Study of Impact of Coal Slurry as a Substitute of Cement in Concrete

Abstract

Coal slurry is a waste product of coal mining which exists both in powdered and liquid form. After coal is mined, it comes out as big boulders and these boulders are then refined into industrial coal and coal slurry comes out as a by-product. It is a main subsidiary of pollution due to coal. The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of coal slurry (samples taken from Kohat, KPK) in the production of concrete blocks. The results suggested that coal slurry can be used as an alternative of cement in concrete blocks production. Different samples of concrete cylinders were formed by substituting coal slurry with cement in proportions of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. These samples were then tested in the lab to compare the strengths of ordinary concrete cylinders with the cylinders in which the cement was replaced by coal slurry. The results were encouraging as the sample with 20% coal slurry and 2% plasticizer gave us strengths almost equal to the concrete casted through conventional way. Although this concrete was 0.7 rupees more expensive than regular concrete but its far reaching environmental benefits overcome all the odds.