A study of concrete performance using treated kaolin as a partial replacement in cement / Mohd Shahmin Mohammad Shater

Concrete is widely used construction materials. However, the production of Portland cement releases significant amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and a greenhouse gas. 1 ton of Portland cement clinker production releases approximately 1 ton of CO2 and other gases. Therefore, the study of kaolin as a partial replacement in cement has been widely study by other researcher. In this study, kaolin will be used to replace the cement by 10%. However, the kaolin will be treat by using sulphuric acid, H2SO4 before replace it in the cement. The objective of this study to investigate the compressive strength and water absorption of concrete using treated kaolin for various molarity of sulphuric acid H2SO4 as a partial replacement in cement. Kaolin was treated by using sulphuric acid, H2SO4 with different concentrations 3 M, 5M, 7M and 9M. Then, the concrete was designed at grade 30 of concrete. The compressive strength test and water absorption test had been done. From the findings, the 5 molar treated kaolin produced the highest compressive strength among the other sample. The optimum molarity of sulphuric acid, H2SO4 is 5 molar. The result of water absorption test shows that different molarity will give a different effect of absorption of water.