Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in

Concrete

Wegdan Deyab Elgaali, Rehab Hassan, Nadreen Emad Salih, Mazen Abd Allah M
Ahmed, Asim Zakria
Civil Engneering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Red Sea University.

Abstract
This paper presented the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the

compressive strength of concrete when fine aggregate (sand) was replaced with the fly ash

which was locally produced in Garri Power Plant as a by-product of burning petroleum coal.

Fine aggregate was replaced with five percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) of fly

ash by weight. The compressive strength was determined at 7, 14, 28, 56 and 91 days. The

maximum compressive strength was obtained with 10% fly ash content at all ages.

Key words: fine aggregate, compressive strength, concrete, Garri Power Plant, fly ash.

‫مستلخص‬
‫ أثناء حرق الفحم البرتولي‬4 ‫اختربت الورقة تأثري إحالل الركام الناعم (الرمل) بالرماد املتطاير املنتج من حمطة قري‬
‫ مت إحالل الركام الناعم خبمس نسب‬.‫لتوليد الطاقة الكهربائية كناتج حرق على مقاومة الضغط للخرسانة املتصلدة‬
,28 ,14 ,7 ‫ حسبت مقاومة الضغط هلذه النسب بعد‬.ً‫) من الرماد املتتطاير وزنا‬% 25 ‫ و‬% 20 ،% 15 ،% 10 ،% 5( ‫خمتلفة‬

.‫ لكل أعمار اخلرسانة‬% 10 ‫ أعلي مقاومة للضغط حصل عليها عند نسبة رماد متطاير‬.‫ يوما‬91 ‫ و‬56

Introduction alternative use for this waste material

The disposal of fly ash is a big challenge
to the environment, especially when
the quantum increases from the percent
level (the current annual production
of coal ash worldwide is estimated
around 600 million tons). Hence much
research work was focused to find
Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015
and its use in concrete industry is one of
the effective methods of the utilization.
Increase in demand and decrease in
natural resource of fine aggregate for
the production of concrete has resulted
in the need of identifying a new source
of fine aggregate.
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 Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete
The possibility of utilization of
thermal power plant by-product
(fly ash) as replacement to fine
aggregate in concrete is taken into
consideration. Bokoshi (1998) used
bottom ash in amount of 10-40% as
replacement for fine aggregate. Test
results indicated that the compressive
strength and tensile strength of bottom
ash concrete generally increases
with the increase in percentages ratio
to fine aggregate and curing age.
Bhangale and Nemade (2013) studied
the feasibility of utilizing pond ash as
fine aggregate the results showed that,
the compressive strength of pond ash
concrete are equal to or higher than
reference concrete at any given age.
Siddique (2013) studied the effect
of high percentages of fly ash on
the properties of concrete. A control
mix was designed to have a 28 days
compressive strength of 30 MPa,
and then fine aggregate was replaced
with three percentages 35%, 45% and
55% of fly ash class F by mass. The
results indicated that replacement of
fine aggregate with high volume of
class F fly ash increased the 28 days
compressive strength depending
46 Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015
Elgaali et al.
upon the fly ash content. The results
showed continuous improvement in
compressive strength at late ages.
Parvati and Parkash (2013) evaluated
the strength performance of concrete
containing fly ash by replacing
natural sand by fly ash at 0% to 80%
percentages. The results showed
that, the compressive strength was
found to increase with increasing in
percentage of replacing up to 40% at
elevated temperature of 200°C. Fly
ash in this study is locally produced
from Garri 4 Sponge Coke-Fired
Power Plant. The huge amount of
fly ash imposing challenges for its
disposal and management. Ali and
Daoud (2013) characterized the
physical and chemical properties
of Garri Power Plant fly ash; it was
found that it has good chemical and
physical qualities when compared
with the standards. It was observed
that there was high level of silicon
dioxide hence it can be classified,
based on its chemical composition,
as class F fly ash; this may be
probably due to the addition of sand
applied in the combustion chamber,
which could have been good if it
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Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete Elgaali et al.

was amorphous, but the XRD proved from 0% to 25%.

that it was crystalline. The strength
test results showed that the locally
produced fly ash from Garri 4 Sponge
coke-fired Power Plant is a weak
pozzolan and its strength activity
index was 70% which is slightly
below the minimum target of 75% set
by the American Society for Testing
and Materials (ASTM) C 618-03.
Hence it is not good for concrete
unless its properties have improved
especially in the sense of presence of
crystalline silica. The main objective
of this experimental study was to
investigate the compressive strength
of concrete produced by replacing
natural sand by Garri Power Plant fly
ash in various percentages ranging
Material and methods
Material
Ordinary Portland cement (Table 1) with
specific gravity of 3.14 was used with
fine aggregate of 2.26 specific gravity.
The crushed coarse aggregates used
were 20 mm and down size and their
specific gravity was found to be 2.84.
Aggregate sieve analysis results are
shown in Table (2). Fly ash used in the
experimentation was obtained locally
from Garri 4 Sponge Coke-Fired Power
Plant; the specific gravity of it was 2.1,
its physical and chemical characteristics
are shown in Tables (3) and (4). To
improve workability Sikament 36 super
plasticizer was used.
Table 1. Physical properties of

Portland cement.
Physical characters Value BS EN 197 -1
Fineness (%) 1.36 Less than 10%
Initial Vicat time (min) 131 Min. of 60 to max.
Final Vicat time (min) 208 of 600
2 days compressive strength (N/mm2) 30.08 20

28 day compressive strength (N/mm2) 43.8 42.5

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 Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete Elgaali et al.

Table 2. Aggregates sieve characteristics.

Coarse aggregates Fine aggregates

Percent passing Sieve No Percent passing Sieve No

- - 50.0 -

13.2 98.56 37.5 -

10.0 97.52 25.0 100

5.00 93.52 20.0 95.2
2.36 84.32 14.0 56.94
1.18 66.48 13.0 47.82
0.600 39.92 10.0 12.57
0.300 17.36 6.3 1.95
0.150 4.88 5.00 1.25
0.075 1.44 3.35 0.95
Pan 0 Pan 0

Table 3: Garri ash chemical composition.

Property (%) Value Target According to

ASTM C618

Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) 80.74 -

Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) 4.35 min of total 70%

Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 0.91 -
Calcium oxide(CaO) 9.21 -

Table 4. Garri ash physical properties.

Property (%) Value Target According to
ASTM C618
Density (g\cm3) 1.185 -

Fineness (%) retained on 75μm sieve 34.57 -

Moisture Content (%). 0.21 Max 3.0 %

LOI (%) 4.5 Max 6.0 %

48 Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015 ISSN: 1858- 7674 (Online) ISSN: 1858- 6295 (Print)
Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete
Methods
The method of the Department
of Environment of University
of Khartoum was used to design
concrete mixes. This method
considers statistical element
determine the margin for the target
strength (British Standard European
Norm BS EN 12350-1 Neville 1990).
The target strength is given by:
Target strength = characteristic
strength + margin
Kt = Kc + M
Where: the margin M is: M = A x S
A is a constant from normal
distribution, i.e. 1.64 for 5% defect
and S is the standard deviation,
therefore: Kt = Kc + 1.64S for 5%
defect.
The maximum aggregate size used in
all mixes was 20 mm. Using standard
cubes moulds (150x150x150 mm),
15 cubes representing each ratio,
were casted and tested at ages of 7,
14, 28, 56 and 91 days. Quantities
of components in mix design were
as follows: water content = 180 kg/
m3, sand content = 685 kg/m3, coarse
aggregate content = 1245 kg/m3 and
cement content = 390 kg/m3. Ratios
Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015
Elgaali et al.
of fly ash = 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and
25 % of fine aggregate content. The
150 mm concrete cubes were cast for
compressive strength. After casting
all concrete cubes were stored at
to 22°C in the laboratory room, they
were cured till testing date and
crushed at different ages. Control
mixture was designed to achieve a
28 days cube compressive strength
of 35 MPa. Five additional concrete
mixtures (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and
25%) were proportioned where fine
aggregate (sand) was replaced with
Garri Power Plant fly ash.
Results and discussion
Compressive strength of concrete
mixes made with or without fly ash
was determined at 7, 14, 28, 56 and
91 days of curing. Test results are
shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1
shows the variation of compressive
strength with age for the five
aggregate replacements and Figure 2
shows the variation of compressive
strength with fly ash percentages at
different ages. From the test results,
it is obvious that the compressive
strength is higher than the control mix
only at 10% and 15% replacements.
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 Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete
It is evident from Figure 1 that the
compressive strength of all mixes
continued to increase with increase
in age. The increase in strength due
to the replacement of fine aggregate
with fly ash is attributed to the
densification of the paste structure
due to the pozzolanic action between
fly ash and calcium hydroxide
Fig. 1. Compressive strength versus age
50 Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015
Elgaali et al.
liberated as a result of hydration of
cement, and also due to the increase
in cementitious materials in the
mixtures. In 15%, 20% and 25%
replacements, in order to produce
a workable mix water to cement
ratio (w/c) increased and this led to
reduction of compressive strength
for these mixes.
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Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete Elgaali et al.

Fig. 2. Compressive strength versus fly ash percentages.

Conclusions: The following conclusions 3. The maximum compressive strength

were derived from the results reported in the occurred with 10% fly ash content at all
paper: ages. It is 48.6 MPa at 28 days, 50.6 MPa at
1. Results of the investigation have shown 56 days and 56.4 MPa at 91 days.
that it is feasible to replace natural sand by 4. All mixes obtained an acceptable 28 days
fly ash from Garri to achieve strength and compressive strength.
solve the problem of waste disposal. 5. Compressive strength of fine aggregate
2. The compressive strength is higher than replaced fly ash concrete continued
the control mix only at 10% replacement at to increase with age for all fly ash
all ages and 15% replacement at 56 days and percentages.
91 days.

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 Use of Garri Fly Ash as Partial Replacement of Fine Aggregate in Concrete Elgaali et al.

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52 Red Sea University Journal, Vol.(8) December- 2015 ISSN: 1858- 7674 (Online) ISSN: 1858- 6295 (Print)