Hejintao Huang
Graduate Research Assistant
Georgia Institute of Technology
After I graduated from Bucknell University with a BS degree in 2016, I joined the geoenvironmental lab at Georgia Tech as a Ph.D. student, under the supervision of Dr. Burns. My work takes place at the interface of geoenvironmental engineering, materials science, and geochemistry and I study the fundamental properties of waste materials, in terms of their crystalline, organic, physical, chemical, morphological, and engineering properties. I have lots of experience working with beneficial use of waste materials and life cycle assessment. My passion is coming up with developing more sustainable construction materials in order to reduce the environmental burdens.
PRESENTATION TITLE
Evaluation of the suitability of oil drill cuttings in brick manufacturing
One of the most significant waste streams in the oil and gas industry involves drill cuttings and hydrocarbon-impacted soils. Creating a productive product from the oil drill cuttings could bring down waste disposal amount and reduce the liability and costs associated with using third-party for disposal. Brick manufacturing is less susceptible to changes in feedstock properties, such as moisture content, chemical composition, and grain size distributions than other construction products, such as concrete and cement. In addition, the high firing temperature employed in brick manufacturing benefits the removal of typical light or heavy hydrocarbons, entrained as a chemical of concern. Our characterization results and bench-scale brick products proved that oil drill cuttings are viable for use as a raw material replacement in brick manufacturing. The success of making bricks from oil drill cuttings allows for more efficient use of natural resources, therefore reducing the environmental burdens significantly.