This work has for objective to characterize a steel making plant waste, the blast furnace sludge, and to evaluate the effect of its incorporation, up to 20 wt.%, on the properties and microstructure of a clayey ceramic used for the fabrication of bricks and roofing tiles. The waste was submitted to mineralogical, chemical and physical tests. In order to determine the physical and mechanical properties such as linear shrinkage, water absorption and flexural rupture strength, specimens were prepared by uniaxial mold-press at 20 MPa and then fired in a laboratory furnace at 900 ºC. The microstructure of the fired ceramics was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the blast furnace sludge is predominantly composed of iron compounds and carbonaceous material. The particle size of the waste is appropriated for its incorporation into red ceramics. However, the waste incorporation resulted in deleterious effect on the physical and mechanical properties on the fired ceramics.
characterization; red ceramic; blast furnace sludge; microstructure; properties; waste
