The effect of acidic environment on the concrete utilizing palm oil fuel ash. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ismail, Mohamed A.; Feng, Chen Bao
• Is Part Of: IOP conference series. Volume 495(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Materials science -- Periodicals; 620.1105
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/495/1/012104
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-8981

Abstract

Abstract: High-performance concrete (HPC) is widely used in construction projects, however, it has a large carbon footprint during the manufacturing of cement. Malaysia is one of the largest palm oil producers, and in the extraction of palm oil, it produces a lot of waste by-product, one of which is palm oil fuel ash (POFA) that would put an impact on the environment. Recently, there are many research studies revealed that POFA has a pozzolanic characteristics which can partially replace the cement to produce an eco-friendly concrete. This study illustrates the compressive strength and durability of concrete utilizing micro POFA. POFA, which was obtained from a local source, was sent for treatment and grinding procedure to remove excess carbon content and obtain 45μm size. 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% of micro POFA were used to replace the Portland cement in the used mixes. After curing age of 28 days, compressive strength and acid resistance of concrete cubes were investigated. Two different acids, hydrochloric acid (HCL) and sulfuric acid (H2 SO4 ) were used to provide different aggressive environments for the concrete cubes. Two different optimum replacement percentages of POFA regarding to the acid resistance were determined by using the compressive strength loss, total mass loss and the visual inspection before and after the submersion. As two different acids were used, the rates of two acid attack on the concrete were studied in terms of mass loss throughout the submersion period. The results showed that the replacement percentage of 20% had the highest compressive strength in 28 days compressive strength test. Besides that, in terms of durability, even though the HPC utilizing 20% of replacement percentage of POFA did not have the highest acid resistance to the acid attack, however it had the highest compressive strength after the submersion in two different acids. This research showed that the replacement of micro POFA in HPC, possessed a significant improvement in terms of compressive strength and acid resistance.