World Engineering Congress 2010, 2nd – 5th August 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Conference on Advanced Processes and Materials

CAPM3
PERFORMANCE OF FRESH STATE PROPERTIES OF NORMAL AND BLENDED
CEMENT CONCRETE CONTAINING USED ENGINE OIL
S.C. Chin1, N. Shafiq2, M.F. Nuruddin2
1PhD student, 2Associate Professor,
Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS,
31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Email: brigitchin@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to investigate the hypothesis that used engine oil may work as a superplasticizer and/or air
entraining admixture. Slump and air content tests were conducted on twenty one normal and blended cement concrete
mixtures. The main parameters included the dosage and type of air-entraining admixtures: superplasticizer, used
engine oil and new engine oil in ordinary Portland cement (OPC), 40% fly ash (FA) and 20% rice husk ash (RHA)
blended cement concrete. Results showed that used engine oil increased the slump from 25 to 55% and air content
from 20 to 40% with respect to their control mix containing no admixture. The results supported the hypothesis that
used engine oil may work almost similarly to chemical plasticizer.

Keywords: air-entraining admixture, fly ash, ordinary Portland cement, rice husk ash, superplasticizer, used
engine oil

INTRODUCTION

Waste material can be defined as any material which is unused and rejected as worthless, unwanted and requiring
disposal. Used engine oil is waste lubricant generally produced from the refined base-stocks of heavy fractions of
crude oil or other hydrocarbons. One of the largest applications for lubricants is motor oil, to protect the internal
combustion engines of motor vehicles and power-driven equipment. During servicing, part or all of the lubricant may
be consumed as the balance becomes contaminated with water, metal particles, rust, dirt, carbon, lead and other by-
products of the combustion or industrial process. Used engine oil is frequently poured into household drains or
illegally dumped. This leads to pollution of groundwater with various contaminants, namely lead, copper, zinc,
magnesium, chromium, chlorides, cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyls. Disposing of used engine oil on land may
not only cause seepage to the ground water table but also produce soil incapable of sustaining vegetation. Used engine
oil is extremely hazardous whereby one quart of oil can contaminate 250,000 gallons of drinking water. Although
there are strict rules and regulations concerning the safe, legal disposal of used engine oil, approximately 40% of used
engine oil is illegally disposed and eventually contaminates rivers and seas [1].

Waste from industrial by-products e.g. fly ash and rice husk ash, can be used as chemical admixtures and
additives to alter and enhance some of the properties of fresh and hardened concrete [2]. To generate electricity in
power stations, the annual world utilization of coal is approximately 48 x109 ton, which produces about 6x108 ton of
fly ash [3]. In recent years fly ash, produced from the combustion of pulverized coal in thermal power plants, has
increasingly been used as a replacement for cement. Rice husk is the waste product of one of the main agricultural
activities in Asian countries and it has created a major problem of disposal for the rice milling industry. Rice husk
constitutes about one-fifth of the annual world rice production of 300 million tons [4].

Available literature reports that oil leakage into cement in older grinding units results in concrete with
greater resistance to freezing and thawing. It implies the addition of used engine oil to fresh concrete mix could be
identical to adding an air-entraining chemical admixture. This practice may not only enhance the durability property
of concrete but also provide a method to dispose of oil waste [5].

The main objective of this study was to determine the properties of fresh concrete including slump and air
content containing used engine oil in 100% OPC concrete, 40% fly ash and 20% rice husk ash blended cement
concrete respectively. The significance of this research was to enhance the slump value of the concrete and to
determine whether the used engine oil behaves like an air-entraining admixture. The fresh properties of concrete
containing used engine oil were compared with: (i) superplasticizer and new engine oil in OPC concrete, (ii)
superplasticizer and new engine oil in 40% fly ash blended cement concrete, (iii) superplasticizer and new engine oil
in 20% rice husk ash blended cement concrete.

11
 World Engineering Congress 2010, 2nd – 5th August 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Conference on Advanced Processes and Materials

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A comprehensive experimental program was developed to determine the slump value and air content of 21 fresh
concrete mixes. Details of the mixes are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Details of concrete mix

Control Superplasticizer, Used Engine Oil, New Engine Oil,
mix (SP) (UEO) (NEO)
No. Type of mix Dosage, %
CM SP-1 SP-2 UEO-1 UEO-2 NEO-1 NEO-2
1.
100% Ordinary Portland - 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30
Cement (OPC)
2.
40% Fly Ash + 60% OPC - 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30
(40FA)
3.
20% Rice Husk Ash + - 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30 0.15 0.30
80% OPC (20RHA)

The cement used in this study was Portland cement Type I which conformed to BS 12 requirements [6]. Fly ash (FA)
used was obtained from Manjung power station, Lumut Perak and rice husk was obtained from BERNAS (Padiberas
Nasional Berhad), Malaysia. The rice husks were later burned in a microwave incinerator to obtain the rice husk ash
(RHA). A car workshop in Tronoh, Perak supplied the used engine oil (UEO) and Sika Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. the
superplasticizer (SP). The new engine oil (NEO) was Petronas Mach 5 standard grade. Gravel, as a course aggregate,
was 14 mm nominal maximum gravel. Sand, as a fine aggregate, was natural sand having 3.35 mm nominal maximum
size. Both sand and gravel conformed to BS 882:1992 [7]. Cement, sand and gravel were proportioned by a weight
ratio of 1:2.33:3.5. The water cement ratio (w/c) at 0.55 was constant throughout. The chosen mix proportion was
based on a trial mix proportion from previous research on used engine oil conducted at UTP [8].

Mixing
The concrete was mixed in the laboratory using a 100 litre capacity concrete mixer. The OPC concrete mix was
prepared by mixing the sand and gravel for 1 minute prior to the addition of water. To achieve an homogeneous
concrete, the solution was mixed for a minute and left for 8 minutes. Cement was then added and mixed for 1 minute
and the remained water was added into the concrete mix and mixed for a further minute. Admixtures, namely
superplasticizer, used and new engine oils were diluted in water before being added to the ingredients in the mixer. A
similar procedure was conducted for 40% fly ash and 20% rice husk ash blended cement concrete mixes. The fresh
concrete was tested for slump and air content after an homogeneous mix. Slump and air content were measured
according to BS 1881 part 102, 1983 [9] and ASTM C231 [10] respectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Experimental results as obtained during testing of the fresh concrete are discussed as below:

Effects of Admixtures on Slump

OPC Concrete
When no air-entraining admixture was used, the slump for control mix, CM was 15 mm, as shown in Figure 1. The
use of superplasticizer in OPC concrete, OPC/SP-1 and OPC/SP-2 increased the slump to 45 and 65 mm respectively.
The slump for OPC/UEO-1 was 33 mm and OPC/UEO-2 was 145 mm. When new engine oil was used, the slump for
OPC/NEO-1 and OPC/NEO-2 was 60 and 83 mm respectively. The results showed that its admixtures improved the
slump value compared with the slump value of CM. With a dosage of 0.15%, the slump value increased to almost
double the slump of CM. It was further increased approximately 4 times when 0.30% dosage was used. The results in
this study support the results reported whereby used engine oil not only acts as a chemical plasticizer but improves
fluidity and consistency of fresh concrete [2]. Figure 1 shows the slump of OPC and OPC containing various air-
entraining admixtures.

12
 World Engineering Congress 2010, 2nd – 5th August 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Conference on Advanced Processes and Materials

Figure 1: Slump of OPC and OPC containing various air-entraining admixtures

40% Fly Ash Blended Cement Concrete

The measured slump value for 40FA control mix was 25 mm. When the superplasticizer was added, the slump value
for 40/SP-1 and 40/SP- 2 was 45 and 60 mm respectively. In concrete containing used engine oil, the slump for
40FA/UEO-1 and 40FA/UEO-2 mixes improved to a value from 40 and 51 mm respectively. The slump value for new
engine oil; 40FA/NEO-1 was 65 mm and 40FA/NEO-2 was 75 mm. Figure 2 shows the slump result of 40% fly ash
blended cement concrete with air-entraining admixtures. The slump results of both dosages with used engine oil and
superplasticizer in fly ash blended concrete were noticeably almost similar, i.e. approximately 11-15%. The
improvement in slump value for concrete mix containing superplasticizer and used engine oil was in the range of 38-
58% compared with the slump of the control mix, 40FA.

Figure 2: Slump of 40% fly ash and 40% fly ash containing various air-entraining admixtures

20% Rice Husk Ash Blended Cement Concrete

Figure 3 shows the slump result for 20% RHA control mix, 20RHA was 6 mm. The slump value for concrete with
superplasticizer, 20RHA/SP-1 and 20RHA/SP-2 was 8 and 9 mm respectively. When used engine oil was added into
the concrete, the slump value for 20RHA/UEO-1 and 20RHA/UEO-2 mixes was 8 and 10 mm respectively. The
slump value of concrete containing new engine oil, 20RHA/NEO-1 and 20RHA/NEO-2 was 7 and 9 mm respectively.
The results show that the slump for 20RHA concrete did not show any significant improvement when various air-
entraining admixtures were added.

Figure 3: Slump of 20% RHA and 20% RHA containing various air-entraining admixtures

13
 World Engineering Congress 2010, 2nd – 5th August 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Conference on Advanced Processes and Materials

Effects of Admixtures on Air Content

OPC Concrete
The amount of air content in the control mix, CM with no air-entraining admixture was 1.8% with the addition of
superplasticizer, the amount of air content in OPC/SP-1 and OPC/SP-2 was 1.8 and 2% respectively, similar to the air
content of CM. When used engine oil was added, the amount of air content in OPC/UEO-1 and OPC/UEO-2 was 3
and 4% respectively. In concrete containing new engine oil, the amount of air content in OPC/NEO-1 and OPC/NEO-
2 rose to 4.8 and 5% respectively. Air-entraining admixtures i.e. used and new engine oil, of 0.15% dosage in OPC
concrete increased the air content in the range of 40-63% and with 0.30%, in the range of 55-64% compared to the
control mix, CM. The result is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Air content of OPC and OPC containing various air-entraining admixtures

40% Fly Ash Blended Cement Concrete

The amount of air content was 3% in 40% fly ash, 40FA. When superplasticizer was added, the amount of air content
in 40FA/SP-1 and 40FA/SP-2 was 1.9% and 3.2 % respectively. When used engine oil was added, the amount of air
content in 40/UEO-1 and 40/UEO-2 rose to 1.8% and 3% respectively. With the use of new engine oil, 40FA/NEO-1
and 40FA/NEO-2, the air content was 1.6 and 3%. Figure 5 shows the result of 40% fly ash concrete containing air-
entraining admixtures i.e. superplasticizer, used and new engine oil, of 0.30% dosage exhibited a higher amount of air
content with an average value of 40% compared to all admixtures of 0.15% dosage.

Figure 5: Air content of 40% FA and 40% FA containing various air-entraining admixtures

20% Rice Husk Ash Blended Cement Concrete

As shown in Figure 6, the amount of air content of 20RHA was 2.8%. Superplasticizer as chemical airentraining
admixture, 20RHA/SP-1 and 20RHA/SP-2, increased the air content to 3.4 and 4% respectively. Used engine oil of
0.15% dosage, 20RHA/UEO-1 increased the air content to 2.6% and 0.30% dosage, 20RHA/UEO-2 increased the air
content amount to 3.7%. When new engine oil was added, the amount of air content in 20RHA/NEO-1 and
20RHA/NEO-2 was 2.4 and 2.8% respectively. Superplasticizer of both dosages in RHA concrete, 0.15% and 0.30%
increased the amount of air content to 17% and 30%, which is higher than the amount in 20RHA and 24% and 8%
higher than used engine oil in RHA concrete. Compared to 20RHA with no air-entraining admixture, the amount of
air content of 20RHA/UEO-1 showed an almost similar value while 20RHA/UEO-2 increased the amount of air
content to about 20%.

14
 World Engineering Congress 2010, 2nd – 5th August 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Conference on Advanced Processes and Materials

Figure 6: Air content of 20% RHA and 20% RHA containing various air-entraining admixtures

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results and discussion, the following conclusions were made:
1. Used engine oil increased the slump by approximately 50% in OPC concrete and 40% in fly ash blended cement
concrete, compared to their respective control mixes and they showed almost similar results to superplasticizer.
This supports the hypothesis that the performance of used engine oil is almost similar and comparable to the
performance of superplasticizer. It improves the fluidity and increases the slump of the concrete mixes.
2. No significant increase in slump was traced in 20RHA blended cement concrete with air-entraining admixtures or
the 20RHA control mix.
3. Generally, 0.30% dosage of air-entraining admixtures resulted in higher slump and air content compared to
0.15% dosage in all concrete mixes.
4. The air content in used engine oil OPC concrete almost doubled the respective control mix, CM and
superplasticizer in OPC concrete.
5. The result of air content in used engine oil fly ash concrete was almost similar to superplasticizer in fly ash
concrete.
6. There was no significant increment of air content in 0.15% dosage used engine oil rice husk ash concrete mixes.
By contrast, 0.30% used engine oil and superplasticizer in rice husk ash concrete increased the air content up to
30% compared to 20RHA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to acknowledge the technicians in the Department of Civil Engineering, for assisting and
supporting the research and Ms. Gail Sylvia Steele from Management & Humanities Department. Also, the authors
would gratefully extend the acknowledgement to the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS for supporting this study.

REFERENCES

[1] Shafiq, N., Nuruddin, M.F., and Kamaruddin, I., (2006) Effectiveness of used engine oil on improvement of
properties of fresh and hardened concrete. Proceedings of the 6th Asia-Pacific Structural Engineering and
Construction Conference (ASPEC 2006), September 5-6. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[2] Hamad, B.S., Rteil, AA., El-Fadel, M., (2003) Effect of used engine oil on properties of fresh and hardened
concrete. Construction and Building Materials. 17(5) :311-318.
[3] Shafiq, N., Nuruddin, M.F., and Kamaruddin, I., (2007) Comparison of engineering and durability properties of fly
ash blended cement concrete made in UK and Malaysia, Advances in Applied Ceramics AAC122.3d : 1-5.
[4] Chin, S.C (2007) Performance of used engine oil in fresh and hardened states of normal and blended cement
concretes. M. Sci. Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Tekinologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.
[5] Hamad B.S and Rteil A.A., (2003) Effect of used engine oil on structural behaviour of reinforced concrete
elements. Construction and Building Materials. 17(3) : 203-211.
[6] British Standards Institution, BS 12; Specifications for Portland Cement, 1996, BSI, London.
[7] British Standard Institutions, BS 882; Specifications for Aggregates from Natural Sources for Concrete, 1992,
BSI, London.
[8] Shafiq, N. and Cabrera, J.G (2004) Effects of initial curing on the fluid transport properties in opc and fly ash
blended cement concrete. Cement and Concrete Composite. 26(4) :381-387.
[9] British Standard Institutions, BS 1881: Part 102; Testing Concrete, Method for Determination of Slump, 1983,
BSI, London.
[10]ASTM Standard C231, 2003, "Standard Test Method for Air Content of Freshly Mixed Concrete by the Pressure
Method”, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2003, DOI: 10.1520/C0231_C0231M- 09B.

15