Mitsuhiro Sezaki

Ceramic waste glass fiber-reinforced plastic-containing filtering materials for turbid water treatment

To utilize waste glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) and to reduce environmental pollution in rivers and lakes, we developed a filtering material that can clean contaminated water. The high strength and porous nature of glass fiber-reinforced ceramic made by mixing clay and crushed waste GFRP before firing was exploited to do so. Various specimens with different pore size distributions were made by changing the mixing ratio of clay and crushed GFRP, the GFRP particle size, and the mixture firing temperature. Bending strength and permeability tests indicated that several types of ceramics with good permeabilities and adequate bending strengths could be produced, which enables their use as filtration materials for turbid water. Filtration tests on simulated turbid water clarified the relationship between the pore size distribution and the filtering ability of the ceramic for turbid water. Filtration tests on river water verified their practical suitability as ceramic filtration materials. It is proposed that ceramics made from clay and GFRP could be used as filtering materials for turbid water.