The potentials of pennisetum purpureum ash as cement replacement material

Cement production requires non-renewable natural resources that will be depleted in coming years. An alternative needs to be found to promote sustainable development for the construction industry. Therefore, this study introduced Pennisetum Purpureum ash (PPA) as a natural pozzolan. Limited information was published on the influence of PPA particle size in cement products. Therefore, this study investigated the physical and chemical properties of PPA as a cement replacement material and the effects of particle sizes of PPA with different replacement percentages on compressive strength and water absorption of cement mortar. The morphology of mortar containing PPA was also analysed. The PPA was prepared through controlled burning and grinding process before going through particle size analysis, XRF and SEM. The PPA used were ground for 1 hour (1H-PPA), 3 hours (3H-PPA) and 6 hours (6H-PPA) while the percentage of replacement in mortar were 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The mortar was cured for 3, 7 and 28 days for mechanical properties characterisation. It was found that the particle size of PPA decreased as the time of grinding increased, which also increased the surface area. The particle size for 1HPPA, 3H-PPA and 6H-PPA were 9.30μm, 10.25μm and 10.58μm respectively. The total reactive oxides for 1H-PPA, 3H-PPA and 6H-PPA were 38%, 37% and 41.1% respectively while the loss on ignition were above 5%. As a conclusion, the grinding process degraded the honeycomb-like PPA structure into smaller particle size with highly irregular shape but in better dispersion. The 15% replacement of 6H-PPA mortar at 28 days showed the significant performance (30.07 N/mm2 of strength) with increment strength by 43.74% compared to control mortar with the lowest water absorption rate of 8.2%

Characterization of mortar with pennisetum purpureum ashes as cement replacement material

In this study, the properties of mortar such as standard consistency, setting time, compressive strength, and water absorption rate were investigated. The cement was replaced with Pennisetum purpureum ashes (PPA) in different particle sizes and dosages. PPA was produced in greyish-white ash with total reactive oxides ranging from 37% to 41.1%. Pennisetum purpureum grass (PPG) was burned with a controlled process at 350 °C for the first 3 hours and 600 °C for another 3 hours at a heating rate of 10 °C/min. Then, PPG was ground in three different grinding durations (1, 3, and 6 hours) producing ashes with particle sizes of 10.58 µm, 10.25 µm, and 9.30 µm, respectively. The physical, chemical, and microstructural properties of PPA were evaluated through several tests; particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, loss on ignition, and chemical composition. Results indicated that PPA is more suitable for use as filling material as a substitute for cement than pozzolanic material as its reactive oxides are less than 50%. The 15% 6H-PPA at 28 days was found to be the optimum PPA replacement dosage and grinding time with cement as it achieved the highest strength and lower water absorption rate among all samples at 7 and 28 days

Compressive Strength of Construction Materials Containing Agricultural Crop Wastes: A Review

The growth of industrialization and development of urban life made an increase in demand for cement, concrete and bricks. Exploitation on the non-renewable natural resources for raw materials will keep increased in order to meet the demands for construction materials. At the same time, the problems regarding the agricultural crop wastes such as rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, palm oil fuel waste and elephant grass has become an important issue nowadays. Consequently, there are many researchers who have been studying the viability of using these agricultural wastes as construction materials to meet the industry demands in order to decrease the current use of non-renewable natural resources. This paper reviewing on how agricultural waste could be utilized as replacement materials for construction activities from various researchers. The idea of using agricultural crop wastes was promoted by studying upon their engineering properties. This paper focusing on the compressive strength of the construction materials containing agricultural crop wastes, which was the common parameter considered by most researcher as required by various standards

Compressive Strength of Construction Materials Containing Agricultural Crop Wastes: A Review

The growth of industrialization and development of urban life made an increase in demand for cement, concrete and bricks. Exploitation on the non-renewable natural resources for raw materials will keep increased in order to meet the demands for construction materials. At the same time, the problems regarding the agricultural crop wastes such as rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, palm oil fuel waste and elephant grass has become an important issue nowadays. Consequently, there are many researchers who have been studying the viability of using these agricultural wastes as construction materials to meet the industry demands in order to decrease the current use of non-renewable natural resources. This paper reviewing on how agricultural waste could be utilized as replacement materials for construction activities from various researchers. The idea of using agricultural crop wastes was promoted by studying upon their engineering properties. This paper focusing on the compressive strength of the construction materials containing agricultural crop wastes, which was the common parameter considered by most researcher as required by various standards