Experimental Study on Partial Replacement of Cement with Coconut Shell Ash in Concrete

The environmental impact of OPC is significant because its production emits large amount of CO2. Utilization of industrial soil waste or secondary materials has been encouraged in construction field for the production of cement and concrete because it contributes for reducing the consumption of natural raw materials as resources. The volume of wastes generated in the world has increased over the years due to increase in population, socioeconomic activities and social development. One of the most attractive options of managing such wastes is to look into the possibility of waste minimization and re-use. The cost of cement used in concrete works is on the increase and unaffordable, yet the need for housing and other constructions requiring this material keeps growing with increasing population, thus the need to find alternative binding materials that can be used solely or in partial replacement of cement. Agricultural waste material, in this case, coconut shells, which is an environmental pollutant, are collected and burnt in the open air (uncontrolled combustion) for three hours and that product is incinerated in muffle furnace at 800oC for 6 hrs to produce coconut shell ash (CSA), which in turn was used as pozzolana in partial replacement of cement in concrete production. Concrete mortar cubes were produced using replacement levels of 0 and 5 percent of OPC with CSA. The Coconut Shell ash is used for the partial replacement of cement. Further, use of coconut shell ash as a value added material as in the case of binary blended cement concrete, reduces the consumption of cement. Reduction of cement usage will reduce the production of cement which in turn cut the CO2 emissions. The time has come for the review of progress made in the field of development of binary blended cement concrete.