Use of waste ash from palm oil industry in concrete

Weerachart Tangchirapat, Tirasit Saeting, Chai Jaturapitakkul *, Kraiwood Kiattikomol, Anek Siripanichgorn
Department of Civil Engineering, King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Tungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand

Abstract Palm oil fuel ash (POFA), a by-product from the palm oil industry, is disposed of as waste in landlls. In this study, POFA was utilized as a pozzolan in concrete. The original size POFA (termed OP) was ground until the median particle sizes were 15.9 lm (termed MP) and 7.4 lm (termed SP). Portland cement Type I was replaced by OP, MP, and SP of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight of binder. The properties of concrete, such as setting time, compressive strength, and expansion due to magnesium sulfate attack were investigated. The results revealed that the use of POFA in concretes caused delay in both initial and nal setting times, depending on the neness and degree of replacement of POFA. The compressive strength of concrete containing OP was much lower than that of Portland cement Type I concrete. Thus, OP is not suitable to be used as a pozzolanic material in concrete. However, the replacement of Portland cement Type I by 10% of MP and 20% of SP gave the compressive strengths of concrete at 90 days higher than that of concrete made from Portland cement Type I. After being immersed in 5% of magnesium sulfate solution for 364 days, the concrete bar mixed with 30% of SP had the same expansion level as that of the concrete bar made from Portland cement Type V. The above results suggest that ground POFA is an excellent pozzolanic material and can be used as a cement replacement in concrete. It is recommended that the optimum replacement levels of Portland cement Type I by MP and SP are 20% and 30%, respectively. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Palm oil industry is one of the most important agroindustries in Thailand. Besides the production of crude palm oil, a large amount of solid waste is also an output from the palm oil industry. Annually, more than 2 million tons of solid waste of palm oil residue, such as palm ber, shells, and empty fruit bunches (as shown in Fig. 1a) are produced (Oce of the Agricultural Economics, 2002). To solve the energy problems, solid wastes from palm oil residue are used as fuel to produce steam for electricity generation. After burning, an ash by-product is produced, which is about 5% by weight of the residue or about 0.1 million tons per year. Utilization of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is minimal and unmanageable, while its quantity increases annu-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 2 470 9131/33; fax: +66 2 427 9063. E-mail address: chai.jat@kmutt.ac.th (C. Jaturapitakkul).

ally and most of the POFA is disposed of as waste in landlls (Fig. 1b) causing environmental and other problems. Many researchers have studied the use of agrowaste ashes as constituents in concrete, namely rice-husk ash (Mehta, 1977), sawdust ash (Udoeyo and Dashibil, 2002) and bagasse ash (Singh et al., 2000). Their results have revealed that these agrowaste ashes contained a high amount of silica in amorphous form and could be used as a pozzolanic material. ASTM C 618 (2001) denes pozzolanic material as a material that contains siliceous or siliceous and aluminous material by composition. In general, a pozzolanic material has little or no cementing property; however, when it has a ne particle size, in the presence of moisture it can react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperatures to provide the cementing property. POFA is one of the agrowaste ashes whose chemical composition contains a large amount of silica and that has high potential to be used as a cement replacement

results were compared to those of control concretes made from Portland cement Type I (CT1) and Type V (CT5). 2. Experimental program 2.1. Materials 2.1.1. Cement Portland cement Type I and Type V were used in this study. Their physical and chemical properties are provided in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. According to ASTM C 150 (2001) for Bogue compositions, Portland cement Type I and Type V have C3A content of 6.84% and 0%, respectively.
(a) Palm oil residues

2.1.2. Palm oil fuel ash Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) used in this study was collected from an industry located in southern Thailand where palm ber, shells, and empty fruit bunches were combusted at temperature about 7001000 C. The palm oil fuel ash from the industry was sieved through a sieve No. 16 (1.18 mm opening) in order to remove foreign materials and uncombusted palm ber (assigned as OP; original size POFA). The residue ash retained on a sieve No. 16 was about 10% by weight. To improve reactivity,

Table 1 Physical properties of materials Sample

(b) Palm oil fuel ash (POFA)

Specic gravity 3.14 3.17 1.89 2.36 2.43

Fig. 1. Palm oil residues and palm oil fuel ash (POFA).

Retained on 45 lm sieve (No. 325) (%) N/A N/A 94.4 19.5 1.0

Median particle size, d50 (lm) 14.7 7.5 183.0 15.9 7.4

(Tangchirapat et al., 2003). However, the use of POFA as a pozzolanic material for partially replacing Portland cement is not well known and little research has been conducted. Tay (1990) used ash from palm oil waste to replace Portland cement and showed that it had low pozzolanic properties, and recommended that POFA should not be used as a cement substitute in any quantity higher than 10% by weight of binder. The low pozzolanic property of palm oil fuel ash is due to the large particles and porous structure, and thus its use results in a very low rate of pozzolanic reaction. The aim of this research is to utilize the palm oil fuel ash (POFA) as a pozzolanic material in concrete in order to reduce the environmental problems and the landll area required to dispose of POFA. If POFA, an agrowaste ash from the palm oil industry, can be developed for use in concrete, it will form a new material for concrete production as well as a good way to eliminate the waste. In this study, a grinding process is used to improve the reactivity of POFA. The eects of POFA at dierent degrees of neness and levels of replacement of Portland cement on the properties of fresh and hardened concretes, such as setting time, compressive strength, and expansion of concrete in sulfate solution, were investigated. The

Portland cement Type I Portland cement Type V OP MP SP Note: N/A, not applicable.

Table 2 Chemical compositions of materials Chemical composition (%) Portland cement Type I 20.90 4.76 3.41 65.41 1.25 0.24 0.35 2.71 0.99 62.86 12.50 6.84 10.38 Portland cement Type V 22.15 3.51 5.57 62.43 0.99 0.06 0.17 1.07 1.69 51.22 24.87 0.00 16.95 SP

Silicon dioxide (SiO2) Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) Iron oxide (Fe2O3) Calcium oxide (CaO) Magnesium oxide (MgO) Sodium oxide (Na2O) Potassium oxide (K2O) Sulfur trioxide (SO3) Loss on ignition (LOI) Bogue compositions Tricalcium silicate (C3S) Dicalcium silicate (C2S) Tricalcium aluminate (C3A) Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (C4AF)

57.71 4.56 3.30 6.55 4.23 0.50 8.27 0.25 10.52

OP was ground into two dierent levels of neness by using a ball mill. The abbreviations MP and SP were used to identify the ground POFA as medium and small sizes, respectively. The particle morphologies and the particle size distributions of materials are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. It was found that OP had large particles with a median particle size of 183.0 lm and most particles were rather of porous texture (Fig. 2a). After POFA was ground, MP and SP had particles with irregular and crushed shapes (Fig. 2b

and c), and the median particle sizes were reduced to 15.9 and 7.4 lm, respectively. Fineness in term of percentage of particles retained on a sieve No. 325 (45 lm opening) and specic gravity of materials are shown in Table 1. It was noted that OP had large concentration (94.4%) of the particles retained on a sieve No. 325, while those of MP and SP were 19.5% and 1.0%, respectively. The specic gravity of OP was 1.89 and increased to 2.36 and 2.43 for MP and SP, respectively. It was also noted that the grinding process increased not

(a) Original size of palm oil fuel ash (OP)

(b) Medium size of palm oil fuel ash (MP)

(c) Small size of palm oil fuel ash (SP)

Fig. 2. Scanning electron microscopy of palm oil fuel ash.

Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of materials.

only the neness of POFA, but also the specic gravity. This is because the porous particles, which usually have low specic gravity values, are crushed into smaller particles with lower porosity. This result was conrmed by other researchers who ground y ash or bottom ash (Cheerarot and Jaturapitakkul, 2004; Kiattikomol et al., 2001; Paya et al., 1996). Tangchirapat et al. (2003) showed that the pozzolanic reactivity index of POFA is dependent on its neness. The strength activity index of POFA with particles retained on a 45 lm sieve of 41.2% is 74 and 73% at the ages of 7 and 28 days, respectively. However, the strength activity index of ground POFA (retained on 45 lm sieve of 1.5%) was 90% and 95%, respectively at the ages of 7 and 28 days. The chemical compositions of POFA are reported in Table 2. The major chemical composition of ground POFA (SP) was 57.71% of SiO2. The total amount of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 was 65.57%, which was lower than the minimum requirement (70%) specied by ASTM C 618 (2001) for pozzolanic material. The LOI, K2O, and SO3 were 10.52%, 8.27%, and 0.25%, respectively. It should be noted that the chemical composition of POFA in this study could not be classied as class N pozzolan as prescribed by ASTM C 618 (2001). In the previous research eorts, however, the chemical composition of POFA was satised as a pozzolanic material class N (Hussin and Awal, 1996; Tay, 1990). 2.1.3. Aggregate Local river sand, having a neness modulus of 2.68 was used as a ne aggregate. Crushed limestone with a nominal maximum size of 20 mm was used as a coarse aggregate. The ne and coarse aggregates had specic gravities of

2.60 and 2.71, and water absorptions of 0.63% and 0.47%, respectively. 2.2. Mix proportions and test specimens The mixture proportions of control concretes (CT1 and CT5) and concretes containing POFA (OP, MP, and SP) are summarized in Table 3. The compressive strength of control concrete CT1 (concrete mixed with only Portland cement Type I) was designed at 28 days of 30 MPa with slump of fresh concrete between 50 and 100 mm. The ratio of ne to coarse aggregate was 45:55 by volume. Portland cement Type I was partially replaced by OP, MP, and SP at the rates of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight of binder to cast concrete. Water to cementitious materials (cement and palm oil fuel ash) ratio of concrete containing palm oil fuel ash was adjusted to maintain the slump of fresh concrete as that of the CT1 concrete (50100 mm). After mixing, the initial and nal setting times of fresh concrete were determined by using Penetrometer in according to ASTM C 403 (2001). Concrete cylinders of 100 mm in diameter and 200 mm in height were used to determine compressive strength. After casting for 24 h, all concrete specimens were removed from the molds and cured in water at room temperature. They were tested for compressive strengths at the ages of 3, 7, 14, 28, 60, and 90 days. For the determination of sulfate resistance, the expansions of concretes containing POFA were measured by using specimens having a cross-section of 75 75 mm and a length of 285 mm. The concrete bars were immediately immersed in 5% of magnesium sulfate solution after being removed from the molds (24 h after casting). The expansions of concrete bars containing POFA were measured

Table 3 Mix proportion and setting times of concretes Mixes Mix proportion (kg/m3) Cement CT1 CT5 OP10 OP20 OP30 OP40 MP10 MP20 MP30 MP40 SP10 SP20 SP30 SP40 300 300 270 240 210 180 270 240 210 180 270 240 210 180 POFA 30 60 90 120 30 60 90 120 30 60 90 120 Sand 809 809 803 796 789 783 804 799 794 789 805 801 798 794 Coarse aggregate 1031 1031 1022 1014 1005 997 1024 1018 1012 1005 1026 1021 1016 1011 Water 210 210 216 231 261 285 216 219 219 222 204 210 213 216 0.70 0.70 0.72 0.77 0.87 0.95 0.72 0.73 0.73 0.74 0.68 0.70 0.71 0.72 65 65 65 60 80 80 80 75 70 70 55 60 60 60 w/cm Slump (mm) Setting times (h:min) Initial 4:10 6:00 4:40 5:00 5:50 6:50 4:35 4:40 4:55 5:10 4:25 4:35 4:50 5:10 Final 6:30 8:45 7:30 8:30 10:30 12:20 6:40 7:05 7:25 7:45 6:35 7:00 7:25 7:40

Note: CT1 and CT5, control concretes made from Portland cement Type I and Type V, respectively. OP, MP, and SP, original, medium, and small sizes of palm oil fuel ash (POFA). 10, 20, 30, and 40, percent replacement of POFA in Portland cement Type I by weight of binder.

every 14 days up to 364 days, and the results were compared to those of the control concrete bars (CT1 and CT5). 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Setting times Table 3 presents the setting times of control concretes and concretes containing POFA. The results showed that the CT1 concrete had the initial setting time of 4 h 10 min and the nal setting time of 6 h 30 min, while the CT5 concrete had longer initial and nal setting times than those of the CT1 concrete, which were 6 h and 8 h 45 min, respectively. For concrete containing POFA, it was found that the initial and nal setting times increased with the increase of POFA replacement. The highest retardation of the setting times occurred at 40% of OP replacement, which resulted in 6 h 50 min for the initial setting time and 12 h 20 min for the nal setting time. This is due to a high replacement of cement by OP. In addition, large particles with high porosity of OP will increase the water-to-binder ratio of concrete, thus resulting in increasing setting times of concrete. After grinding OP to increase the neness as MP and SP, the setting times of concretes were reduced in comparison to the OP concretes. However, the setting times of MP and SP concretes increased when the replacement of MP and SP increased and the results were similar to OP concretes. The higher replacement of POFA results in the reduction of C3S and an increase in the loss on ignition (LOI) in concrete (POFA has a high LOI of 10.52%), thus increasing the setting times of concrete. It is noted that the setting times of concretes mixed with 10% of MP and SP are close to those of the CT1 concrete. They are 4 h 35 min and 4 h 25 min for the initial, and 6 h 40 min and 6 h 35 min for the nal setting times, respectively. In addition, the setting times of MP40 and SP40 concretes are longer than those of the CT1 concrete, but less than those of the CT5 concrete. The results of setting times of POFA concretes suggest that the use of POFA to replace Portland cement Type I in the mixture of concrete causes delay in both initial and nal setting times, depending on the neness and level replacement of POFA. The long setting times of POFA concretes are due to the pozzolanic reaction between pozzolan and calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), which is usually slower than the hydration of cement. This behavior conforms to the results of setting times obtained from using other pozzolans, namely y ash (Bouzoubaa et al., 2004) and sawdust ash (Udoeyo and Dashibil, 2002). 3.2. Compressive strength Fig. 4 shows the relationship between compressive strength and age of OP, MP and SP concretes. It was found that at 28 days, the OP10, OP20, OP30 and OP40 concretes

Fig. 4. Relationship between compressive strength and age of concretes.

had the compressive strengths of 24.5, 21.2, 15.0 and 9.9 MPa, respectively, while those of the CT1 and CT5 concretes were 31.9 and 31.6 MPa, respectively. The results indicated that the higher the replacement of OP, the lower the compressive strength of concrete. The results also revealed that the compressive strengths of concretes containing OP were much lower than that of the CT1 concrete, especially when the replacement of OP was more than 20%. With 2040% replacement of OP, the compressive strengths of concretes at 28 days were between 31% and 66% of the CT1 concrete. This can be attributed to the fact that OP has large particles with high porosity which causes an increase in the water-to-binder ratio of concrete, resulting in a decrease in the compressive strength. Thus, the original

size of POFA (OP) is not suitable to be used as a substitute for cement in concrete. In the case of concretes containing MP (Fig. 4b), they could produce a higher compressive strength than those of OP concretes. It is observed that at the ages of 28 and 90 days the compressive strengths of MP10 concrete were 30.1 and 37.6 MPa or about 94% and 101% of the CT1 concrete, respectively. This indicates that MP contributed compressive strength by pozzolanic reaction. In addition, the concrete mixed with 20% of MP had a compressive strength of 26.9 MPa or 84% of the CT1 concrete at 28 days, and increased to 33.4 MPa or 90% of the CT1 concrete at 90 days. For concretes containing SP (Fig. 4c), which was the highest neness of POFA used in this study, it was found that at 10% and 20% of cement replacement compressive strengths were as high as that of the CT1 concrete at 28 days. The compressive strengths of SP10 and SP20 concretes at 28 and 90 days were 31.9, 31.6 and 39.0, 38.6 MPa or about 100%, 99% and 105%, 104% of the CT1 concrete, respectively. In addition, the compressive strengths of SP30 concrete at 90 days was 36.8 MPa or about 99% of the CT1 concrete. These results suggest that the higher neness of POFA (SP) had greater pozzolanic reaction and the small particles could also ll in the voids of concrete mixture, thus increasing the compressive strength of concrete (Isaia et al., 2003). The results of compressive strength of concrete suggest that POFA has high potential for using as a pozzolanic material in concrete when the material is ground to a ne particle size. In addition, the optimum replacement of MP and SP are 20% and 30% by weight of binder, respectively, for which the compressive strength of concretes containing MP and SP are not less than 90% of the CT1 concrete at 90 days. 3.3. Expansion Fig. 5 shows the expansion of concrete bars in 5% of magnesium sulfate solution. It was found that the CT1 concrete bar had an expansion of 0.047% at 364 days, while that of the CT5 concrete bar was 0.038%. This suggested that the use of Portland cement Type V can reduce the expansion of concrete due to sulfate attack. However, it was observed that the expansion values of the CT5 concrete bar were slightly lower than the CT1 concrete bar (0.01%), although the CT5 concrete bar used Portland cement Type V (C3A  0%). These results indicate that C3A was not the sole parameter that caused expansion due to sulfate attack. Gonzalez and Irassar (1997) investigated the sulfate attack mechanism on four cements with low C3A content (01%) and a C3S content that varied from 40% to 74%. Their results showed that the higher the C3S content, the greater the expansion. The expansion of OP concrete bars compared to those of CT1 and CT5 concrete bars is shown in Fig. 5a. The use of OP at all replacement levels had expansion values

Fig. 5. Expansion of concretes bars in 5% of magnesium sulfate solution.

higher than that of the CT5 concrete bar. At 364 days, concrete bars mixed with 10% and 20% of OP had expansion values higher than that of the CT1 concrete bar. At a replacement rate of 30%, the OP30 concrete bar had the lowest expansion values (0.046%) and was close to the expansion of the CT1 concrete bar (0.047%). When the replacement of OP was 40%, the highest expansion of concrete bar occurred, which was 0.065%. This was because the higher replacement of OP caused a higher water-to-binder ratio, and resulted in a decrease in sulfate resistance of blended cement (Chindaprasirt et al., 2004). Although the expansion of concrete bar was reduced by using OP to replace Portland cement Type I at 30% by weight of binder, the compressive strength of OP30 concrete was too low compared to the CT1 concrete.

Therefore, OP is not suitable to be used as a pozzolanic material in concrete. Fig. 5b shows the expansion of concrete bars using MP to replace Portland cement Type I. The expansion values of MP concrete bars were lower than those of the OP concrete bars. At 364 days of immersing in magnesium sulfate solution, the MP10, MP20, MP30, and MP40 concrete bars had expansion values of 0.053%, 0.049%, 0.045%, and 0.043%, respectively. It was noted that the expansion values decreased with the increase of MP replacement. The concrete bars mixed with MP of 10% and 20% had expansion values slightly higher than that of the CT1 concrete bar. At the level of replacement up to 3040%, the expansion values were less than that of the CT1 concrete bar. However, the MP30 and MP40 concrete bars had compressive strengths lower than that of the CT1 concrete (71% and 75% of CT1 at 28 days, respectively). Thus, it is not recommended to replace Portland cement Type I by MP at rates higher than 20%. Fig. 5c shows the expansion of concrete bars using SP to replace Portland cement Type I. At 364 days, the concrete bars containing SP had expansion values less than those of MP concrete bars (0.046%, 0.042%, 0.040%, and 0.036% for the SP10, SP20, SP30, and SP40 concrete bars, respectively). It should be noted that the expansion at 364 days of the SP40 concrete bar was less than that of the CT5 concrete bar (0.038%). Considering the expansion and compressive strength of SP concretes, it is recommended that the optimum replacement of SP is 30% which has the expansion of concrete due to sulfate attack close to the CT5 concrete bar and produces the compressive strength as high as the CT1 concrete at 90 days. Based on the results of this study, ground POFA (MP or SP) is an excellent pozzolanic material and can be used as a cement replacement in concrete to increase the ultimate strength, as well as to improve the magnesium sulfate resistance of concrete. However, the high neness of POFA is very important and has to be considered before using the material as a substitute for cement. 4. Conclusions From the results of these experiments, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. The use of POFA in replacing Portland cement Type I resulted in a higher water-to-binder ratio of concrete and caused delay in both the initial and nal setting times of concrete. 2. The compressive strength of concrete containing OP was much lower than that of the CT1 concrete when the replacement was more than 20%. Although the expansion of concrete bars was reduced by using OP to replace Portland cement Type I at 30% by weight of binder, the compressive strengths of OP concretes were too low. Therefore, OP is not suitable to be used as a pozzolanic material in concrete.

3. The concretes containing a medium size of POFA (MPretained on a sieve No. 325 of 19.5%) at the replacement rate of 20% had the compressive strength of 90% of the control concrete at 90 days. The expansion of concrete bar mixed with 20% MP was slightly higher than that of the concrete bar made from Portland cement Type V and close to the concrete bar made from Portland cement Type I. 4. The small size of POFA (SP-retained on a sieve No. 325 of 1.0%) can be used to replace Portland cement Type I, at rates up to 30%. The 20% SP has sulfate resistance as good as that of Portland cement Type V and also produces the compressive strength of concrete at 90 days as high as the control concrete made from Portland cement Type I. 5. The results encourage the use of POFA, an agrowaste ash from the palm oil industry, as a new pozzolan for cement replacement in concrete, which will reduce the cost of concrete, environmental problems, and the landll area required for the disposed of POFA.

Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) under the TRF Advanced Research Scholar and Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program. References
ASTM C 150, 2001. Standard specication for Portland cement. Annual Book of ASTM Standards 04.01, pp. 149155. ASTM C 403, 2001. Standard test method for time of setting of concrete mixtures by penetration resistance. Annual Book of ASTM Standards 04.02, pp. 222227. ASTM C 618, 2001. Standard specication for coal y ash and raw or calcined natural pozzolan for use as a mineral admixture in concrete. Annual Book of ASTM Standards 04.02, pp. 310313. Bouzoubaa, N., Bilodeau, A., Sivasundaram, V., Fournier, B., Golden, D.M., 2004. Development of ternary blends of high-performance concrete. ACI Materials Journal 101, 1929. Cheerarot, R., Jaturapitakkul, C., 2004. A study of disposed y ash from landll to replace Portland cement. Waste Management 24, 701709. Chindaprasirt, P., Homwuttiwong, S., Sirivivatnanon, V., 2004. Inuence of y ash neness on strength, drying shrinkage and sulfate resistance of blended cement mortar. Cement and Concrete Research 34, 1087 1092. Gonzalez, M.A., Irassar, E.F., 1997. Ettringite formation in low C3A Portland cement exposed to sodium sulfate solution. Cement and Concrete Research 27, 10611072. Hussin, M.W., Awal, A.S.M.A., 1996. Palm oil fuel ash-a potential pozzolanic material in concrete construction. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Urban Engineering in Asian Cities in the 21st Century, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. D361D366. Isaia, G.C., Gastaldini, A.L.G., Moraes, R., 2003. Physical and pozzolanic action of mineral additions on the mechanical strength of high-performance concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites 25, 6976. Kiattikomol, K., Jaturapitakkul, C., Songpiriyakij, S., Chutubtim, S., 2001. Study of ground coarse y ashes with dierent nenesses from

various sources as pozzolanic materials. Cement and Concrete Composites 23, 335343. Mehta, P.K., 1977. Properties of blended cements made from rice-husk ash. ACI Journal 74, 440442. Oce of the Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Statistics of Thailand crop year 2001/02, 2002. Center of Agricultural Information, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok, Thailand, 121. Paya, J., Monzo, J., Borrachero, M.V., Mora, E.P., 1996. Comparisons among magnetic and non-magnetic y ash fractions: Strength development of cement-y ash mortars. Waste Management 16, 119124.

Singh, N.B., Singh, V.D., Rai, S., 2000. Hydration of baggase ashblended Portland cement. Cement and Concrete Research 30, 1485 1488. Tangchirapat, W., Tangpagasit, J., Waew-kum, S., Jaturapitakkul, C., 2003. A new pozzolanic material from palm oil fuel ash. KMUTT Research and Development Journal 26, 459473. Tay, J.H., 1990. Ash from oil-palm waste as concrete material. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 2, 94105. Udoeyo, F.F., Dashibil, P.U., 2002. Sawdust ash as concrete material. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 173176.