Taha Mehmannavaz

Binary Effect of Fly Ash and Palm Oil Fuel Ash on Heat of Hydration Aerated Concrete

The binary effect of pulverized fuel ash (PFA) and palm oil fuel ash (POFA) on heat of hydration of aerated concrete was studied. Three aerated concrete mixes were prepared, namely, concrete containing 100% ordinary Portland cement (control sample or Type I), binary concrete made from 50% POFA (Type II), and ternary concrete containing 30% POFA and 20% PFA (Type III). It is found that the temperature increases due to heat of hydration through all the concrete specimens especially in the control sample. However, the total temperature rises caused by the heat of hydration through both of the new binary and ternary concrete were significantly lower than the control sample. The obtained results reveal that the replacement of Portland cement with binary and ternary materials is beneficial, particularly for mass concrete where thermal cracking due to extreme heat rise is of great concern.

Characterization of some Key Industrial Waste Products for Sustainable Concrete Production

The use of environmentally friendly or green concrete to enable worldwide infrastructural development without increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is at the focal point of the global issues concerning sustainability. Aside from the concerted efforts by the key players in the construction industry to successfully replace in part or in whole, the conventional Portland cement with green or eco-friendly cementitious materials, the challenges of ensuring that the so called green or eco-friendly concrete performs up to the required expectation has been the focus of many researches. This study therefore, provides an overview of the various processing techniques for the industrial waste materials as well as the determination of the physical and chemical characteristics of the powders prepared from the respective waste materials. The materials were characterized using BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), 45-μm wet sieving, 75-μm and 150-μm dry sieving, Specific gravity using density bottle and reactivity index (RI). The results show that FA and PBC are very similar in terms of their physical and chemical characteristic in comparism with POFA. Notwithstanding, all the materials satisfy the basic requirements of the relevant ASTM specifications and also falls within the limit specified by ASTM C 618 for class F fly ash.

Estimation of Air Pollution Cost for Optimization of Highway Alignment

The current air pollution increase prompts scientists to look for new candidates for highway alignment that would eventually result in reduced vehicle fuel consumption. In the current study, an empirical and computational method has been proposed which needs to be implemented simultaneously with the alignment optimization process so that different alignment candidates could be assessed in terms of fuel consumption of vehicles. The results obtained from the final equation indicate the total cost of CO2 clean-up required for each vehicle in each highway candidate and these costs could be compared to each other to determine the best candidate of highway.