Use of Ash from the Incineration of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureums shaum) into Clayey Ceramic

Abstract

Ashes generated in industrial processes are usually discarded and contribute to environmental pollution. Large scale incorporation into clayey ceramic products for civil construction, such as bricks and tiles, could be a permanent solution. Based on this rationale, this works has as its objective to characterize an ash waste from the incineration of elephant grass and to evaluate its incorporation into a clay to produce red ceramic. The waste was submitted to mineralogical and chemical characterization. Compositions were prepared with incorporation of the waste in amounts of up to 20 wt.% into the clay. Specimens were prepared by extrusion and fired in a laboratory furnace at 850°C. The physical and mechanical properties evaluated were: linear shrinkage, water absorption and flexural strength. The results showed that the waste is mainly composed of quartz and calcium compounds that sensibly reduce the linear shrinkage and does not change the other properties of the ceramic.