Cleaner Engineering and Technology (Oct 2023)

A reuse approach of grinding sludge: Analysis of corrosion and mechanical properties of oxyacetyline torch melted Fe and Cu alloy

  • I. Prince Herald Milton,
  • P. Sakthivel,
  • E. Sivasenthil

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16
p. 100674

Abstract

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This study mainly focuses on investigating the feasibility of utilizing grinding sludge, a by-product of grinding steel plates, as an alternative raw material by filtering and compressing the sludge, removing impurities, adding copper wire bits, and analyzing the resulting samples for improved hardness and corrosion resistance. To improve the hardness and convert the sample to a definite shape, copper wire bits are added to the separated Fe particles during melting. These copper wire bits, which are common scrap available during electrical maintenance, are melted together with Fe particles using the oxy-fuel steel cutting torch at a temperature range of 1539–1600 °C. The melted samples are then characterized using XRD, optical, and scanning electron microscopy analyses. The XRD results confirm the presence of a body-centered cubic lattice structure. Optical and scanning electron microscopy analyses reveal the formation of grains and the mixing of Cu with Fe. Further investigations are conducted to analyze the strength and corrosion properties of the samples. Micro-hardness and electrochemical analysis are performed, and the results show that the addition of copper wire bits improves the corrosion resistance and micro-hardness of the Fe. The fact that the addition of copper wire bits during the melting process improved the corrosion resistance and micro-hardness of the Fe means that the samples can now be sent to the cupola furnace for melting and reuse. This is a sustainable approach that will allow for the responsible disposal of the materials, while also potentially reducing the need for new materials in future production processes.

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