INCORPORATION OF RICE HUSK ASH

IN PRODUCTION OF CONCRETE

HOLLOW BLOCKS

by

BAUTISTA, CHRISTIAN

FACUNLA, BENJ ALDRICH

MISUARI, JEREMY

REYES, JOANNA MAY

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Methods of Research

at

FEU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

FEBRUARY 2023

ENGR. JOHN FELIX M. LIMBO

Instructor
 Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Rapid urbanization and advancement in technology led to accumulation of tons of waste materials
which greatly contributed to the environment pollution. Rice husk obtained from agricultural by-product
could be a potential source for partial cement replacement to produce concrete hollow blocks. In this
research, rice husk is taken in crucible and place it in electrical furnace for 5 hours at 400°C to get a rice
husk ash. The ash then will ground into powder and be heated again for 5 hours at 600°C to complete
combustion. Total 10 samples are casted out 10 cylinders are prepared. Concrete mix is filled in molds in
three layers. The effects of powdered rice husk on the physical and mechanical properties of the concrete
hollow blocks were investigated such as compressibility strength and tensile strength according to ASTM
standards.

1.1. Background of the Study

The effects of Rice Husk in producing concrete hollow blocks will be investigated if it canprovide

good quality and reduce high cost of construction. Developing countries like the Philippines has a lot of

Rice Husk and this study aims to identify how this will help in the removal of tons of waste from the

environment. Furthermore, the study will also analyze the effects of incorporating rice husk for the load

bearing and non-load bearing construction.

Due to rapid urbanization in Metro Manila and other urban areas in the Philippines, the

advancement in technology led to accumulation of tons of waste materials which greatly contributed to the

environment pollution. Philippines being an agricultural country, produces waste materials such as Rice

Husk. According to studies, its estimated annual production is more than 2 million tons. Environment

sustainability is now becoming the priority of the industries while still maintaining the production of

construction materials with good quality.

1.2. Significance of the Study

This study will help engineering students in understanding the potential use of rice husks powder

in making concrete hollow blocks. In addition, this will assist the future researchers who will study the

potential use of rice husks powder in making concrete hollow blocks and other relatedtopics to have further

insights on what they are going to study. This will also serve as their reference to make a more

comprehensive and updated study about the related topic.

1.3. Objectives
1.3.1 General Objectives

In this research, the results of incorporating various percentage of rice husk in theproduction of

concrete hollow blocks will be presented.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

The study aims to answer the following objectives: to identify the efficiency of incorporating Rice

husk in the production of concrete Hollow blocks, to analyze the difference of concrete Hollow blocks

with the one with Rice husk in terms of strength and resilience and to determine the compressive strength

and density of the produced Hollow blocks with the incorporated Rice husk.
1.4. Scope and Delimitations
1.4.1 Scope

The study mainly focuses on the concrete hollow block mix and rice husk. The stated
parameters will be tested for their compressive and tensile strength inside the laboratory.
Parameters that have little to no effect upon the output compressive strength of the concrete hollow
block which will be produced will not be calculated, computed, and/or written within the research.

1.4.2 Limitations

Parameters will be recorded to provide a comprehensive report of the output concrete

hollow block. This particular study does not propose to make use of any respondent. Theresearch
will prepare a maximum of 10 samples per specimen

1.5. Conceptual Framework

1.6. Definition of Terms

CHB- Concrete Hollow Blocks

RHA-Rice Husk Ash
RH- Rice Husk
MM- Metro Manila
HB- Hollow blocks
CWS- Cement Water Sand
CRH- Collection of Rice Husk
RHB- Rice Husk Burning
RHC- Rice Husk Cooling
CM- Combining Materials
MCHB- Molding of Concrete Hollow Blocks
CTS- Curing of the Sample
TTS- Testing of the Sample
DG- Data Gathering

Chapter 2
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Related Works

2.1.1 Rice Husk

A common and abundant agricultural byproduct is rice husk, which is sustainable. Around 100 million
tonnes of rice husk are available for usage in poor countries alone, where 500 million tonnes of rice are
produced annually. Nearly 20% of rice husk is made up of ash, which is extremely high. The ash has a silica
content of 92 to 95 percent, is extremely porous, light, and has a large outer surface area. Due to RHA's porous
structure, which makes handling and transportation challenging, a sizable portion of the material is treated as
rubbish and dumped at landfills. A rise in RHA consumption has enormous potential for waste management,
according to Jongpradist et al. (2018).

2.1.2 Rice Husk Ash

The use of ashes by the grinding process in cement concrete generally improves the qualities
of concrete, according to Jongpradist et al. research on the Efficiency of Rice Husk (2018). Concretes made
with ground fly ash or RHA have high strength, low porosity, and greater resistance to sulphate attack and
chloride penetration. In comparison to fly ash, the most widely used pozzolan for soil stabilization worldwide,
rice husk ash is currently underutilized as a pozzolanic material.

According to Attah et al. (2020), Including these materials in the construction of infrastructures
reduces the cost of construction materials, alleviates environmental issues during cement production, and
reduces the amount of solid discarded into the environment, thereby promoting the concrete's characteristic
behavior by enhancing the sustainability of fresh and hardened concrete.

Due to the properties of rice husk ash, experimental study has been conducted recently that has
produced a variety of results, completely examining its use as a partial replacement for cement in mortar and
concrete. These findings are based on research done in 2015 by Carig et al.

2.2 Concrete Hollow Blocks

 One of the main building materials, concrete, has recently been troubled by high costs of the
traditional constituent parts, such as cement, fine and coarse aggregate, and water, according to Attah et al.
(2020).

A rapidly polluted environment is brought on by the growing need for durable construction materials.
The majority of the requirements for durable concrete can be satisfied by supplemental cementitious
ingredients. Compared to additional materials such slag silica fume and fly ash, rice husk ash is shown to be
superior. Contrary to other industrial by-products, rice husk ash must be made from the unprocessed
agricultural waste, husk, which increases both the strength and durability of concrete. Husk's production
process has a big impact on its quality. There are specific procedures that must be followed in order to
transform this ash into an active pozzolanic substance, procedures that are still being completely understood
and developed.

2.3. Compressive and Tensile Strength of Concrete

Compressive strength is the ability or structure of a material to withstand, absorb, or resist

compression force, which is the force that squeezes materials together, according to Attah et al. (2020).
Compressive strength of concrete is determined by its resistance to cracking and fissure failure. One of
concrete's key engineering characteristics is its compressive strength, and it has become standard practice in
the industry to categorize concrete according to its compressive strength. (grades).

It is important to keep in mind that some building materials will shatter at their compressive strength
limitations, but other materials will deform permanently. As a result, the compression load limit may be
assessed for a specific amount of deformation. This study explores the use of rice husk ash (RHA), a solid
waste product with a high aluminosilicate concentration, as a fifth component as opposed to a partial
replacement in the creation of concrete. Using a statistical method to determine the ideal ratio of the five
components of concrete—cement, water, fine and coarse aggregate, and RHA—this study aims to fully
incorporate pozzolanic material into the concrete mixture.

In terms of thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, and thermal conductance, the 15% RHA-CHB
had the best thermal performance. The 15 percent RHA-CHB has a thermal conductivity of 0.3190 W/mK,
which suggests that the increase in RHA content led to reduced thermal conductivity and thermal conductance
values when compared to the control mix, according to Carig et al. (2015). The thermal resistance values
decreased as the RHA content rose.

Ordinary Portland Cement and Rice Husk Ash are mixed at a ratio of one part cement to eight parts
sand, which is known as a 1:8 mix. After fourteen days, all of the patients were recovered and tested 34 days
later. The study found that as the amount of rice husk ash in the mix increased, the compressive strength of
concrete hollow blocks decreased. Additionally, blocks containing 20% rice husk ash were okay for use as
non-load bearing partition concrete hollow blocks whereas blocks carrying 40% rice husk ash were not
acceptable for use as load or non-load bearing partition concrete hollow blocks. Concrete hollow blocks
with 20% rice husk ash could only be used for nonload-bearing barriers other than fire walls, according to
Laruan et al. (2018).

2.4. Workability of Concrete

Because the compressive strength of the regular CHB is greater than that of the CHB with
pulverized rice husk, the researchers concluded that a CHB unit is stronger and more resilient than a CHB
with pulverized rice husk in their study by Lugay et al. (2020). Because the mean density of a CHB unit is
greater than that of a CHB unit containing rice husk powder, it may be concluded

that a CHB unit is more compact and stiffer than the alternative. However, adding rice husk
powder lowers the cost of CHB, making CHB with RH a more cost-effective building material.

Bakar et al. (2016) concluded that rice husk ash (RHA) may be used as a cement replacement
material to make high-performance masonry blocks. The compressive strength of OPC and RHA concrete
blocks rises with age during curing and falls as the proportion of RHA material rises. The study came up
with a 15% replacement rate as the idea.
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter of the research study indicates the procedures needed to be done in order to

create the concrete hollow block.

3.1 Theoretical Framework

“Gather Rice Husk Ash”

Gather the materials needed for the production of CHB (aggregates,

cement, etc)

“Produce CHB with different ratios of concrete, rice husk and other
materials”

“Cure CHB for 28 days in order to attain strength needed for testing”

“Test the CHB in accordance to ASTM Standards”

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework

3.2 Hardware Block Diagram

Figure 2. Concrete Hollow Block Diagram

3.3Material Preparation

3.1.1 Harvest of Rice husk

The current global rice production is thought to be 700 million tons. Waste material
like rice husk is readily available in all nations that grow rice, including the
Philippines. The tough outer layers of the raw rice grains are removed during the
milling process to reveal the full brown rice, which is then further milled to remove
the bran layer to produce white rice.

3.1.2 Conditioning for burning

The weight of the rice and its components, including cellulose, lignin, silica, and
moisture, make up the rice husk. Combustion, which releases carbon dioxide and creates
heat energy for additional use, is the process of burning carbon in rice husk. Direct
combustion, which doesn't need a heat exchanger or a suitable furnace to produce heat for
drying paddy, is one of this product's most efficient uses.
 3.2 Preparation of Rice Husk Ash

3.2.1 Heating and burning of Rice Husk

To create rice husk ash, rice husk is placed in a crucible and heated electrically for
five hours at 400°C. The remaining combustion will be completed by grinding the ash
into powder and heating it once more for 5 hours at 600°C. It is possible to obtain pure
amorphous white silica by continuously burning rice husk for five hours at 800°C in a
muffle furnace.

3.3 Identification of concrete mixture

3.2.2 Using Scheffe’s Theory

One-step multiple comparison is used in Scheffe's mixture model, which is applied to

a collection of estimates of all potential contrasts among factor level means. In our
study, Scheffe's theory will be used to predict the response he created, known as "q,n
polynomials," using polynomial regression. By considering experiments with
mixtures in which the examined property depends on the proportions of the
components rather than their quantities in the combination, this will aid in
maximizing the strength of concrete.

3.2.3 Using Chloric Penetration Test

Like any diffusion process, chloride diffusion through concrete is governed by

Fick's First Law, which is often taken into account in a one-dimensional context. J stands
for chloride ion flux, Deff for effective diffusion coefficient, C for chloride ion
concentration, and x for location. After steady-state conditions, or when the concentration
does not change over time, have been reached, this will aid our investigation.
3.4 Preparation of concrete mixture
3.4.1 Fine Aggregate
Suaiam and Makul claim that substituting RHA up to 25% produces good results. If
a significant amount of RHA42 is used to partially replace fine aggregates, workability will
suffer. Le et al. studied the impact of different RHA percentages on high performance fine-
grained concrete and found that, because to the large specific surface area of RHA43,
workability reduces as RHA concentration increases.
Sand or crushed stone that is less than 9.55mm in diameter is a common fine
aggregate. This will help to produce a combination that is homogeneous and workable.
Additionally, it will help the cement paste harden the particles that make up the coarse
aggregate. Additionally, it will help avoid any segregation of paste and coarse aggregate,
especially during long-distance concrete transport.
In this experiment, fine aggregates will be made using river sand. The predicted
range for the particle size distribution is 30% to 50%. The developed model predicts that a
fine aggregate mix ratio of 0.60: 0.65 will be necessary to achieve the peak compressive
strength of 33.45 N/mm2.
3.4.2 Coarse Aggregate
Particles bigger than 4.75 mm are referred to be coarse aggregates. The typical
diameter range is from 9.5 to 37.5 mm. This will help cement and sand concrete to solidify
into a solid, hard mass. Additionally, it will help the concrete gain bulk and improve its
crushing strength.
The experiment's coarse material is crushed granite that complies with BS EN
12620 and has a maximum particle size of 20 mm. Sand is considered to be uniformly
graded because the value of Cu is less than 2, but coarse aggregate has a coefficient of
curvature (Cc) of 1.05. According to the developed model, a coarse aggregate mix ratio of
1.30: 1.60 will be required to achieve the peak compressive strength of 33.45 N/mm2.
3.5 Production of Concrete Hollow Block
3.5.1 Preparation and Curing for Different Levels
Ten samples are cast, and ten cylindrical structures are produced. Concrete mixture
is poured into molds. (3) times. Each layer is crushed with 25 hits of a tamper rod, in
accordance with ASTM-C31. Within 2 to 3 hours of casting, the sample specimens are
separated and kept at 20°C for 24 hours in a vibration-free environment with nearly 90%
relative humidity. After this time, the samples are placed in a tank of fresh water and kept
there until testing. Their testing schedule determines how long the specimens must cure.

3.6 Testing of Concrete Hollow Block

3.6.1 Compressive Strength Test
The greatest load achieved during the test is divided by the cross-sectional area of
the specimen before cracking to determine the compressive strength of the concrete
specimen. The outcomes of this test technique are used as the cornerstone for effective
quality control of concrete, in accordance with ASTM-C39 standards. A UTM (Universal
Testing Machine) with a 2000 kN capacity is used to test these samples. 120 kg/cm 2 per
minute. At 7 and 28 days, the compressive strength test is conducted.
3.6.2 Tensile Strength Test
A cylindrical concrete specimen is subjected to ASTM C496 testing, which entails
delivering a diametral compressive force along its longitudinal direction at a rate that falls
within a predetermined range until failure occurs. This test is used to indirectly determine
the tensile strength of concrete. A 300-meter-tall, 150-mm-diameter cylinder is cast, and
after seven and twenty-eight days, it is tested. A steady loading rate of 1.2 MPa is
maintained.
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