Study on the Preparation of Eggshell Powder as a Partial Cement Replacement in Mortar
Broneca Sibin1*, Ahmad Nurfaidhi Rizalman1**
1 Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: *[email protected], **[email protected]
Accepted: 15 February 2021 | Published: 1 March 2021
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Abstract: This research presents the investigation on the performance of cement mortar containing different preparation methods of eggshell powder (ESP). Four (4) types of eggshell powder (ESP) were prepared as the cement replacement, including untreated air-dried eggshell powder (UAESP), untreated oven dried eggshell powder (UOESP), treated air-dried eggshell powder (TAESP) and treated oven dried eggshell powder (TOESP). The cement mortar with water to cement ratio of 0.485 were mixed with 20% of ESP by the weight of the cement. The effects of ESP were investigated in terms of flowability, compressive strength, rate of strength development and hardened density at 7 and 28 days. Compared to untreated ESP mortar, treated ESP mortar had lower flowability, higher compressive strength, better rate of strength development, and higher density. Meanwhile, the effect between air-dried and oven dried ESP on the flowability of cement mortar is insignificant. However, it was discovered that the oven dried ESP mortar had higher compressive strength, better rate of strength development, and higher density than the air-dried ESP mortar. It can be concluded that the most suitable preparation methods of ESP to be used as cement replacement is the treated oven dried (TOESP) method.
Keywords: eggshell powder (ESP), cement mortar, flowability, compressive strength, hardened density
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1. Introduction
An industrial waste such as eggshell were produced around 250,000 tonnes annually worldwide (Faridi & Arabhosseini, 2018). As one of the nation largest egg’s consumer, Malaysia has produced a large amount of eggshell waste which commonly disposed in landfills (The Star, 2011). Furthermore, it was discovered that disposing the eggshell waste pose hazard to the public as it may contaminated the soil and water resources (Ing & Choo, 2014; Jaber et al., 2019; Jayasankar & Ilangovan, 2010; Monisha & Pushpa, 2016).
Eggshell contains more than 94% of calcium carbonate, CaCO3 which is similar to the chemical composition of limestone (Jaber et al., 2019; Yerramala, 2014). Limestone is widely used in the cement production as the main sources of calcium carbonate (Gudissa & Dinku, 2010).
Furthermore, Pliya & Cree (2015) stated that the limestone was also used as a filler and partial replacement of cement. Thus, the eggshell is suitable to be used as an alternative material for cement. Realizing its benefits, researchers have used various methods to prepare the ESP in the structural research and applications.
2. Literature Review
Previously, Yerramala (2014) used the air-drying method to dry the eggshell for five (5) days before it was sieved through 90 µm and used as cement replacement. The results showed that replacing the ESP up to 5% increase the strength and reduced the water absorption ability of the concrete. However, if more than 5% of ESP was replaced, it caused the strength of concrete to reduce due to an increase of pores volume. Similar finding was also obtained by Tiong et al.
(2020).
Meanwhile, Tan et al. (2018) prepared the ESP by oven drying the eggshell under 105ºC for 24 hour. Then, it was sieved through 60 µm size and used as cement replacement up to 20%
by volume. They reported a higher early strength development and greater compressive strength for the ESP concrete compared to the normal concrete. This is due to the enhancement of hydration process and the filler effect of ESP. In addition, the permeability of the oven dried ESP concrete was significantly reduced due to rapid formation of C-S-H gel filling the voids within the concrete.
Other than that, Jaber et al. (2019) studied that utilizing the calcined ESP as cement replacement showed a great improvement on the mechanical and durability properties of cement mortar compared to un-calcined ESP. Furthermore, heating the ESP at 750ºC for 1 hour leads to the formation of calcium oxide (CaO), which has acceleration effect on the early strength gain of ESP mortar (Mtallib & Rabiu, 2009). Similar study was conducted by Vivek
& Sophia (2019), where incinerating the eggshell at 300ºC for 2 hours provide higher strength than the raw ESP.
Despite all the improvement provided by the ESP, the preparation method of ESP is not yet established. Thus, this research aims to investigate a suitable method for the preparation of ESP to be used as cement replacement. There are four (4) types preparation methods investigated in this research, which are untreated air-dried eggshell powder (UAESP), untreated oven dried eggshell powder (UOESP), treated air-dried eggshell powder (TAESP) and treated oven dried eggshell powder (TOESP). These preparation methods are evaluated based on the ESP mortar performances on the flowability test, compressive strength test and hardened density test.
3. Methodology
Materials
In this study, the materials used were Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) Type I, eggshell powder (ESP), fine aggregate (FA) and tap water. FA was river sand obtained from the local supplier.
Before the FA was used, it was first oven dried and then sieved through 600 µm sieve. The physical properties of the FA and OPC are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: The Physical Properties of Fine Aggregate and Ordinary Portland Cement.
Materials Specific
Gravity
Moisture Content (%)
Water Absorption (%)
Size (µm)
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) 3.0 - - -
Fine Aggregate (FA) 2.5 10.9 9.0 <600
The eggshell waste used in this research was obtained from the QL Agroventures Sdn Bhd., Sabah, Malaysia. The crushed and pre-cracked condition of eggshell waste was first washed using tap water to remove the extra debris and unwanted material. Then, the ESP were prepared using four (4) methods which are untreated air-dried eggshell powder (UAESP), untreated oven
dried eggshell powder (UOESP), treated air-dried eggshell powder (TAESP) and treated oven dried eggshell powder (TOESP). This preparation methods were developed based on previous studies (Azman et al., 2017; Jaber et al., 2019; Jhatial et al., 2019; Tan et al., 2017; Vivek &
Sophia, 2019; Yerramala, 2014). The flow chart of the ESP preparation methods is illustrated in Figure 1. Finally, the prepared ESP were covered with plastic sheet and stored in a sealed container to prevent any contamination. The physical and chemical properties of the ESP are shown in Table 2.
Figure 1: Overall Process of ESP Preparation.
Table 2: The Physical and Chemical Properties of ESP Types Specific
Gravity
Moisture
Content (%) Color Size
(µm)
Loss of Ignition (%)
UAESP 2.3 2.0 White
<75
40
UOESP 2.4 1.4 White 25
TAESP 2.2 0.2 Greyish to black 15
TOESP 2.0 0.2 Greyish to black 10
Methods
In this study, 20% of cement was replaced with ESP by weight to follow the ASTM C311 standard. A total of 45 samples were casted using 50 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm steel cube molds with water to cement ratio was fixed to 0.485, and cement to fine aggregate ratio was 1:2.75.
The specimen designation is shown in Table 3, meanwhile the number of samples prepared for each test is shown in Table 4.
Table 3: The Specimen Designation of Control and ESP Mortar.
Specimen Cement (OPC), g
Eggshell Powder (ESP), g
Fine Aggregate (FA),
g Water, mL
CONTROL 740 - 1851.9 542.2
UAESP 592 148 1851.9 542.2
UOESP 592 148 1851.9 542.2
TAESP 592 148 1851.9 542.2
TOESP 592 148 1851.9 542.2
Table 4: Number of Samples Based on Testing.
Specimen Flowability Test (ASTM C1437)
Compressive Strength Test
(ASTM C109) Hardened Density Test (BE EN 1015-10)
Total Samples 7 days 28 days
CONTROL - 3 3 3 9
UAESP - 3 3 3 9
UOESP - 3 3 3 9
TAESP - 3 3 3 9
TOESP - 3 3 3 9
Each specimen was casted with three (3) samples and tested for the flowability using ASTM C1437. The specimens were then covered with plastic sheets and left for 24 hours in room temperature condition. After demolded, the specimens were cured in saturated lime water and tested for its compressive strength after 7 and 28 days of curing period. The compressive strength test was conducted according to ASTM C109 standard. Meanwhile, the hardened density test was conducted according to BS EN 1015-10.
4. Results and Discussions
Table 5 shows the summary of results for the flowability, compressive strength, rate of strength development and hardened density test. From the table, it can be concluded that the flowability of ESP mortar is higher than the CONTROL mortar. Meanwhile, the compressive strength, rate of strength development and density of ESP mortar are lower than the CONTROL mortar.
Table 5: Summary of Results for CONTROL and ESP Mortar.
Specimen Flow (mm)
Compressive Strength, MPa
Rate of Strength Development,
MPa/ Days Density,
Kg/m3 7-days 28-days 0-7 days 7-28 days
CONTROL 106.2 15.8 21.5 2.3 0.28 1916.1
UAESP 119.8 11.9 17.2 1.7 0.22 1752.1
UOESP 116.9 12.1 18.2 1.8 0.25 1765.4
TAESP 107.4 14.8 19.8 2.2 0.24 1871.4
TOESP 109.5 14.8 20.3 2.2 0.27 1888.4
Flowability Test (ASTM C1437)
The flowability test was conducted to evaluate the flow of the hydraulic cement. To determine the effect of ESP on the flowability of cement mortar, similar amount of water was added to all specimens, which means no additional water was used. The result of flowability test on 20%
of ESP replacement is shown in Figure 2 below. From the figure, it can be concluded that the flow of 20% ESP mortar ranges between 107.4 mm to 119.8 mm, with UOESP shows the highest flowability and TAESP shows the lowest flowability.
The flow for both untreated eggshell (UAESP & UOESP) are higher than both treated eggshell (TAESP & TOESP) and CONTROL specimens. Due to the large size of the particles, the untreated ESP act as lubricant balls within the cement mixture, thus resulting easier movement of hydraulic cement (Afolayan, 2017; Parthasarathi et al., 2017). Furthermore, Ing & Choo (2014) suggested that the untreated ESP did not excessively absorbed water during mixing, thus providing enough water to increase the hydraulic cement flow. On the other hand, treating the ESP under high temperature increased the water absorption ability (Kamaruddin et al., 2018). This causes a slightly lower flow value for the treated ESP. Meanwhile, the effect between air-dried and oven dried is found to be insignificant on the flow of the mortar containing 20% ESP replacement.
Figure 2: Result for Flowability Test at 20% of ESP replacement.
Compressive Strength Test (ASTM C109)
Figure 3 shows the result of compressive strength test for CONTROL mortar and 20% ESP mortar. The results show that the compressive strength of mortar containing 20% ESP replacement is within 11.9 MPa to 14.8 MPa at 7 days, and 17.5 MPa to 20.3 MPa at 28 days.
The TOESP mortar shows the highest strength of 14.8 MPa (7 days) and 20.3 MPa (28 days), meanwhile the lowest strength is shown in the UOESP mortar with 11.9 MPa and 17.5 MPa at 7 and 28 days, respectively. Figure 3 also shows the compressive strength of cement mortar containing 20% ESP replacement has slightly lower strength than the control mortar at both 7 and 28 days. However, the treated mortars (TAESP & TOESP) have higher strength than the untreated ESP mortar (UAESP & UOESP). The compressive strength for the air- dried specimens are comparatively similar with the oven dried specimens.
Figure 3: Result of Compressive Strength for 20% ESP Replacement.
As mentioned earlier, the strength gain of ESP mortar is mainly due to the high calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content which accelerated the hydration process of cement. This results to the rapid formation of calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H), thus enhanced the strength of the mortar. Moreover, the extra calcium oxide (CaO) produced by treating the ESP has improved the strength gain of the mortar (Azman et al., 2017). This explains the higher compressive strength in the treated mortar (TAESP & TOESP). Furthermore, Vivek & Sophia (2019) discovered that treating ESP removes the impurities and organic layer within the ESP, thus promoting more reactive reaction with the cement paste. Consequently, the existing impurities and organic layer within the untreated ESP lead to the disability of ESP to react effectively to the cement paste, thus affecting the mortar strength.
Figure 4 show the comparison of the 28 days strength between the air-dried and oven dried specimens. From the figure, a significant strength reduction is observed in the air-dried method compare to the oven dried specimens. This is because when the eggshells are air-dried, they are exposed to the growth of microorganisms and fungus, which can affect the chemical composition of ESP. Furthermore, contamination from animals and pollutions also governed the ability of ESP to react with the cement paste efficiently (Guiné, 2018; Inyang et al., 2017).
Since weather is the main influence in the air-dried method (Franke et al., 2008; Tomczak et al., 2020), rewetting process could occur due to higher humidity of air, causing an increase of water content (moisture) within the eggshell itself (Sadaka, 2016). This increased the water to cement ratio of ESP mortar and leads to lower strength in the air-dried specimens.
Figure 4: Comparison of 28 days Strength between Air-dried and Oven dried Specimens.
The incorporation of 20% ESP as a cement replacement reduced the compressive strength of mortar due to the effect of cement dilution. Since the ESP act similar as limestone, it does not possess cementing properties. Thus, high percentage of ESP as cement replacement reduced the quantity of cementing materials within the mixture, thus more free water are available to produce small pores within the ESP mortar (Pliya & Cree, 2015; Tiong et al., 2020; Yerramala, 2014).
Rate of Strength Development
Figure 5 shows the rate of strength development of cement mortar containing 20% of ESP replacement. From the figure, it can be clarified that the rate of strength development for all specimens are higher in the early stages (0-7days) compared to its later stages (7-28 days). In fact, the rate of strength development for the treated (TAESP & TOESP) specimens is higher than the untreated (UAESP & UOESP) specimens at 0-7 days, but then shows a comparable rate to other specimens at 7-28 days. In addition, the TOESP specimens shows the highest rate of strength development at 0-7 days and 7-28 days with 2.2 MPa/days and 0.27 MPa/days, respectively. Meanwhile, the lowest reading is observed in the UAESP specimens at both 0-7 days and 7-28 days, which is 1.7MPa/days and 0.22 MPa/days, respectively. However, the results show that the rate of strength development for mortar containing 20% ESP replacement is lower than the normal mortar. Similar observation was also obtained by Yerramala (2014).
Figure 5: Result of Rate of Strength Development for 20% ESP Replacement.
One of the reasons for the higher rate of strength development for the treated ESP specimens is due to the additional calcium oxide (CaO) produced during its treatment process. Tan et al., (2017) and Azman et al., (2017) mentioned that the existence of calcium oxide within the treated ESP accelerated the setting time and improved the early strength development of the cement mortar. Moreover, the removal of impurities and organic material within the ESP increased its effectiveness to react with the cement paste during the early stage of hydration (Jaber et al., 2019). On the other hand, the lower rate of strength development of untreated ESP mortar is due to the presence of impurities in the ESP which caused it to be ineffective to react with the cement hydration (Vivek & Sophia, 2019).
Hardened Density Test (BS EN 1015-10)
Figure 6 shows the result of hardened density test for cement mortar containing 20% ESP replacement. From the figure, the specimens containing treated ESP (TAESP & TOESP) has higher density than the specimens containing untreated ESP (UAESP & UOESP). The air-dried specimens (UAESP & TAESP) show significantly lower density than the oven dried specimens (UOESP & TOESP). Meanwhile, the hardened density of 20% ESP replacement mortar is
lower than the normal mortar. This finding is corresponding to the observation reported by Vivek & Sophia (2019) and Yerramala (2014).
Figure 6: Result of Hardened Density Test for 20% ESP Replacement.
The lower density of ESP mortar is probably because ESP has lower density than cement, as shown in Table 1 and 2. The lower density of the untreated ESP specimens is explained by the existence of organic materials and moisture within the untreated ESP which cause more formation of pores, thus reduced the density of the specimens. This finding proves the low compressive strength in the untreated ESP mortar compared to the treated ESP and normal mortar. Conversely, the accelerated hydration process by the treated ESP creates more C-S-H gel to fills the pores, making the specimens denser, and more compact structure.
The air-dried specimens have lower density than the oven dried specimens because of the contamination of ESP during the drying process. As a result, the contaminated ESP does not react effectively with the cement paste causing less production of C-S-H gels to fills the pores.
Evidently, the air-dried specimens have lower compressive strength than the oven dried specimens.
5. Conclusion
The conclusions of the study are as follows:
i. The flowability of cement mortar increased with 20% of ESP as cement replacement.
The untreated ESP specimens show higher flowability than the treated ESP specimens.
However, the effect between air-dried and oven dried methods is insignificant.
ii. The compressive strength of cement mortar decreased with 20% of ESP as cement replacement. However, treated ESP mortars have higher strength than the untreated ESP mortars. Meanwhile, the oven dried method appears to have more impact on the compressive strength of cement mortar.
iii. The rate of strength development of cement mortar containing 20% of ESP as cement replacement is lower than the normal mortar. The treated ESP specimens have higher
rate of strength development due to the formation of calcium oxide (CaO) during the treatment process. On the other hand, the air-dried methods caused the lowest rate of strength gain due to the contamination of ESP which reduced its effectiveness to react with the cement.
iv. The hardened density of cement mortar decreased with 20% of ESP as cement replacement. The treated ESP specimens show higher density than the untreated ESP specimens. The air-drying method also shows a lower density due to existence of moisture and natural layer causing more formation of voids.
v. From this study, it can be concluded that the most suitable preparation methods of ESP to be used as cement replacement is the treated oven dried (TOESP) method. This is because, the TOESP specimens show the most desirable properties compared to the other ESP specimens such as good flowability, higher compressive strength and denser structure.
Acknowledgement
This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia, under the grant FRGS RACER27-2019. The authors would like to acknowledge QL Agroventures Sdn Bhd for providing the eggshell waste used in this project.
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