BANANA STALKS: AN ADDITIONAL COMPOUND

TO CONCRETE BRICKS FOR INSULATION

By

Michael Angelo Mortiga

A Research Paper
Submitted to the College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
University of Santo Tomas – Legazpi
In Fulfillment of the Requirements
Of Architectural Building Technology 5 – Lab
 INTRODUCTION

The banana tree, in addition to producing delicious fruits, is widely renowned for its many

uses. This amazing plant offers a plethora of benefits in all of its forms, from fruit and leaves to

stem and blossoms. The stalks of bananas are available all year round, despite the fact that they

are most frequently consumed in tropical and subtropical regions. Despite taking a while to

disintegrate, banana stems make excellent compost. Strong, enduring fibers with high noise

absorption may be found in banana stems or stalks. Even though it takes a while for these

materials to disintegrate, they may still be used to create household items like furniture, carpets,

and baskets.

Building materials like bricks, insulation, and partition boards might be produced at less

money and with less CO2 by capturing organic waste streams from urban and rural areas. The

reuse of those waste materials in construction might be taken into consideration in many

circumstances as an environmental solution for the rising volume of light non-cellulosic waste

from agricultural sources. Utilizing measurable organic matter in construction goods may have a

positive long-term influence on the environment. Users will consider it amusing to use this

technology as a means of promoting sustainable results, reducing or eliminating waste, and

advancing environmental initiatives to protect the environment.

This paper will examine the benefits and drawbacks of adding crushed banana stalks to

concrete blocks. By crushing and blending banana stems with cement to make bricks, we can

show the benefits that this sustainable resource can offer to building materials. One of the basic

materials that may be utilized to make many different craft items is banana stems. Banana stalks
may be used as an alternate material to cement for manufacturing bricks, which makes them

more helpful because they are not only stronger, it will be used for soundproofing.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Banana (Musa sp.) is a large perennial herb with leaf sheaths that form trunk like pseudo

stem. Banana has its origin in tropical region of South East Asia. Banana is a nutritious gold

mine. They are high in vitamin B6, which helps fight infection and is essential for the synthesis

of heme, the iron containing part of hemoglobin. They are also rich in potassium and are a great

source of fiber. In recent years, considering the adverse impact of indiscriminate use of

chemicals, new trend for organic production of banana is increasing in the country. A new name,

i.e. "Green Foods" for this has been coined.

Banana Stem fiber use as Construction Material

The Banana fiber is Second largest produced fruit after citrus, contributing about 16% of the

world’s total fruit production. India is Largest producer of banana, contributing to 27% of

world’s banana production. Banana fiber has a high tensile strength, resistant to rotting and its

specific flexural strength is near to that of glass fiber. The production of banana fiber is highest

in Maharashtra (3924.1 thousand tonnes) than other state of India. Banana fibers are an

abundant, low-cost, and generally underutilized resource. Often, they are produced as waste by-

products of industrial or agricultural processes. In many countries for example, flax is grown

primarily for its oilseed, and the straw is discarded or burned as a waste material. However, the

fibers within the straw is one of the most durable and strong natural fibers, making it an ideal

candidate for an effective fibers reinforcement in concrete, similarly banana is grown for the

fruit however the disposal of the stem is a major issue.

Application of Organic Waste in Concrete

We are already more than 7 billion people, each individual produces an average of 1.25 kg of

waste per day, and this is, 9 billion tons daily. All of these wastes cause environmental problems

such as pollution of air, land and water sources. Some organization and companies reutilize some

materials, but what remains is not reused. After 19 years of research, developments and tests, it

was concluded PROCESS KONLIX, which turns waste into ecological bricks for construction as

follows After being collected from landfills, waste goes through a CLEANING process, then the

recyclables are recycled (metal, plastic, etc.), what is left is CRUSHED and SIEVED until turn a

sand is then mixed with the additive konlix, which encapsulates and inhibits the development of

bacteria such as fecal coli forms, streptococcus and several others, resulting in a compound clean

and within the microbiological standards Volume 4, Issue 4, April – 2019 International Journal

of Innovative Science and Research Technology ISSN No:-2456-2165 IJISRT19AP506

www.ijisrt.com 1063 ANVISA and INMETRO. After these procedures, the sand is MIXED

GROUND AND CEMENT, compacted and have the ecological brick, no smells, with twice the

conventional ceramic brick and resistance within the norms of ABNT. The volume of

accumulated garbage, it would be possible to build millions of affordable housing through

private companies, joint efforts, associations, local cooperatives, extending the useful life of

landfills and preventing new municipal waste storage costs with the opening of new deposits.

Now the garbage can stop being a problem and become a deposit renewable solution.

Banana Fiber-based Structure for Acoustic insulation and Absorption

Acoustic properties of fibrous structures made of banana fibers have been studied. Impedance

tube method was used for the testing of acoustic barrier proper-ties. An attempt to counter low-

frequency noise as well as enhancing transmission loss characteristics of fibrous structures was
carried out. The effect of different parameters and arrangement of structures with respect to

sound source on sound absorption as well as sound insulation of these structures has been

reported. A unique structure has been developed with varying compactness throughout its

thickness, and it was observed that the areal density of samples, compactness of structure and

arrangement of structures can be utilized to customize its sound barrier and absorption behavior.

Maximum noise reduction coefficient of 0.78 and transmission loss up to 23 dB was observed for

samples with gradient in compactness. Acoustic performance of the structure developed as a part

of this research is at par or better than acoustic materials reported in literature and other

commercial products.

Physical, Strength, and Ductility Characteristics of Concrete Reinforced with Banana

(Musaceae) Stem Fiber

Natural fibers derived from plant wastes possess a negligible carbon footprint and a high

tensile strength. Therefore, researchers are focusing on the technical evaluation of cementitious

materials with bio-based fibers. The stems of the banana plant consist of high-quality textile-

grade fiber bundles possessing high tensile strength and toughness. Owing to these

characteristics banana stem fiber (BSF) can be used as a reinforcement for plain concrete.

Therefore, this study is devoted to the evaluation of the properties of concrete with various

concentrations of BSF. The performance of BSF in concrete was also compared with artificial

polypropylene fiber (PPF) at the same volumes of fibers (i.e., 0.25, 0.5, and 1%). The results

revealed that 0.25% and 0.5% volumes of BSF were highly useful to the tensile and flexural

strength of concrete. However, residual compressive and tensile strength improved with the

increasing volume of BSF. At 0.5% BSF, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and
flexural strength of concrete experienced net improvements of 6%, 40%, and 10%, respectively.

The mechanical performance of BSF was comparable to that of the artificial PPF. Electrical

resistivity increased with the rising fiber volume. Whereas, ultrasonic pulse velocity gradually

decreased with rising fiber content and reduced by 7% at 1% BSF. Scanning electron

microscopic (SEM) analysis revealed a negligible shrinkage of BSF filaments in the cementitious

matrix. This behavior was contrary to that observed with other natural fibers.
RRL References:

Chaudhari Tejas Prakash, Govin Signh Solanki, Rakesh sakale, Hirendra Pratap Singh. 2018.

Application & Analysis of Banana Stem Fibre use as Construction Material. 2:2456-6470.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333515214_Application_and_Analysis_of_Banana_Ste

m_Fibre_use_as_Construction_Material

Kalaivani, Shena, Anisha.S, Gokul Prasad.S, Vignesh Kumar, 2019. Application of Oraganic

Waste in Concrete. 4:2165-2456.

https://ijisrt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IJISRT19AP506.pdf

Vikas Kumar Singh, Samrat Mukhopadhyay. 2020. Banana Fibre-based Structures for Acoustic

Insulation and Absorption. 0:1-21.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338819581_Banana_fibre-

based_structures_for_acoustic_insulation_and_absorption

J.M. Lafave, R. Yao, C. Thomas, Q. Yu. Investigation of physical, strength, and ductility
characteristics of concrete reinforced with banana (Musaceae) stem fiber. 2022. 61.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352710222010348?via%3Dihub