The Use of Corn Cob Ash and Saw Dust Ash As Cement Replacement in Concrete Works
The Use of Corn Cob Ash and Saw Dust Ash As Cement Replacement in Concrete Works
The Use of Corn Cob Ash and Saw Dust Ash As Cement Replacement in Concrete Works
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The Use of Corn Cob Ash and Saw Dust Ash as Cement Replacement in
Concrete Works
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The Use of Corn Cob Ash and Saw Dust Ash as Cement
Replacement in Concrete Works
1,
K. A. Mujedu, 2, S. A. Adebara, 3, I. O. Lamidi
1, 2, 3
Department of Civil Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria.
-----------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT-----------------------------------------------------
The objective of the study is to enhance the reduction of corn cob and saw dust wastes and reduce the cost of
concrete production by making use of locally available materials. Chemical composition of corn cob ash (CCA)
and saw dust ash (SDA) as well as the workability and compressive strength properties of varying percentage of
CCA – SDA cement concrete and 100% cement concrete of mixing ratio 1 : 2 : 4 and water – cement ratios of
0.5 which later increased to 0.6 and 0.7 were examined and compared. Slump test was carried out to check the
effect of combination of CCA and SDA on the workability of fresh concrete. A total of 108 concrete cubes of size
150mm x 150mm x 150mm with different percentages by weight of combination of CCA and SDA to Portland
cement in the order of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% were cast. The concrete cubes were tested at the
ages of 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 56 days. The results showed that the combination of CCA and SDA are a good
pozzolan with combined SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 of 76.67%. The slump value decreased as the combination of
CCA and SDA contents increased indicating that concrete becomes less workable as the ashes content
increased. The compressive strength of the concrete cubes increased as the days of curing increased and
decreased with increasing ashes replacement. The compressive strength of concrete cubes with the combination
of CCA and SDA was lower at early stages but improves significantly up to 56 days. The highest compressive
strength was 25.52N/mm2 and 23.99N/mm2 at 56 days for 0% and 10% combination of CCA and SDA
respectively. It was concluded that the use of combination of CCA and SDA as a partial replacement for cement
in concrete, particularly in plain concrete works and non – load bearing structures, will improve waste to
wealth initiative though only 10% CCA – SDA replacement is adequate to enjoy maximum benefit of strength
gain.
KEYWORDS: concrete, corn cob ash (CCA), saw dust ash (SDA), ordinary Portland cement, chemical composition
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Date of Submission: 28 February 2014 Date of Publication: 05 April 2014
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I. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a construction material that consists, in its most common form, of Portland cement, fine
aggregates, coarse aggregates and water. Each of these components contribute to the strength their concrete
possesses (Gambhir, 2004). Hence, the overall cost of concrete production depends largely on the availability
and cost of its constituents. Concrete is used more than any other man made material on this planet. It is a low
cost material and can be used for the construction of any type of structure. Because cement remains the most
expensive ingredient in making a concrete and in Nigeria, the price of cement is increasing day by day, it is
therefore important to find means of economizing the use of cement. In Nigeria, a 50kg bag of cement is averagely
the most expensive in the production of any concrete. The production of cement is increasing annually by 3% according to
Olutoge et al, (2010). The current cement production rate of the world is approximately 1.2 billion tons per year. This is
expected to grow to about 3.5 billion tons per year by 2015. It was gathered that the production of every ton of cement emits
carbon dioxide (CO2) to the tune of about one ton. When expressing it in another way, it can be concluded that 7% of the
world’s carbon dioxide emission is attributable to Portland cement industry (Olutoge et al, 2010). Because of the significant
contribution to the environmental pollution, to the high consumption of natural resources like limestone and the high cost of
Portland cement etc, we can not go on producing more and more cement. There is need to economize the use of cement in
concrete production. One of the practical solutions to economize cement in concrete production is to replace cement with
supplementary cementitious materials like rice husk ash, groundnut shell ash, palm kernel shell ash, pawpaw leaf ash, corn
cob ash and saw dust ash. The use of combination of corn cob ash and saw dust ash as a partial replacement for cement in
concrete production is the focus of this study. Moreso, the significance of the study is to help reduce the cost of concrete
production arising from the rising cost of cement, and reduce the volume of solid waste generated from corn cob and saw
dust. Appropriate utilization of the combination of these two materials as a partial replacement for cement will bring
ecological and economical benefits to the country.
Corn cob is the hard thick cylindrical central core of maize (on which are borne the grains or kernels of
an ear of corn). Adesanya and Raheem (2009a) described corn cob as the agricultural waste product obtained
from maize or corn; which is the most important cereal crop in sub – Saharan Africa. According to Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) data, 589 million tons of maize were produced worldwide in the year 2000
(FAO Records, 2002). The United States was the largest maize producer having 43% of world production.
Africa produced 7% of the world’s maize according to IITA Records (2002). South Africa has the highest
production of maize in Africa with 8.04 million tons while Nigeria was the second largest producer of maize in
Africa in the year 2001 with 4.62 million tons based on FAO Records (2002).Saw dust is a waste material from
the timber industry. It is produced as timber and sawn into planks at saw mills located in virtually all major
towns in the country. This process is a daily activity causing heaps of saw dust to be generated after each day.
The need to convert this waste products (corn cob and saw dust) into a useful by – product is the focus of the
study.
There had been various research efforts on the use of some industrial wastes as a replacement for
cement in concrete. Elinwa et al (2008) assessed the fresh concrete properties of self compacting concrete
containing saw dust ash. Raheem et. al (2010) investigated effects of admixtures on the properties of corn cob
ash cement concrete. presented a comparative study on fly ash and ground Olutoge et. al (2010) granulated blast
furnace slag (GGBF) high performance concrete. Adesanya and Raheem (2010) investigated the permeability
and acid attack of corn cob ash blended cement. Adesanya and Raheem (2009) studied the workability and
compressive strength characteristics of corn cob ash blended cement concrete. Cheah and Remli (2011),
presented a study of the implementation of wood waste ash as a partial replacement for cement in the production
of structural grade concrete and mortar. Raheem and Adesanya (2011) investigated the thermal conductivity of
corn cob ash blended cement mortar. Raheem et al (2012) presented a study of the use of saw dust ash as partial
replacement for cement in concrete. They concluded that the compressive strength generally increases with
curing period and decreases with increased amount of saw dust ash and only 5% saw dust ash substitution is
adequate to enjoy maximum benefit of strength gain. Olafusi and olutoge (2012) investigated the strength
properties of corn cob ash concrete. They concluded that concrete do not attain their design strengths at 28 days
and the strengths of corn cob ash concrete are dependent on its pozzolanic activities.
The present study considered both fresh and hardened properties of normal concrete in which corn cob
ash and saw dust ash are incorporated into cement at the point of mix. The study was performed in Nigeria
which is in West Africa. The country was the second largest producer of maize in Africa from which corn cob is
obtained and the country also has thick forests with abundant tree from which saw dust is obtained during
processing. Thus, there is an abundant raw materials for the research.The current practice with corn cob and saw
dust are as fuel for domestic cooking and at times saw dust is also used for sand filling of ditches. In what ever
case, the two materials constitutes environmental nuisance. Converting the waste products – corn cob and saw
dust, into a useful by products – corn cob ash (CCA) and saw dust ash (SDA) have dual benefits. Environmental
pollution would be controlled and job would be created for our teaming unemployed youths who could become
agents for supplying the CCA and SDA to concrete industries that needed it. In the long run, the use of CCA and
SDA as partial replacement for cement is expected to bring about reduction in the cost of concrete production
since cement is the most expensive constituent of concrete.
III. TESTING
3.1 Determination of Oxide Composition of Corn cob ash and Saw dust ash
Some quantity of corn cob ash and saw dust ash were taken to the laboratory (Hegada Scientific
Services Limited, Samoda, Ibadan in Oyo State of Nigeria) and test were performed on each sample to know the
oxide composition. The results were shown in Table 2 and compare it with that of ordinary Portland cement
(OPC).
4.2 Workability
The results of the slump test carried out are shown in Table 3, indicating the workability of the CCA –
SDA concrete. The table indicates that the slump value decreases as the percentage of CCA and SDA increases.
From the result, it was observed that concrete became less workable as the percentage of CCA and SDA
increases meaning that more water is required to make the mixes more workable. This was what led to
increasing the water binder ratio from 0.5 to 0.7 for the 40% and 50% replacement since the mix was becoming
stiff. The high demand for water as CCA and SDA increases is due to increased amount of silica in the mixture.
This is the behaviour of pozzolan cement concrete in which the silica – lime reaction would require more water
in addition to the water needed during hydration of cement (Hague and Kayali, 1998; Waswa – Sabuni et al,
2002; Adesanya and Raheem, 2009).
in Figure 2. The figures show that compressive strength generally increases with curing ages and decreases as
the percentage of CCA and SDA increases. This is due to hydration of cement and ash possesses little cementing
properties compared to a Portland cement. The concrete cubes with 0% combination of CCA and SDA had the
highest rate of early strength development.At 3 days, the result showed a decrease in strength from 14.85N/mm 2
for 0% to 3.25N/mm2 for 50% CCA and SDA replacement. Similar trend was observed at 7 days as shown in
Figure 2. These results indicate that concrete containing CCA and SDA gain strength slowly at early curing age.
This is in line with previous findings that concrete containing pozzolanic materials gained strength slowly at
early curing ages (Raheem et. al, 2012; Hossain, 2005, Adesanya and Raheem, 2009).At 14 days, there was
continuous increase in compressive strength for all the percentages of ashes with values ranging from
18.14N/mm2 for the 0% to 5.13N/mm2 for 50% CCA and SDA replacement. The 0% which serves as control
still has the highest compressive strength at this age.
At 21 days, the compressive strength was also increase for all the percentages of CCA and SDA with
values of 19.43N/mm2 for 0%, 17.32N/mm2 for 10%, 14.95N/mm2 for 20%, 13.29N/mm2 for 30%, 10.75N/mm2
for 40% and 5.96N/mm2 for 50% ashes replacement.At 28 days, there was significant improvement in strength
development as shown in Figure 2 with values of 23.55N/mm2, 20.07N/mm2, 15.84N/mm2, 14.63N/mm2,
11.69N/mm2, and 7.21 N/mm2 for 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% ashes replacement. According to BS
8110 (1985), a grade 20 concrete of 1 : 2 : 4 mix design without any blending of the cement should have
required a strength of 13.5N/mm2, within the first 7 days of wet curing and 20N/mm2, within 28 days. Based on
the above and the results obtained from this study, cement / CCA and SDA ratio of 90 / 10 would be suitable for
concrete.
The results at 56 days indicated that pozzolanic action had commenced as evident from the higher
percentage increase in compressive strength by CCA and SDA concrete over that of the control. The percentage
increase with respect to the 28 days strength for control was 8.37% while it was 19.53%, 17.10%, 10.53%,
13.60% and 11.37% for 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% CCA and SDA replacements. The increase in
compressive strength can be attributed to the reaction of CCA and SDA with calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH) 2]
librated during the hydration of cement. The strength gain can also be attributed to the cementitious products
formed as a result of hydration of cement and those formed when lime reacts with the pozzolan in corporated
(Balendran and Martin – Buades, 2000). As could be seen from the Figure 2, there is a general decrease in
compressive strength as the percentage of CCA and SDA content increases. Since all the concrete cubes meet
the minimum strength of 6N/mm2 after 28 days of curing recommended by BS 5224 (1976) for masonry cement,
CCA – SDA concrete could be used for general concrete works where strength is of less importance such as in
floor screed, mortar and mass concrete.
Table 2 : Oxide Composition of Corn cob ash and Saw dust ash
Table 4: Compressive Strength (N/mm2) of Concrete Cubes For Different Percentages of combination of CCA and SDA
With Curing Ages
30
Compressive Strength (N/mm^2)
25
0%
20
10%
20%
15
30%
40%
10
50%
0
3 7 14 21 28 56
Days
Figure 1: Effect of Curing Age on the Compressive Strength of Different Percentages Combination of CCA and SDA
30
Compressive Strength (N/mm^2)
25
3 days
7 days
20
14 days
21 days
15 28 days
56 days
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
(CCA + SDA)%
Figure 2: Effect of Different Percentages Combination of CCA and SDA on the Compressive Strength of Concrete
VI. CONCLUSIONS
[1] From the results of the various tests carried out, the following conclusions can be arrived at:
The combination of CCA and SDA are suitable materials for use as a pozzolan, since it satisfied the
[2] requirement for such a material by having a combined (SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3) of more than 70%.
[3] Concrete becomes less workable as the percentage combination of CCA and SDA increases meaning that
[4] more water is required to make the mixes more workable. This means that the use of combination of
[5] CCA and SDA in cement to produce concrete has higher water demand.
[6] The compressive strength of the concrete cubes always increases with curing ages and decreases with
[7] increased amount of the percentage combination of CCA and SDA. Only the percentage combination of
[8] CCA and SDA up to 10% replacement of Ordinary Portland cement in concrete would be acceptable to
[9] enjoy maximum benefit of strength gain.
[10] Although the strength of CCA – SDA concrete was lower than that of the control, it can still be used for
[11] general concrete works where strength is of less importance such as floor screed, mortar and mass
[12] concrete.
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the results obtained from the various tests carried out, the following recommendations can be made:
[1] Further studies should be done on 0 – 50% replacement of cement with combination of CCA and SDA
[2] and at an interval of 5%.
[3] Concretes with the combination of CCA and SDA as partial replacement for cement should be allowed
[4] to cure for 120 days, by which pozzolanic activity of ashes would have been concluded.
REFERENCES
[1] Adesanya, D. A. and Raheem A. A. ( 2009a). ''A Study of the Workability and Compressive Strength Characteristics of Corn
cob Ash Blended Cement Concrete'', Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 23, pp. 311 – 317.
[2] Adesanya, D. A. and Raheem A. A. ( 2009b). ''Development of Corn cob Ash Blended Cement'', Construction and Building
Materials, Vol. 23, pp. 347 – 352.
[3] Adesanya, D. A. and Raheem A. A. ( 2010). ''A Study of the Permeability and acid attack of Corn cob Ash blended Cements'',
Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 24, pp.403 – 409.
[4] Balendran, R. V. and Martin – Buades, W. H. (2000). ''The Influence of High Temperature Curing on the Compressive,
Tensile and Flexural Strength of Pulverized Fuel Ash Concrete'', Building and Environment, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 415 – 423.
[5] British Standard Institution. (1976). BS 5224 : ''Standard Specification for Masonry Cement''. BSI, London.
[6] British Standard Institution. (1983). BS 1881 : Part 102 : "Methods for Determination of Slump''. BSI,London.
[7] British Standard Institution. (1983). BS 1881 : Part 116 : "Methods for Determination of Compressive Strength of Concrete
Cubes". BSI, London.