Effect of incinerated sugarcane filter cake on the properties of self-compacting concrete

Filter cake is a major residue of the sugarcane industry; more than 3 million tons of filter cake waste from the sugarcane industry are annually disposed in Thailand. This paper investigates the effect of incinerated sugarcane filter cake (ISFC) on the properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Fifteen SCC mixtures were investigated in this study. ISFC was used as a partial replacement of cement from 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% to 40% by weight of Portland cement (OPC). The powder materials were design to have three total powder contents of 450, 550 and 650 kg/m3, whereas the water-powder (OPC plus ISFC) material ratio for all mixtures was kept constant at 0.40. The mixtures were designed to produce a controlled slump flow diameter of 700 ± 25 mm. Tests were performed on all mixtures to determine the properties of fresh SCC in terms of workability and stability. The mechanical properties of hardened SCC, such as the compressive strength and flexural strength, were also determined. The results show that SCC with 30% ISFC replaced Portland cement with a 650 kg/m3 powder content has a compressive strength of more than 30 MPa for 28 days, which is larger than the compressive strength of mixes with 550 kg/m3 and 450 kg/m3 powder contents by approximately 24% and 60% at the identical percentage replacements.