Environmental Benefits of the Structural Use of Pulverised Bone in the Production of Foamed Aerated Concrete

Abstract

Disposal of wastes resulting from myriads of human activities continues to be a problem especially in developing nations, where effective and efficient wastes disposal system is lacking. This paper presents the result of the study conducted to investigate the environmental benefits of using pulverized bone - obtained from bones generated as waste from abattoirs and slaughter slabs - in the production of structural foamed aerated concrete. Some of the properties investigated into are consistency, workability, compressive strength, tensile strength, and water absorption capacity. The results showed that foamed aerated concrete containing up to 20% cement replacement with pulverized bone developed adequate strength acceptable to standards, for use for construction purposes. It is thus concluded that the use of pulverized bone in concrete production will help clean the environment of potentially hazardous wastes and bring about a significant reduction in use of non-renewable resources. This finding highlights the opportunity that the foamed aerated concrete production provides a mean of efficient and innovative waste management strategy.