Utilisation of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Coal Fired Boiler Ash in Concrete

Abstract

Energy is the foremost backbone of modern society of the world and the electric power from thermal power stations is a major source of energy, in the form of electricity. India stands sixth in energy demand and depends on thermal power plants for its major energy needs. About 70% of energy consumption is from the thermal power plants, which in turn produces coal combustion products (CCP) as by-products, as they burn coal for energy production. Coal ash consist of fly ash and bottom ash. Bottom ash establishes 20% of total coal fed in the boiler. There have been numerous investigations on the use of fly ash as construction materials but when it comes to bottom ash, it is very few.It is now a global concern, to find a social, economical and environmental friendly solution to sustain a cleaner and greener environment. Today Study has been conducted to recycle valuable material and reduce the volume of hazardous solid waste and other pollutants, which is harmful for living organisms. The use of Coal Fired Bottom ash and Sugarcane Bagasse Ash can improve various properties in fresh and hardened state of concrete and alsodecreases the cost of construction.

Introduction

The study addresses environmental concerns related to cement production and waste disposal by exploring the use of industrial by-products in concrete. Cement manufacturing releases significant carbon dioxide—approximately half a ton of CO? per ton of cement—contributing to environmental degradation. At the same time, waste materials like Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) and Coal Ash (Boiler Bottom Ash) create disposal challenges.

Bagasse is a fibrous by-product from sugar industries obtained after extracting juice from sugarcane. When burned for power generation, it produces bagasse ash, which has pozzolanic properties and can potentially replace a portion of cement in concrete. Similarly, coal ash is produced during coal combustion in power plants and can serve as a supplementary cementing material.

Formation and Collection

Coal ash forms during coal combustion through processes such as thermal decomposition, fusion, and agglomeration of mineral matter. Bagasse ash is generated by burning sugarcane bagasse in sugar factories, leaving behind a waste material suitable for use in concrete due to its cementitious properties.

Experimental Investigation

Concrete of M25 grade (target strength 25 MPa) was prepared as a control mix and compared with mixes incorporating varying percentages of SCBA (5%, 10%, 15%) as a cement replacement and Boiler Bottom Ash (10%–30%) as a fine aggregate replacement. Sixteen different mix combinations were cast to evaluate the effects on strength and durability.

Testing Procedures

• Workability was measured using the slump test (BIS 1199:1959).

• Compressive strength was tested at 7 and 28 days using cube specimens (150 mm × 150 mm × 150 mm) as per BIS 516:1959 with a Compression Testing Machine (5000 kN capacity).

• Sorptivity (capillary absorption test) was conducted to assess durability by measuring water absorption.

Results

The study compared strength, workability, and capillary absorption across different replacement levels. The findings demonstrate that partial replacement of cement with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and fine aggregates with Boiler Bottom Ash can maintain or improve concrete strength and durability while reducing cement usage and promoting sustainable waste utilization.

Conclusion

It has been observed that, as the replacement of cement to BA increase, the workability of concrete mix was decrease compared to normal mix. • It has observed that, 10% replacement of SCBA with cement content with 15% replacement of Fine Aggregate to BA gives best result both in 7 days and 28 days. • As the percentage of B.A. increase, huge amount of water or admixture is require to maintain Water/Binder ratio. • Use of Sugar Cane Baggase Ash increase the workability of mix. • Concrete gains strength at a slower rate in the initial period and acquires strength at faster rate after 28 days due to pozzolanic action of bottom ash. • A good correlation was observed between the sorptivity and the strength values

References

[1] N. K. Amudhavalli, Jeena Mathew, “Effect Of Silica Fume On Strength And Durability Parameters Of Concrete” [2] H.K.Kim, H.K. Lee, (2011), “Use of power plant bottom ash as fine and coarse aggregates in high- strength concrete”,Construction and Building Materials, Vol.25, pp.1115-1122. [3] Andrade L.B., J.C. Rocha, M. Cheriaf, (2009), “Influence of coal bottom ash as fine aggregate on fresh properties of concrete”, Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 23, pp.609-614. [4] Mr.LavanyaM.R , “An Experimental study on the compressive strength of concrete by partial replacement of cement with SCBA”. [5] U.R.Kawade ., “Effect of use of bagasse ash on strength of concrete”, International journal of innovative research in science, Engineering and technology.(July 2013) [6] Yasser I. O. Yahia, HeshamAlsharie, Manal O. Suliman, TalalMasoud, “Effects of Wood Ash and Waste Glass Powder on Properties of Concrete in Terms of Workability and Compressive Strength in Jaresh City”

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Pankaj Thakraw, Somaya Gangotiya, Kishor Patil. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.