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Effect of Rice Husk Ash on Concrete

Conference Paper · February 2011

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M Alamgir, QH Bari, IM Rafizul, SMT Islam, G Sarkar & MK Howlader (Eds.)
ISBN: 978-984-33-2705-5, pp. 173 (1-8)

Proceedings of the WasteSafe 2011 – 2nd International Conference on

Solid Waste Management in the Developing Countries
13-15 February 2011, Khulna, Bangladesh

Effect of Rice Husk Ash on Concrete

Md. Akhtar Hossain1 , Muhammed Harunur Rashid1, Orpita Urmi Laz2 and Md.
Mahfuzur Rahman1
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna-9203, Bangladesh
2
ACE Consultant Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

In the most recent decade, the use of waste materials in concrete production, particularly in addition
to concrete has turn into an essential part. Rice Husk Ash (RHA) is one of these waste materials
which are produced after rice milling process. This paper presents an overview of the work carried out
on the use of RHA as partial replacement of cement in concrete. The compressive strength of the
concrete with 10% RHA has been increased significantly, and for up to 20% replacement of cement
could be beneficially replaced by RHA without adversely affecting the strength. Rice husk ash (RHA)
added to concrete influences the pH of the samples. In this study it was observed that addition of 10%
& 20% RHA with OPC to the concrete, the time required for the equal pH in the anodic and cathodic
compartment is more than the control sample. The results were compared to control sample and the
viability of adding RHA to concrete was verified.

INTRODUCTION

Due to growing environmental concerns and the need to conserve energy and resources,
considerable efforts have been made world wide to utilize local natural waste and by-product
materials in making concrete, e.g., silica fume SF (ACI, 1987) and rice husk ash RHA, which under
controlled burning and with sufficient grinding of the rice husk, can be used as a supplementary
cementing material (Mahdy, 1999) Rice husk is amenable for value addition so that national economy
may accrue. Its uses without conversion or with conversion (ash form) are many. Most of the husk
from the milling is either burnt or dumped as waste in open fields and a small amount is used as fuel
for boilers, electricity generation, bulking agents for composting of animal manure, etc.
Considerable efforts are being taken worldwide to utilize local natural waste and by-product
materials in making concrete, such as silica fume (SF) or rice husk ash (RHA) as supplementary
cementing materials to improve concrete properties (durability, strength, etc. Rice husk ash has the
potential to be used as a substitute silica fumes or micro silica as a much lower cost, without
compromising on the quality aspect. Adding rice husk ash to the concrete mix even in low
replacement will dramatically enhance the workability, strength and impermeability of concrete mixes,
while making the concrete durable to chemical attacks, abrasion and reinforcement corrosion,
increasing the compressive strength by 10% - 20 %.( Sakr, 2006)
Concrete is a mixture of aggregate (usually pebbles or crushed stone) and cement. The exact
composition of the cement varies substantially from one manufacturer to the next, but virtually all
contain limestone (calcium carbonate) and lime (calcium oxide). Concrete is a composite material
which is made up of filler and a binder. Generally, this medium is the product of reaction between
hydraulic cement and water. Strength of concrete is commonly considered its most valuable property,
although in many practical cases other properties like durability and impermeability may in fact more
important (Hossain et al., 2009). It is known that fine aggregate acts as filler of course aggregate and
it does not give significant strength. Cement fills the void of fine aggregate. Some gaps are present
between cement. By partial replacing RHA to cement, RHA fills these voids.
The pH decreases in the anodic compartment but increases in the cathodic compartment. These
variations are directly related to the nature of the reactions that occur during the test. As the potential
is applied between the electrodes, the hydroxide ions migrate toward the anode, where they oxidize
by giving oxygen and yielding electrons (Equation 1)
 - -
(1)
2OH → 1/2 O2 + H2O + 2e
Simultaneously, sodium ions migrate toward the cathode. They do not react directly but the
surrounding molecules of water are electrolyzed, giving directly hydroxide and hydrogen. The
electrons provided by the cathode are those that come from the anodic reaction (Equation 2)
- -
2H2O + 2e → H2 + 2OH (2)
The electrolysis phenomenon appears to be the main process that occurs during the
accelerated test of concrete chloride permeability. (Prince et al., 1999)
Rice husk ash (RHA) is an industrial waste generated from rice boiling plant. The ash
obtained from this combustion process has high unburned carbon content. This has caused that the
use of RHA in construction material applications does not receive much interest although the silica
content of RHA is about 90%. Several researches reported that RHA was added in concrete to
increase durability property. ( Piyaphanuwat, 2009). In this work, RHA was used to replace OPC at
the levels of 0, 10 and 20% by volume.

MATERIALS AND METHODS/ EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION / METHOD

Rice Husk Ash

The Rice Husk Ash used in this work was made in the laboratory by simply burning rice husk over
a steel box of 1.5 m X 1.5 m in dimension without controlling the burning temperature and time (Figure
1). In Figure 1 T is position of thermocouple which is connected to the data logger and B is the
position of briquette or Briquet which is used as fuel to start and maintain a fire. The temperature of
the thermocouple is recorded with respect to time (Table 1). Rice husk was burnt approximately 90
hours under uncontrolled combustion process. The burning temperature was within the range 160 to
3500C. The ash obtained was ground in a ball mill for 30 minutes and its appearance color was grey
(Figure 3).After completion of burning the ash was grinded by grinding machine and finally collects the
ash which was paned through 200No. BS sieve. It is rich in amorphous silica (86.9%). The loss on
ignition was relatively high (4%).Rice Husk ash has the potential to be used in concrete technology as
substitute of silica fumes as a much lower cost without compromising on the quality aspect.

Figure 2 Rice Husk

Figure 1 Placement of briquette and thermocouple Figure 3 Rice Hush Ash

2
 350

300

250

Temperature
200

150

100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Time (hr)

Figure 4 variation of temperature in time during burning of rice husk

Aggregate
River sand with Fineness Modulus (FM) of 2.73, absorption 3.0 %, unit weight 1.68 gm/cc and
specific gravity 2.55 gm/cc was used as Fine Aggregate (FA). The Coarse Aggregate (CA) (crushed
stone) has maximum size of 20 mm with specific gravity of 2.83 and water absorption 1.53 %. A grain
ize distribution curve of fine aggregate is shown in Figure 5 and that of coarse aggregate shown in
Figure 6, and also the particle sizes are given in Tables 1.

100 100

80 80

60 60
% Finer
% Finer

40 40

20 20

0 0
100 10 1 0.1 100 10 1 0.1
Sieve Size (mm) Sieve Size (mm)

Figure 5 Gradation curve of fine aggregate Figure 6 Gradation curve of coarse aggregate

Table 1 Particle size distribution of fine & coarse aggregate

Weight Cumulative Cumulative % weight

Sieve size % finer
retained (gm) weight retained(gm) retained
(mm)
FA* CA** FA* CA** FA* CA** FA* CA**
75 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 100.00
38 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 100.00
25 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 0.00 -- 100.00
19 -- 316.00 -- 316.00 -- 6.32 -- 93.68
12 -- 1299.00 -- 1615.00 -- 32.30 -- 67.70
10 -- 1359.00 -- 2974.00 -- 59.48 -- 40.52
4.76 0.00 1550.00 0.00 4524.00 0.00 90.48 100.00 9.52
2.36 20.00 332.00 20.00 4856.00 4.00 97.12 96.00 2.88
1.818 98.00 65.00 118.00 4921.00 23.60 98.42 76.40 1.58
0.600 165.00 38.00 283.00 4959.00 56.60 99.18 43.40 0.82
0.300 161.00 25.00 444.00 4984.00 88.80 99.68 11.20 0.32
0.015 56.00 16.00 500.00 5000.00 100.00 100.00 0.00 0.00
* Fine Aggregate ** Coarse Aggregate

3
Cement
The Cement (C) used in this work was Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with 3 days compressive
strength 17.7 MPa, 7 days compressive strength 21.2 MPa, 28 days compressive strength 35.9 MPa,
Normal consistency 25.0%, Initial setting time 46 minutes and the final setting time 335 minutes.

Composition of concrete mixes

The mixture proportioning was done according to the current British mix design method (Neville,
2005). The target mean strength was 40 MPa for the OPC control mixture. The total mixing time was
5 minutes; the samples were then casted and left for 24 hrs before demoulding. They were then
placed in the curing tank at 23 ± 2oC until the day of testing. Mixing proportion of concrete samples is
given in the Table 2.

Table 2 Proportion of investigated mixtures

A-0 A-10 A-20

Sample
Control 10% RHA 20% RHA
Cement (kg) 500 450 400
RHA (kg) 0 50 100
FA (kg) 600 600 600
CA (Kg) 1100 1100 1100
Water (liter) 275 275 275
W/C ratio 0.55 0.55 0.55

Testing Procedures
A schematic diagram of the device used in this study is shown in Figure 7. Instrument used for
measuring the pH value variation of concrete using a voltage generator, potentiometer analyzer,
milliampermeter, magnetic agitator and diffusion cell. The diffusion cell is a cylindrical PVC tank
covered with a lid. The test sample is a cylindrical core of concrete with 100-mm diameter and 100-
mm height in which a secondary drilling produces a central cavity of 40-mm diameter as presented in
Figure 7. This concrete sample was fixed firmly in the cell by the intermediary of a hollow PVC roll.
The sample delimits two compartments sealed by two elastomer membranes. The external
compartment contains 0.1M/L of NaCl. This solution is homogenized periodically by mechanical
agitation. A cylindrical stainless steel electrode dips in this solution and is connected to the negative
pole of the generator. The internal compartment contains 0.1 M/L NaOH uninterruptedly homogenized
by magnetic agitation. A carbon electrode dips in this solution and is connected to the positive pole of
the generator. The detailed fabrication of the testing procedure and device can be followed of
AASHTO (1990), ASTM (1993) and also Streicher and Alexander (1995). The overall test setup for
determination of pH is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 7 Chloride migration Figure 8 Test setup for the determination

of pH in concrete devices

4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Compressive Strength
The average of three results of compressive strength of concrete is shown in Table 3 and also
presented in Figures 10 and 11. The age of concrete specimen used it find out this property at 14, 28
and 90 days and shown in Figures 10 and 11. It is observed from the result at early age, concrete
without RHA shown better results and at later the results was reverse.

Table 3 Compressive strength of concrete at different age

Sample ID Strength (MPa)

14 days 28 days 90 days
A-0 13.72 15.72 18.88
A-10 12.72 15.46 21.82
A-20 12.55 15.28 19.36

25
14 Days
28 Days
20
90 Days
Strength (MPa)

15

10

0
A-0 A-10 A-20
Sample

Figure 10 Variation of compressive strength of A sample

25
Control
10% RHA
20
20% RHA
S trength (M P a)

15

10

0
A14 A28 A90
Sample

Figure 11 Variation of compressive strength of the sample with respect to concrete age

5
pH
The concentration of hydrogen ions is commonly expressed in terms of the pH scale. pH is a
measure of how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral.
A low pH value means the sample is acidic, while a high pH value means that the sample is basic or
alkaline.
Sam ple-A-0 Sam ple-A-10
16 16
15 15
14 14

13 13
12 12
pH

pH
11 11
10 At Anode 10 At Anode
At Cathode At Cathode
9 9
8 8
7 7
6 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Tim e (Hour) Tim e (Hour)

Sam ple-A-20 Sam ple-A

16 16

15 15

14 14

13 13

12 12
pH
pH

11 11 At Anode(A-0)
At Cathode(A-0)
10 At Anode 10 At Anode(A-10)
At Cathode(A-10)
At Cathode At Anode(A-20)
9 9
At Cathode(A-20)
8 8

7 7

6 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Tim e (Hour) Tim e (Hour)

Figure 12 pH vs. time curve of A sample

Figure 12 show that pH decreases in the anodic compartment but increases in the cathodic
compartment with respect to time. It also indicated that addition of RHA with control mixes to the
concrete, the time required for the equal pH in the anodic and cathodic compartment is higher than
the control sample. It occurs due to the RHA fills the void spaces of cement particles and thus makes
the concrete dense (Blight and Spearing, 1996).

Table 4 pH of concrete at different percentage of RHA

Time* Percentage of pH Variation

Sample pH Time* w.r. to At Cathode
(Minutes) control mixes At Anode (Decrease)
(Increase)
A-0 12.63 175 100 3.38 5.79
A-10 12.94 218 125 2.85 6.24
A-20 13.24 256 147 2.33 6.69
* Time required to equal pH in anodic and cathodic compartment

6
 300
Control 256
250 10% RHA 218

Time (minutes)
200 20% RHA
175
150

100

50

0
A
Sample

Figure 13 Variation of times which is required to equal pH

Figure 13 reveals that while RHA is added to the control mixes, times which is required to equal pH is
increases. During this test hydrogen ion moves one compartment to another. By replacing 10% RHA
to concrete about 25% and for 20% replacement about 47% more time compared to control mix. RHA
fills the void between cement particles and thus the movement of hydrogen ion slows down.

CONCLUSIONS

The concrete made with RHA had higher compressive strength at 90 days in compression with that of
concrete no RHA. However at 14 and 28 days the strength is different. The compressive strength of
concrete increased by 15.6% for 10% replacement level of cement by RHA and for 20% replacement,
the result was not significant. In this investigation it was observed that more time was required for
increasing the pH value in the core of concrete for using RHA than OPC samples. It indicates that the
concrete made with RHA was more compacted than the controlled one. The increase in compressive
strength value of pH changes in concrete with RHA is due to the filler effect (physical) rather than the
pozzolanic (chemical/physical).

REFERENCES

AASHTO.1990. Rapid Determination of the chloride Permeability of concrete, AASHTO T 277-

86,American Association of States Highway and Transportation Officials, Standard Specifications
- Part II Tests, Washington, D. C.

ACI Committee 226. 1987. Silica fume in concrete: Preliminary report. ACI Materials Journal, pp.
158-166

Ahiduzzaman, M. 2007. Rice Husk Energy Technologies in Bangladesh, Agricultural Engineering

International: the CIGR Ejournal, Invited Overview No. 1. Vol. IX.

ASTM. 1993. Electrical Indication of concrete’s Ability to Resist chloride Ion Penetration. ASTM
C1202, Annual Book of American Society for Testing Materials Standards, Vol. C 04.02.

Blight, G.E. and Spearing, A.J.S. 1996. The properties of cemented silicated backfill for use in narrow,
hard-rock, tabular mines, The journal of The South African Institute of mining and Metallurgy, SA
ISSN 0038-223X/3.00+0.00.

Bouzoubaâ, N. and Fournier, B. 2001. Concrete Incorporating Rice-Husk Ash: Compressive Strength
and Chloride-Ion Penetrability. Materials Technology Laboratory, International Center for
Sustainable Development of Cement and Concrete (ICON), CANMET, Natural Resources
Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

7
 Chandrasekhar, S., Pramada, S.K.G., Raghavan, P.N. 2003. Review Processing, Properties And
Applications of Reactive Silica From Rice Husk-An Overview, Journal Of Materials Science, 38:
3159-3168.

Habeeb, G.A., Mahmud, H.B. 2010. Study on properties of rice husk ash and its use as cement
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Hossain, M.A., Rashid, M.H., Rahman, M.M. and Laz, O.U. 2009. Engineering Properties and
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Sakr, K. 2006. Effects of Silica Fume and Rice Husk Ash on the Properties of Heavy Weight
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Piyaphanuwat, R., Asavapisit, S. 2009. Effect of Black Rice Husk Ash Substituted OPC on Strength
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Prince, W., Pẻrami, R and Espagme, M. 1999. Mechanisms involved in the accelerated test of
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Egypt.

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Willington.

Shetty, M. S. 2003. Concrete Technology, S. Chand & Company Ltd., ISBN 81-219-0348-3, New
Delhi.

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Concrete Research, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 1284-1294.

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