Heat treatment of sludge and encapsulation into building blocks

Petroleum sludge contains toxic compounds such as PAH (PAH) and heavy metals and are abundant due to mass processing and mining of petroleum. The objective of the project was to apply thermal treatment on petroleum sludge and encapsulation of petroleum sludge ash (PSA) into cement mortar with fine aggregates, ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and water as well as to determine the performance of petroleum sludge ash (PSA) as a cement replacement material in terms of unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The petroleum sludge was subjected to heat treatment at 550 °C for 3 hours and the petroleum sludge ash (PSA) produced from heat treatment was then encapsulated into cement mortar and cured for 28 days. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test was done for 3 days, 7days and 28days and from the results, when petroleum sludge ash (PSA) was kept at below 15%, the strength activity index was above the limit as required by ASTM C618.