Application of sugarcane bagasse ash as a partial cement replacement material

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse ash is a byproduct of sugar factories found after burning sugarcane bagasse which itself is found after the extraction of all economical sugar from sugarcane. The disposal of this material is already causing environmental problems around the sugar factories. On the other hand, the boost in construction activities in the country created shortage in most of concrete making materials especially cement, resulting in an increase in price. This study examined the potential use of sugarcane bagasse ash as a partial cement replacement material.
In this study, bagasse ash sample was collected from Wonji sugar factory and its chemical properties were investigated. The bagasse ash was then ground until the particles passing the 63μm sieve size reach about 85% and the specific surface area about 4716 cm²/gm. Ordinary Portland cement and Portland Pozzolana cement were replaced by ground bagasse ash at different percentage ratios. Normal consistency and setting time of the pastes containing Ordinary Portland cement and bagasse ash from 5% to 30% replacement were investigated. The compressive strengths of different mortars with bagasse ash addition were also investigated. Four different C-35 concrete mixes with bagasse ash replacements of 0%, 5%, 15% and 25% of the Ordinary Portland cement were prepared with water to cement ratio of 0.55 and cement content of 350kg/m³ for the control mix.
The test results indicated that up to 10% replacement of cement by bagasse ash results in better or similar concrete properties and further environmental and economical advantages can also be exploited by using bagasse ash as a partial cement replacement material.

Keywords: Bagasse ash, Pozzolanic material, Normal consistency, Setting time, Compressive strength, Water penetration depth.