THE PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE BRICK

CONTAINING PALM OIL FUEL ASH (POFA) AS

REPLACING CEMENT

TARMIDZI BIN MOHD ZAILANI

MOHD SUFYAN BIN ABDULLAH, PROF MADYA DR SURAYA HANI BINTI ADNAN
____________________________________________________________________
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

ABSTRACT

Material waste is one of the major problems in Malaysia. Factors such as large population growth, urbanization and rapid economic growth had contributed to the
increasing of waste generation. In recent years, awareness and concern over the impact of the increase in the amount of waste in landfills has made many members of the
science and technology especially in the field of engineering to adapt the waste into valuable products. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is a by-product from biomass thermal
power plants where oil palm residues are burned to generate electricity. The total 84 concrete brick samples will be used for laboratory work in compressive strength test
and water absorption test in order to obtain the concrete block performance at 7 days and 28 days respectively. The replacement material of POFA is used in the concrete
mixing by replacing cement at percentage of 10% and 20%. Therefore, the optimum strength of the percentage POFA replacing cement in concrete brick are identified.

INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY
➢ Production of concrete leads to a reduction in natural resources.
➢ POFA can be used in concrete as three kinds of elements include coarse
aggregate, fine aggregate, and cement.
➢ Reduce the agricultural waste as decrease the using of cement.
➢ POFA has potential pozzolanic property coupled with aims at reducing the
Brick were Brick were The load imposed on
potential environmental problems associated with disposing of POFA. removed from weight before the brick until the
Brick that has
been tested
curing in water tank compression test brick fail

Figure 3.4: Compression Test

Compression Test

OBJECTIVE

1. To determine the compressive strength of brick. Research Initial dry mass Brick were Wet mass of
Brick are placed
2. To determine the water absorption of brick. Methodology in drying oven
of brick is weight immersed in water brick was weight
and recorded tank for 24 hours and recorded

Water Absorption Test

L I T E R AT U R E R E V I E W
R E S U LT & D I S C U S S I O N
➢ POFA contains large amounts of silica and has recently
been accepted as a pozzolanic material in concrete [1].
➢ POFA has low pozzolanic characteristics, and its use should not
exceed 10% by cement mass when used in partial substitution to cement [2].
➢ POFA had good potential to suppress expansion associated with alkali-silica
reaction in concrete [3].
➢ There has been a school of thought that the strength development concrete
containing pozzolans at early ages is slower than that of concrete with only
Portland cements [4]. Compressive strength for 10% and 20% POFA
➢ A period of about three months is usually needed for fly ash concrete to
achieve the full benefit through pozzolanic reactions [4].
`

Water absorption variation percentage and size of POFA

➢ The optimum percentage of POFA replaced cement is at 10%.

Compressive strength versus age for different level of POFA replacement.
CONCLUSION
➢ Compressive strength and water absorption of palm oil fuel ash shows its
optimum at 10% of POFA replacement.
➢ From the results, it indicates that the POFA has a higher potential to use as an
alternative material in the concrete mix to replace cement at a lower
percentage. In the future, research can be continued using the optimum
percentage of POFA to replace cement into the same concrete mix and use
different water-cement ratio with an optimum percentage.
➢ The higher percentage of POFA cause the decreasing in concrete strength.
➢ Compressive strength for 10% and 20% replacing POFA as cement lower
than the compressive normal concrete brick.
➢ Water absorption at 10% POFA replaced cement lower than the normal
concrete brick.
REFERENCES
[1] Weerachart Tangchirapat, Chai Jaturapitakkul, Prinya Chindaprasirt. (2009). Use of Palm Oil Fuel Ash As A Supplementary Cementitious Material for
Producing High-Strength Concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 2009, Volume 23, Pg 2641–2646.
[2] Tayfun Çiçek & Yasin Çinçin. (2015). Use of Fly Ash in Production of Light-Weight Building Bricks. Construction and Building Materials, 2015, Volume 94, Pg
521–527.
[3] A.S.M. Abdul Awal & M. Warid Hussin. (1999). Durability of High Performance Concrete Containing Palm Oil Fuel Ash. (Edited by M.A. Lacasse & D.J.
Vanier). Institute for Research in Construction, Ottawa ON, K1A 0R6, Canada, 1999, Durability of Building Materials and Components 8, Pg 465-474.
[4] A.S.M. Abdul Awal & I.A. Shehu. (2015). Performance Evaluation of Concrete Containing High Volume Palm Oil Fuel Ash Exposed To Elevated Temperature.
Construction and Building Materials, 2015, Volume 76, Pg 214–220.