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GJESR REVIEW PAPER VOL. 1 [ISSUE 6] JULY, 2014

ISSN:- 2349283X

Physical and Chemical Properties of Rice Husk Ash and

Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag- A Review
1Apoorv

Singh
Department of Civil Engineering,
M.M.M University of Technology,
Gorakhpur, India
Email:- [email protected]

2 Khalid

Raza
Department of Civil Engineering,
M.M.M University of Technology,
Gorakhpur, India
Email:- [email protected]

ABSTRACT: Rice Husk Ash and Blast furnace Slag are two abundantly available industrial waste products in India.
Rice Husk Ash is generated by the steam boilers used in industries while blast furnace slag is produced as a waste
during the production of iron in blast furnace. In the past these materials are disposed of on nearby landfills
causing much soil pollution and also had a hazardous effect on the environment. Also due to various regulations
for disposal of wastes and lack of space it was a big problem for the industries to get rid of these materials. But
both these materials have pozzolanic properties and can be used as a replacement of cement in construction
practices to obtain high performance concrete. These materials when used as a replacement of cement can
substantially decrease the CO2 emission due to cement manufacturing. This review paper focuses on the various
studies related to the physical and chemical properties of Rice Husk Ash and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace
Slag that makes them suitable to be used as a replacement of cement and also in the production of Portland
Pozzolana Cement. Some other uses are also reviewed.
Keywords: - Rice husk ash (RHA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), pozzolanic properties, industrial
wastes.

I. INTRODUCTION
For the sustainable development of the concrete
industry it is essential to use the industrial and
agricultural wastes. India is a major rice producing
country and the husk generated is mostly used as a
fuel in boilers for producing energy giving ash as the
waste product. About 20 million tons of Rice Husk Ash
(RHA) is produced annually in India. This RHA is a
great environmental threat causing damage to the land
and the surrounding area where it is dumped.
Therefore commercial use of RHA is an alternative
solution for the disposal problem. But this RHA is very
rich in silica content and also the particle size is small
and comparable to the size of cement particles. Thus it
can be used with cement as an admixture thereby
imparting improved properties to the concrete and
also as a cost effective solution to obtain High
Performance Concrete (HPC).
According to the definition by the American
Concrete Institute (ACI) granulated blast furnace slag
is a glassy granular material obtained when molten
blast furnace slag is rapidly chilled generally by
immersion in water. This granular material is then
grinded to obtain ground granulated blast furnace slag

(GGBFS). It has high quantities of silicon oxide (SiO2)

and Calcium Oxide (CaO). Extensive studies had been
carried out to determine the physical and chemical
properties of blast furnace slag and RHA so that they
can be used as an admixture with the cement. Various
types of concrete had been developed over the years
by using these waste materials with concrete like selfcompacting concrete, lightweight concrete, high
performance concrete etc. Extensive researches are
still going on in this area to obtain highly silicious
particles and materials containing finer particles so
that highly improved properties can be obtained for
the concrete structures and also to reduce the
consumption of cement whose production is a major
source of greenhouse gases emission. These
developments are not only required by the concrete
industry but are also essential for the mankind for a
development with minimum deterioration of the
environment.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW AND PREVIOUS WORKS:A. REVIEW ON RICE HUSK ASH

A. A. Ramezanianpour, M. Mahadi Khani(2009)

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GJESR REVIEW PAPER VOL. 1 [ISSUE 6] JULY, 2014

ISSN:- 2349283X

Studied the quality of major and minor oxide elements

present in the rice husk ash by using X-Ray
Fluorescence
technique
(XRF).The
chemical
composition of RHA indicated that the material is
mainly composed of silicon Dioxide. The temperature
in the furnace for burning rice husk was maintained
below 7500C. Also to determine the crystalline
compounds present in the RHA, X-Ray Diffraction
(XRD) was carried out.

MgO
K2O
Na2 O
P2 O5
SiO3
Carbon

Madhumita Sarangi, S. Bhattacharya, R.C Behera

(2009) studied the rice husk ash at different
temperatures (700-11000C) in the presence of air. The
changes in morphologies, compositions and phase
transitions were studied critically by scanning electron
microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray
diffractometry, respectively. Crystallite size and the
amount of silica obtained from RHA at each
temperature were worked out using X-Ray
diffractometer plots. The amount of silica with respect
to other carbonaceous volatile matter was calculated
from the XRD plot.

Table 2:-

G. Rama Rao, A.R.K Shastri and P.K Rohatgi(1989)

studied the chemical properties of RHA and deduced
that RHA contains mostly silica(90-95%) besides
minor amount of calcium, potassium, phosphorus,
magnesium, sodium and sulphur along with trace
amount of aluminium, manganese and iron. In their
study they made the RHA by using a box furnace.The
temperature was raised in intervals of 1000C. Due to
high content of silica it can be used as a source of silica
extraction which is further utilized in rubber industry,
in cosmetics and in toothpaste industry.
S. Faiziev (2003) studied the use of RHA as a highly
reactive pozzolana and its utilization in the concrete
industry in making high strength concrete. It is also
utilized as a replacement of cement and silica fume or
as a mineral admixture in manufacturing of low cost
concrete blocks .Nowadays blending of reactive RHA in
cement has become a common recommendation in
most of the international building codes.
The chemical composition of RHA generally available
in India is given in Table 1.
Table 1:Chemical Constituents
SiO2
Fe2O3
CaO

Range
of
chemical
constituents(% by mass)
82.5-97
0.54
0.1-1.31

0.01-1.96
0.1-2.54
0.01-1.58
0.01-2.69
0.1-1.23
2.71-6.42

The various Physical properties of RHA are given

in the table 2:-

Physical Property

Value for RHA

Fineness(m2/kg)

360

Loss of ignition (%)

5.9

Bulk Density(kg/m3)

96 - 160

Although the value of physical and chemical properties

of RHA may vary according to the type of rice, soil and
the geographical conditions.
B. REVIEW ON GROUND GRANULATED BLAST
FURNACE SLAG:W.A Tasong et al. (1999) studied the chemical
composition of ggbfs by using X-Ray diffractometry
technique and electron microscopy. He deduced that
GGBFS comprises mainly of CaO, SiO2, Al2O3 and MgO.
He found that it has the same main chemical
constituents as cement but in different amounts.
K. Wang et al. (2005) studied the particle size
distribution of GGBFS by using a laser diffraction
particle analyser and they deduced the morphology of
the particles by Scanning Electron microscopy. They
used the samples from 4 different types of mills and
then studied the effect of type of milling on the particle
size distribution.
Stanley J. Virgalitte et al.(2000) studied the various
physical and chemical properties of GGBFS as a
chairman of ACI Committee 233.They deduced that the
properties of GGBFS is determined by the ores, fluxing
stone, and impurities in the coke charged into the blast
furnace. Typically, silicon, calcium, aluminum,
magnesium, and oxygen constitute 95 percent or
more of the blast-furnace slag. They studied that
GGBFS can be obtained by rapid quenching of molten
slag in water and then grinding it in rolling mills.
The range of chemical composition of GGBFS are given
in the TABLE 3

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GJESR REVIEW PAPER VOL. 1 [ISSUE 6] JULY, 2014

ISSN:- 2349283X

TABLE 3:-

B. Sieve Analysis of RHA:-

Chemical constituents

Range of Chemical
Constituent (% by
mass)

SiO2

32-42

Al2O3

7-16

Sample of RHA was taken from Rice husk burning

power plant boiler. This sample was dried for 24 hours
in oven .Then 500gm of sample was taken for sieve
analysis. The results of the sieve analysis of RHA are
given in Table 6.

CaO

32-45

Table 6:-

MgO

5-15

S.NO

RETAINED

0.7-2.2

NO.OF
SIEVE
(SIZE)

%
RETAINED

Cumulative
%

%
FINER

Fe2O3

0.1-1.5

4.75

100

MnO

0.2-1.0

0.2

0.2

99.8

1.0

1.2

98.8

The various physical properties of GGBFS are given in

TABLE 4.

425*

24

4.8

94

212*

90

18

24

76

TABLE 4:-

125*

330

66

90

10

75*

15

93

Physical Properties

Value for GGBFS

Fineness(m2/kg)

275

Soundness(mm)

10

Loss of ignition(%)

The rest part of the sample that was finer than the 75
micron sieve was collected in the base pan. It weighed
35 grams and was discarded as dust.

Bulk Density(kg/m3)

1200

III. CONCLUSIONS

*sizes are in microns

As early in this review paper many research papers of

various authors is studied and on the basis the
following conclusions are drawn:-

Some More Experimental Results:Apart from all the data shown above the experiments
to find out the specific gravity was conducted for RHA
and GGBF and sieve analysis was done on RHA.
A. Specific Gravity Test:The sample of RHA and GGBFS was dried in oven for
24 hours and then the specific gravity test was
conducted. The results of the test are given in the
Table 5.
TABLE 5:Specific Gravity
RHA

2.0

GGBFS

3.03

Virtu and Foi

1. RHA and GGBFS are two very useful industrial

waste products that can be used with cement
as a replacement as an admixture.
2. These materials contain a large amount of
silica (SiO2) and Calcium Oxide (Ca O) and can
impart good binding charecteristics to the
concrete.
3. The physical and chemical properties of RHA
and GGBFS are very much similar to the
Ordinary Portland Cement and can be utilized
both as a component for cement manufacture
and also as mineral admixtures in concrete.
4. The fineness of the particles of RHA and
GGBFS can be easily controlled by using
suitable grinding methods to satisfy the
requirements of any project.
5. These materials when used in appropriate
proportion with cement can impart very high
strength and durability to the concrete and

GJESR REVIEW PAPER VOL. 1 [ISSUE 6] JULY, 2014

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ISSN:- 2349283X

thus are used in the formation of High

Performance Concrete (HPC).
Utilising these materials as a component of
concrete is also beneficial to the environment
because if dumped as waste, these material
can cause severe hazards to the nearby land
and environment.
These materials are abundantly available in
every country and can be used as a partial
replacement of cement as production of
cement is a major cause for CO2 and other
greenhouse gas emission.
These materials can also be used in the
generation of nano particles to be used with
concrete with a potential to improve the
properties.
RHA and GGBFS are much cheaper as
compared to cement and thus can be used as a
cost effective solution to obtain high
performance concrete.
As the specific gravity of RHA is very low as
compared to that of cement thus it can be
efficiently used in the formation of Light
Weight Concrete.
The fineness of these materials is very good
thus it can fill the pores in the concrete giving
good surface finish and high strength.Almost
94% particles pass through 212 micron sieve.
As RHA and GGBFS contain a very large
amount of silica these can be used as a raw
material to obtain silicon which is a very
useful material for the formation in silicon
chips and computer parts.

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Madhumita Sarangi S. Bhattacharyya and R. C.

Behera Rice Effect of temperature on
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2. G.A Rama Rao, R.K Sastry and P.K Rohatgi

Bull,Nature and reactivity of silica available in
rice husk and its ashes Mater. Sci.vol 12, no.5,
dec 1989, pp. 469-479

3. Faiziev S ,Synthesis of ceramic compounds

utilizing woody waste materials and rice husk
Construction and Building Materials Materials
Science Forum Vols. 437-438 (2003) pp 411414 21 20592065

Virtu and Foi

4. S. Chandrasekar, K.G Satyanarayana and P.N

Raghavan , Processing, Properties and
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Ash Properties and its Uses : A Review Rice
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ISSN:- 2349283X

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