Replacement of Cement by Bagasse Ash with Admixture

As the increase in demand and due to scarcity of construction material such as cement researchers have started focusing on finding the solution as Eco-friendly alternatives or substitutes of cement. Their main focus is on utilizing industrial or agricultural waste materials as a raw material in cement. On the other hand, Sugar cane bagasse ash is a fibrous waste product of the sugar industry. This waste product is already causing serious environmental pollution, which calls for urgent ways of handling the waste. Bagasse ash is mainly contains aluminum ion and silica which can be used as an alternative binding material. Along with bagasse ash another hazardous waste and non-degradable material that is thermocol polluting the environment is being selected to utilize it in concrete effectively. Thermocol is a type of polystyrene used for packaging. After use it is thrown away as waste plastic. Thermocol is the commercial name for the expanded polystyrene (EPS) and is produced from a mixture of about 90-95 % polystyrene and 5-10 % gaseous blowing agent, most commonly pentane or carbon dioxide. This is one of the highest consumed polymers produced due to its versatile application in different fields particularly in packaging. Due to its non-biodegradability and high volume it constitutes a major fraction in municipality waste stream. In this segment the bagasse ash powder obtained is partially replaced with (ordinary Portland cement) in concrete along with admixture made by thermocol solution used in various proportion. Test conducted along with compressive strength, initial& final setting time was also taken.