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ICCBT2008

Trial Mix Design Methodology for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Concrete
M. Abdullahi*, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, MALAYSIA H. M. A. Al-Mattarneh, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, MALAYSIA A. H. Abu Hassan, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, MALAYSIA MD. H. Hassan, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, MALAYSIA B. S. Mohammed, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, MALAYSIA

ABSTRACT Trial mix proportions for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) concrete are presented. Accurate determination of the properties of POC aggregate such as sieve analysis, specific gravity, water absorption and unit weight are very difficult. The absence of these data makes the mix proportioning of POC concrete an impossible venture. This is because the aggregate is new and there is no standard procedure for its mix design. POC aggregate characterisation was conducted and test results were used to produce first trial mix based on ACI 211.2-98. The constituent materials of the concrete are water, cement, fine aggregate, and coarse aggregate. Both fine and coarse aggregate are POC; producing all-lightweight concrete. The consistency of the paste, slump, fresh unit weight, and yield were noted. The mixes were adjusted to improve on the rheology. Three cubes were cast where the mix was considered homogeneous otherwise, the mixes were discarded. Test results show defined region of feasible mixes. Utilization of POC aggregate in concrete mix design is possible without any admixture. Trial mix for POC concrete is imperative for identifying feasible homogeneous mixtures. Keywords: Trial mix, Palm oil clinker, Aggregate characterization, Fresh unit weight, Slump, Compressive strength.

*Correspondence Authr: Abdullahi Mohammed Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. Tel: +60173511985. E-mail: abdulapai@yahoo.com

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Trial Mix Design Methodology for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Concrete

1. INTRODUCTION Malaysia is the world largest producer of palm oil with twenty six percent share of world palm oil product and fifty one percent of exports. In 2005, an annual production of approximately 16.836 million tones of palm oil was recorded which produced about 2.18 million tones of palm oil shell as waste [1]. Palm oil shell, a by-product in the milling process, was used in the past as aggregate for the production of lightweight concrete [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Palm oil shell used in this form contains organic matter and has high internal pore space favouring absorption of fluids. The presence of a shell structure in the palm oil shell and its water absorption rate significantly influence the mechanical properties of the lightweight concrete [8]. High aggregate absorption creates pore spaces in the hardened cement paste (HCP) and the interfacial zone (IZ) [9]. This may lead to low durability and strength. The natural palm oil shell has relatively uniform particle size distribution, flaky and irregularly shape and fairly smooth surface [7]. These characteristics will adversely affect the resulting concrete. In this work, palm oil clinker, a product of pyrolysis process in the blast furnace, is used as aggregate. Several researchers [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 3] have identified the advantages of lightweight concrete to include reduction in building costs, ease of construction, thermal and acoustic insulation, fire resistance, reduction in building weight, and as a mean of disposal of waste. Palm oil clinker is a new material and like all other lightweight aggregate most of its properties is not well known. There are no mix specifications from the manufacturers and there are no existing experimental data. Accurate determination of the properties of the aggregate such as specific gravity, unit weights and water absorption are very difficult because of its novelty and wide variability of its behaviour. This then makes the mix design of POC concrete very difficult. Trial mix of POC to determine feasible mix proportions is appropriate and justifiable.

2.

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

2.1 Materials For the purpose of this work, ordinary Portland cement and potable drinking water were used. The water is suitable for concrete making [14]. Palm oil shell is incinerated at high temperature in a blast furnace to produce palm oil clinker. The palm oil clinker (POC) were obtained from clinker meal and transported to Civil Engineering Laboratory, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia. The lumped clinker were crushed and sieved to the desired particle sizes. The fine aggregate has particle size less than 5 mm and coarse aggregate has particle size in the range 5 14 mm. 2.2 Aggregate Characterisation Laboratory tests were carefully conducted to determine some properties of palm oil clinker aggregate required for mix design. The properties considered include: specific gravity and absorption at saturated and surface dry state (SSD) according to [15], sieve analysis-according to [16], and dry loose bulk density- according to [17]. Test results are shown on Tables 1 5.
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2.3 Trial Mixes Volumetric method was used to produce first trial mix base on [18]. The target was to produce all lightweight concrete where both fine and coarse aggregate are made of POC. The specification of the first trial mix is as follows: 1. Target strength = 30 N/mm2. 2. Slump - 75mm to 100mm 3. Total aggregate volume - 31ft3/yd3 or (1.148148 m3/m3). 4. Percentage of fine to coarse aggregate- 55% to 45%. Based on this specification first trial mix were produced and the quantity of materials are indicated as S1 (Table 6). The mix was prepared in the laboratory. The aggregates were presoaked for 24 hours before use. The soaked method addresses the problem of the amount of water absorbed by the aggregates and the absorption rate. A close look at the soaked coarse aggregate shows that the coarse aggregate still contains pore spaces and may likely be filled by the cement paste. The first trial was adjusted by changing the fine aggregate to coarse aggregate percentages to 60 % and 40 % respectively. This was done because the first trial mix showed insufficient fines. The second mix, S2, is quite good. Further efforts were made to adjust the mix according to [18]. This could not yield reasonable result; homogeneous mixtures were not obtained. Different water/cement ratios were tried keeping the aggregate ratio constant. Three mixes were produced in the first day (12/02/08) and five mixes in the second day (13/02/08). A graph of w/c ratio verses cement content was produced in the range of w/c ratio (0.32 0.56) and cement content (350 600 kg/m3). Previous tests were located on the graph and mixes that gave reliable results were noted. Six more mixes were tried on the third day (14/02/08). At this point it was convincing that these w/c ratios and cement contents can give us the desired mix proportions within some ranges. The input variables in this work are four: water, cement, fine aggregate and coarse aggregate. Changing all the parameters one after the other may be a lengthy investigation and a scope was drawn. The percentages of fine to coarse aggregates were limited to 60% to 40% and investigation was based on the variation of cement paste. For all mixes, slump, fresh unit weight and yield were determined according to [19], and [20]. Three cubes were cast and cured where the mixes were homogeneous in accordance to [21, 22]. The mixes were discarded where the mixes were considered non-homogeneous. Eleven more mixes were produced on 18/02/2008 to check their homogeneity as it was suspected that the feasible mix proportions are located within some ranges. Compressive strength test were conducted on the cube specimens at 7-days in accordance to [23]. The 7-day strength of normal concrete is about 60 to 90 percent of the 28-day strength [24]. The 28-day strength was estimated in this work by taking the lower limit; we assume that the 7-day strength obtained is 60 percent of the 28-day strength.

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Trial Mix Design Methodology for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Concrete

3.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Aggregate Characterisation The results for aggregate characterisation are presented as follows: 3.1.1. Specific Gravity and SSD Absorption

The specific gravity and absorption at saturated and surface dry state (SSD) of the aggregate are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The values of the specific gravities are very low compared to normal weight aggregate. The oven-dry specific gravities for fine and coarse aggregates are 1.75 and 1.73. The specific gravity of aggregates from rock fragments are between 2.4 to 3.0 [25, 2]. This clearly indicates that palm oil clinker is a lightweight material. The absorptions for fine and coarse aggregates are 14.29 % and 5.39 % respectively. This indicates high water absorption capability of POC aggregate justifying the porous nature of the lightweight aggregate. These values are lower than 23.32 % absorption reported for palm oil shell [7].
Table 1: Specific gravity and absorption of coarse palm oil clinker
Sample (A)Wt. oven dry sample (g) (B) Wt. SSD sample (g) (C) Wt. saturated sample in water (g) Specific gravity Oven-dry SSD Apparent Absorption (%)

(A) B-C
1.74 1.73 1.72 1.73

(B) B-C
1.82 1.83 1.82 1.82

(A) A-C
1.89 1.92 1.92 1.91

(B - A)x100 A
4.52 5.56 6.09 5.39

1 2 3

995 1040 990 1045 985 1045 Average

468 474 472

Table 2: Specific gravity and absorption of fine palm oil clinker


Sample (A)Wt. oven dry sample in air (g) (B) Wt. pycnome ter + water to calibratio n mark (g) 1520 1520 1520 Average (C) Wt. pycnometer + water + sample to calibration mark (g) 1802.5 1794.4 1805.5 (S) Wt. SSD sampl e (g) Specific gravity Oven-dry SSD Apparent Absorption (%)

(A) B +S-C
1.73 1.75 1.77 1.75

(S) B+S-C
2.00 1.98 2.04 2.01

(A) B-C+ A
2.36 2.27 2.43 2.35

(S - A)x100 A

1 2 3

490 490 485

565 560 560

15.31 13.27 14.29 14.29

510

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3.1.2 Sieve Analysis of Palm Oil Clinker The result for sieve analysis is shown in Tables 3 and 4. For fine aggregate the percentages by mass passing sieves 1.18mm (N0.16), 300m (N0.50), and 150m (N0.100) are 51.44, 17.16, and 11.45. For coarse aggregate the percentages by mass passing sieves 19.0mm (3/4 in.), 10mm (3/8 in.), and 4.75mm (N0.4) are 100, 51.20, and 5.33. These experimental values are in accordance with the grading requirements for lightweight aggregate for structural concrete [26]. Test result show that POC is well graded and promising for use in concrete work. The pore space of the coarse aggregate will be filled by the fine aggregate and in turn the pore space of the fine aggregate will be filled by the cement paste forming a strong matrix; concrete. This also reduces the void space and lowers paste requirement [27].
Table 3: Sieve analysis of fine palm oil clinker
Sieve size (mm) 2.34 2.00 1.18 0.85 0.6 0.30 0.15 0.075 0.063 Pan Total Mass retained (g) 90 20 60 30 30 60 20 20 5 15 350 Mass passed (g) 260 240 180 150 120 60 40 20 15 0 350 Percentage retained (%) 25.71 5.71 17.14 8.57 8.57 17.14 5.71 5.71 1.43 4.31 Cumulative percentage retained (%) 25.71 31.42 48.56 57.13 65.70 82.84 88.55 94.26 95.69 100 Percentage passing (%) 74.29 68.58 51.44 42.87 34.30 17.16 11.45 5.71 4.31 0 ASTM C 33004 limitation (%)

40 80

10 - 35 5 25

Table 4: Sieve analysis of coarse palm oil clinker


Sieve size (mm) 19 14 10 6.3 5 4.75 Pan Total Mass retained (g) 0 310 1525 1360 325 40 200 3760 Mass passed (g) 3760 3450 1925 565 240 200 0 Percentage retained (%) 0.00 8.24 40.56 36.17 8.64 1.06 5.33 Cumulative percentage retained (%) 0.00 8.24 48.80 84.97 93.61 94.67 100 Percentage passing (%) 100 91.76 51.20 15.03 6.39 5.33 0.00 ASTM C 330-04 limitation (%) 90 100 10 50

0 15

3.1.3 Dry Loose Bulk Density The dry loose bulk density measures the volume that the aggregate will occupy in concrete. The result for the dry loose bulk density is shown in Table 5. The dry loose bulk densities for fine and coarse aggregates are 1122.10 kg/m3 and 793.14 kg/m3. These values conform to the requirement in [26] which recommends a maximum dry loose bulk density of 1120 kg/m3 for fine aggregate and 880 kg/m3 for coarse aggregate. The POC aggregate is therefore suitable for use as aggregate for structural concrete.
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Trial Mix Design Methodology for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Concrete

Table 5: Dry loose bulk density of palm oil clinker


Fine aggregate (< 5 mm) 3.78 9.34 5.56 0.004955 1122.10 Coarse aggregate (5-14 mm) 3.78 7.71 3.93 0.004955 793.14

Weight of empty cylinder (w1) (kg) Weight of empty cylinder + weight of loose material (w2) (kg) Weight of loose material (w3) (kg) Volume of cylinder (V) (m3)
Dry loose bulk density

(w3) V

(kg/ m3)

3.2 Trial Mixes Twenty five trial mixes were conducted and the results are shown in Table 6. The aggregates used are saturated and also contain surface water. A plot of w/c ratio verses cement content is shown in fig.1 with the trial mixes as indicated. The plot shows that homogeneous mixes are concentrated within some defined region. The slump values ranges between 45mm to 195mm. The trial mix covers wide range of slumps and concrete with different strengths can be produced. The fresh unit weights are between 1903.13 kg/m3 and 1969.73 kg/m3. The air-dry weight for POC concrete will be less than these values yielding a lightweight concrete. The air-dried unit weight at 28 days for structural lightweight concrete is expected to be in the range of 1440 kg/m3 to 1850 kg/m3 [28]. The yield is the ratio of the volume of concrete produced per batch (m3) in to the volume of concrete that the batch was designed to produce, usually 1 m3 [29]. So a perfect yield would be 1 in which the total volume of concrete ingredient is exactly 1 m3. The yield values range between 0.86 to 1.01. Most of the yields recorded are very close to 1 implying that the mix proportions are okay. The 7-day compressive strengths are between 10.21 to 19.90 (Table 7). The expected 28-day strengths are in the range 17.02 N/mm3 to 33.17 N/mm3. These values are greater than the minimum compressive strength for structural lightweight concrete; 17.2 N/mm3 [28]. These mixes are therefore suitable for the production of structural lightweight concrete.

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0.56 S5 S4 0.53 S2 S1 0.50 S12 S15 S24 S3 S13

w/c ratio

0.47

S19

S20

S23 S14

S16 0.44 S18 S22 S11 S6 0.41 S21 S17 S25

Feasible homogeneous mixtures


0.38 S9 S8 S10

0.35

0.32 300 350 400 450 500 3 Cement content (kg/m ) 550

S7 600

Figure 1. A chart of w/c ratio verses cement content

Table 7: Demoulded weight and compressive strength at 7-days

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Trial Mix Design Methodology for Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Concrete
Mix_ID Weight (g) 1950 1930 1945 1890 1895 1985 1945 1955 1930 1945 1955 1950 1955 1960 1950 1965 1985 1935 1915 1930 1945 1880 1880 1905 1925 1890 1880 Max load (KN) 142 131 139 105 105 100 126 136 124 190 202 205 171 174 176 186 204 190 148 155 148 97 102 107 128 124 127 Compressive Strength (N/mm2) 14.2 13.1 13.9 10.5 10.5 10.0 12.576 13.559 12.372 18.966 20.237 20.508 17.118 17.423 17.559 18.593 20.423 19.033 14.779 15.474 14.813 9.677 10.237 10.728 12.813 12.423 12.720 Average Compressive Strength (N/mm2) Expected 28-day Compressive Strength (N/mm2) 22.88

S2

13.73

S3

10.20

17.00

S4

12.84

21.40

S7

19.90

33.17

S8

17.37

28.95

S10

19.35

32.25

S11

15.02

25.03

S12

10.21

17.02

S14

12.65

21.08

4.

CONCLUSION

The properties of POC aggregate shows reasonable agreement with values specified in standards. This makes it suitable for concrete work. The mapping of all the trial mixes on the w/c ratio versus cement content chart defines region of feasible homogeneous mixes for POC concrete. The compressive strength at 7 days expresses optimism on the anticipated strength at 28 days. POC concrete mixes is possible without such aids like admixtures and cementitious materials. REFERENCES [1]. United Sates Department of Agriculture: Agricultural commodities- production, consumption, exports and import statistics. http://www.indexmundi.com/en/commodities/agricultural. Date assessed: 01/09/2007. [2]. Olanipekun, E.A., Olusola, K.O. and Ata, O. A comparative study of concrete properties using coconut shell and palm kernel shell as coarse aggregates. Building and environment. 2006. 41: 297 301. [3]. Mannan, M.A. and Ganapathy, C. Concrete from an agricultural waste-oil palm shell (OPS). Building and environment. 2004. 39: 441-448.
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[4]. Mannan, M.A. and Ganapathy, C. Engineering properties of concrete with oil palm shell as coarse aggregate. Construction and building material. 2002. 16: 29 34. [5]. Mannan, M.A. and Ganapathy, C. Mix design for oil palm shell concrete. Cement and concrete research. 2001a. 31: 1323 - 1325. [6]. Mannan, M.A. and Ganapathy, C. Long-term strengths of concrete with oil palm shell as coarse aggregate. Cement and concrete research. 2001b. 31: 1319 1321. [7]. Basri, A.B., Mannan, M.A. and Zain, M.F.M. Concrete using waste oil palm shell as coarse aggregate. Cement and concrete research. 1999. 29(4), 619 622. [8]. Lo*, F., Gao, X.F., and Jeary, A.P. Microstructure of pre-wetted aggregate on lightweight concrete. Building and environment. 1999. 34: 759 764. [9]. Lo*, T.Y., Cui, H.Z., Tang, W.C. and Leung, W.M. The effect of aggregate absorption on pore area at interfacial zone of lightweight concrete. Construction and building material. 2006. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuild-mat.2006.1001. [10]. Mun, K.J. Development and tests of lightweight aggregate using sewage sludge for nonstructural concrete. Construction and building material. 2007. 21: 1583-1588. [11]. Qiao, X.C., Ng, B.R., Tyrer, M., Poon, C.S., and Cheeseman, C.R. (2006) Production of lightweight concrete using incinerator bottom ash. Construction and building materials. 2006. doi: 10:10161j.conbuildmat. 2006.11.013. [12]. Babu, K.G. and Babu, D.S. Behaviour of lightweight expanded polystyrene concrete containing silica fume. Cement and concrete research. 2003. 33: 755 762. [13]. Mueller, A., Sokolova, S.N., and Vereshagin, V.I. Characteristics of lightweight aggregates from primary and recycled raw materials. Construction and building material. 2007. doi: 10:10161j.conbuildmat. 2007.06.009. [14]. BS 3148:1980. Test for water for making concrete. British Standards Institution, Her Majesty Stationery Office, London. [15]. ASTM C 127/C 128. 1988: Specific gravity and absorption of tests for fine and coarse aggregates. Annual Book of ASTM standards: American Society for Testing and Materials. [16]. ASTM C 136. 1983: Test method for sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates. Annual Book of ASTM standards: American Society for Testing and Materials. [17]. ASTM C 29/C 29M. 1997: Test method for bulk density (unit weight) and voids in aggregate. Annual Book of ASTM standards: American Society for Testing and Materials. [18]. ACI Committee 211.2-98 Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for Structural Lightweight Concrete. Detroit, American Concrete Institute. [19]. BS 1881: Part 102: 1983. Method for determination of slump. British Standards Institution, Her Majesty Stationery Office, London. [20]. ASTM C 138. 1992: Standard test method for unit weight, yield, and air content (gravimetric) of concrete. Annual Book of ASTM standards: American Society for Testing and Materials.

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[21]. BS 1881: Part 108: 1983. Method for making test cubes from fresh concrete. British Standards Institution, Her Majesty Stationery Office, London. [22]. BS 1881: Part 111: 1983. Method of normal curing of test specimen. British Standards Institution, Her Majesty Stationery Office, London. [23]. BS 1881: Part 116: 1983. Method for determination of compressive strength of concrete cubes. British Standards Institution, Her Majesty Stationery Office, London. [24]. Day, K.W. Concrete mix design, quality control and specification. Second edition. Concrete advice pty Ltd, Croydon, Victoria, Australia. 1999 [25]. Neville, A. M. Properties of concrete, 4th ed. Addison Wesley Longman, England. 1995 [26]. ASTM C 330. 2004: Standard specification for lightweight aggregates for structural concrete. Annual Book of ASTM standards: American Society for Testing and Materials. [27]. Mindess, S., Young, J.F., and Darwin, D. Concrete. Second edition. Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey, USA. 2003 [28]. ACI Committee 213R-87: Guide for structural lightweight concrete. Detroit, American Concrete Institute. [29]. Kett, I.. Engineered concrete: mix design and test methods. CRC Press, Boca Raton, London New York Washington, D.C. 2000.

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