A COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF EGGSHELL POWDERS FOR USE IN CONCRETE PRODUCTION

Eggs have been a food staple on many peoples plates globally for centuries. The manner in which they have been consumed is that of simply separating the shell into two pieces in order to access the content and discarding the shell. This process of discarding the eggshells has also for centuries contributed to tremendous waste generation due to the excessive count of eggs that are consumed annually. As much research has been done in the area of eggshell re-use, this research has mainly focused on agricultural re-uses of eggshells. This paper examines the dif erent characteristics of eggshellsfrom three common animalsthat produce eggs, namely, chickens, ostriches' and ducks. It then highlights how each dif erent eggshell may be beneficial in the manufacture of concrete and also highlights the drawbacks of why in some cases it would not be beneficial. It was found that the pre-dominant component in all three eggshell types is calcium carbonate. It was also found that the content of magnesium in chicken eggshells is higher than in duck eggshells, making it more suited in the use of concrete since magnesium is a pertinent material in the composition of concrete. It was also noted that the calcium carbonate in ostrich eggshells is much lower than in chicken eggshells. Thisshowed that itstillremains more beneficial to use chicken eggshells over ostrich eggshells since calcium carbonate is also an essential component in concrete. Consideration of a variety of eggshells such as ostrich eggshells and duck eggshells in comparison to chicken eggshells has shown that when considering the use of eggshell powder in concrete production, the more technically suited eggshell types are those that emanate from chickens.