Investigation of water absorption and strength performances on concrete bricks containing Malaysian thermal power plant coal bottom ash (CBA)

Abstract

Coal Bottom Ash (CBA) is normally associated as a by-product from the thermal power plants. Due to the current situation where the power plant is facing an increase in the production of CBA at an alarming rate reaching up to hundreds of thousands of tonnes in Malaysia alone, without known economic value CBA commonly ends up in ash ponds. As sustainable solid waste management has become a growing concern, this research present the recent development achieved on the utilization of CBA as partial replacement of cement in concrete bricks manufacturing. The influence of different amount of CBA on the water absorption, compressive strength performances and UPV test on bricks are presented. With the addition of CBA as a partial replacement of cement also causes an increase in physical performance compared to regular bricks. As a conclusion, the bricks produced passed the required value of typical commercial bricks for water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and compressive strength test for industrial purposes. Hence, incorporating CBA in construction materials will significantly reduce the dumping of the by-products in landfills and thus reduce the adverse effect towards the environmental.