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This research investigated the utilization of palm oil waste as a source material for developing an alkali activated binder with alumina-silicate properties. The geopolymer synthesis involved a combination of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and fly ash (FA), as well as sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide as alkali activator solutions. The study assessed the physical, mechanical, water-transport and thermal performances of the binder, including the influence of oxide ratios on its strength-gain characteristic. The highest strength achieved was 54.7 MPa for a blend of POFA-FA in a ratio of 20:50 with a molarity of NaOH at 12M. The experimental results revealed good water-transport performance due to the dense nature of the binder that restricted water movement. However, the material's insulation performance did not produce significant results with the lowest thermal conductivity value of 0.59 W/mK. Overall, the developed binder has potential industrial applications, as it performed well in the technical aspects studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of Malaysia has caused many industries to grow rapidly, especially construction industries due to the demand for more homes, buildings, and infrastructure. The production of concrete and mortar is highly requested. Therefore, the demand for fine aggregate becomes higher because fine aggregate is one of the main elements in concrete and mortar production. The high demand for fine aggregates will create a worrying situation where the fine aggregate crisis will worsen. An alternative was introduced to replace the fine aggregate known as palm oil fuel ash (POFA) in order to reduce the use of natural resources such as fine aggregates and lead to the reduction of fine aggregate mining activity. POFA produced from palm oil fibre, palm oil shell, and mesocarp at high temperature has no benefits in the commercial return. Thus, POFA that has accumulated in landfill has the ability to create environmental pollution. Due to the pozzolanic behaviour of POFA, it could be relevant when POFA is used in the production of mortar as a partially fine aggregate replacement. There is a limited study on the effects of POFA as a partially fine aggregate replacement in the production of mortar. The aim of this research is to study the effects of POFA on the workability of fresh mortar, and for the hardened mortar, compressive strength and microstructural analysis will be analysed. A total of 45 cubes with dimensions of 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm were cast at different percentages of POFA at 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% by the weight of fine aggregates. Slump and flow table tests were conducted during the casting process to determine the workability. All the specimens were water cured at days 3, 7, and 28 before being tested with a compression test and scanning electron microscope (SEM) on the hardened mortar. It was discovered that 0% POFA recorded the highest workability. Furthermore, the laboratory results showed that the 2.5% POFA in the mortar recorded the highest compressive strength compared to other specimens. Moreover, the microstructure of the mortar specimen was observed to be denser, and the pores were refined with the presence of POFA, compared to the control specimen. Based on the findings, this research enables us to give an understanding of the effect of POFA incorporated in mortar as a partially fine aggregate replacement in terms of workability, compressive strength, and microstructural analysis. Based on the results from this research, the advantage of POFA can be fully utilized and can help reduce the environmental problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foamed concrete is a controlled low-density concrete, and due to its excellent thermal insulating and acoustic absorption properties, its application has been on a steady rise. Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA), an agricultural waste generated by the Palm Oil industry and Eggshells, causes many environmental problems. The pozzolanic nature of POFA and the high calcium oxide content in Eggshell Powder (ESP) are the components that contribute to their suitability as a partial cement replacement in concrete. This experimental work studied the flexural behavior, as well as the compressive strength of lightweight ternary binder foamed concrete incorporating 20% - 25% POFA and 5% - 10% ESP by weight of the total binder, as partial cement replacement. The test results were analyzed and compared with conventional foamed concrete without POFA and ESP. It was observed that POFA is a class C pozzolanic material. The combined utilization of POFA and ESP increased the compressive and flexural compared with control concrete. Furthermore, most of the cracks of the prisms were nearer to the middle of the samples and between two locations of loads applied due to the same load value applied at both locations. It was also observed the air voids were blocked due to increased pozzolanic activity and development of C-S-H gels and thus increase in strength. The utilization of POFA and ESP in concrete can be beneficial in reducing the overall cost. The cost to produce 1 m3 of concrete incorporating POFA and ESP was reduced ranging from was reduced by 12.59% (with 20% POFA and 5% ESP) to 17.53% (with 25% POFA and 10% ESP). It can be concluded that the M4 concrete mix is the optimum and cost-effective, as the maximum cement content is replaced (35%), as well as the compressive and flexural strengths are significantly higher than the control concrete M0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the cement industry into the atmosphere and the increasing amount of oil palm waste from industrial plants lead to the problem of the greenhouse effect and environmental pollution. Studies on palm fuel ash (POFA) and metakaolin (MK) as a semi-substitute for cement can reduce the problem of the greenhouse effect and environmental pollution, as well as increase and improve the level of strength of concrete. Using mechanical and transport test methods as well as assisted by comparative X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis can prove the use of pozzolanic material as a catalyst to the compressive strength of concrete. In this study, slump test, compressive strength test, and water absorption test were conducted on samples containing total cement substitution up to 40% of POFA and MK as cement substitutes. The partial replacement of cement with MK and POFA reduced the workability of the concrete. However, binary and ternary blended concrete containing MK and POFA provide better compressive strength compared to OPC concrete up to 9.5% after 28 days age. Moreover, it was found that, the compressive strength of concrete containing POFA was better than the concrete containing MK up to 4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effect on utilization of ultrafine palm oil fuel ash (UfPOFA) on the properties of interlocking compressed earth bricks (ICEB) were investigated. The materials used to produce Interlocking Compressed Earth Brick (ICEB) includes clay soil, sand, Ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and water. OPC were replaced at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by mass percentage with UfPOFA. The ICEB specimens were cured at 7 and 28 days to study the bulk density, compressive strength and water absorption of the ICEB. The experimental results found that the incorporation of UfPOFA reduced the bulk density and compressive strength at both ages of the specimens as compared to the control mix. However, it was observed that their compressive strength improved with age. The compressive strength of ICEB specimen with 10% of UfPOFA showed the highest strength at 28 days amongst all mixtures containing UfPOFA with 6.53MPa, which was higher than the strength value required for loadbearing earth bricks in Malaysian Standard (MS) 76:1972. In addition, the lowest rate of water absorption was found to be 15.44% for 28-day old ICEB specimen with 10% UfPOFA, which was just slightly higher than 15% in compliance with MS 76:1972 on the rate of water absorption for earth bricks. The results thus showed UfPOFA as a potential material to be used as an OPC replacement to produce a sustainable ICEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased usage of concrete contributes to urban thermal discomfort due to the Urban Heat Island effect. At the same time, the corresponding increased consumption of cement also causes a significant rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emissions. This experimental work aims at evaluating the thermal and mechanical performance of 1800 kg/m3 dry density green sustainable foamed concrete (GFC) incorporating agroindustrial waste such as Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) and Eggshell Powder (ESP) as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The POFA content varied from 15 to 35%, with increments of 5%, while being supplemented with 5% ESP. To evaluate the performance of the developed GFC, the flowability, mechanical strengths (compressive and splitting tensile strengths), and thermal performances (thermal conductivity and surface temperature) were investigated. Incorporation of 15-25% of POFA supplemented with 5% ESP as partial cement replacement materials resulted in enhanced mechanical strengths. Although usage of POFA can reduce the thermal conductivity, the POFA content must be limited to 15–25% to prevent excessive heat absorption by the exterior surface of the concrete. Overall, the optimum use of 15% POFA in a combination of 5% ESP is desirable to produce an eco-friendly sustainable foamed concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]