Evaluation of Pozzolanic Performance of Treated and Untreated Bagasse Ash

Cement is one of the highly consumed materials in the world for the development of humankind. But it leads to the production of enormous amounts of toxic materials like CO₂ which affects the eco-system to a large extent. Hence supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) with high pozzolanic content are used as replacement for cement. Sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) is an example of SCM that can be partially replaced with cement. It is obtained as a by-product from the combustion boilers in sugar industries. Both treated (processed) and untreated SCBA can be used as replacement for cement. The properties of the treated and untreated SCBA are different from each other though they originate from the same source. This is because processing methods have a great influence on altering the chemical, mineralogical and microstructure properties of the ash after treatment. These properties define their suitability for replacement as a partial binding material. This paper investigates on the performance and microstructural characterization of treated and untreated bagasse ash.