Advances in Cement Research Advances in Cement Research, 2011, 23(2), 75–80

Volume 23 Issue 2 doi: 10.1680/adcr.9.00023

Paper 900023
Use of bagasse ash in cement and its Received 12/03/2009; accepted 12/02/2010
impact on the mechanical behaviour and Published online ahead of print 17/03/2011

chloride resistivity of mortar Thomas Telford Ltd & 2011

Amin

Use of bagasse ash in cement

and its impact on the
mechanical behaviour and
chloride resistivity of mortar
N. Amin
Department of Chemistry, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan.

In this investigation bagasse ash from the sugar industries of Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa was utilised in high-strength
Portland cement mortar. The effects of bagasse ash content on the physical and mechanical properties of hardened
mortar were studied, which include compressive strength, consistency, setting time and chloride diffusion. The
results indicated that bagasse ash was an effective mineral admixture and pozzolan. The optimum replacement ratio
of bagasse ash was found to be 20% of the cement, which reduced the chloride diffusion effectively up to more than
50%, without any adverse effects on other properties of the hardened cement mortar.

Introduction incinerating temperature below 7008C for 1 h transforms the silica

In Pakistan about 70 sugar mills produce about 14 million tonnes
of bagasse annually as a by-product, which is mainly used as an
energy source to produce steam and power in the same industry
(Ismat, 2004). Sugarcane consists of 25–30% bagasse whereas
the sugar recovered by the industry is about 10%. Bagasse is also
used as a raw material for paper-making due to its fibrous content
and about 0.3 tonnes of paper can be made from 1 tonne of
bagasse.
High-strength Portland cement plays an important role in the
construction industry (Bentur, 2002). A number of industrial
waste materials such as blast furnace slag, fly ash and silica fume
rice husk ash, wheat straw ash and sugarcane bagasse ash are also
being used as pozzolanic materials and cement replacement
material (Biricik et al., 1999; Wang et al., 2005).
There are various reasons for the partial replacement of cement
in mortar and concrete with pozzolanic materials (Zeghichi et al.,
2005), as the mixtures can be used for different purposes
including enhancement of strength (Kumar et al., 2004; Schind-
ler, 2004), improvement in durability (Kraiwood et al., 2001),
good compaction, and low heat evolution during hydration.
Moreover, its use in mortar improves the water-tightness, fills
voids and acts as a filler, thereby reducing the total surface area
to be covered with cement.
When a pozzolanic material is added to cement, the silica (SiO2 )
present in the pozzolan reacts with the free lime released during
the hydration of cement and forms additional calcium silicate
hydrate (C–S–H) as new hydration products (Ganesan et al.,
2007), which improve the mechanical properties of cement. The
ash produced by controlled burning of agro-waste materials at an
content of the ash into the amorphous phase (Shi, 2001) and the
reactivity of amorphous silica is directly related to the specific
surface area of ash (Kumar et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2005). The
ash so produced is pulverised or ground to the required fineness
and mixed with cement to produce blended cement.
The objective of the present study was to evaluate bagasse ash as
a supplementary cementitious material with reference to the
mechanical and permeability properties of hardened mortars, and
identify the optimal level of replacement in mortar in order to
minimise the chloride diffusion and environmental problems
associated with the cement manufacturing process.
Experimentation
Materials
High-strength Portland cement conforming to Pakistan standard
specification (PSI, 1987) was used. Sand, such that 100% passed
through a 850 ìm mesh and 10% through a 600 ìm mesh was
used according to the Pakistan standard specification. The
physical parameters of both the cement and bagasse ash are
shown in Table 1 and their chemical compositions are presented
in Table 2 (Ali et al., 2008, 2009; Amin et al., 2009).
Mill-fired bagasse ash was collected from Premier Sugar Mill
Mardan, Khazana Sugar Mill Peshawar and Frontier Sugar Mill
Thaktbhai Mardan. The samples were collected randomly from
the heaps present in the yards of the mills, and transported to the
laboratory in polythene bags.
The mill-fired bagasse ash was black in colour due to the high
amount of carbon content. It was further burned under controlled

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Advances in Cement Research Use of bagasse ash in cement and its
Volume 23 Issue 2 impact on the mechanical behaviour and
chloride resistivity of mortar
Amin

Material Bulk density: Specific Fineness passing Specific surface Mean grain
kg/m3 gravity 45 ìm: % area: m2 /kg size: ìm

High-strength Portland cement 1.15 3.0 82 300 21

Bagasse ash 0.4 1.80 95 900 5.1

Table 1. Physical properties of high strength Portland cement and

bagasse ash

Material SiO2 Al2 O3 Fe2 O3 CaO MgO Na2 O K2 O SO3 LOI

Cement 21.55 5.69 3.39 64.25 0.85 0.33 0.59 2.47 1.80
Bagasse ash 87.40 3.60 4.90 2.56 0.69 0.15 0.47 0.11 8.25

Table 2. Chemical composition (mass %) of high-strength

Portland cement and bagasse ash

temperature at 6508C for 1 h. The burning process reduced the
carbon content to 4.5%. After cooling, the ash was ground prior
to use as a cement replacement material.
Physical and chemical analysis of cement and bagasse
ash
The X-ray diffraction technique was used for the mineralogical
analysis of bagasse ash. The specific surface area of the cement
and bagasse ash were obtained using Blaine’s air permeability
apparatus. The physical properties such as specific gravity, bulk
density and fineness of cement and bagasse ash were also
determined.
Mix proportion of blended cements
Different blends of bagasse ash with cement were prepared by
replacing high-strength Portland cement with different amounts
of bagasse ash (i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 wt.%) in dry
conditions. One specimen without bagasse ash was made for
reference (control) and designated as MB0 . Other mortar mixes
were designated as MB1, MB2 , MB3 , MB4 , MB5 and MB6
containing 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% bagasse ash, respectively.
These mixes were thoroughly homogenised and kept in polythene
bottles before use. The water/binder ratios were 0.44, 0.46, 0.48,
0.49, 0.51, 0.53 and 0.55 for MB0 to MB6 , respectively.
Compressive strength of blended cement
Mixtures using bagasse ash-blended cement with a cement-to-
sand ratio of 1 : 3 were used and 40 mm 3 40 mm 3 160 mm
prisms were constructed. The compressive strength was deter-
mined after 3, 7 and 28 days of moist curing in accordance with
EN 196-1 (BSI, 1995a). The bagasse ash-blended cement mortar
mix proportions are presented in Table 3.
Consistency and setting time of blended cement
Water consistency and setting time were determined in accor-
dance with EN 196-3 (BSI, 1995b). The pastes which had normal

Mix designation % Mix composition Component in grams/100 g mortar specimen

(bagasse ash + cement)

Bagasse ash Cement Cement Bagasse ash Sand Water

MB0 0 100 22.6 0 67.45 10.00

MB1 5 95 21.2 1.12 67.45 10.25
MB2 10 90 19.85 2.25 67.45 10.50
MB3 15 85 18.5 3.37 67.45 10.75
MB4 20 80 17.1 4.5 67.45 11.00
MB5 25 75 15.7 5.62 67.45 11.25
MB6 30 70 14.35 6.74 67.45 11.50

Table 3. Mix proportion of bagasse ash-blended cement mortars

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Advances in Cement Research
Volume 23 Issue 2
consistency were then used to determine the initial and final
setting time.
Chloride diffusion
In this test a mortar specimen was fixed between two compart-
ments of a diffusion cell containing 0.3 mol/l NaOH solution and
3% NaCl solution as shown in Figure 1. A DC potential of 12 V
was applied to the titanium electrodes placed in the solutions.
The amount of chloride ions migrating through the bagasse ash-
blended concrete specimens after 28 and 90 days moist curing
was monitored, typically by periodically removing small aliquots
and determining the chloride concentration of these samples, until
a steady state was reached (120 h), Using the data, chloride
electrical migration diffusion coefficient values were calculated
using the Nernst–Einstein equation (Samet and Chaabouni, 2004)
JRTL
D¼
ZFC0 E
where D is the chloride migration diffusion coefficient; J is the flux
of chloride ions (mol/cm2 s); R is the gas constant (8.314 J/K mol);
T is the absolute temperature (K); L is the thickness of the
specimen (cm); Z is the valency of chloride ion (Z ¼ 1); F is the
Faraday’s constant (9.648 . 10
4 J/V mol); C0 is the initial chloride
ion concentration (mol/l); and E is the potential applied
(V ¼ 12 volts DC).
Determination of Le-Chatelier expansion (soundness)
and free lime (CaOfree )
The soundness test (Le-Chatelier expansion) of all the blends was
carried out according to EN 196-3 (BSI, 1995b), and free lime to
BS:4550 (BSI, 1970).
3% NaCl 0·3 mol/l NaOH
Mortar specimen
Figure 1. Chloride permeability test
Use of bagasse ash in cement and its
impact on the mechanical behaviour and
chloride resistivity of mortar
Amin
Results and discussion
Physical and chemical analysis of cement and bagasse
ash
The physical parameters of bagasse ash and high-strength Port-
land cement are compared in Table 1. The specific surface area
of bagasse ash was found to be three times higher than cement.
The density, specific gravity and mean grain size of bagasse ash
were found to be less than those of cement. Chemical composi-
tion data for cement and bagasse ash are compared in Table 2.
The chemical analysis data indicate that bagasse ash had three
times higher silica content than cement. The bagasse ash also
contained considerable amounts of Al2 O3, Fe2 O3 and CaO.
Compressive strength of blended cement
Figure 2 shows the compressive strength values of bagasse ash-
blended cement mortars. Comparison of the data for 3, 7 and 28
days of curing time shows that the compressive strength increased
with bagasse ash up to 10%, and up to 20% remained within the
permissible limits in accordance with EN 196-1 (BSI, 1995a). The
increase in strength may have been partially due to the pozzolanic
reaction as reported by many researchers (Hernandez et al., 2000)
and partially to the high specific surface area of bagasse ash
leading to a number of nucleation sites for additional hydration
products. At 25 and 30% bagasse ash, the strength decreased and
became lower than that of the standards (32.05  2.5 N/mm2 ).
Thus 20% replacement of bagasse ash for high-strength Portland
cement was considered to be the optimal limit.
Consistency and setting time of blended cement
Figure 3 indicates the percentage of cement replacement level
plotted against consistency, which indicates that the water
required for normal consistency increased with an increase in
cement replacement level. For example, the consistency values
measured for 0 and 20% cement replacement level were found to
be 0.32 and 0.49%, respectively. As the ashes were hygroscopic
in nature and the specific surface area of bagasse ash was three
3 days
60
7 days
Compressive strength: N/mm2
50 28 days
40
30
20
10
0
MB0 MB1 MB2 MB3 MB4 MB5 MB6
Cement replacement: %
Figure 2. Compressive strength of bagasse ash-blended mortars
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Advances in Cement Research Use of bagasse ash in cement and its
Volume 23 Issue 2 impact on the mechanical behaviour and
chloride resistivity of mortar
Amin

0·6 4
0·55 3·5 28 days
Water consistency: %

90 days

coefficient (10⫺8)
3

Chloride diffusion
0·5
0·45 2·5
0·4 2
0·35 1·5

0·3 1

0·25 0·5

0·2 0
MB0 MB1 MB2 MB3 MB4 MB5 MB6 MB0 MB1 MB2 MB3 MB4 MB5 MB6
Cement replacement: % Cement replacement

Figure 3. Water consistency of bagasse ash-blended cement Figure 5. Chloride diffusion of bagasse ash-blended mortars

times higher than cement it needed more water for proper
consistency. Figure 4 shows the percentage of cement replace-
ment level versus initial and final setting times. It is clear from
the figure that increasing the bagasse ash level considerably
increased the initial and final setting times. The initial setting
times measured for 0 and 20% cement replacement level were
found to be 80 and 160 min, respectively. The final setting times
measured for 0 and 20% cement replacement level were found to
be 300 and 400 min, respectively. All the values conformed to the
European standard EN 196-1 (BSI, 1995a).
Chloride diffusion
Figure 5 shows the chloride migration diffusion coefficients of
bagasse ash-blended mortar specimens. It can be seen that the
diffusion coefficient of bagasse ash-blended mortar specimens
continuously decreased with increase in bagasse ash content up to
25%. At 30% of bagasse ash, there was an increase; however, the
value was still less in comparison with that of control. This
observation was true both for specimens cured for 28 and 90
days. This data indicated that chloride diffusion was considerably
reduced by partial replacement of high-strength Portland cement
with bagasse ash. These results also indicated more than 50%
reduction in diffusion coefficient value for 20% bagasse ash-
blended mortar when compared with control mortar. The trans-
500
Initial setting time
400 Final setting time
Setting time: min
port of chloride ions through bagasse ash-blended mortars
depends on the pore structure of the mortar whereas the electrical
conduction depends on both pore structure characteristics and the
electrical conductivity of the pore solution. The finer particles of
ashes developed discontinuous and tortuous pores in the mortar
structure (Schindler, 2004). Moreover the micro and macro pores
present in the mortar were completely filled with finer particles.
It has been reported (Singh et al., 2000) that highly reactive
pozzolana, such as rice husk ash were able to reduce the size of
voids in hydrated cement pastes, thus making them almost
impermeable even at early age (7–28 days). This study also
indicated that the impermeability properties were considerably
improved due to pore refinement in bagasse ash-blended mortars
in comparison with control mortar. In short, bagasse ash was finer
than high-strength Portland cement and therefore it had a larger
surface area to react. Owing to its fineness, the presence of
bagasse ash in cement led to an increase in water uptake. This
increase obviously enhanced the setting time (both initial and
final); however, the increase in setting time values was within the
requirements. Once the final setting time was reached, the
hardening process began. As bagasse ash was richer in SiO2 and
Al2 O3 contents, the hardening process was accelerated. The
presence of CaO in bagasse ash further helped in sustaining this
hardening process. In fact, a part of the SiO2 content in bagasse
ash can primarily react with the CaO in bagasse ash and
supplement the hardening process taking place due to high-
strength Portland cement. The amorphous silica structure and fine
particle size were the principal reasons for the development of

early strength. The development of splitting tensile strength was

300
similar to that of compressive strength and was influenced by the
200
same factors (replacement level, composition of bagasse ash and
cement and fineness). The finer pore structure was contributed by
100 the bagasse ash and this fact was responsible for reduced chloride
permeation and diffusion. In general, the results obtained in this
0 study clearly indicate that the addition of bagasse ash as cement
MB0 MB1 MB2 MB3 MB4 MB5 MB6
Cement replacement: % replacement material provided additional improvements in
strength and impermeability properties. Hence bagasse ash may
Figure 4. Setting time of bagasse ash-blended cement be utilised as an effective mineral admixture for designing
durable mortar structures.

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Advances in Cement Research Use of bagasse ash in cement and its
Volume 23 Issue 2 impact on the mechanical behaviour and
chloride resistivity of mortar
Amin

Le-Chatelier expansion and free lime
Figure 6 shows the Le-Chatlier expansion of high-strength Port-
land cement samples containing different percentages of bagasse
ash. It is clear from the figure that Le-Chatelier expansion slightly
decreased with the increase of baggase ash up to 15%, above
which no appreciable change was observed. The upper limit of
Le-Chatelier expansion according to the standard was 10 mm; it
is clear from the figure that with the addition of bagasse ash, Le-
Chatelier expansion did not exceed the limits.
The free lime content of the bagasse ash-blended mortars together
with the blank is shown in Figure 7. The figure shows that the
free lime content of the cement decreased with the increase of
bagasse ash. The decrease was more pronounced up to 15%
replacement level. The decrease in free lime may be due to its
reaction with bagasse ash.
Conclusion
From the present investigation, the following conclusion can be
drawn. Up to 20% of high-strength Portland cement can be
optimally replaced with well-burned bagasse ash without any
adverse effect on the desirable properties of mortars. The specific
advantages of such replacement were the development of high
0·9
Le Chatelier expansion
early strength. Moreover the increase in the cement replacement
level increased the water consistency and both the initial and final
setting time and appreciable resistance to chloride permeation
and diffusion.
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