partial replacement of cement with coconut shell ash for concrete production

Description

 

ABSTRACT

The cost implication of cement used in concrete construction works is accelerating and almost becoming unbearable, yet the need for sheltering and other infrastructure using this material keeps moving up. Thus the need to find alternative binding materials other than cement has become pressing issue in research and technology world. Agricultural waste material such as coconut shells were collected and pulverized in the furnace from 800^OC to 1000^oC for four hours to produce coconut shell ash (CSA), after XRF analysis was carried out to determine its pozzolanic property, which was used as partial replacement of cement in concrete production. Concrete cubes were produced using graded levels of 0, 10, 15, and 20 percent replacement of CSA for Ordinary Portland Cement. The concrete mix ratio of 1:2:4 with water cement ratio of 0.5 were used and total of 60 cubes were produced and cured in water for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Properties such as Workability, density, compressive strength and water absorption were determined in accordance to British Standards and pozzolanic property in accordance to American Standards. The results showed that the densities of concrete cubes for 5% replacement was above 2400Kg/m³ while compressive strength were 25.17 N/mm², 24.72 N/mm², 23.08 N/mm² and 20.94N/mm² in step of 5% up to 20% at 28 days. It was observed that 10% replacement of CSA as has the lowest water absorption of 0.66%. XRF analysis showed that the CSA belongs to class F. Thus, replacement of OPC with CSA from 5% up to 15% is recommended for normal weight concrete production. (BS 8110:2, 1985).

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0      INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
• AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
• JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF WORK
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• METHODOLOGY

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• REVIEW OF STUDY
• PRODUCTION OF CEMENT
• COCONUT SHELL ASH
• COCONUT SHELLS AS AGGREGATE
• COCONUT SHELLS ASH AS CEMENT
• PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
• FACTORS AFFECTING STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

CHAPTER THREE

• METHODOLOGY

3.1    COLLECTION OF MATERIALS USED

• EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE
• CHAPTER FOUR

4.0      RESULT AND DISCUSSION

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

Concrete is widely used as construction material for various types of structures due to its durability (Utsev, 2018). For a long time, it was considered to be very durable material requiring a little or no maintenance. Many environmental phenomena are known significantly the durability of reinforced concrete structures. We build concrete structures in highly polluted urban and industrial areas, aggressive marine environment sand many other hostile conditions where other materials of construction are found to be nondurable. In the recent revision, one of the major points discussed is the durability aspects of concrete. So the use of concrete is unavoidable. The use and cost of cement in construction companies is rising everyday as it is one of the essential ingredients in concrete and very soon the source material (limestone) will soon get exhausted, because is the only source material used in the production of cement and much intense use is on it. Alternate material such as cocoa nut shell ash which is cheaply available in Nigeria has to be sourced for in replacement of cement and thereby reducing and minimizing the risk and hazard cocoa nut shell posed to health and environment. Utilization of industrial waste or secondary material has been encouraged in construction field for the production of cement and concrete because it contributes to reducing the consumption of natural resources. The composition of coconut production is fairly good, although the coconut palm is not indigenous to Nigeria, 15,000 hectare of land are estimated to be under coconut cultivation in the country, mostly in coaster area of Lagos state and the Delta area of River state. Portland cement is one of the important ingredients in concrete. The current cement production rate of the world is approximately 1.2 billion tons/year. The popularity of the concrete is due to the common ingredients, it is possible to change the properties of concrete to meet the demands of any particular situation. Among the various properties of concrete, its compressive strength is considered to be the most important and is taken as a measure of its overall quality (Utsev, 2018). The strength of concrete is defined as resistance to its failure against a system of loading. The strength of concrete is measured in various ways depending on loading pattern such as compressive strength, flexure test, bond strength and resistance to abrasion. In this test only include compressive and porosity test. Compressive strengths are the resistance of the concrete to crushing. The compressive strength of cement concrete mainly depends on the type, quality and quantity of cement, the type, size, shape, strength and grading of aggregates, the water cement ratio, the degree of workability and compaction, the type ,quality and age of curing (Utsev, 2018).

In this research, investigation on the use of cocoa nut shell as partial replacement of cement was fully discussed.

1.1                                              BACKGROUND OF STUDY

According to Utsev (2018) used coconut shell ash (CSA) as pozzolana in partial replacement of cement in concrete production and the results showed that the densities of concrete cubes for 10 -15% replacement was above 2400Kg/m 3 and the compressive strength increased from 12.45N/mm 2 at 7days to 31.78N/mm 2 at 28 days curing thus meeting the requirement for use in both heavy weight and light weight concreting. Thus, 10 – 15% replacement of OPC with CSA is recommended for both heavy weight and light weight concrete production. Utsev (2018) observed that compressive strength of the ordinary Portland cement/coconut husk ash sandcrete blocks generally decreases as the percentage of coconut husk ash content increases.

Infrastructure development across the world created demand for construction materials. Concrete is the premier civil engineering construction material. Concrete manufacturing involve consumption of ingredients, aggregates, water and admixture. Among all the ingredients, aggregates and cement form the major part. There were many experimental work conducted to improve the properties of the concrete by putting new materials, whether it is natural materials or recycle materials or synthetic materials in the concrete mix. The additional material can be replacing the aggregate, cement or just as additive and one form of the additive is natural material. A large amount of agricultural waste was disposed in most of tropical countries especially in Asia for countries like India, Thailand, Philippine and Malaysia. If the waste cannot be disposed properly it will lead to social and environmental problem. The high cost of conventional building materials is a major factor affecting housing delivery in India. This has necessitated research into alternative materials of construction. There is an increasing interest in what happens to products at the end of their useful lives, so natural materials have an advantage in that they can biodegrade or burnt in a carbon-neutral manner (Abdulfatah et al., 2012). Natural materials like Coconut Shell is not commonly used in the construction industry but still are often dumped as agricultural wastes. However, with the question for affordable housing system for both the rural and urban population of India and other developing countries, various proposals focusing on cutting down conventional building material costs have been put forward (Amarnath et al., 2012). One of the suggestions in the forefront has been the sourcing, development and use of alternative, non-conventional local construction materials including the possibility of using some agricultural wastes and residues as construction materials.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Concrete plays an important role in the beneficial use of the material in construction industry. Many modifications and developments have been made to place material like coconut shell ash, bamboo Leaf Ash, wood wool, rice husk and marble powder as a cement replacement constituent, but it as an alternative to reveal that the replacement of these materials in Portland cement affect the compressive strength of concrete. One of the main goal of sustainable waste management is to maximize recycling and reuse. With increasing environmental pressure to reduce waste and pollution and to recycle as much as possible, the concrete industry has begun adopting a number of methods to achieve these goals.

One of the suggestions in the forefront has been the sourcing, development and use of alternative, non-conventional local construction materials including the possibility of using some agricultural wastes and residues as partial or full replacement of conventional constructional materials. In countries where abundant agricultural wastes are discharged, these wastes can be used as potential material or replacement material in construction industries.

This has a significant impact by reducing the amount of quarrying and landfill space required, and  acts as a cement replacement, reduces the amount of cement of required to produce a solid concrete. As cement production creates massive quantities of carbon dioxide, cement replacement technology such as this will play an important role in future attempts to cut carbon dioxide emissions and production of economical optimum strength concrete, so as to encourage the use of this ‘impressive’ waste product as construction material in low-cost housing.

1.3      AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this project is to study the partial replacement of cement with coconut shell ash for concrete production

The objectives of the projects are:

• To investigate the effect of coconut shells ash as a replacement of cement in concrete
• To suggest the use of bamboo leaf ash as alternative supplement to cement so as to reduce cost of construction.
• To address the issues related to shortage of conventional material, problem of disposal of waste material and review the work done on the use of waste coconut shell and its ash for the production of concrete
• To spread awareness about the utilization of coconut shell and its ash as a construction material in civil engineering

1.4      JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria today, an appreciable percentage of the entire population cannot afford to build their own houses especially modern types due to high cost of cement and the average percentage of the country’s population find it difficult or almost impossible to afford the cost. In order to curb this act, this project is targeting whether coconut shell ash can be used as a partial replacement for cement in order to achieve optimum strength and economic concrete and the corresponding quantity of coir ash required.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF WORK

This study concentrated on investigation of the use of coconut shell as coarse aggregate in concrete and investigate the strengths of coconut shell concretes at different coconuts shells (CS) replacements and also study the effect on strength of partially replaced concrete.

1.6      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The coconut shell in the form of aggregate is a material which can be a substitute for coarse aggregate in concrete. The use of coconut shell can also help in the prevention of environment and the economics related to the construction can also be reduced, it also contributes to the sustainable construction. The coconut shell in the form of ash is a material which can be as a substitute of cement. The research indicates that the materials rich in amorphous silica can be used as partial replacement of cement. Use of such material can lead to increase the compressive and flexural strength. The study will be useful in determining the suitability of coconut shell ash (CSA) as a partial replacement of cement.

1.7      METHODOLOGY

In carrying out of the research work, the method adopted is in this sequence.

• Procurement of materials.
• Preparation of the coconut shell Ash.
• Testing of the materials.
• Casting of the cubes.
• Curing of the cubes.
• Testing for the compressive strength of the specimen.