Fabrication of Fiber Cement Using Tobacco Stalk Pulp from Agricultural Residue

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the feasibility of using fiber obtained from tobacco stalk as reinforcement fiber in the production of fiber cement through hydrothermal methods. The fiber cement samples are made of the mixtures of 50% of ASTM Type I ordinary Portland cement, 35% of milled sand, 10% of calcium carbonate powder and 5% of cellulose fiber (eucalyptus pulp and tobacco stalk pulp). This study include the morphological characterization of the fibers and the study of effects that the use of fiber has on the fiber cement suspensions and on the mechanical and physical properties of the final product. The flexural strength of fiber cement samples using tobacco stalk pulp after curing in an autoclave at 180 °C for 4 hours is 14.21 MPa which is slightly lower than that of the samples using eucalyptus pulp at 17.10 MPa. However, the results obtained in the tests confirmed the high potential of the tobacco stalk as a source of fiber for the fabrication of a fiber cement capable of meeting the requirements of demanding applications.