Influence of Physicochemical Properties of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) in Portland Cement Hydration

Abstract

Due to the concern with the environmental impacts caused by the gases emitted by the cement industry and by the inadequate disposal of wastes generated in the sugar-alcohol industry, such as sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), a search for the development of new technologies, which are less aggressive to the environment and that propose feasible alternatives, began in order to reuse these wastes properly. Among these alternatives is the reuse of SCBA as partial replacement to cement or as addition to cementitious matrices. In this way, the present research has the objective of analyzing the influence of SCBA obtained by the calcination of sugarcane bagasse (SCB), at 600°C, in the process of Portland cement hydration. Initially, the SCBA was characterized physically, chemically and mineralogically, and then cement pastes with 20% and 35% substitution contents were elaborated, besides the reference paste, which were analyzed through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric (TG) techniques. The results obtained show that there is a consumption of portlandite as a consequence of the use of SCBA, evidencing the pozolanicity of these ashes. In the pastes with 35% substitution content, there was an intense consumption of the portlandite, indicating, in this proportion, the pozzolanic reaction was more intense.