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resources, conservation and recycling

Resources, Conservation and Recycling 13 ( 1995) 27-36

Use of ash derived from oil-palm waste incineration as a cement replacement material
Joo-Hwa Tay a,*, Kuan-Yeow Show b
a Division

ofWater

Resources

and Transportation,

School of Civil and Structural Engineering, 2263, Singapore University, Nanyang Technological

Nanyang

Technological

University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 2263, Singapore

b Research Assistant, School of Civil and Structural Engineering, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore

Accepted 29 January

1994

Abstract The production of palm oil creates large quantity of solid waste by-products. Empty oil-palm fruit bunches discharged from the mill are currently being disposed of by burning in an incinerator. After combustion, a substantial amount of highly caustic ash is produced which creates problems of disposal. This study examines the feasibility of using the ash as a cement replacement material. The experimental results indicate that blended cement containing ash derived from oil-palm waste shows satisfactory setting times and soundness test results. Workability of concrete incorporating the ash is categorized as good, and no segregation was observed. The effects of ash addition on concrete densities and water absorption are insignificant. Compressive strength of the concrete decreases with the ash content in
the cement. Up to 10% by weight of ash addition, no adverse effect on the strength was observed for the cubes cured for 1 year. The results suggest that the ash could possibly be blended in small amounts with ordinary Portland cement for concrete making without detrimental effects on long-term strength property.
Keywords:

Agro-waste;

Ash; Disposal;

Cement

replacement;

Concrete;

Workability;

Compressive

strength;

Setting time

1. Introduction Palm oil industry plays a major role in the economic development of several tropical countries. In processing oil-palm fruit for oil extraction, palm oil mill produces a considerable amount of solid waste by-products in the form of fibers, nut shells, and empty fruit bunches. For every 100 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches processed, there will be approx. 20
* Corresponding author.

0921-3449/95/$09.50 0 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSD10921-3449(94)00012-T

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tonnes of nut shells, 7 tonnes of fibers, and 25 tonnes of empty bunches discharged from the mill. To prevent environmental degradation and pollution, disposal of the oil-palm wastes needs prudent handling and consideration. Currently the shell and fiber are used extensively as fuel for the production of steam in the palm oil mills, which provides a means of waste disposal and energy recovery. After combustion in the steam boiler, there is approx. 5% of ash being produced. Since the ash does not have sufficient nutrients to be used as fertilizer, it is dumped in open fields in the vicinity of the palm oil mills. The ash, being light and of small particle size, is easily carried away by wind resulting in smog on a humid day. The smog reduces visibility and creates traffic hazard besides being a potential health hazard leading to bronchi and lung diseases. The empty oil-palm fruit bunches, owing to their low fuel value, are seldom used as fuel for the production of steam. At present, the empty bunches are being disposed of by burning in an incinerator, and a substantial amount of ash is produced after the combustion. Some of the ash is being used as a fertilizer for the palm trees, but due to its highly alkaline nature at a pH of around 11, the ash needs careful handling and disposal. In recent years, studies have been carried out by various researchers in using wastes generated from the agricultural and industrial activities as concrete-making materials. Agrowastes such as sawdust, cork granules, coconut pitch, and rice husks have been used as filler or aggregate for concrete [ l-61. The studies on development of masonry cements from industrial wastes like lime-sludge, slags, kiln dust, and pulverized fuel ash were reported [7,8]. Sludge generated from wastewater treatment plant was used as filler in concrete [9, lo], or as lightweight aggregates for concrete [ 1 l-141, or as cementitious building materials [ 15-171. As a solution to the disposal problem of the ash derived from oil-palm shells, fibers, and bunches, research studies have been carried out to examine the feasibility of using the ash as cement replacement materials. Previous investigation [ 181 showed that Portland cement can be partially replaced by shell and fiber ash for concrete making. This paper presents the results of a research study on the use of oil-palm bunch ash as a partial replacement material for Portland cement.

2. Materials and procedure Several batches of bunch ash samples were collected from the empty fruit bunch incinerator at a palm oil mill. The ash samples are thoroughly mixed in the laboratory to ensure homogeneity. The well-mixed ash was subsequently sieved, and only particles passing through 150 pm-sieve were used. The sieved ash was analyzed for its chemical and physical characteristics. Mineralogical analysis of the ash by X-ray diffraction is beyond the scope of this engineering feasibility study. To evaluate the use of bunch ash as a replacement material for Portland cement, blended Portland cements containing lo%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% by weight of the ash were prepared and tested for various properties. For comparison purposes, ordinary Portland cement with no ash added was used as the control sample. The methods used for the analysis are listed in Table 1.

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Table 1 Methods used for testing Property Ash and cement Chemical composition Loss-on-ignition Specific gravity Apparent bulk density Soundness Setting time Fineness Concrete Compacting factor Density Water absorption Shrinkage Compressive strength Method

atomic absorption ASTMC114 ASTM Cl88 BS 3162 BS 4550 ASTM Cl91 Coulter counter BS 1881 ASTM C567 BS 1881 ASTM Cl57 BS 1881

spectrophotometry

Fineness of the ash and the cement specimens expressed in specific surface area were calculated from the particle size distribution measured by the Coulter counter. The formula [ 191 for computation of the specific surface area is as follow: SE6x104 &p where, S = specific surface area, ds = surface mean diameter, p = particle density and, ds is determined from the following relationship: log ds=log dw1.151 log201

where, dw = weight mean diameter (the 50% size), a = standard deviation. In specifying the concrete mixes, a nominal mix of 1:2:4 was adopted for cement, sand, and coarse aggregate by weight, respectively. Based on several trial mixes and taking into consideration of strength and workability, a fixed water/cement ratio of 0.6 was used for all concrete mixtures. Natural sand as fine aggregate and crushed granite as coarse aggregate were used for concrete batching. Nominal maximum size of the coarse aggregate was 20 mm. Concrete cubes of 100 mm size were cast for determination of compressive strength. After removal from the molds, the cubes were cured in water and tested for the strength at appropriate ages.

3. Results and analysis Physical characteristics and partial chemical compositions of the oil-palm bunch ash samples are presented in Table 2. Moisture content of the ash ranges from 5.17% to 6.22%, with an average value of 5.77%. The loss-on-ignition values are relatively high, ranging

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Table 2 Physical and chemical properties of ash Properties Moisture content (%) Specific gravity Loss-on-ignition (%) Bulk density ( kg/m3) Chemical composition (g/kg) Al K Si Mg Fe Na Ca Mn Zn CU Cr Ni Range 5.17-6.22 2.62-2.76 12.84-14.44 741-764 34.8-37.9 20.7-32.7 20.3-22.0 4.3-7.5 4.1-5.3 4.0-5.1 1.0-3.6 0.3-0.6 0.1-0.3 0.1x).3 0.1-0.3 0.05-O. 1 Average 5.77 2.68 13.59 755 36.2 24.7 21.3 5.9 4.9 4.7 2.0 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

from 12.84%-14&I%. The high value of loss-on-ignition is mainly due to high residual carbon content of the ash, attributable to incomplete combustion of empty fruit bunches in the incinerator. The incinerator is of a suspended type in which the empty bunches are fed from the top and incinerated at 600C as they travel down to the bottom. Contact time for the incineration in the combustion chamber is rather short which results in incomplete combustion. The average specific gravity of the ash was 2.68 with a range of 2.62-2.76. Apparent bulk density of the ash ranges from 741 kg/m3 to 764 kg/m3 with an average of 755 kg/ m3. Comparing with ordinary Portland cement which has a bulk density of approx. 1300 kg/m3, the density of the ash is relatively low. Chemical compositions of bunch ash are also listed in Table 2. The results indicate that inorganic components of the ash mainly consist of 36.2 g/kg Al, 24.7 g/kg K, 21.3 g/kg
Table 3 Properties of cement paste Ash (%) Fineness (cm /g) Soundness (mm) Setting time initial 0 10 20 30 40 50 100 3240 3030 2320 2111 1970 1638 1426 0.45 0.50 0.85 0.95 1.00 2.60 2h5min 2h5min 2h15min 2h20min 2 h 35 min 2h45min final 3hSmin 3hlOmin 3hlOmin 3h20min 3h4Omin 4h 10min

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31

220 F 3 210 E E 200 $90 - __-__~-_--_-~ // / , /

/ d

/
Final

, I_--=

F 160 ; 170 Initial

L 160 u) 150 140 130 P

::::

10

20

30 PERCENTOFASH Fig. 1. Setting times.

40

50

Si, 5.9 g/kg Mg, 4.9 g/kg Fe, 4.7 g/kg Na, 2.0 g/kg Ca, and traces of other elements such as Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Ni. Properties of blended cements incorporating various proportions of bunch ash are shown in Table 3. The fineness expressed as specific surface area determined by the Coulter counter ranges from 1426 cm2/g for 100% ash to 3030 cm2/g for 10% ash. The fineness for the control Portland cement sample was determined to be 3240 cm2/g. It appears that the fineness of the blended cement decreases as the ash content in the cement increases. This is due to the decrease of average particle size of the blended cement caused by the addition of coarser ash particles. The specific surface of most commercial Portland cements ranges approx. from 2800 to 3600 cm2/g by the air permeability methods [ 201. However, the
Table 4 Properties of concrete Ash (%) Compacting factor Water absorption (%) Density (kg/m3) oven-dry 0 10 20 30 40 50 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.95 0.95 0.93 6.20 6.64 7.40 7.95 8.60 8.90 2184 2173 2170 2134 2093 2042 saturated 2358 2343 2293 2292 2292 2222 air-dry 2332 2280 2252 2216 2213 2188

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-I---

2,550 2,500 2,450 2,400 2,350 h

$ 2,250
v

1
I

Air-dry

5 2,150

---@---Oven-dry

20

30 PERCENT OF ASH

40

50

Fig. 2. Density of concrete.

0 0

I 10

I 20

I 30 PERCENT OF ASH 40

I 50

Fig. 3. Water absorption of concrete.

J.-H. Tay, K.-Y. Show/Resources, Table 5 Strength development Ash (%)

Conservation and Recycling 13 (1995) 27-36

33

of concrete Compressive 3-day strength ( MPa) 7-day 26.50 18.76 11.63 10.93 7.70 6.40 14.day 31.83 26.63 12.93 13.13 8.76 8.80 28-day 34.40 29.76 14.23 15.30 10.33 10.47 I -yeax 39.01 38.73 22.36 21.32 16.63 16.29

0 10 20 30 40 50

19.07 13.53 10.76 10.06 6.23 5.37

minimum acceptable value specified by the British Standard BS 12 Specification for Portland Cement is 2250 cm*/g by the Lea-Nurse apparatus or the Blaine apparatus. For practical comparative purpose, the fineness results of this study determined by the Coulter counter method provide an acceptable picture of the relative variation in the fineness of the bunch ash. Soundness of the cement is determined by Le Chatelier s accelerated method of measuring the expansion after immersion in cold and in boiling water. As shown in Table 3, the soundness increases marginally as the amount of ash in the cement increases. However, the soundness test results ranging from 0.50 mm to 2.60 mm for the blended cements are well within the limiting value of 10 mm specified by BS 12. This indicates that hardened paste of the blended cement would be free from undue expansion. As determined by ASTM Cl91 Standard Test Method for Time of Setting of Hydraulic Cement which specifies the use of Vicat apparatus, the setting time results are shown in Table 3 and Fig. 1. The initial setting determines the period in which the freshly mixed concrete remains workable. A minimum of 45 min is specified for ordinary Portland cement by ASTM Cl50 Standard Specification for Portland Cement . The final setting, on the other hand, should not be too long to avoid unnecessary delay in the development of strength. Accordingly, a maximum of 8 h is specified by ASTM C150. The results show that initial setting times of the blended cements range from 2 h 5 min for 0% ash sample to 2 h 45 min for 50% ash sample, whereas the final setting times fall in the range of 3 h 5 min to 4 h 10 min for O-50% ash samples. The setting times are well within the ASTM requirements. It is noted that addition of bunch ash delayed the setting times of the cement. Properties of fresh and hardened concrete incorporating the blended cement are given in Table 4. Workability of the freshly mixed concrete is indicated by the compacting factor results. The results show that increasing the ash content in the blended cement has the effect of reducing the workability of concrete. As shown in Table 4, the compacting factor in the range of 0.9330.97 generally indicates good workability. Based on the observation during concrete batching, there was no occurrence of segregation for all the mixes. Inspection of the crushed concrete cubes also did not show any segregation. As shown in Fig. 2, the densities of concrete decrease marginally with increasing ash level in the cement. The oven-dry density for the control concrete was 2184 kg/m3, and reduces to 2042 kg/m3 for 50% ash sample. The saturated and air-dry densities of 2358

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AGE (Day) Fig. 4. Strength development of concrete.

kg/m3 and 2332 kg/m3 for the control sample, decrease to 2222 kg/m3 and 2188 kg/m3 for 50% ash sample, respectively. Water absorption of the hardened concrete as shown in Table 4 and Fig. 3, increases from 6.64% for 10% ash to 8.90% for 50% ash. It can be seen that water absorption of the concrete increases with the ash content in the cement indicating that concrete with higher ash content exhibits a more porous nature. These results correlate well with the lower concrete densities at higher ash content. Compressive strength development of the concrete incorporating various proportions of the bunch ash is shown in Table 5 and graphically presented in Fig. 4. The results indicate that the compressive strength decreases with the ash content in the cement. At the age of 28 days, the compressive strength decreases from 34.4 MPa for the control sample to 29.76, 14.23, 15.30, 10.33, and 10.47 MPa for sample with ash replacement level of lo%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. This indicates the reduction of strength at about 13%, 59%, 56%, 69%, and 70% for concrete with ash content of lo%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. In terms of strength development with age after 28 days, all mixes appear to behave in a similar manner, with a less rapid gain in compressive strength after 28 days. The concrete cubes cured for 1 year, however, shows relatively lower strength reduction. The l-year cube strengths of 38.73 MPa, 22.36 MPa, 21.32 MPa, 16.63 MPa, and 16.29 MPa indicate the reduction of strength at I%, 43%, 45%, 57%, and 58% for lo%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% ash contents, respectively. The closing of the gap in strength between the 10% ash concrete and the control at this age may indicate presence of some form of reaction, though what mechanisms involved are still not clear at this stage of study. Clearly,

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the incorporation of ash up to 10% would not significantly affect the long-term concrete strength, though it seems that the ash does contribute to a lower rate of hydration of the cement at early ages based on the compressive strength development.

4. Conclusion The loss-on-ignition of bunch ash are relatively high, ranging from 12.84-14&t%. This is mainly due to high residual carbon content of the ash attributable to incomplete combustion of the empty fruit bunches in the incinerator. Inorganic components of the ash mainly consist of Al, K, Si, Mg, Fe, Na, Ca, and traces of elements such as Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Ni. The average values for specific gravity and apparent bulk density are 2.68 and 755 kg/ m3, respectively. Fineness of the ash lies in the range of 1426-3030 cm2/g. The fineness decreases as the ash content in the cement increases. Soundness of the cements incorporating various proportions of the ash range from 0.50 mm to 2.60 mm. These values are well within the British Standard requirements which indicate that hardened paste of the blended cement would be free from undue expansion. Setting times of the cement increase with the amount of ash added. The initial setting times range from 2 h 5 min to 2 h 45 min for 0% to 50% ash sample, whereas the final setting times fall in the range of 3 h 5 min to 4 h 10 min for O-50% ash content. Both the initial and final setting times for the blended cements are within the ASTM specifications. Workability of the fresh concrete indicated by the compacting factor of 0.93-0.97 are categorized as good. Increasing the ash content in the cement has the effect of reducing the workability. No segregation was observed during the batching of concrete. Density of the concrete ranging from 2042 kg/m3 to 2358 kg/m3 decreases marginally with increasing ash level in the cement. This suggests that concrete with higher ash content in the cement presents a more porous nature and hence tends to absorb more water. The increase in water absorption values from 6.64% to 8.90% correlate well with the lower concrete densities at higher ash content. Compressive strength of concrete decreases with the ash content in the cement. The 28day compressive strength decreases from 34.4 MPa for the control sample to 29.76 MPa, 14.23, 15.30, 10.33, and 10.47 MPa for sample with ash replacement level of lo%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%, respectively. The concrete cubes cured for 1 year, however, show relatively lower strength reduction. Up to 10% ash content in the cement, the concrete exhibits insignificant strength reduction at the age of 1 year. The strength contributing property of oil-palm fruit bunch ash from this study though indicate that it has not promised to be used substantially as a cement replacement material, but the compressive strength development suggests that the ash may be a potential material for blending with Portland cement in small amount (up to 10% by weight) without detrimental effects on long-term strength. Reusing the ash could possibly provide a means of sensible waste disposal in the wake of increased need for conservation of resources. However, prior to its acceptance as a material for blended Portland cement at this replacement level, further studies on other long-term properties such as chemical stability and alkalisilica reaction are needed. Also, leachability study in water sources, and health effects of

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potential ingestion into.

and inhalation

by human when the cement crumbles should be looked

Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Kian Hoe Plantation for the co-operation and support in providing the oil-palm waste samples. The contributions by B.W. Tan and C.H. Wong, and the staff from the Environment Laboratory of the Nanyang Technological University are gratefully acknowledged. This research project is funded by the Nanyang Technological University.

References
[ 11 Cook, D.J., Pama, P.P. and Paul, R.K., 1977. Rice husk ash-lime-cement mixes for use in masonry units. Building and Environ., 12: 281-288. [2] Mehta, P.K., 1977. Properties of blended cements made from rice husk ash. AC1 J., 74(9): 44B-442. [ 31 Paramasivam, P. and Loke, Y.O., 1978. Study of Sawdust Concrete. Proc. Int. Conf. on Materials of Constr. for Developing Countries, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 169-179. [4] Parker, T.W., 1947. Sawdust-cement and other sawdust building products. Chem. Indust., 67: 593-596. [ 51 Ramaswamy, SD.; Murthy, C.K. and Nagaraj, T.S., 1983. Use of waste materials and industrial by-products in concrete construction. In: R.N. Swamy (Ed.), Concrete Technology and Design, Vol. 1: New Concrete Materials. Surrey University Press, London, UK, pp. 137-172. [ 61 Regional Centre for Technology Transfer (RCTT) , 1979. Rice husk ash cement. United Nations Industrial Development Organization /ESCAP/RCTT, India. [ 71 Narang, K.C., Kini, M.R. and Canapathy, R., 1982. Development of masonry cements from industrial wastes. National Seminar on Building Materials, their Science and Technology, INSA, New Delhi, IIA( 12), pp. l18. [ 81 Sarkar, S.L., Brahma, NC. and Dua, B.S., 1990. Utilization of industrial wastes in the manufacture of cement - a case study. Proc., 12th Int. Conf. in Cement Microscopy, Vancouver, pp. 54-66. [9] Tay, J.H., 1987. Sludge ash as filler for Portland cement concrete. J. Environ. Eng., ASCE, 113(2): 345351. [lo] Tay, J.H., 1987. Properties of pulverized sludge ash blended cement. AC1 Materials J., 84(5): 358-364. [ 1 l] Kato, H. and Takeuse, M., 1984. Manufacture of artificial fine lightweight aggregate from sewage sludge by multistage stream kiln. hoc., Int. Conf. of Recycling, Berlin, Germany, pp. 459464. [ 121 Elkins, B.V., Wilson, G.E. and Gersberg, R.M., 1985. Complete reclamation of wastewater and sludge. J. Water Sci. Technol., 17: 1453-1454. [ 131 St. George, M., 1986. Concrete aggregate from wastewater sludge. J. Concrete hit., 8( 11): 27-30. [ 141 Tay, J.H., Yip, W.K. and Show, K.Y., 1991. Clay-blended sludge as lightweight aggregate concrete material. J. Environ. Eng., ASCE, 117(6): 834-844. [ 151 Tay, J.H. and Show, K.Y., 1991. Properties of cement made from sludge. J. Environ. Eng., ASCE, 117(2): 236-246. [ 161 Tay, J.H. and Show, K.Y., 1992. Utilization of municipal wastewater sludge as building and construction materials. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 6(3): 191-204. [ 171 Tay, J.H. and Show, K.Y., 1993. Manufacture of cement from sewage sludge. J. Materials Civil Eng., AXE, 5( 1): 19-29. [ 181 Tay, J.H., 1990. Ash from oil-palm waste as concrete material. J. Environ. Eng., ASCE, 2(2): 94-105. [ 191 Coulter, 1984. Instruction Manual for the Coulter counter model ZM. Coulter Electronics Limited, Luton, UK, Section 6. [ 201 Popovics, S., 1979. Concrete-Making Materials. Surrey Press, London, UK.