Stabilising Earth Brick with Palm Kernel Oil Residue for Construction of Low Cost Housing

Yalley Pp

doi:10.31031/acet.2018.01.000504

Abstract

Stabilising Earth Brick with Palm Kernel Oil Residue for Construction of Low Cost Housing

Highlights

The construction industry is a vibrant sector of any economy since infrastructural development forms one of the indicators used in measuring a country’s development [1]
The main purpose of the study is to investigate into the physical, strength and durability properties of earth bricks stabilised with palm kernel oil residue (PKOR)
The mean compressive strength obtained from the study when 4% of PKOR was added, is about one and half times (4.29MPa±0.057) the minimum British Standard requirements of 2.8N/mm2 for masonry units as walling materials (BS 3921: ( 1985) and Ghana standard Board requirement of 1.9N/mm2

Summary

Introduction

The construction industry is a vibrant sector of any economy since infrastructural development forms one of the indicators used in measuring a country’s development [1]. Cement undeniably is one of the most essential commodities in the construction sector. As a result of high cost and inaccessibility of cement the vast majority of people in developing countries where income levels are low and about half of the population lives in poverty, it will certainly be beyond the reach of many people to afford decent housing accommodation. In Ghana, the rising cost of building materials and its subsequent effects on construction in general has caused an increase in the housing deficit. There has been an increased in research on the usage of alternative building materials, which are economically and environmentally friendly. Areas that have received adequate attention by researchers include agricultural materials as alternative chemical stabilisation of clays [2,3]. Some of the agricultural waste used are: rice husk ash(RHS), saw dust ash (SDA), sugar cane husks ash (SCHA), Coconut fibre ash (CFA), Palm kernel shell ash (PKSA), Corn cob ash(CCA), Acha husk ash (AHA), Bambara groundnut shell ash (BGSA), Bone powder ash (BPA), Groundnut husk ash (GHA), and Wood Ash (WA), periwinkle shell ash (PSA) [1,2,3,4,5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion