National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

The cement industry releases approximately 8% of world’s CO2 - a significant source that induces climate change. To curb the carbon emissions from the cement and concrete industry, utilization of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to replace a portion of portland cement in concrete is considered one of the most effective approaches. In the U.S., coal fly ash is by far the most used SCM. Despite being used every day, the supply of coal fly ash in the U.S. has lately become a matter of concern due to the promotion of renewable energy sources and blending of different coals that produce less amount of Class F fly ash – a type of fly ash that is preferred by the concrete industry. Therefore, it is critical to identify and evaluate alternative supplementary cementitious materials that can offer concrete equivalent or better strength and durability characteristics to Class F fly ash. One area that is being overlooked by the concrete industry for alternative SCMs is bio-waste materials, which include agricultural wastes, eggshells, burnt oyster shell, etc. In this project, the feasibility of using two bio-waste materials, i.e., sugarcane bagasse ashes and ground waste eggshells, as alternative SCMs in portland cement concrete for coastal applications is investigated.