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PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE CONTAINING EFFECTIVE MICROORGANISMS

(EM) UNDER VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS

Conference Paper · August 2009

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3467.3761

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Jamaludin Mohamad Yatim Mohammad Ismail

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 PERFORMANCE OF CONCRETE CONTAINING EFFECTIVE
MICROORGANISMS (EM) UNDER VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS

Jamaludin M.YATIM
Associate Professor, Dept. of Structures and Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Malaysia.

Mohamad ISMAIL
Associate Professor, Dept. of Structures and Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Malaysia.

Wan A.W.A. RAHMAN

Associate Professor, Dept. of Polymer, Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

Chiew V. YAW
Researcher, Dept. of Structures and Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Malaysia.
*Corresponding author Email: jamaludin@utm.my

ABSTRACT:
This study was conducted experimentally to observe the effects of the effective microorganism (EM) as the
admixture in concrete. Concrete cube samples with the size of 100mm x 100mm x 100mm were prepared and
exposed to different environments (acidic, clayey soil, wastewater, marine, alkaline, outdoor (tropical) and indoor
environments). The cubes were tested for the compressive strength after 7, 28 and 91 days. Results indicated that the
concrete containing EM had higher compressive strength and better resistance to many environments. It showed that
EM could be used as an admixture in concrete for most types of environment to improve strength and durability.
Keywords: Concrete, Effective Microorganism, Environment, Compressive Strength

1. INTRODUCTION 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Concrete has been the most cost effective material in
construction industry for many decades. When concrete
is good enough to be used at normal construction
environment, its performance becomes deteriorated
when used in relatively adverse environments [1]. To
overcome the deterioration, the performance of
concrete has been enhanced by the use of various
admixtures [2,3]. There have been many studies carried
out to explore new materials which can be used as the
admixtures for concrete.
The construction industry has been looking into using
biological material such as microorganisms as the
admixture for concrete. As effective microorganisms
(EM) was first introduced in Japan for the purpose of
agriculture, it is now being widely used in various
industries worldwide [4,5]. A few studies have been
carried out to explore the full potential of using EM its
effects on the performance of concrete and the results
showed that there was increment in the compressive
strength of concrete containing EM [6,7,8]. This paper
looked into the effects of the environments on the
performance of concrete containing EM.
2.1 Admixture: EM
The admixture used in this study was EM. The type of
EM was EM-1 supplied from Peladang Johor Bahru,
which the EM-1 was cultivated in Loji Air Semangar,
Kota Tinggi. The EM-1 needed to be activated by
adding the original EM-1 culture to a mixture of water
and blackstrap molasses, its main food source. The
mixture was called EM Activated Solution (EM-AS).
The activation required anaerobic fermentation for 7 to
10 days to achieve pH less than 4. Only then the EM-1
solution could be used in mixing together with concrete.
The mixture consists of 90% of water, 5% of EM-1 and
5% of molasses.
2.2 Concrete Mix Design
There were two types of concrete used in this study.
One was concrete containing EM and the other was the
control concrete; namely the normal concrete. The only
difference between them was a 10% by weight
replacement of mixing water with EM-AS in the
concrete containing EM. The coarse aggregate
employed in this study was crushed aggregate with
maximum size of 10mm. While the fine aggregate was
crushed type and 40% passing 600µm sieve. namely a type of retarder. This retarder delayed the
setting and hardening time of cement paste.
2.3 The Environments
3.2 Results of Compression Test
There were seven types of environments involved in
this study and Table 1 below is the description of them.
By referring to Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, the
The control of the environments was the indoor
results of the compression tests for the ages of 7, 28 and
environment.
91 days showed that the strength of concrete containing
EM was higher than the control in all time and
Table 1: The description of the seven prescribed
environments except for the marine environment at the
environments
Mate rial/ How cube s we re e xpose d to
age of 91 days.
Environme nt Symbol pH Location
C ondition the e nvironme nt
Hydrochloric Cubes immersed fully into
Acidic HCL 2.0
acid
Structure lab
hydrochloric acid solution In the consideration of short term performance (7 and
Soil (Clayey) SOIL 6.3 Clayey soil
A river bank near Kolej
Rahman Putra
Cubes buried 300mm
underground
28 days), the concrete containing EM of all
Wastewater WWT R 7.3 Wastewater
An oxidation pond near Cubes immersed fully into environments developed their strength at a considerably
Kolej Rahman Putra wastewater
Cubes immersed fully into consistent trend and the difference in strength among
Marine SWT R 8.8 Seawater Structure lab

Sodium
natural seawater
Cubes immersed fully into
them was not much. However, in the case of normal
Alkaline NaOH 12.0 Structure lab
hydroxide sodium hydroxide solution concrete, the development of strength was not
Outdoor A fenced area near Arked Cubes placed and exposed to the
(T ropical)
OUT DR - Warm, humid
Cengal open area consistent and the difference of strength among them
Indoor INDR -
Very protective
area
Structure lab
Cubes kept undisturbed inside a
closed room
was relatively greater. The adverse effects from the
environment had started to attack the both types of
concrete and the normal concrete was more affected. At
2.4 Compression Test the age of 91 days, both types of concrete had shown
inconsistency in the development of their strengths and
A number of 126 of concrete cube samples were made the difference of strength was very obvious. The effects
for the purpose of this study; 63 cubes for concrete of the environments had become more obvious at this
containing EM and another 63 for the controls. The age. Somehow, the concrete containing EM still
compressive strengths of the cubes were tested after 7, outperformed the control except in the marine
28 and 91 days period of exposure. Therefore, for each environment.
type of concrete, 63 cubes were made by 3 batches
according to the period of exposure; 21 cubes per batch. 7-day Compressive Strength Of Concrete Containing EM And The Control
N/mm2
The method of the compression test was based on BS 60.0

1881-116: 1983. 50.0

3. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 40.0

30.0

3.1 Properties of Fresh Concrete Containing EM 20.0

10.0

There was no much difference between fresh concrete

containing 10% EM and the control, in the aspect of 0.0
HCL SOIL WWTR SWTR NaOH OUTDR INDR

physical appearance. The change in the physical Environment

EM Control

appearance of fresh concrete became more obvious

when at least 30 % of EM was used to replace the Figure 1: 7-day compressive strength of concrete
containing EM and the control
mixing water. Under such condition, the fresh concrete
containing 30 % EM or more looked more viscous and
dry. This was due to the reduction of actual mixing N/mm2
28-day Compressive Strength Of Concrete Containing EM And The Control

water which resulted in lower workability. 60.0

50.0

During the making of concrete cubes, it was found out

that the concrete containing EM hardened in a rate 40.0

slower than the control. When normal concrete took 30.0

one day to harden, the concrete containing EM would

require at least three to four days so that it reached a 20.0

hardened state which dismantling of moulds could be 10.0

done satisfactorily. Otherwise, problems such as

spalling of hardened concrete during dismantling of 0.0
HCL SOIL WWTR SWTR NaOH OUTDR INDR

moulds and dissolution of the cement paste into the Environment

EM Control
curing water during curing would occur. The slower
rate of hardening was expected to be due to the effect of Figure 2: 28-day compressive strength of concrete
molasses, which in fact was a carbohydrate derivative, containing EM and the control
 goes up enormously.

For the normal concrete, a similar trend of strength

Figure 3: 91-day compressive strength of concrete
containing EM and the control
3.3 Analysis of Compression Test
3.3.1 The Effects of EM on the Performance of
Concrete
development is found at those normal concrete exposed
to WWTR, SWTR, NaOH, OUTDR and INDR. Under
these environments, their strengths also increase at an
almost constant rate similar to the concrete containing
EM exposed to HCL, SOIL, WWTR, OUTDR and
INDR but at all conditions, the strengths of concrete
containing EM still top the normal concrete except in
the SWTR condition. The other two conditions, namely
HCL and SOIL, both are acidic environment with pH
less than 7, their strengths drop at the age of 13 weeks.
Relatively, the HCL condition is worse because the
strength at the age of 13 weeks has dropped to a value
lower than the strength at the age of 7 days.
Strength Development In Acidic Environment
(HCL pH 2)
N/mm2
60

50
From the results, it has proved that one of the effects of 40
EM on the performance of concrete is to increase the
30
compressive strength of concrete. One of the expected
20
factors of the improvement of strength is expected to be
the biochemical reaction that occurs between the 10

alkaline cement paste with the acidic EM-AS to 0

0 20 40 60 80 100
produce a new and yet-unidentified substance. It is Time (Day)

expected that the new substance having property and EM Control

behavior similar to pozzolanic materials, will later fill Figure 4: The strength development for acidic
up the voids in the concrete and strengthen the internal environment
bonding.
Strength Development In Clayey Soil Environment
Another speculation is that instead of the EM inside the (SOIL pH 6.3)
N/mm2
concrete reacts with the cement paste, the EM actually 60
does not have any reaction but use up the air inside the 50
concrete for its aerobic activities. When the internal air
40
is used by the EM living inside the concrete, the total
30
volume of air voids will become lesser and finally the
concrete becomes denser and then exhibits higher 20

compressive strength and better resistance to the 10

adverse effects come from the environments. 0

0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (Day)
3.3.2 The Effects of Environments on the EM Control
Compressive Strength of Concrete
Figure 5: The strength development for clayey soil
Containing EM
environment
The effects of the environments became very obvious
on the compressive strength of concrete containing EM
when they had a long-term (13 weeks) exposure to
those environments. Figure 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 below
show tests result of the strength development of
concrete under different environments.

For the concrete containing EM exposed to HCL, SOIL,

WWTR, OUTDR and INDR, the trend of their strength
developments are quite similar in a way that each of
their strengths increases at an almost constant rate; the
slope is almost constant. In the case of SWTR, the Figure 6: The strength development for wastewater
strength becomes lower at the age of 13 weeks but a environment
very outstanding improvement is found in the NaOH
condition, in which at the age of 13 weeks, the strength
 Strength Development In Marine Environment
Conclusively, the concrete containing EM seems to be
(SWTR pH 8.8) performing better in all conditions especially in the
N/mm2
60 alkaline environment, the performance is the greatest.
50
But the concrete containing EM is expected to be not
suitable to be used in marine environment. For the
40
normal concrete, some perform well but not better than
30
the concrete containing EM except for the marine
20 environment. Again, the normal concrete seems to
10 perform better in the alkaline environment. However,
0 worse cases occur in the acidic and soil Environments,
0 20 40
Time (Day)
60 80 100 the strengths drop so much after a long while.
EM Control
As a whole, concrete containing EM can be considered
Figure 7: The strength development for marine as a more sustainable material because it performs
environment better in most kind of environment. Without
considering the outdoor and indoor environment, the
Strength Development In Alkaline Environment alkaline environment seems to be the friendliest
N/mm2
(NaOH pH 12) environment for both kinds of concrete. However, it is
60
the acidic environment that is the best environment
50 where concrete containing EM is the best construction
40 material to be used in, so that to obtain an outstanding
30
performance. It is because in the acidic environment,
the normal concrete performs at the worst but the
20
concrete containing EM performs at its best and here
10
exhibits the significance to use the EM in concrete.
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (Day) 4.0 CONCLUSIONS
EM Control

Figure 8: The strength development for alkaline The conclusions that could be drawn from this study
environment are as follows:

1. The replacement of 10 % mixing water with EMAS,

Strength Development In Outdoor (Tropical)
the fresh concrete containing EM did not differ
2 Environment (OUTDR)
N/mm
60
much than the fresh normal concrete in terms of
physical appearance.
50

40
2. The replacement of 10 % mixing water with EMAS,
30 the rate of hardening of concrete containing EM was
20 slower. This fresh concrete only hardened within
10
two days.
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 3. For long-term performance, concrete containing EM
Time (Day)
may not be suitable for marine environment.
EM Control

Figure 9: The strength development for outdoor 4. The alkaline environment was the friendliest
environment environment for both types of concrete. The
concrete containing EM still exhibited higher
Strength Development In Indoor Environment strength than the normal concrete.
N/mm
2 (INDR)
60 5. The acidic environment was the best environment
50 for the concrete containing EM where it exhibited
40
maintaining in strength while the normal concrete
decreased in strength significantly after 28 days
30

20
5.0 REFERENCES
10

0 1. A.M. Neville (1971), “Hardened Concrete: Physical

0 20 40
Time (Day)
60 80 100
and Mechanical Aspects”, American Concrete
EM Control
Institute.
Figure 10: The strength development for indoor 2. Edward E. Bauer (1949), “Plain Concrete”,
environment
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
 3. P. Kumar Mehta (1986), “Concrete: Structure,
Properties and Materials”, Prentice Hall, Inc.

4. R.A Herbert and G.A. Codd (1986), “Microbes in

Extreme Environments”, Academic Press Inc,
Special Publication of the General Microbiology 17.

5. T.J. Franklin and G.A. Snow (1989), “Biochemistry

of Antimicrobial Action”, Chapman and Hall.

6. Mohd Firdaus Bin Hj. Mat Ali (2005), “Kesan

Mikroorganisma Efektif (EM) Ke Atas Prestasi
Konkrit”, Final Year Project Report , FKA, UTM.

7. Chiew Voon Yaw (2007), “Effects of the

Environments on the Performance of Concrete
Containing Effective Microorganisms (EM)”, Final
Year Project Report, FKA, UTM.

8. P. Howsam (1990), “Microbiology In Civil

Engineering”, E. & F. N. SPON.

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