Aquatic Weed for Concrete Sustainability

Abstract

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is the primary binder of concrete, accounting for approximately 5% to 7% of greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with an annual production rate of more than 4 billion tons. It is critical to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete without sacrificing its performance. To this end, this study focuses on the use of water hyacinth ash (WHA) as a pozzolanic binder in the production of concrete as a partial replacement for cement. Four mixes are designed to achieve C-25-grade concrete with varying proportions of cement replacement with WHA of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the cement weight. Extensive experiments are performed to examine the workability, strength, durability, and microstructure of concrete specimens. The test results confirm that incorporating WHA in concrete improved its workability, strength, and durability. The optimal results are obtained at the maximum OPC replacement level, with 10% WHA. The use of WHA as a partial replacement for cement greatly reduces the energy required for cement production and preserves natural resources. More research is needed to use WHA on a large scale to achieve greater sustainability in the concrete industry.