RESEARCH ARTICLE
JOURNAL OF BIOBASED CHEMICALS
Volume 3 Issue 2, 2023, pp. 118 – 123
Journal homepage: https://journal.unej.ac.id/JOBC
Optimization of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash for Paving Blocks Production
Helgananta Adirya Sabian, Mutiara Rengganis Nurul Putri Azhari, Maktum
Muharja*
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jember, Indonesia
(Submitted: 30 August 2023; Revised: 11 November 2023; Accepted: 21 November 2023)
Abstract. One of the sugar industries produces large quantities of bagasse ash. Sugarcane
bagasse ash in the sugar industry cannot yet be utilized. Sugarcane bagasse ash has a fairly high
silica content, namely 68.5%, which can be used as a substitute material to reduce the use of
cement in making paving blocks. In this research, concrete bricks were made using the manual
pressing method. Paving blocks are made from sand, cement, bagasse ash, stone ash, and water.
The ratio of cement, stone ash, and sand uses a ratio of 1:2:6 with variations in bagasse ash of
10, 20, and 30% of the sand composition. The test results showed that the highest quality
concrete bricks were on the 7th day of drying with 214 kg/cm2, getting quality B based on SNI
03-0691-1996 and the compressive strength of the resulting concrete bricks would increase as
the drying time increased. This innovation can increase the usability of bagasse ash and become
a new business opportunity for the sugar industry.
Keywords: bagasse ash, industrial, compressive strength, paving blocks
1. Introduction
The use of pulp fiber which functions as reinforcement can be used to reduce cement
use and industrial waste. One use of pulp fiber is to use ash from burning sugarcane bagasse
[1]. Sugarcane bagasse ash is one of the wastes produced by the sugar industry. Bagasse ash is
the result of boiler combustion in the sugar industry. Sugarcane bagasse ash still cannot be
utilized properly, if it is left alone it can cause pollution to the environment around the factory.
Apart from that, bagasse ash contains aluminum oxide (Al2O3), iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3), lime
(CaO), sodium oxide (Na2O), potassium oxide (K2O), magnesium oxide (MgO), and
diphosphorus pentoxide (P2O5). This has the potential as an alternative material to using cement
because it has very small granules so it can fill pore holes in paving blocks [2].
Sugarcane bagasse ash has a fairly high silica (SiO 2) content of 68.5% [3]. The silica
content in bagasse ash can increase if it is burned and used as a cement substitute in paving
block mixtures [4]. Sugarcane bagasse ash can be used as a cement substitute because it contains
Muharja, et al. Journal of Biobased Chemicals (2023) Vol. 3: 118 – 123 Page 119
silica, but the use of bagasse ash cannot completely replace cement. This is because bagasse
ash does not contain enough lime, alumina, and iron oxide to replace cement and will result in
a decrease in the compressive strength of the paving block [5]. Apart from that, paving blocks
mixed with bagasse ash as a substitute for cement are environmentally friendly because they
can reduce air pollution resulting from excessive use of cement [6].
According to research conducted by Muharja et al. (2022), the addition of lime in
making paving blocks can increase compressive strength but is not significant and produces
quality C according to SNI 03-0691-1996 [7,8]. Adding lime is considered less effective
because it costs more money and is of lower quality. Therefore, this research uses stone ash as
a substitute for lime. Stone ash has several advantages, such as being cheaper and containing
high levels of calcium oxide (CaO), so it can improve the quality of paving blocks [9]. The
presence of calcium oxide (CaO) in stone ash can be a substitute for lime which is not present
in bagasse ash, thereby improving the quality of paving blocks.
The presence of calcium oxide (CaO) composition in stone ash which is not contained
in bagasse ash can therefore be of additional value to improve the quality of paving blocks.
Based on the background described above, this research aims to utilize bagasse ash from
burning boilers found in one of the sugar industries as a substitute for cement in making paving
blocks. In this study, the bagasse ash used was 10%, 20%, and 30% of the amount of cement
used. Next, the paving blocks are dried for a drying time of 7 to 10 days, and testing will be
carried out, namely by pressing tests to determine the quality of the paving blocks.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials
The main material used in this research is bagasse ash which comes from the boiler
process of one of the sugar industries in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. Other ingredients for the
composition are sand, cement (Semen Gresik, Indonesia), stone ash, and clean water.
2.2 Paving Blocks Production
The process of making paving blocks referred to the reference Nofrianto et al. (2023),
is divided into two parts, the first part is making the top part of the paving block which aims to
act smoother using cement, while the second part is the dough part for the body of the paving
block [10]. Making the dough for paving block bodies is done by mixing sand, cement, bagasse
ash, and stone ash until smooth and then adding water until a thick dough is formed which
should not be too runny or too hard. The use of water in the process of making paving block
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dough is approximately 10% of the weight of the sand. The gabpensi used has dimensions of
20×10×6 cm. First, approximately one handful of cement is put into the gabpensi which is
useful as a smoother or the top of the paving block, then added to the mixture as the body
material for the paving block. Pressing is done by hitting the compactor against the dough in
the mold. When pressing, it is recommended to use greater force to produce dense and smooth
paving blocks. If the paving block is solid, it can then be removed from the mold and dried for
7 and 10 days. The drying method used is the conventional method using sunlight. Paving
blocks will be dried in the sun for 7 to 10 days and watered regularly every day so that the
paving blocks can dry slowly, because if you don't water regularly the paving blocks will reduce
the quality value.
2.3 Test Sample Testing
The pressure test for paving blocks is a pressure quantity obtained from the outside in
the form of pressure equal to the cross-sectional area of the sample to be tested. To determine
the strength of paving blocks made from a mixture of bagasse ash that has been dried for 7 and
10 days, a compression test will be carried out on the samples using a Universal Testing
Machine (UTM) based on references from Nofrianto et al. (2023) [10]. Calculation of the
compressive strength of paving blocks can be calculated using the formula:
𝐹 (1)
𝑃=
𝐴
Where, P is the compressive strength (N/mm2), F is the maximum compressive load (N), A is
the cross-sectional area to be tested (mm2) and 1 MPa= 1 N/mm2.
The conversion of compressive strength (kg/cm2) to MPa can be calculated using the formula:
𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ × 0,0980665 (2)
3. Result
Figure 1. Paving Block Press Test Results
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Muharja, et al. Journal of Biobased Chemicals (2023) Vol. 3: 118 – 123 Page 121
Figure 1 is a graph of the results of the paving block compression test based on variations
in the use of bagasse ash. Using 10% of bagasse ash on average produces a higher compressive
strength than using more than 10% of bagasse ash. The use of 10% bagasse ash on average
produces a higher compressive strength than the use of more than 10% bagasse ash from either
7 days or 10 days of curing. This is due to the formation of a reaction between the silica (SiO 2)
contained in the bagasse ash and the remaining lime resulting from the release of the reaction
of cement compounds with water. The results of this reaction produce the compound calcium
silicate hydrate (CSH), which is hard and has a low level of solubility in water. If the amount
of silica compound substituted increases, the compressive strength of the paving block will also
increase but only increase to the optimum point and then the compressive strength will decrease
[11]. At 10 days of curing using 20% bagasse ash, the compressive strength value was lower
than using 10% and 30% bagasse ash, which was because the energy used for pressing during
the manufacturing process was less, resulting in a decrease in value. compressive strength of
paving blocks, this factor is one of the success factors in making paving blocks. Meanwhile,
according to Amiwarti et al. (2022), the use of more and more bagasse ash can reduce the
compressive strength value of paving blocks because the water content is small which can
interfere with the hydration reaction [12]. The results obtained are directly proportional to
research conducted by Rahmanto et al. (2023), where the addition of more than 10% bagasse
ash will reduce the compressive strength value of the paving block [13].
From Figure 1 the results of the paving block compression test are also obtained based
on the length of curing time. A curing time of 10 days results in a higher compressive strength
of the paving block. The longer the curing time makes the compressive strength of the paving
block higher because according to Saputra et al. (2019), requires a longer time where the
optimal time for ripening is 28 days [14]. The increase in compressive strength can also be
caused by the cement completely covering all the aggregates. This is directly proportional to
research conducted by Rokhman et al. (2022), where during the curing time of 28 days the
compressive strength of the paving blocks increased, this was due to the reaction between
pozzolan and calcium hydroxide still not occurring completely [15]. This is also reinforced by
the results of research conducted by Loganayagan et al. (2021), the compressive strength of
paving blocks is higher with a curing time of 28 days compared to a curing time of 7 days [16].
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Muharja, et al. Journal of Biobased Chemicals (2023) Vol. 3: 118 – 123 Page 122
Table 1. Paving Block Quality Test Results
Test Day 7 Day 10
Sample Maximum load (kg) Quality Maximum load (kg) Quality
10% 36709.78 B 39768.93 B
20% 42828.08 B 31611.20 C
30% 30591.49 C 34670.35 B
Table 1 shows that the quality is based on the National Standards Agency (1996), of
paving blocks with several variations in the use of bagasse ash [8]. On average, when using
10% bagasse ash, the quality is found to be in the B range. For quality B, paving blocks can be
used as parking equipment, while quality C can only be used for pedestrians [17]. The quality
of paving blocks at a curing time of 10 days using 20% bagasse ash is lower than paving blocks
using 10% and 30% bagasse ash because the energy used to press during the manufacturing
process is less, resulting in a decrease. quality of paving blocks. This is inversely proportional
to the results of research conducted by Ulum et al. [18]
4. Conclusion
In this research, the use of more variations of bagasse ash will reduce the compressive
strength of the paving blocks. The curing time greatly influences the resulting compressive
strength, the longer the curing time, the higher the compressive strength of the paving block
will be. According to the experimental results obtained, optimal results were obtained on 10
day old paving blocks using 10% bagasse ash with a compressive strength of 19 MPa.
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