Development of corn cob ash blended cement

In an attempt to convert waste product into useful material for the construction industry, this research considered the use of corn cob ash (CCA) as a pozzolan in cement production. The study investigated the chemical composition of CCA. Factory production of the CCA – blended cement was carried out by replacing 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight of Ordinary Portland Cement clinker with CCA. The 0% replacement serves as the control. The results showed that CCA is a suitable material for use as a pozzolan as it satisfied the minimum requirement of combined SiO2 and Al2O3 of more than 70%, which a good pozzolan for manufacture of blended cement should meet. The blended cements produced also satisfied both NIS 439:2000 and ASTM C 150 requirements especially at lower levels (<15%) of CCA percentage replacement. Based on the test results, it was concluded that CCA could be suitably used in blended cement production.