Effect of sintering temperature on the characteristics of sludge ceramsite

In order to investigate the effect of sintering temperature on the characteristics of sludge ceramsite and find an optimal sintering temperature, dried sewage sludge, clay, and water glass were mixed at ratios of dried sewage sludge/clay=33% and water glass/clay=15%. Then these mixtures were heated to 850, 900, 950, 1000, 1100, and 1200 degrees C for production of sludge ceramsite. The sludge ceramsite were characterized by DTA-TGA, SEM-EDS, XRD, and XRF. The results indicate that the differences in thermal behaviours are caused by the compositional and structural variations; the ceramsite sintered at 1000 degrees C has more uniformly distributed finer pores (0.5 microm