Use of Processed Biomass Ash as a Sustainable Pozzolana

Abstract

The industrial waste generated from sugar production, i.e. bagasse is further used as a biofuel. This generates a huge amount (44,000 tonnes/day) of waste in the form of sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA). Asreceived boiler SCBA shows lower performance in terms of pozzolanic characteristics. In this study, the role of mechanical and thermal treatment in improving the pozzolanicity of SCBA has been examined. The preliminary characterization of SCBA was done using laser granulometry, SEM, XRF, XRD and TG analysis. The four methods were adopted to quantify the pozzolanic behaviour, viz. reactive silica determination, pozzolanic activity index, electrical conductivity drop and Chapelle activity. Further, the experimental data were analysed using ANOVA. The coefficient of regression (0.86–0.99) reflects effective and significant logarithmic models. The study concludes that the adopted processing of SCBA is highly effective in improving the pozzolanicity. Thus the processed SCBA is a sustainable solution to the cement industry.