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Investigation On The Characteristics Of Cornstalk Ash Blended Cement
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Corn and Corn Stalk
Corn, also known as maize, is one of the most successful cereal grasses of all time. It has been under human cultivation for over 10,000 years and has spread itself into every niche of commercial agriculture (Adesanya, & Raheem (2009). Like most grain producing grasses, corn is an annual that must be replanted each year. While corn originates in the New World, it is grown all over the world and used for a staggering array of products. Corn is far more productive than most cereal crops and able to sustain a higher population than relatives like wheat, rye, or rice. Corn grows in warm weather and usually matures in late summer. The stalks can grow between three feet (one meter) and 20 feet (six meters) tall, depending upon the cultivar. At one point, there were thousands of varieties of corn in production, but these numbers have since dwindled to less than one hundred hardy, predictable varieties with large fleshy kernels. Corn grows in ears, tight clusters of kernels around a central core or cob that is covered in a leafy husk.
According to Pinto and Cruz (2012), Corn Stalk can be used as animal feed, soil fertilizer and, sometimes, for domestic heating, but are mainly considered as agricultural waste disposed by burning on the field. Corn has been bred in such a way that it has difficulty reproducing without human assistance, thanks to this husk. Archaic forms of corn would be unrecognizable to modern consumers. Corn's ancestor was probably a small grass with ears approximately two inches (five centimeters) long. People determined to eke some sort of nutritional value out of the grass bred corn to the plant we are familiar with today, and it quickly diffused all over the United States. Corn is nutritious, easy to cultivate, tasty, and high yielding. As a commercial crop, corn is everywhere. It is one of the most intensively genetically modified crops, which has led to serious discussion and comment both inside and outside the agricultural industry. Corn is also one of the most grown crops globally, with thousands of acres being dedicated around the world to the high intensity production of corn crops. Corn is also used in everything imaginable. In addition to being eaten straight off the cob or popped, corn is used to manufacture corn syrup, a wildly successful artificial sweetener. Corn is also used to synthesize a number of compounds used in manufacturing processes, such as corn starch, which is in everything from cardboard to biodegradable containers. Corn is extensively cultivated to produce animal feed, with all feedlot animals consuming pounds of the crop each day. In addition, corn is used in the manufacture of alcohol and ethanol, a commonly used alternative fuel.
Corn stalk is a waste product obtained from maize, which is the major cereal crop produced in subSaharan Africa. According to the data released by food and agriculture organization (FAO) in the year 2000, 589 million tons of maize were produced all over the world in 2000 (FAO, 2002). The USA was the largest producer of maize with about 43% of world production. According to IITA (2002), Africa produced 7% of the world’s maize and Nigeria was the second largest producer of maize in Africa after South Africa.
Chen and Qu (2017) noted that Crop stalk is the richest regenerative resources in the world. This assertion was as a result of their findings that plenty of straw resources form annually, and corn stover production is as much as 220 million tons per year (only in China), which makes up approximately 28.6% of the total output of crop residues. Yet many rich corn stalk resources have not been effectively utilized because plenty of them are vainly burnt off in farmland, especially in Africa. The resources are not only wasted but the fires also leave the natural environment damaged.
Corn Stalk mainly consists of rind, pitch, etc., and the chemical components of different parts vary greatly. In corn stalk, the rind contains rich lignin and fiver and is the perfect raw material in artificial plate and papermaking (He, Wang, & Tang (2016). The rind of corn stalk is difficult to digest for the animals and if pitch were used in paparrmaking and plate manafacturing, the paper and plate would be apt to absorb water in the air and their quality would be reduced. Therefore, for the most effective utilization of the different parts of corn stover resources, Huo, Meng, Tiang, Zhao, and Hou (2011) asserts that each part of corn stalk requires effective separation.
Chemical Composition of Corn Stalk
Corn stalk ash (CSA) is a good pozzolanic material, since it has the combined percentage composition of silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) of 71.86%, which is more than 70%. It therefore satisfied the requirement for use as a pozzolana according to ASTM C618 (2005). Research on the mechanical properties of corn stalk can provide basis for the design and parameter optimization of a mechanical that can separate the pitch from the rind of corn stalk effectively. The chemical composition of corn stalk are SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, SO3, K2O, Na2O, PK2 (Raheem Adedokun, Adeyinka&Adewole, 2017)
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACT IS COMING SOON ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX A - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]Appendix D: Concrete cubes after 28days curing. ... Continue reading---
LIST OF TABLES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF TABLESTable 4.1 Chemical Composition of Cornstalk AshTable 4.2 Results for Surface Area, Residue and Expansion Table 4.3 Compressive Strength for Ordinary CementTable 4.4 Compressive Strength of Cornstalk Blended Ash-10Table 4.5 Compressive Strength of Cornstalk Blended Ash-20Table 4.6 Flexural Strength of Ordinary Cement, 10 and 20 Blended CementTable 4.7 Compressive Strength of Ordinary Cement, 10 and 20 Blended Cement ... Continue reading---
LIST OF FIGURES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF FIGURESFigure 2.1: Properties of CementFigure 3.1: Corn plantFigure 3.2: Specimen of CornstalkFigure 3.3: Cornstalk AshFigure 4.1: Flexural Strength Graph of Ordinary CementFigure 4.2: Compressive Strength Graph of Cornstalk Blended Ash ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTTitle pageCertificationDedicationAcknowledgement AbstractTable of ContentsList of TablesList of FiguresCHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONi. Background to the studyii. Problem statementiii. Aim of the studyiv. Objectives of the studyv. Justificationvi. ScopeCHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW2.0.Introduction2.1.Corn and Corn Cultivation2.2.Corn and Corn Stalk2.3.Chemical Composition of Corn Stalk2.4.Corn Stalk Ash blended Cement and Construction Industry2.5.B ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]ix. Aim of the studyThe aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of corn stalk blended cement as a partial replacement for ordinary portland cement.x. Objectives of the studyThe main aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of corn stalk blended cement as a partial replacement for ordinary portland cement while the objectives of the study are:• To ascertain the characterization of corn stalk ash.• To determine of the effects of co ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]In order to get the corn stalk, the leaves and sheaths were removed to expose the stalk. The stalks with a straight stem, free from pest and disease, without insect bites, without apparent defects on the surface of the stems, and with uniform color were selected. The mean length of the corn stalks was 2100mm, the pitch of corn stalk was taken artificially and made into a column shape for use as test specimen with a cross-section of 10mm by 10mm and a length of 100-150mm. Figure 3.2 shows the cor ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FOUR - [ Total Page(s): 5 ]CHAPTER FOURRESULTS AND DISCUSSIONCorn stalk ash (CSA) is not a good pozzolanic material, since it has the combined percentage composition of silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) of 18.78%, which is less than 70%. It therefore does not satisfy the requirement for use as a pozzolana according to ASTM C618(2005). ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION5.0 CONCLUSIONSThis study has dealt tremendously on the investigation of the characteristics of cornstalk ash blended cement. The findings of this research has led to the following conclusions:• The study revealed that Corn stalk ash (CSA) is not a good pozzolanic material because it does not satisfy the standard specified by ASTM C618(2005).• The compressive strength of the concrete cubes increased with curing period and amou ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]Technical Paper for Industrial Technologies Programme.Rashad, A.: Cementitious materials and agricultural wastes as natural fine aggregate replacement inconventional mortar and concrete. In: Journal of Building Engineering 5 (2016), p. 119–141. SR EN 12350-6:2010: Testing fresh concrete, Part 6: Density. SR EN 12390-3:2009/AC:2011: Testing hardened concrete, Part 3: Compressive strength of test specimens.SR EN 12390-5:2009: Testing hardened concrete, Part 5: Flexural strength of test spec ... Continue reading---
