Effect of Combining Maize Straw and Palm Oil Fuel Ashes in Concrete as Partial Cement Replacement in Compression

Abstract

The high energy consumption connected with cement manufacturing, as well as the depletion of limestone resources and the release of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, are all important issues that must be addressed. Partially replacing cement with agricultural wastes in concrete, which reduces cement output, is an innovative solution to this problem. This paper examined the effect of combining Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) and Maize Straw Ash (MSA) as partial replacement of cement on the compressive strength of Grade 20 concrete at 0 - 30 % POFA and 0 - 30 % MSA using Historical data under the Response Surface study in Design-Expert software. The concrete cubes were tested at 7, 28, and 56 days of curing. It was discovered that there was a decrease in the compressive strength of the concrete with the percentage increase in the quantity of the POFA and MSA for all the curing days considered. However, there was a progressive increase in the compressive strength with an increase in the days of curing. The optimum combination of percentages of POFA, MSA and cement that gave a strength greater than the target compressive strength of 20 N/mm2 in 56 days is 30 % POFA and 16.6 % MSA and 53.4 % Cement at 0.58 water-cement ratio.