Mechanical Properties of High Strength Concrete Containing Coal Bottom Ash and Oil-Palm Boiler Clinker as Fine Aggregates

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
² Department of Building Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
³ Centre for Construction, Building & Urban Studies (CeBUS), Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

^a Corresponding author: mahmood.soofi@siswa.um.edu.my

Abstract

This research aims to utilize Coal Furnace Bottom ash (CBA) and Oil-Palm Boiler Clinker (OPBC) as fine aggregate in concrete mix proportions. They are solid wastes from power plant and Oil Palm industry, respectively. Since these by-products do not have any primary use and are pure waste, an opportunity to use them as aggregate in concrete industry not only is economical but also will be an environmental friendly opportunity leading towards a more sustainable production chain. CBA and OPBC sands had similar grading to normal sand but have lower density and higher water absorption. In a high strength concrete, normal sand was replaced up to 25% with either CBA or OPBC. Test results showed that although water absorption of these wastes was more than normal sand but the slump value of concrete containing each of these wastes showed that these concretes had good workability. All mixes containing these wastes had slightly lower compressive strength at early ages and equivalent or higher compressive strength at later ages compared to control mix. The 28-day compressive strength of these concretes was in the range of 69–76 MPa which can be categorized as high strength concrete. In general, the performance of OPBC was better than CBA at 25% replacement level. However, it is recommended that at least 12.5% of total volume of fine aggregate in a high strength concrete is used of CBA or OPBC.