Reuse of lead glass sludge in the fabrication of thermally insulating foamed glass with outstanding properties and high Pb-stabilization

This study represents the sustainable/safe consumption of lead glass sludge (LGS) in the fabrication of thermally insulating foamed glass via sintering (750–950º C) and chlorination processes. The impact of selected additives including calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on the foaming efficiency and Pb-stabilization has been deeply investigated. LGS is mainly lead silicate material with considerable content of calcium carbonate, which acts as foaming agent during sintering process. The newly developed foamed-materials exhibited thermal conductivity of 0.054–0.136 W/m.K, density of 0.23–1.10 g/cm 3 , porosity of 63.3–92.6%, and compressive strength of 0.10–2.69 MPa. X-ray diffraction proved that the immobilization mechanism was attributed to the transformation of free Pb within LGS into insoluble ganomalite Pb 9 Ca 5 MnSi 9 O 33 phase. Adding NaOH enhanced the foaming process accompanied by a significant reduction in Pb-leaching. Incorporating CaCl 2 has resulted in a retardation in Pb-leaching, which associated with Pb-stabilization and Pb-vaporization. In an attempt to reduce CO 2 -emission, the potential use of alkali-rich-wastewater (AW) as eco-friendly alkali source in lieu of NaOH was studied. Regardless of the variation in Pb-concentrations in leachates, all samples recorded Pb-concentrations lower than the safe limit (≤ 5 mg/l), achieving Pb-immobilization of 95.98–99.87%. The significantly reduced thermal conductivity and enhanced Pb-immobilization efficiency along with the reasonable compressive strength summarize the major innovation presented in this study.