Processing of sugar cane bagasse ash and properties of processed sugar cane bagasse ash blended cements

It is well known that the effect of particle size, particle size distribution (PSD), fineness and microstructure of cement is significant on mechanical and durability properties of mortar and concrete. It is understood from literature that there is scope to improve the mechanical properties and microstructure of the Original Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash (OSCBA) after treatment. The treatment includes a grounding and burning process. After sequential steps, various morphological characteristics like particle size, particle size distribution and morphological characteristics are evaluated by using FESEM and EDAX. It is found that there is a reduction in pore size, carbon content and agglomeration formation for Processed SCBA (PSCBA). The grounding ball size, number of grounding balls, grounding time, ratio of OSCBA to grounding balls, temperature, burning time and feeding particles are found to be crucial parameters which will influence the morphological properties. The study further extended to evaluate the properties of cement pastes blended with OSCBA and PSCBA from 0% to 40% as partial replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Fresh and hardened properties of blended cements are studied. PSCBA blended cements exhibit significant improvement than without processing SCBA (OSCBA) blended cements due to enhanced morphological characteristics.