The effect of oil palm kernel shell in producing different types of POFA based mortar

This paper presents the utilization of palm oil fuel ash and oil palm kernel shell as cement and sand replacement, respectively in the production of palm oil fuel ash based mortar mixes as part of new and innovative materials in the construction industry. The study includes basic properties such as water absorption, density, compressive strength, and microstructure test with regards to variations in the mix design process. In order to get better performance in terms of strength development, the ash used was subjected to heat treatment and grounded to the size of less than 2 µm. High volume of 80% palm oil fuel ash was used as cement replacement, while 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of oil palm kernel shell was used as sand replacement. The results indicated that the density of the mortar decreases with increasing volume of oil palm kernel ash as sand replacement. Three different types of mortar were produced with different percentages of oil palm kernel shell, which was high strength, medium strength, and low strength lightweight mortars