Authors : Mehrabuzzaman; Md. Zihad Hossain; Tanvir Alam

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 9 - September

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/2s4h2her

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26sep1177

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : The manufacture of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is among the most carbon-intensive industrial activities on the planet, responsible for as much as 8% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions once fuel combustion is counted alongside the calcination of limestone, and for the consumption of vast quantities of non-renewable raw materials. This burden has driven sustained interest in supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and in particular in ash residues that would otherwise be landfilled or openly burned. This review synthesises the findings of thirty-five experimental and review studies covering more than twenty distinct ash types used as partial replacements for cement, grouped into four families: agricultural and biomass ashes (rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, bamboo leaf and stem, coffee husk, corn cob, groundnut shell, coconut shell, palm oil fuel, wheat straw, cashew leaf, date palm, sawdust and wood ashes), industrial ashes (coal fly ash, Class F fly ash, coal ash, biomass bottom ash, lime–ferrochrome ash and sewage sludge ash), marine and animal-derived ashes (seashell, periwinkle shell, walnut shell and cattle bone ashes), and natural pozzolans (volcanic ash). For each family the review examines oxide chemistry against the ASTM C618 pozzolanic criteria, the optimum replacement level, and the resulting fresh, mechanical and durability behaviour. A consistent picture emerges: siliceous agricultural ashes such as rice husk ash, processed sugarcane bagasse ash and wheat straw ash behave as reactive pozzolans and can replace 10–20% of cement while maintaining or improving strength, whereas calcareous and carbon rich ashes (coffee husk, walnut shell, cattle bone) are better restricted to below 10% or used as fillers. Across the literature the optimum replacement level clusters between 5% and 15% by mass, above which dilution of the clinker and the scarcity of calcium hydroxide for the pozzolanic reaction cause strength to decline. The review closes by identifying the principal barriers to adoption, namely feedstock variability, the energy cost of controlled calcination and grinding, and the absence of harmonised standards for non-coal ashes, and sets out priorities for future research.

Keywords : Supplementary Cementitious Materials, Pozzolanic Ash, Partial Cement Replacement, Compressive Strength, Sustainable Concrete, Agricultural Waste, Carbon Dioxide Emissions.

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