that up to 4% sludge addition, the density of ornamental bricks is not much affected. But when sludge addition is more than 4%, then the quality of ornamental bricks may be affected. Table 3 Comparison of density(gm/cm3)

Firing shrinkage of ornamental bricks Shrinkage during firing is unavoidable. The quality of brick can be assured according to the degree of firing shrinkage. From the data analysis, it is seen that the percentage of shrinkage increases as the amount proportion of up to 4 %, the firing shrinkage of ornamental bricks is below the bricks made without sludge. But it increases when sludge addition is more than 4%.

Table 4 Comparison of firing shrinkage (%)

Results from compressive strength test of mortar: Table 5 Compressive strength of cubes

Table 6 Comparison of compressive strength (psi)

Presence of arsenic (V) reduces the initial and final settling time of cement. Again, compressive strength of cement increases with increase of arsenic (V) content (Minocha and Bhatnagar, 2007). In this study, cubes made using the arsenic contaminated sludge were tested for compressive strength. From Table 5, it is clear that desired strength was not found when sludge was mixed with clay soil in the manufacture of cubes. Even at small proportion of sludge mixing the compressive strength of the cubes can be hampered. Therefore, it can be concluded that sludge mixing is not recommended in the manufacturing of mortar. From the

Table 6, it was seen that up to 4% of sludge addition, compressive strength of the ornamental bricks made using sludge, is always as high as that of ornamental bricks made without sludge. The compressive strength of the ornamental bricks made using sludge lost their quality with the addition of more than 4 % of sludge. Thus, the maximum of 4 % of sludge can be mixed as clay material safely. CONCLUSION This work tries to demonstrate a feasible way of using arsenic contaminated sludge as a clay substitute to produce quality ornamental bricks. Different measurements of both clay- sludge mixture and cube and ornamental bricks were carried out to evaluate the factors that could affect the ornamental brick quality. The results of compressive strength tests on the cube shows that desired strength can not be found in cubes when they were manufactured of cubes done using arsenic contaminated sludge, even when just 0.5% sludge was substituted as sand. Based on the results of compressive strength of cube, it can be said that Arsenic sludge is not suitable as raw material in manufacturing of mortar in cube shape. Use of waste as an aggregate on mortar may be an effective management option. But the required strength value must be maintained. For example, the utilization of waste glass in concrete can cause cracking and weakening due to expansion by alkali silica reaction (Park and Lee, 2004). Compressive strength of mortar increases with an increase in cement content and decreases with an increase lime, sand, water or air content (Masonry Advisory Council, 2008). The results of compressive strength tests on the ornamental bricks indicate that the strength is greatly dependent on the amount of sludge substituted as clay soil. The optimum amount of sludge that could be mixed with clay to produce good bonding of ornamental bricks was 4 % (safely maximum) by weight. On the other hand, if 4 % of sludge is mixed to the clay soil, the firing shrinkage of the ornamental bricks would not be affected. But the firing shrinkage starts to vary with the addition of more than 4 % sludge by weight. Totally, the recommended proportion of sludge in ornamental brick making is 4 % by weight to produce a good quality ornamental brick using arsenic contaminated sludge.

REFERENCES [1] Akhtar, H.; Cartledge, F. K.; Miller, J.; Melearn, M., (2000). Treatment of arseniccontaminated soils, soil characterization. J. Environ. Eng., 126 (11), 999-1003 (5 pages). [2] Alam, M. G. M.; Allinson, G.; Stagnitti, F.; Tanaka, A.; Westbrooke, M., (2002). Arsenic contamination in Bangladesh groundwater: A major environmental and social disaster. Int. J. Environ. Heal. R., 12 (3), 235-253 (19 pages). [3] Artiola, J. F; Zabeik, D.; Jhonson, S. H., (1990). In situ treatment of arsenic contaminated soil from a hazardous industrial site: Laborator studies, solidification or stabilization. Waste Manage. 10 (1), 73-78 (6 pages). [4] Basak, R.; Islam, M. S., (2008). A study on the use of arseniciron contaminated sludge in making construction materials. B.Sc. thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh, 1-2. De, A. K., (1994). Environmental Chemistry, 3rd. Ed., New Age International (P) Limited Publishers, New Delhi-110 002, ISBN: 81-224-0648-3, 78-80.