This research addresses the suitability of sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) in concrete used as partial cement replacement. Two grades of concrete M15 and M20 were used for the experimental analysis. The cement was partially replaced by SCBA at 0%, 5%, and 10%, by weight in normal strength concrete (NSC). The innovative part of this study is to consider two grades of concrete mixes to evaluate the performance of concrete while cement is replaced by sugarcane bagasse ash. The cylindrical specimens having size 150 mm x 300 mm were used and tested after curing period of 7, 14 and 28 days. It was observed through the experimental work that the compressive strength increases with incorporating SCBA in concrete. Results indicated that the use of SCBA in concrete (M20) at 5% increased the average amount of compressive strength by 12% as compared to the normal strength concrete. The outcome of this work indicates that maximum strength of concrete could be attained at 5% replacement of cement with SCBA. Furthermore, the SCBA also gives compatible slump values which increase the workability of concrete.

Concrete construction offers a great opportunity to replace the cement with a coal-based power plant waste—known as coal bottom ash (CBA)—which offers great environmental and technical benefits. These are significant in sustainable concrete construction. This study aims to recycle CBA in concrete and evaluate its particle fineness influence on workability, compressive and tensile strength of concrete. In this study, a total of 120 specimens were prepared, in which ground CBA with a different fineness was used as a partial cement replacement of 0% to 30% the weight of cement. It was noticed that workability was decreased due to an increased amount of ground CBA, because it absorbed more water in the concrete mix. The growth in the compressive and tensile strength of concrete with ground CBA was not significant at the early ages. At 28 days, a targeted compressive strength of 35 MPa was achieved with the 10% ground CBA. However, it required a longer time to achieve a 44.5 MPa strength of control mix. This shows that the pozzolanic reaction was not initiated up to 28 days. It was experimentally explored that 10% ground CBA—having particle fineness around 65% to 75% and passed through 63 µm sieve—could achieve the adequate compressive and tensile strength of concrete. This study confirmed that the particle fineness of cement replacement materials has a significant influence on strength performance of concrete.

The grinding process is necessary to convert original coal bottom ash (CBA) into a powder form. The aim of this study is to evaluate the grinding process effects on physical properties of CBA, it influences on consistency and setting time of cement paste and to predict it potentiality based on chemical characteristics to reduce the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete. The CBA is the by-product of coal based thermal power plant. Due to high production of electricity in Malaysia, the excess amount of CBA has been produced annually and it causes the environmental problems. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with advanced solutions for that pollution. This study considered the different grinding periods i.e. 2, 10, 20, and 40hrs as to produce different particle fineness. It was perceived through the laboratory findings that the more the grinding period, finer the particle sizes. Besides that, cement paste with 10, 20 and 30% of ground CBA as a substitute of ordinary portland cement (OPC) by weight was prepared, it was observed that the consistency of OPC paste increases with the addition of ground CBA. Moreover, initial and final setting time of cement paste containing ground CBA was observed higher than the OPC paste. Hence, based on experimental analysis and energy efficiency scenario, grinding period of 20hrs with specific surface area 3835.75 cm2/g is suggested for the future studies.