INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF ALUM CONCENTRATED WATER ON THE

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

BY

OPIRI FRANCIS SAMSON

UG/17/0817

IN

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY, WILBERFORCE ISLAND,

AUGUST 2023
INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF ALUM CONCENTRATED WATER ON THE

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

BY

OPIRI FRANCIS SAMSON

UG/17/0817

A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BARCHELOR OF

ENGINEERING (B.Eng.) DEGREE

IN

THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, FACULTY OF ENGINEERING,

NIGER DELTA UNIVERSITY WILBERFORCE ISLAND,

BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA.

AUGUST 2023
 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this work was carried Out by OPIRI, Francis Samson, MAT NO:
UG/17/0817, of The Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Niger Delta
University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.

……………………………………… ……………………….

Engr. Dr. John A. Trust-God DATE

SURPERVISOR

……………………………………… ……………………….

Engr. Dr. John A. Trust-God DATE

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

………………………………………… ……………………….

Prof. Osadolor Christoper Izinyon DATE

EXTERNAL EXAMINER
 DFDICATION

This work is dedicated to the Great God, who continues to love, care and provide for me in all
my times of struggle.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My gratitude goes to Engr. A. T John; my supervisor, who gave me the understanding

encouragement and assistance to carry out this work. I also want to use the medium to express
my profound appreciation to my parents for their utmost support and care.

Special thanks to my departmental lecturers for giving me access to their wealth of knowledge
and also to all laboratory technicians.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Dedication i

Acknowledgement ii

Table of content iii

List of tables vi

List of figures viii

CHAPTER 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of study 1

1.2 Statement of problem 2

1.3 Aim and objectives 2

1.4 Scope of study 3

1.5 Justification of study 3

CHAPTER 2

2.0 Literature review 4

2.1 Concrete 4

2.2. Cement 4

2.2.0 Ingredients of Cement 5

2.2.1 cement 5

2.2.2 Lime: Lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide 6

2.2.3 Silica: Silicon dioxide is known as silica, chemical formula SiO2 6

2.2.4 Alumina: Alumina is Aluminium oxide. The chemical formula is Al2O3 6

2.2.5 Magnesia: Magnesium Oxide. The ch emical formula is MgO. 6

2.2.6 Iron oxide: Chemical formula is Fe2O3. 7

2.2.7 Calcium Sulfate: Chemical formula is CaSO4 7

2.2.8 Sulfur Trioxide: Chemical formula is SO3 7

2.2.9 Alkaline 7

2.3. Aggregate 8

2.3. Alum [Aluminum sulphate [(A12 (SO4)3・18H2O)] 9

2.4. Previous studies on burning of concrete elements 13

2.4.1 Zhen et al. (2018) 13

2.4.2. Haider et al. (2013) 13

2.4.3 Bendary and Abadir (2017) 13

2.4.4. Roszilah and Haider (2013) 14

2.4.5 Changyu Kan, Minzhang Lan, Lamai Kong and Jingbo Yang (2013) 14

2.4.6 H.I.Bendary, M.F.Abadir (2017) 15

2.4.7 Roszilah Hamid, Haider moh. Owaid (2013) 16

2.4.8. Avni Desai (2016) 16

2.4.9 Gang Zhou, Weimin Cheng and Sen Cao (2015) 16

2.4.10 Khalid Moh. Breesem,Faris Goreshi Faris,Isam Moh.Abdel-Magid (2014) 17

2.4.11 Ahmad Sufan A, Haryati Yaacob (2014) 18

2.4.12 H.Yanguatin,J.Tobon,J.Ramirez(2016) 18

2.4.13 Syed Qasim Shabbir, Sajjad Ahmed and Ahsan Sarfraz (2016) 18

2.4.14 E.Abdullah, et al (2014) 19

2.4.15 Noureddin Mesboua,Khaled Benyounes(2017) 19

2.4.16 M.Chandrakanth,N.S.Poorna Chandra Rao and K.Shrinivasa Rao(2012) 19

2.4.17 M.Karthikeyan,P.Raja Rama chandran, A.Nandhini,And R. Vinodha(2015) 19

2.4.18 M.Chandrakanth, N.S.Poorna Chandra Rao, K.Srinivasa Rao(2016) 19

2.4.19 Ramakrishnan, V.L. Narsimha (2010) 20

CHAPTER 3

3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 21

3.1 Procurement of Materials 21

3.1.1 Batching 22

3.2 Potassium alums mix 22

3.3 Production of concrete cubes 22

3.4 Compressive strength test 23

CHAPTER 4

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 25

4.1 Compressive strength results 25

4.2 Workability results 31

CHAPTER 5

5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 33

5.1 Conclusion 33

5.2 Recommendations 33

REFERENCE 34

APPENDIX 37

PLATE 1: CONCRETE MIX WITH ALUM WATER 36

PLATE 2: STUDENT FILLING AND LABELING MOLD 37

PLATE 3: CONCRETE MOLDS 38

 LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: list of cement ingredient and percentage composition 5

Table 4.1: Compressive strength results 25

Table 4.2: Variation of Slump with Increase in Alum Content 35

 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 materials used in cement production 5

Figure 2.2 Cement bags 8

Figure 2.3. Aggregates 9

Figure 2.4. Alum crystals 11

Figure 3.1: Potassium alum (a) crystal structure, (b) ground potassium alum, (c) potassium alum

solution 22

Figure 3.2: compressive strength test 23

Figure 4.1: Compressive strength versus alum content 25

Figure 4.2: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 2.5% 26

Figure 4.3: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 5% 26

Figure 4.4: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 7.5% 27

Figure 4.5: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 10% 28

Figure 4.6: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 12.5% 28

Figure 4.7: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 15% 29

Figure 4.8: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 17.5% 29

Figure 4.9: Comparison of the compressive strength of 0% and 20% 30

 ABSTRACT

Potassium alum is an aluminum and sulphate compound. When added to the concrete mixing

water, it accelerates the cement hydration. This paper is aimed at investigating the influence of

concentrated potassium alum water on the properties of concrete. To achieve the research

objectives, potassium alums were milled to powder form and were dissolved in water at different

proportions of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%, and 20% relative to the water/cement

ratio of 0.6. Then the dissolved water solution was used as mixing water. A total of ninety-eight

concrete cubes of 150 x 150 x 150 mm in accordance with BS EN 12390-2 were produced with

potassium alum solution at different proportions of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%,

and 20%. Also, twelve (12) concrete cubes produced with clean mixing water were used as a

benchmark for samples produced with concentrated alum water. Mix ratio of 1:2:4 was adopted.

The concrete cube specimens were cured according to BS EN 12390-2 and were preserved from

dehydration. All the samples (108) were tested for failure at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. Results

confirmed that 1 to 2.5% addition of potassium alum into the mixing water improved the

compressive strength (CS) by 3%. Potassium-concentrated alum water reduces initial CS. An

increase in potassium alum content results in a decrease in workability and CS and the reduction

in workability is attributed to the high mixing water demand for potassium alum. Potassium alum

absorbs water more than Portland limestone cement.