The Effects of Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash as Supplementary Cementitious Material in the Production of Concrete

The Effects of Sugar Cane Bagasse Ash as Supplementary Cementitious Material in the Production of Concrete

CHAPTER ONE

Objectives

General Objective

To assess the effect of sugar cane bagasse ash in supplementary cementitious material in the production of concrete

Specific Objectives

To determine the chemical composition of the sugar cane bagasse ash
To determine physical and mechanical properties of silt soil stabilized with lime only and sugar cane bagasse ash only
To determine the amount of sugar cane bagasse ash required for partial replacement of lime for optimum production of concrete.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theory of Change

Theory of Change (ToC) is a specific type of methodology for planning, participation, and evaluation that is used in the philanthropy, not-for-profit and government sectors to promote social change. Theory of Change defines long-term goals and then maps backward to identify necessary preconditions. Theory of Change explains the process of change by outlining causal linkages in an initiative, i.e., its shorter-term, intermediate, and longer-term outcomes. The identified changes are mapped –as the “outcomes pathway” – showing each outcome in logical relationship to all the others, as well as chronological flow. The links between outcomes are explained by “rationales” or statements of why one outcome is thought to be a prerequisite for another (Clark, & Taplin, 2012).

According to Taplin, Clark, Collins, and Colby, (2013), innovation of Theory of Change lies (1) in making the distinction between desired and actual outcomes, and (2) in requiring stakeholders to model their desired outcomes before they decide on forms of intervention to achieve those outcomes. A common error in describing Theory of Change is the belief that it is simply a methodology for planning and evaluation. Theory of Change is instead a form of critical theory that ensures a transparent distribution of power dynamics. Further, the process is necessarily inclusive of many perspectives and participants in achieving solutions.

Theory of Change can begin at any stage of an initiative, depending on the intended use. A theory developed at the outset is best at informing the planning of an initiative. Having worked out a change model, practitioners can make more informed decisions about strategy and tactics. As monitoring and evaluation data become available, stakeholders can periodically refine the Theory of Change as the evidence indicates. A Theory of Change can be developed retrospectively by reading program documents, talking to stakeholders and analyzing data. This is often done during evaluations reflecting what has worked or not in order to understand the past and plan for the future.

Theory of Change as a concept has strong roots in a number of disciplines, including environmental and organizational psychology, but has also increasingly been connected to sociology and political science. Within industrial-organizational psychology, Austin, and Bartunek (2003) have noted that approaches to organizational development are frequently based on more or less explicit assumptions about 1) the processes through which organizations change, and 2) the interventions needed to effect change. Within evaluation practice, Theory of Change emerged in the 1990s at the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change as a means to model and evaluates comprehensive community initiatives. Notable methodologists, such as Huey Chen, Peter Rossi, Michael Quinn Patton, Heléne Clark, and Carol Weiss, had been thinking about how to apply program theories to evaluation since 1980 (Stachowiak, 2010).

Weiss (1995) popularized the term “Theory of Change” as a way to describe the set of assumptions that explain both the mini-steps that lead to the long-term goal of interest and the connections between program activities and outcomes that occur at each step of the way. She challenged designers of complex community-based initiatives to be specific about the theories of change guiding their work and suggested that doing so would improve their overall evaluation plans and would strengthen their ability to claim credit for outcomes that were predicted in their theory.

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Materials

Bagasse Ash

Bagasse is the fibrous residue obtained from sugarcane after the extraction of juice at sugar mill factories and previously was burnt as a means of solid waste disposal. However, as the cost of fuel oil, natural gas and electricity has increased, bagasse has become to be regarded as a fuel rather than refuse in the sugar mills. The fibrous residue used for this purpose leaves behind about 8-10% of bagasse ash, Hailu, (2011).

Silt soil

The soil for the research was collected from Rivers state at 8º 59’ 38.42’’N and 38º 47’ 13.09’’E in several trial pits as indicated in plate 3.2. The sample was picked along the soil profile at the depth of 1.5m to avoid the inclusion of organic matter. Preliminary checks indicated that the soil was grayish black in colour and highly plastic in nature.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Chemical Analysis of SCBA

The chemical analysis indicated that the ash contained mainly silica, calcium, magnesium and aluminium with other minor elements Table 4.1. The combined percent composition of SiO₂, Al₂CO₃ and Fe₂O₃ of the ash is more than 70% hence exhibits pozzolanicity property according to ASTM C618 – 12 (ASTM 2012) standards for pozzolanic reaction.

Silt soil

Results of the study on physical properties on neat sample of clay is given in Table 4.2 and indicated that the sample belonged to expansive clay. Most of the properties required to be improved to meet engineering standard.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

The following conclusions can be drawn from the results of the investigation carried out within the scope of the study.

The chemical analysis of bagasse ash indicated that the main element were silica (66.23%), potassium (6.44%) iron (3.09%), their combined percent composition is 76 % which is above 70 % specified by ASTM C618 – 12 (ASTM 2012) standards for pozzolanic reaction.
The plasticity index reduced with increased in content of bagasse but the increment for bagasse ash was insignificant compare with the set standard by Road design manual part III. Bagasse ash alone cannot be used for production of concrete.
Rivers bearing ratio increased for lime samples but reduced for bagasse ash samples and this was attributed to negligible amount of calcium present in bagasse Similarly bagasse ash has negative impact on the strength of silt soil hence cannot be used as standalone stabilizer.
When bagasse ash partially replaced lime, plasticity index reduced and Rivers bearing ratio increased as the ratio varies. At the ratio of 4:1 (lime:ash) the results obtained conformed with the standard set Road design manual part III of RBR 36 %, PI 20% , linear shrinkage of 9.0 and negligible swelling thus can be used for expansive clay

Recommendations

Based on the findings of this research, the following recommendations are forwarded:

Sugarcane bagasse ash as investigated in this research work can only be used as a soil stabilizing agent when combined with lime at defined Therefore sugar industries should impress the new finding regarding the usage of bagasse ash to solve their disposal problem which had put them at logger head with Nema.
The sugar factories in collaboration with higher education organizations in the country should work together and establish a research team to further study the use of bagasse ash as a soil stabilizing material on different types of
Further study should be done using finely grinded unburnt bagasse and compare with the existing
The study of bagasse ash as agricultural fertilizer should be investigated

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