Study on the effect of pre-treatment of Oil Palm Shell (OPS) as coarse aggregate using hot water 50-°C and room temperature water 28-°C to lightweight concrete strength

With a rapidly growing population, the need for homes is increasing, which means the demand for housing material is also increasing in Indonesia. On the other hand, as the largest producer of palm oil in the world, Indonesia produces almost half of the world’s palm oil inventories. Oil palm shells (OPS) are agricultural solid end products from palm oil manufacturing processes. In this research, the use of OPS waste as substitution materials for making concrete is investigated. In order to be used as structural building material, some mechanical properties of materials must achieve the requirements of the National Standard SNI. The general objective of this research is to understand the effect of the pretreatment process on OPS aggregate on the mechanical behaviour of lightweight concrete. To do so, first, pre-treatment on the OPS is performed using hot water (50°C) and room temperature water (26-28°C). Second, by using the most effective mixed proportions from previous research in laboratory, pre-treated OPS is used to cast concrete. Third, some experimental tests are carried out to evaluate its mechanical properties, such as: concrete compressive strength, flexural strength and tensile strength (split test). Then, behaviour from both different treatments are compared and discussed. Finally, this research can determine which method gives better result for the application of OPS as biosource substituent material.