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Deadlines
(Previous Conference: CCE 2016, Corfu Island, Greece, July 14-17, 2016)
PLENARY SPEAKERS:
Prof. Anna Maria Ferrari, Department of Science and Engineering Methods, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, e-mail: annamaria.ferrari@unimore.it
Title: "Life Cycle Assessment of the Recycling Process of Thermal Spray Waste in Ceramic Products"
Abstract: Thermal spraying is a family of versatile coating technologies, currently employed to deposit thick layers consisting of ceramic, metallic, cermet or composite materials for a variety of applications in different fields as mechanical industry (wear and corrosion protection of mechanical parts, like shafts, joints, plungers, impellers, etc.), aeronautics and energy production (thermal insulation of gas turbine components, protection against high temperature oxidation and hot corrosion), biomedical industry (osteoconductive coatings on metallic prosthetic implants for dentistry and orthopaedics) and others. During the spraying process, a significant fraction of the feedstock powder, usually ranging from 50% up to 80%, is not deposited onto the substrate and it is either collected at the booth floor or inside the dust filters. Presently, the recovered powders are treated as "special waste" and, due to the presence of Ni, Co or other heavy metals, they are labelled as hazardous, which increases the complexity and costs of their disposal and eventual dumping. However, these heavy metals are known as components of many pigments used by the ceramic industry, being immobilized in the glass matrix composing the glazes. Nowadays, some glasses are even used to immobilize nuclear waste, due to the extremely low leachability of glassy or semi-crystalline systems. Hence, the use of glass matrix can be considered a good recycling route for such polluting heavy metals powders, provided that a good end use is found. A possible scenario, is the addition in reactive or non reactive frits and glazes. In the present study, the environmental impact of the use of spent feedstock powders recovered at the end of various thermal spray processes as secondary raw materials for the production ceramic glazes was assessed. Thermal spray waste is mainly constituted of Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) with different amounts of metallic contamination that can be recycled in a ceramic glaze thus replacing commercial ZrSiO4 sands. Analysis was conducted with the Life Cycle Assessment methodology (LCA), in order to consider the whole life cycle of the products from the raw materials extraction, to the end of life phase, obtaining a "cradle to the grave" overview. The environmental impact of the production of the ceramic glaze containing the waste powder and its application to a ceramic tile was assessed and compared with the one due to the production of a traditional ceramic glaze.