Valorisation of contaminated marine sediments to produce ceramic construction materials

The effect of the heating temperature on the properties of sintered ceramic bodies from three different contaminated marine sediments was investigated. The optimum sintering temperature is 1125oC for Astilleros and Cuchia sediments and 1150oC for Raos sample. Water absorption values and mechanical properties of sintered bodies show that marine sediments are available to be used as secondary raw materials in ceramic tiles and bricks production. The results revealed that the firing process decrease the leaching of the species analyzed, except for As. Thus, the risk associated to fired sediments can be considered low.