Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master Engineering, School of Civil Engineering

Rapid urbanization in countries all over the world has resulted in a drastic increase of waste sludge. Sludge resulting from wastewater treatment plants creates problems of disposal. There are many solutions of disposal applied such as spreading on the land, landfilling or incineration. However, the future trends in sludge management are towards reutilization as useful resource. This study presents the results of the utilization waste sludge as brickmaking material in small-scale brickmaking condition. Two types of sludge used in research work are organic and inorganic for comparison. Bricks with a range of sludge and pozzolan combined from rice husk ash and fly ash are prepared manually and then fired in a small-scale brick factory. Measurements of shrinkage, water absorption capacity and compressive strength of bricks are conducted. Test results indicated that the utilization of sludge as clay-replacing material in small-scale brickmaking in developing countries is feasible. The quality of bricks made from inorganic sludge is better than that of bricks made from organic sludge. Compressive strength of bricks using inorganic sludge is satisfactory, comparing to ordinary bricks manufactured in the same condition. Due to high shrinkage and lower compressive strength, bricks using organic sludge are not attractive