Palm oil fuel ash - a potential pozzolanic material in concrete construction

Abstract

Pozzolanic materials, either natural or artificial, have long been successfully used in concrete. Being artificial pozzolan fly ash and later rice husk ash have gained acceptance as mineral admixture and/or cementitious materials in many parts of the world. Perhaps the latest addition to the ash family is palm oil fuel ash, a waste material obtained on burning ofpalm oil husk and shell in palm oil mill boiler that has recently been identified as a good pozzolanic material. This paper presents some experimental results on strength properties of concrete containing palm oil fuel ash at various replacement levels of 10 %, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60 % by weight of ordinary Portland cement. Preliminary test results on compressive strength reveal that it has been possible to replace 40% ash without affecting concrete strength. The maximum strength gained however, occured at the replacement level of 30%. With strength data, some physical and chemical properties of ash including setting time and soundness are also presented and discussed. Experimental investigation, based on early data, suggests that palm oil fuel ash can be a potential pozzolanic material in concrete construction.