Industry-Standard Characterization of Coconut Shell Ash’s Viability as a Supplementary Cementitious Material to Reduce CO2 Emissions
Advisor: Ivana Bozidarevic
Internship Location: Fortera
Onsite Mentor: Barnett
Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) is humanity’s second most-used material after water, and usage is set to increase even more as the developing world grows exponentially, and with that, the need for cheap and efficient concrete infrastructure. The accompanying carbon dioxide releases from cement production (4-8% of all man-made carbon emissions) are also a growing issue. Numerous industrial waste products, called Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), have been introduced to concrete to replace cement and enhance its properties, thus reducing cement consumption. Current standard SCMs may not be enough to supply the developing world’s ever-increasing concrete demand. Therefore, this project, performed on-site at Fortera and Cemex with industry professionals, characterizes the novel SCM Coconut Shell Ash (CSA), and offers a holistic review of CSA based on compiled industry-grade (ASTM) metrics such as slump and compressive strength over 56 days, experimental analysis of other avenues utilizing chemical composition and geopolymerization potential, and finally cumulative analysis based on cement replacement potential, availability, and economic/political factors.
The work will be performed at Fortera and at Cemex industrial testing laboratory in Livermore. The results show the effectiveness of CSA in numerous important metrics, and has shown average cement replacement effectiveness, but results often vary when tested in an industrial setting. The final products, an expanded version of a prior research paper, a presentation, and a public-friendly magazine-style article connect my research to the everyday lives of the audience, whether they be professionals, scientists, the general population, or students, inspiring them to view environmental issues in an interdisciplinary manner instead of inside a vacuum.
Project Blog
Post 1: CSA as Cement Replacement: Review of Previous Project, Project Direction, Data Synthesis/Analysis and Finding the Right Pan (A combination blog post)
Blog 1, Part 1: A Review of the Previous Part of the Project (Summer 2023)
For more information (and personal thoughts, technical aspects, background), visit my project blog site: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Key Words:
CSA- Coconut Shell Ash
Concrete- Ordinary Portland Concrete, made of cement + water + aggregates (rocks, sand)
SCM- Supplementary Cementitious Material
ASTM- ASTM International, formerly "American Society for Testing and Materials"
SEM- Scanning Electron Microscope
Cemex- International concrete company (https://www.cemex.com/home)
Fortera- Smaller sustainable concrete company (https://forteraglobal.com/paving-the-way/)
A Review of the Previous Part of the Project (Summer 2023):
In 11th grade, I wanted to try using agricultural SCMs* (Supplementary Cementitious Materials) to partially replace cement in concrete (since cement production creates massive carbon emissions inherent in the chemical reactions), and after searching online for days, the only agricultural SCM I found available in larger quantities was Coconut Shell Ash (CSA).
Then, I cold-called/emailed various professors/companies seeing if they could help me create concrete mixes. The reason external help was necessary was that the concrete industry uses very specific ASTM standards with special equipment (some of which can be seen below) that can be expensive/difficult to procure. Miraculously, when I visited Cemex's San Jose office out of desperation, I got in contact with my current advisor, Nick (now at Fortera), who set me up with Eric to make concrete samples at 15, 25 and 35% replacement of cement (by weight) in the concrete, along with normal concrete ingredients like small, medium and large aggregates being added in. The compressive strength of the concrete cylinders created was tested with hydraulic press at 7, 14, 28, and 56 days after making the concrete. Concrete usually gains strength over time, gaining strength up to months after mixing.
*Note: SCMs work (usually) by containing Silica (SiO2) and/or Alumina (Al2O3) and participating in pozzolanic reactions, which are complex reactions that pretty much work to create a strong "CSH" chemical network that adds strength to the concrete.
(Making concrete mixes at Cemex, Summer 2023)
(CSH crystal network in concrete, from https://concreteproducts.com/index.php/2018/03/19/basf-agent-propagates-csh-crystals-to-increase-early-late-age-strength/)
Summary of Key Findings/Results from the First Part of Project:
A. As seen below, oxidation was caused on the steel shrinkage test molds, with oxidation increasing with CSA concentration.
This is very rare for SCMs, and is also very bad because concrete is often used with steel reinforcement (to add tensile strength), and corrosion of steel can degrade/weaken the steel. Cemex told me that any material that oxidizes steel won't do well in the industry
Potential Solution(s): Using a powerful magnet to extract iron chunks (seen in Scanning Electron Microscope images) and using a chemical wash to purify the ash.
(oxidation of steel shrinkage molds caused by CSA concrete)
B. As seen in the graph below, compared to the similar Rice Husk Ash concrete (graph from literature in Figure 5), the Coconut Shell Ash concrete I made (data in Figure 4) had significantly lower strength, especially as replacement percentage increased.
Through "back-scatter" chemical analysis of the CSA at Fortera, we saw that a large portion of the CSA was actually carbon (with plants like coconut being largely carbon-based), and since carbon does not really contribute to the concrete strength, as we added more, strength decreased.
Solution: Using controlled burning in an oven (at 600-900 C) to burn off some of the carbon, leaving a higher proportion of silica and alumina and calcium (which contribute to strength). The key (and problem) is balancing burning time, as burning for too long of course will emit more carbon and use more energy, both un-environmental things to do.
(Top graph: my compressive strength data with CSA concrete over up to 28 days. Bottom graph: literature data of Rice Husk Ash concrete compressive strength up to 56 days)
(Back-Scatter chemical composition data of raw CSA)
Blog 1, Part 2: Project Direction: An Overview of the Months to Come
As of last week, work has gotten underway on the current phase of the project.
Already, there have been changes to the original project syllabus/plan due to confirmation/changes in timing of essential events:
First of all, burning of Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) has begun on a 25 kg batch of CSA from the previous part of the project, but we wanted to order 50 kg more of CSA, since we'll be burning off carbon until around 50% in weight of the CSA is left (doing the math, (25+50)*50% equals around 37.5 kg of CSA left). This much CSA is needed for making numerous test cylinders for strength testing (3 cylinders each for the 4 testing times of 7, 14, 28, and 56 days, times the 3 different weight percentages, a total of 36 cylinders) and for miscellaneous small-scale lab-testing.
Unfortunately, burning is constrained by both the size of containers for the oven, and by the shipping time of the material from China. Not only that, but we had to order 60kg of CSA this time since the supplier only sells in bags of 20kg now. This is sure to incur a massive shipping cost if we want to ship by FedEx plane, so I also need to find a job to pay for all of this.
I also contacted Cemex, and Eric said the earliest we could make the mixes of concrete was 3/21, so I swapped the plans around to do more literature review now rather than later. We may also not get the 56-day test results before presentations, but the 7 through 28-day results usually give a good idea of results anyway.
To Summarize the Important Parts of the New Senior Project Plan:
The project will consist of 3 parts still:
Part 1: Burning of the Coconut Shell Ash, although time will be extended more than 2 weeks initially projected (perhaps)
Part 2: Lab testing at school to test other properties, such as geopolymerization (using alkaline liquid to "activate" the material, creating a cement with 0% actual cement). I'm still finalizing ideas, but I believe washing the CSA with strong bases and acids before making concrete could have interesting results as well.
Part 3: Literature review with comprehensive data analysis. This has already started and will likely continue throughout the long concrete-making process. I hope to use SCM (cement replacement/supplements) abundance data (how much of each type is made and where), economic data (such as costs and tariffs/trade) and other factors I find while researching and reading numerous articles. This will help determine the future of the SCMs market in general, and the future use cases of CSA specifically. The important part of this part is summary and visualization for ease-of-use by other researchers or readers.
It appears that this summary was as long as the first part, but I hope you see that I want this project to be an intersection of my scientific and humanity interests, under the umbrella of solving environmental issues. The climate crisis is not an isolated issue; it affects all parts of our society, and it's time to start treating it like that when we try and find solutions to this massive issue. Let's all start trying to think outside the box when considering environmental issues!
Blog 1, Part 3: Data Synthesis: Analyzing the SCM Supply
The SCM Data/Literature Review Process
Since it seems that the burning of the CSA (Coconut Shell Ash to partially replace cement) is taking longer than expected (more on that in another post), and Nick at Fortera is kindly burning the CSA at around 800-900 Celsius for me, I'm using my time to start analyzing how the supply of coconut shell ash stacks up. Below are the results so far, using the most recent and reliable data I could find to make these graphs.
The pie charts show, if (theoretically) SCMs replace cement (by weight) at literature ideal replacement ranges, for all cement, then what percentage of that overall replacement demand could the (theoretical) world supply of that replacement meet (per year). I created pie charts at the lowest and highest % replacements for the SCMs, so the real % of demand met is probably in-between what I have. For some SCMs, there were also an estimate range of yearly production, so I also used the highest and lowest production estimates to create two graphs.
So far, I've covered the SCMs: Fly Ash Class C, Fly Ash Class F (both from coal burning), Silica Fume (from silicon/ferrosilicon production), and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) from iron manufacturing. These are the most common SCMs and are generally waste material. You can also see in the Coconut Production graph that I've started looking at how CSA stacks up to these other common SCMs.
(a small section of my complex google sheet data)
The calculations were a bit complex, so here's an example of how I did them:
If we make 4,100 million metric tonnes of cement per year, and we wanted to replace 25% of that with Fly Ash (FA) Class F (25% is the high estimate of ideal replacement percentage of FA Class F with cement), then we would need 1,025 million metric tonnes of this FA Class F per year to totally cover that demand, but we only make around 740 million metric tonnes of FA Class F per year (2022 data), therefore, (740 million mt/yr SCM made) / (1,025 million mt/yr SCM needed) x 100% equals 72.1% of this theoretical demand met (as seen in the top right pie chart below).
(FA = Fly Ash from coal production, Silica Fume is from silicon/ferrosilicon production, GGBFS = Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag from iron production) (Note: the Fly Ash Class F pie chart with 15% replacement (second row left) is supposed to represent 120.2% demand met, thus the 100% graph and the 20.2% graph)
Calculations and Complications
The data hasn't always looked this good, in fact, I had to scour many sources, such as the US mineral and commodity summaries (for production numbers), Our World in Data (for coal usage in different countries) and various research papers for how much SCM is produced from the production of these products (per metric tonne). I also had to separate calculations based on 1) Varying production estimates and 2) Different percentages of replacement of cement by that particular SCM.
(For the Fly Ash, I had to take coal power production and convert that to coal usage then convert that to how much of each type of fly ash (C or F) was produced. It was mind-boggling)
Even after all of this, my data is only a relative estimate, since there are other factors not considered such as 1) Amount of the SCM used for non-cement-replacing uses (asphalt, bricks, etc.) and 2) The amount of cement already being replaced by the SCMs, as SCM use is fairly commonplace already. 3) There are other circumstances such as not all the SCM being captured (like Fly Ash in Chinese coal plants) or collected/sold, and certain locations not being able to access SCMs (due to distance and/or politics). In general, this means that the actual usable supply of SCMs is likely significantly lower than my estimated demand percentages met, but I think they still tell something about how the SCMs stack up compared to eachother. For example, we can still tell that iron and coal production still meet much more of the SCM demand than silicon production.
My Plans for More Data Analysis/Comparisons of SCMs
I plan to continue this data search/summary with agricultural SCMs such as Rice Husk Ash, Palm Oil Fuel Ash, Sugarcane Bagasse Ash, and of course, Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) itself, as these are all plant-based SCMs similar to CSA. After, I plan to investigate the costs of the SCMs.
In general, this work is important because the cement/concrete industry is so massive (remember: 4.1 billion tons of cement made per year) that production numbers and money matter a lot. Even if the science is sound (which I'm investigating later), these other factors can still render certain SCMs useless if they don't meet industry demand.
Blog 1, Part 4: Searching for a Suitable CSA-Burning Container
The Background
Nick from Fortera is thankfully helping me burn the 25 kg batch of CSA leftover from the previous part of the project (and later the 60 kg batch being shipped over from China) at around 800-900 Celsius (my oven at home would probably not reach those temperatures). The reason behind the burning is to reduce the carbon (and other impurities) in the CSA until it's around 50% of the original weight (3-4 hours of burning). Unfortunately, Fortera only had small ceramic trays and crucibles that could resist the high temperatures necessary, so it was up to me to find larger containers, or our rate of burning would be around 3-5 kg per week, and we would miss the March 21st deadline for making concrete at Cemex.
The Search
As most searches for products, my searched began on amazon and google shopping. Unfortunately, my searches for "containers for high temperature applications/burning" only yielded lunch containers made of weak metal, glass and plastic. I needed large containers that could handle my intense project. After a few hours of clueless searching, I asked Nick for advice, and he told me to look at strong stainless steels, ceramic and perhaps graphite. Searches for ceramic containers yielded plant pots (too small or tall) or ceramic crucibles (pictured below). Searching for Graphite containers, I found scientific-application crucibles that costed an arm and a leg (also pictured below).
So... I decided to look outside, and visited Clay Planet, a pottery shop, to see if they had any products or useful advice. John, a helpful pottery veteran who only worked at that location on Saturdays, suggested a few clays that could be up to the job, but also said we might have to get our container custom-made to our specifications. John also suggested that CSA could have pottery applications, similar to other natural ashes such as volcanic ashes (used in glaze formulations). I would love to explore this use of CSA if I have the time.
Still confused, I returned home and consulted my trusty friend and coworker: my dad. He suggested I look at lab equipment sites such as Fisher Scientific. At the same time, I was also researching grades of stainless steel, as that seemed promising. Turns out 300-series stainless steel has high temperature resistance, up to 870-1000 Celsius. Therefore, I narrowed my search to stainless steel containers on these lab equipment sites. Finally, I found ... nothing useful. Actually, we had one lead for 304 stainless steel containers, but upon contacting the seller, they said they only sold to other businesses.
Then, when all hope seemed to be lost, my dad suddenly remembered that he sourced many materials and equipment from an online supplier called Mcmaster-Carr. We looked and found dozens of 304 and 316 (even better than 304, with heat resistance up to 1200-1300 Celsius) stainless steel trays, ready to be shipped in a day or two. Sometimes, the answer is right under your nose all along, you just have to be willing to speak to and work with the people around you. We ordered 4 and they will arrive at my house early next week.
Thanks for reading this far, I hope to have good news on the burning next week!
-Max Polosky
Post 2: Exploring the World of Coconuts and Cement Replacements Through Conversation and Literature
Finding Coconut Shell Ash's Place in the World
This week, I've been focused on 2 main areas:
Further investigating coconut shell ash compared to other cement replacements (SCMs).
Tracking the burning of the coconut shell ash
I also had a third minor investigation: Coconut Shell Ash as a glaze in pottery.
To view this blog (and previous ones) in clearer format, visit: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Comparing CSA with Other SCMs (Supplementary Cementitious Materials i.e. Cement Replacements)
First of all, let's talk about why we are even investigating CSA in the first place. As seen in the maps below, urban zones are set to continuously grow in the next decades, especially in Africa and Asia (see maps below). Therefore, the demand for concrete for roads, bridges, factories, apartments, etc. will continue to grow as well. Concrete, being incredibly cheap and easy-to-use, is still the best construction material we have, so we have to make it more environmental if we are to balance global development and green goals.
But, through talks with Nick and through my research, it seems that current SCMs won't be enough to meet this coming demand. Nick described how GGBFS (Blast Furnace Slag) from iron production is already being used at capacity, and that new, more environmental arc furnaces don't produce on-specification slag that we usually use to replace cement. On top of that, coal production (producing the SCM Fly Ash), especially in regions besides China, is being ramped down due to global agreements (such as the one made at the recent COP Climate Conference suggesting a transition away from fossil fuels). In fact, at Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-coal-fired-power-plants-scheduled-shut-2021-10-28/) and the US Energy Information Administration (https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=54559), you can see massive shutdowns of coal plants in the next decade. In fact, concrete makers are already looking at unearthing old landfill supplies of Fly Ash to use instead.
(A small fraction of the total planned shutdowns of US coal plants in the next years, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-coal-fired-power-plants-scheduled-shut-2021-10-28/)
(Graph of planned retirements of US coal plants, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=54559) For this reason, agricultural SCMs (such as CSA) are being investigated to increase the SCM supply. But how does CSA stack up, environmentally, economically, and numerically? This investigation will continue for the next months, but I'll share what I've learned so far about coconut production.
Origins of CSA: Investigating the Coconut Market
On the economic side, the coconut industry is growing at around 1.6% a year, meaning the production will be around 65,367,000 metric tonnes/yr in 2026. As the data from last week's blog post shows, the main coconut producers are Indonesia, Philippines and India (producing around 70% of all coconuts). The presence of coconut in products such as coconut oil, soaps, coconut water, and processed foods makes it an important export product from some of these countries. The fact that almost all parts of the coconut can be used to create useful products also makes coconut less wasteful than other crops. I plan to do more numerical analysis of CSA compared to other SCMs in the coming weeks.
Fun Fact: "The Coconut Water Market in the US is poised to grow by $2.46 billion during 2022-2026, accelerating at a CAGR of 22.27% during the forecast period” (https://www.technavio.com/report/coconut-water-market-in-us-industry-analysis)
(Some data I found on the global coconut market)
(Uses of various parts of the coconut fruit)
Now, speaking of environmental aspects, there's good news and bad news with coconuts.
The bad news is that coconut farming usually happens in tropical, biodiverse regions and therefore threatens many species, especially those in the mangrove tree regions, which are very essential habitats that coconut farms can destroy. Per volume of oil, coconut is the worst oil crop of all, but looking at species threatened per hectare of land, palm oil is still worse than coconut oil. This could be partly due to coconut farmers being some of the poorest paid farmers in the world, and therefore not being economically able to implement environmental measures. Also, younger generations are increasingly leaving the farms, creating a question of whether coconut farming can keep up with demand in the future.
(Species threatened by oil crops, https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30746-6) On the good side, coconut farming can easily be improved with some environmental methods, such as intercropping (planting other crops between coconut trees) with perennial crops, and cover cropping (planting a ground-cover plant in-between the trees). Cover cropping has upfront costs, but has benefits such as less pesticide/herbicide/fertilizer usage, biodiversity protection, reducing pollution, etc. So, with a bit of support and spreading of this information to farmers, I believe that coconut farming can become much more sustainable. Another good thing is that coconut plants can handle a higher threshold of saltwater than other crops, so as ocean levels rise, and saltwater intrusion increases above and below-ground, coconuts may not be as affected. Coconut trees may also help anchor land from erosion and act as carbon sinks.
(benefits of cover cropping in coconut farms, https://www.maxapress.com/article/doi/10.48130/CAS-2022-0007?viewType=HTML) I will work to quantize the environmental/carbon impacts of coconuts compared to other crops in the near future.
Good News with the Burning of the CSA
This week, we delivered 4 of the 316-grade stainless steel containers to Nick at Fortera to speed up the burning process, and the burning per week has gone from 3kg to 10kg (or more) per batch. Currently, burning is being done for 9 hours at 750 Celsius, but this temperature may be increased for even more efficiency. This is a huge improvement and means we may be able to hit the 3/21 deadline when we have to have 20-30kg of burnt CSA (40-60kg of original material). 3/21 is when we plan on working with Cemex in Livermore to create molds to test the concrete with CSA additions of various percentages. The 60kg of ash from China has also arrived earlier this week.
Glazes for Pottery: An Interesting Use of CSA
Following the conversation with John at Clay Planet, I've researched a bit on the use of CSA as a pottery glaze out of curiosity. Glazes are commonly powders that add a glassy layer on pottery when baked. I learned that glazes require 3 basic parts: Silica (for the glassy finish), Alumina (helping to shrink/adhere the glaze to the pot) and Flux (other chemicals in the mix to disrupt molecular attractions, lowering melting point). Tree ashes are commonly used for this purpose, but CSA has a similar chemical composition.
(Example chemical compositions of wood ashes)
(Chemical Composition of CSA)
(Bowls made with various ash glazes, https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/ceramics-monthly/ceramics-monthly-article/Working-with-Ash-in-Glazes-177144#) In the future, if being an SCM doesn't work out, at least coconut shells could find a niche market as a glaze. I'm also looking into coconut shell's effectiveness as an aggregate (the hard rocks/pebbles in concrete) soon.
Another Small Update (Pie Charts Literature Review):
I also researched and created additional pie charts of Rice Husk Ash and Coconut Shell Ash, based on production values:
To Summarize...
This week, I:
Confirmed the need for more SCMs as concrete use is set to increase while meeting with Nick from Fortera
Literature reviewed the general circumstances surrounding SCM production and coconut farming/production
Made sure the CSA-burning was progressing at an accelerated rate (10kg/batch)
Explored more markets for CSA (pottery glazes)
Continued researching agricultural SCM production to make more pie charts
Set out goals for the next weeks
Discussed small-scale labs with Dr. B
Thank you so much for reading, and see you all next time!
Max Polosky
Fun Coconut Fact 1: There are 3 variants of farmed coconut palms, namely tall (tall), dwarf (short) and hybrid (hybrid of the two former).
Post 3: SCM Emissions and Money Matters Relating to Coconut Shell Ash Concrete
A Week in/of Review: Week 3, SCM Emissions and Money Matters
This week, I worked on these parts of the project:
Researching other factors of SCM usage besides supply, such as costs (both monetary and environmental).
Adjusting previous supply calculations to better reflect real world situations.
Figuring out the CSA burning and concrete-making schedule.
Creating a plan for making small test cubes in the school lab.
To view this blog (and previous ones) in clearer format, visit: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject Key words/abbreviations: SCM- Supplementary Cementitious Material (cement replacement) CSA- Coconut Shell Ash
Investigating and Comparing SCM Costs
When considering the use of materials (especially in a scale as large as concrete), the science working may only be 10% of the equation. The other 90% is constituted by cost-efficiency, ease of use, industry standards, etc. This is why I'm looking at these other factors. Without seeing the whole playing field, how can we know the best moves to save the planet?
According to Nick, the issue is lots of pricing of materials is done on an order-to-order basis, so finding standard prices was an issue. Still, I was able to find enough information to make graphs of relative costs of various SCMs, as seen in the bar graph below.
Fly Ash
As we can see, Fly Ash has been fairly cheap. In fact, in the past, companies were paid to take Fly Ash from the coal plants in which it was produced. Now, prices are on the rise as sustainability becomes more important and demand rises. In the US, the supply is getting to the point where landfill Fly Ash supplies are being used. Nick mentioned that Fly Ash prices can even get to $190 per metric tonne, so I'll keep looking for information regarding these higher prices.
Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
Blast furnace slag can replace up to 80% of cement in concrete, and used to be more available in the US, but since the Steel Belt turned into the Rust Belt, most slag from steel/iron production is now found in China, where cement fairly cheap. Of course cement could be shipped overseas to the west coast where cement is more expensive, since bulk-shipping by sea is fairly efficient.
Silica Fume
Silica fume is just really expensive in general, and Nick told me its only used in very specific situations requiring ultra-high strength.
Rice Husk Ash
Rice Husks don't have too many large-scale commercial uses at the moment, and so as waste products, their prices can be fairly low, especially in rice-producing countries in Asia. But, if demand grows, the price could as well. We'll have to keep an eye on that in the future.
Coconut Shell Ash
Coconut Shell Ash, also not being used commercially at a large scale, was difficult to find prices for, so I had to find bulk prices online on the Chinese site Alibaba, then use this as the higher estimate to estimate a lower price, based on the percentage difference between RHA high and low prices, since both are similar agricultural products. One advantage CSA may have over RHA is that it grows on the coasts already, so less land transportation costs (way more expensive and emission-heavy than by sea). Plus, coconuts are largely produced by non-China countries, so future shaky relations may not affect the supply as much.
Important Factor: Transportation Emissions and Cost
As I was saying before, transportation can play a role in the cost and emissions of SCMs, so it's an important consideration to make when comparing them as well (coupled with geographical information, which I'll be looking more into this week).
Basically, we want to minimize transportation in general, and if we are to transport materials over a longer distance, it's best to go by boat or rail, not by truck. This is why many US cement factories are situated by rivers.
Updates:
Burning of the CSA is going slower than expected, more details below, but basically I've delayed making the mixes at Cemex until 3/28 (a week later than plans before) and making the mixes at lower percentage replacements than before:
Currently, around 6.5 kg of fully burned CSA has been produced, which is fairly far from the 20-25 kg of material used last time. What this means is that we either:
Push the concrete-making day at Cemex back from 3/21 (although I'll be in Japan from the 29th to April 8th)...
And/or reduce the amount of burnt CSA needed at for the testing. This could be done by getting rid of the shrinkage mold testing (leaving only cylinder molds for compressive strength testing) and by reducing the replacement percentages of cement with CSA (previously 15, 25 and 35%)
This testing is an important part of my project, so it's essential to balance getting it right/up-to-standard and getting it done in time. Hopefully the steel containers hold up, and I'll update again soon.
I'm planning on making various highly experimental concrete mixes at school with ice cube trays as proxies for cube molds. I'll try things like using extreme acids and bases on the CSA before making concrete. I'll also try making zero-cement concrete with the CSA (geopolymer)
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Max Polosky
Week 4: SCM Emissions (2) and Politics
A Week in/of Review: Week 4, SCM Emissions (2) and Politics
Hello reader(s), this week, as part of my project, I:
Looked at the foreign relations of coconut-producing countries to see how cement replacement usage may affect (or be affected) by those relations in the future.
Researched and calculated emissions for various SCMs in terms of inherent (contained within the material/reactions) and energy-usage CO2 emissions.
Finished up the burning 16 kg of the CSA with Nick. Just enough for running strength and other standard tests at Cemex (hopefully).
Planned my small-scale concrete tests based on literature methodologies.
Packed my belongings for my Japan spring break trip!
For better viewing and more posts, go to: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
(Map of Fly Ash production from coal-burning for electricity)
(Map of Coconut production)
Geopolitics Investigations:
First, I created visual maps of the production of all the SCMs (Supplementary Cementitious Materials) to better represent the information in terms of geography. It seems that currently, Asia, especially China, has lots of SCMs due to it being a global production hub for Cement, Fly Ash, Steel/Iron, Silicon, etc. In other words, SCM-usage heavily relies on China. Fortunately, China has relations with many developing regions such as other countries in Asia and Africa (Belt and Road Initiative), so China could capture, use and sell more SCMs to also reduce their massive emissions and improve their standing with the "global north".
Similarly, I found that Indonesia has long held good economic ties with both China but also major western-leaning nations such as the US and Japan (as seen in the chart below). Indonesia also has a fairly large cement industry and high coal usage, so pressure is on for them to massively reduce emissions to meet UN climate goals. Therefore, by increasing SCM usage and importation (trading with China), economic ties can be strengthened and western nations will also be happy with the reduction in emissions from increased SCM usage. On top of that, the coconut farmers (some of the poorest in the world) could have their standard of living raised by this extra income from CSA being used (and perhaps even subsidized by environmental organizations).
The burning of the CSA:
We managed to burn 16kg as of today (Monday 3/25). We collected the material in buckets and will bring them to Cemex for creating concrete for testing. The plan is 10, 15, and 25% replacement and doing shrinkage molds for the 25% to see if the ash has a noticeable effect on shrinkage.
Small-scale testing I've been hinting at:
I've created a few interesting plans based on alkali and acid (think NaOH and acetic acid) activation of SCMs, and I will use them to create 1.5-inch cubes of concrete at school under Dr. B's supervision. First, we need to burn more of the ash to be used here though, so this will likely start when I return after spring break
To summarize:
Increased SCM usage, especially with less carbon-intensive ones, could be a win-win for international trade, relations and climate goals.
The burning/testing of CSA seems to be on the right track
We get to perform some interesting small-scale tests soon
Thanks for reading,
Until next time, I have been Max Polosky.
Fun coconut Fact #2: Supposedly, "During World War II, coconut water was used as an IV drip because there was not enough blood plasma available." - https://international.trendblog.agrana.com/en/fruit-of-the-month/coconut-fun-facts?PageSpeed=noscript&cHash=0df1b1a70c55c9110172b0388c6b4c58
Week 7: Early Testing Results and Carbon Cost
Early Testing Results of Coconut Shell Ash Concrete and Carbon Costs of SCMs
Hello reader(s), this week we:
Explored the complex world of assigning carbon dioxide values to various SCMs (Supplementary Cementitious Materials).
Looked at the preliminary results of the concrete mixes made with the new burnt CSA (Coconut Shell Ash).
Made detailed lab procedures based on literature for acid-treatment and alkaline-treatment of CSA. Will be performed soon once equipment is in order.
Check out https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject for clearer format, other footage and background info.
Counting Carbon Dioxide Emissions of SCMs
A massive part of why we use SCMs, besides improving the properties of the concrete made using them, is to be more environmental. Although most SCMs are waste products and therefore technically don't create any new carbon dioxide emissions, reliance on certain SCMs could prolong the usage of their carbon-intensive origins. For example, if everybody wants to buy fly ash to be environmental, this demand could help coal plants stay in business for longer. As you'll see below, coal-burning releases lots of carbon dioxide, so we don't want to rely on the current SCMs alone.
After a lot (and I mean a lot) of searching around, calculating/converting values and weighing varying data, I've come up with this chart showing the emissions of various SCMs. Of course, like most of my estimates, this is far from perfect and has many compounding factors. Still, you get a general idea of the emissions of OPC (Concrete) and some SCMs. Keep in mind that Fly Ash, Rice Husk Ash and Coconut Shell Ash also generate energy when burnt, which I couldn't factor in here. From this standpoint, it seems that RHA is the better option than CSA due to the lower emissions per metric tonne made, but rice is also one of the least environmental crops to farm, so I'll investigate these outside factors more as well.
Concrete Mixing and Mixed Results
Talking with Eric, the results of the concrete are uncertain. There were two faults in the new batches made with the burnt CSA: rusting (again) and high water demand. The rusting from last year's tests were still seen on the shrinkage molds, despite all the burning to get rid of impurities and oxidize everything that could be oxidized beforehand. Rusting of metal is considered bad because steel supports are common in concrete structures (that lack tensile strength). High water demand is also bad because it usually leads to weaker concrete overall. These phenomena are not common to CSA (at least in literature) so investigations will be carried out to determine chemical composition of the burnt and unburnt materials. Still, we may never know what the material is, if it even is CSA. Good thing my project has other parts to it as well.
Planning Small-Scale Lab Tests with Acids and Bases
Lastly, I worked with Dr. B to plan out some small-scale concrete cube tests at school. The two main ones are an acid treatment and an alkaline* treatment (geopolymer). The acid seeks to enhance the effectiveness of SCMs as part of concrete, while the geopolymer can theoretically create concrete using only SCM (no cement required). I will be varying acid/base concentrations to see if that affects the compressive strength. Thankfully. Nick has compressive strength testing equipment at Fortera I can use.
*alkaline = basic
Dr. B told me not to write too much, yet here we are.
Thank you so much for reading, and let's hope we meet again next week!
Coconut Fact Number 3: "Natives of the Kiribati islands used woven coconut string to construct robust armour." - https://www.unicomtea.com/20-fun-facts-about-coconuts/
Week 8: The Price of Rice (Rice Husk Ash and Agricultural SCMs)
A Week in Review: Week 8, The Price of Rice (Rice Husk Ash and Agricultural SCMs)
Hello Reader(s)! It's been a busy week with my fast food job and preparing for the Calc BC AP exam, but science waits for no-one, so here we are. This week, I:
Communicated & discussed with Nick from Fortera and Eric from Cemex on initial results and plans for the industrial tests of Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) in concrete.
Researched all about rice farming and its emissions/sustainability to get a better idea of the true "Price of Rice" compared to other waste SCMs.
Got various supplies ready for small0scale lab tests of CSA at school.
For better formatting and past posts and extra info, visit: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Rice Husk Ash as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM)
First of all, what is Rice Husk Ash (RHA)? RHA is derived from rice husks/rice hulls (meaning the same thing, and pictured below). They are generally a waste product of rice production after the edible rice is removed from them. The good thing is that RHA is also composed of around 20% ash. About 90% of that ash is Silica (SiO2), one of the main pozzolanic compounds, along with Alumina (Al2O3).
Rice Husk Ash in Concrete
This ability for RHA to act as a "pozzolan" means that it can help form stronger compounds within concrete working with the cementitious calcium oxide (CaO) in cement. Optimally, around 20% of cement can be replaced with RHA. Another factor supporting the growing use of RHA as a partial cement replacement in concrete is cost (around half of cement's cost in my estimates). Since RHA has much more supply than demand, using it can reduce the cost of the concrete produced. Lower costs would be great for developing regions with access to the rice and a growing need for cheap and efficient infrastructure development.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Rice Husk Ash
Now, if you didn't see last week's post, you may be asking: but doesn't burning 80% of the rice husk to make RHA create carbon emissions? The answer is yes, but burning RHA as biomass fuel does also create around 26,000 kJ of steam-electricity per kg of RHA produced, which make it more carbon-efficient than fossil fuels. Of course, we would like zero emissions, but less is still better. Unfortunately, besides the carbon emissions of RHA, there are also other greenhouse gases (GHGs) created such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). CH4 has a 100-year global warming potential of around 28x CO2, while N2O's is 273x CO2. These are mostly the result of fertilizer use and certain methane-generating bacteria in rice-farming, but can be minimized through changes in practices. These changes may be more expensive and difficult to implement though, especially with rice being such an important staple crop in developing regions. "Revenue in the Rice market amounts to US$6.81bn in 2024. The market is expected to grow annually by 2.17% (CAGR 2024-2028)" - https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/food/bread-cereal-products/rice/united-states#:~:text=Revenue%20in%20the%20Rice%20market,(CAGR%202024-2028). Overall, many more practical studies must be done to consider all of these factors in determining the effectiveness of RHA as a cement replacement. "[Rice production is responsible for around ⅓ of china’s agricultural methane generation. “considering only agricultural activity, as described in Table 2, rice cultivation is responsible for about 35.6% of methane generation. In other words, rice production in China renders about 5613.1 Gg of methane yearly.”]" - https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=59054#:~:text=Rice%20is%20one%20of%20the,nitrogen%20oxides%20and%20its%20derivatives.
Progress Updates (Industrial Tests, Lab Tests)
The industrial concrete tests at Cemex with various replacement percentages of Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) will continue to 28 days, although results still don't look promising. Investigations will be carried out to figure out the root cause(s). The plan is to start the lab mixes soon under the watchful eye of Dr. B. I will utilize silicone cube molds (pictured below) and test the acid/alkaline-treated cubes, along with the control cubes at Fortera.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week as the end approaches! Max Polosky Coconut Fact #4: "In 2013 police in the Maldives took possession of a coconut due to a belief that it had been cursed with black magic." - https://www.thefactsite.com/coconut-facts/
Week 9: Acid and Base-Treated Coconut Shell Ash Concrete in the Lab
A Week in Review: Week 9, Lab-Grown Coconut Ash and Acid Concrete
(Can you spot my assistant Sidhant?)
Hello readers! It's been an eventful week, so let's get right into what I did this week in the lab:
Acquiring the materials for my concrete (running around to various locations).
Creating miniature concrete cubes in the chemistry lab with acid and alkaline-treated Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) concrete.
Now that's only two things, but lab work always ends up requiring much more time than expected, so I was still fairly busy.
For other blog posts and more information/clearer formatting, check out: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Concrete Experimentation in the School Lab
Materials Gathering
Making concrete is just like baking a cake: you need the ingredients or you can't make the cake. Unfortunately, a week before the lab work had to begin, my ingredients were not present. I set up a shopping list (Type II/V cement (common type of cement in California), some burnt Coconut Shell Ash (CSA), sand, water, and ice cube trays as molds).
First was the burnt CSA, which Nick burned for me at Fortera. On Wednesday, I drove 30 minutes up to Fortera and back to get the CSA, careful to secure the lid so the fine powder wouldn't coat the inside of my car.
Next was the cement. I had a bag of Basalite Type II-V Cement in storage from past work at ASDRP Research, so I just grabbed that.
I was going to use the sand from Industrial Chemistry at school, but Nick told me a standardized sand was better so we got Quikrete All-Purpose Sand from Home Depot instead.
At school, I found some silicone trays similar to the ones I used in Industrial Chemistry, making removing the cubes easier in the future (hopefully).
Making the Concrete(s) with Coconut Shell Ash
Thursday 4/25:
So, down to business. With my lab assistant Sidhant, I first made 6 control cubes with a standard 1:2:4 water:cement:aggregate ratio, using only sand since the small size of the cubes meant gravel aggregates would be impractical. Then, I replaced 10 and 20% of the cement with CSA, 3 cubes each for 6 more cubes. Unfortunately, the school didn't have any distilled water left, so I drove to Safeway to get two bottle in the middle of experimentation.
Next was the harder experimental part.
First, the acid treatment for the CSA, which is supposed to bring out the pozzolanic (strength-giving) properties of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs). The more strength provided by the CSA, the more cement it can replace in concrete.
I used 0.1M and 1.0M concentrations of Hydrochloric Acid and Acetic Acid, then put in CSA in a 1:15 CSA to solution ratio. I then left them stirring for 24 hours to react with the solutions, then leaving them to settle over the weekend. Today, I gravity-filtered the solutions to separate the ash back out, which had developed deposits of green and white solid, possibly iron (can be green) or other ash material. If ash can be separated out from the mostly carbon CSA without burning, this could make using CSA even more sustainable. I will try to make concrete with the acid-activated ash soon.
For the alkaline concrete, we were supposed to make 16 molar NaOH, so we dissolved 115.2g of solid NaOH in water up to 180ml (don't attempt at home, highly exothermic reaction!), and ended up with this: Undissolved NaOH. Next steps unclear.
That's all for this week. Results will be here soon!
Max Polosky
Coconut Fact #5: "Unlike some other plants, the palm tree has neither a taproot nor root hairs, but has a fibrous root system.[23] The root system consists of an abundance of thin roots that grow outward from the plant near the surface. Only a few of the roots penetrate deep into the soil for stability." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut
Week 10: Coconut & Acid Concrete Pt. 2
Week 10, Coconut & Acid Concrete Pt. 2 and "Basic" Solutions
Hello once again, my reader(s), this week was a crucial one, as we:
Finally finished processing the Acid-treated Coconut Shell Ash (CSA) enough to use it to make concrete (10% replacement of cement with the treated CSA).
Finally figured out how to dissolve enough solid NaOH in water to make 16 molar (highly concentrated NaOH solution for pozzolanic activity test of the CSA.
Started considering plans for finishing up my end product(s) in the next weeks.
So let's get right into it!
For more blog posts, information and pictures, visit: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Acid-Activated Coconut Shell Ash Concrete Mixes
Step 1: Mixing the Ash and the Acids
First, I picked two different acids to use as experimental groups to compare to the regular non-CSA concrete and unprocessed 10% CSA concrete. I picked HCl as my strong acid and acetic acid as my weak one, both of which were also used in my referenced literature. Then, I chose to use a 0.1 molar and 1.0 molar concentration of each acid, therefore creating 4 experimental groups, comparing the effects of both strong/weak acid and acid concentration. Supposedly, the acids can enhance the pozzolanic effects of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs i.e. cement replacements), thus making the resulting concrete stronger than if unprocessed material was used. After creating the acidic solutions in beakers, I added in the CSA and magnetically stirred the mixtures for 24 hours. The purpose was to create as much contact between the CSA and acid solutions as possible. Some properties of the CSA I observed, such as the lightness and oiliness of certain particles within the ash made the mixing process difficult, so this could effect results. After 24hrs of mixing, I let the CSA settle for 72 hours.
Step 2: Filtration, Re-Ashification
After settling, the literature centrifuged the solutions to separate out the ash again, but we didn't have those capabilities at school, so we used the good old gravity filter method instead. With a simple setup of a funnel with filter paper inside, the filtrate passes through while the original filtride remains.
Unfortunately, the ash was so fine that it created a clay-like layer on the filter paper, slowing the filtration process. It took 2 days to finish filtering all of the CSA back out. Then, weighing our yields of ash after filtration, we found that the weight was significantly higher than the initial 20g CSA put into the solutions. So, we put the desiccator in the chemical room into use for 24 hours to try and evaporate some of the remaining solution, reducing the weight closer to the original 20g.
One interesting note with the filtration was a fine layer of solid (precipitate) on the bottoms of filtrates A and C (the 0.1M solutions of HCl and acetic acid, respectively) but not the 1.0M solutions). Chemical analysis in the future may reveal more information on the reason(s) for this. Who knows, it may be an interesting breakthrough.
Part 3: Finally Time for Concrete
After all of that, it's Thursday and finally time to make concrete. The concrete needs two weeks to mature before crush testing, the results should be out a day before final presentations. Talk about cutting it close. With help from my other trusty assistant, Kevin, we quicky made 4 batches of concrete and poured them into the cube molds to harden.
Creating a Concentrated Alkaline Solution
Another test I wanted to perform was a pozzolanic activity test, which uses a concentrated 16M alkaline solution (as we discussed last week). Our first attempt ended in non-dissolution. This time, we calculated the exact volume of water necessary (using NaOH density values) and added the solid NaOH chips in small portions while stirring magnetically. The resulting solution is a bit cloudy but definitely more dissolved than the first attempt.
To Summarize Everything...
The acid treatment of CSA has yielded various unexpected and difficult results. These have been frustrating in terms of time constraints but intriguing in terms of the science behind the results, which will be further investigated in the near future. I also hope to travel to Cemex to get compressive strength and chemical composition results in 1-2 weeks for the cubes to make more conclusions.
As we near the end of our project, it's also sadly important to consider where to stop and how to communicate the work to the public. I already have a paper written based off my previous year of work on the project, so adding the new work to that should be relatively simple. But, I want to really engage with the masses, so I'm thinking of writing a shorter magazine-style article in hopes of really attracting more interest in the important topic of sustainable concrete and construction.
Thanks for getting this far, and a special thanks to Sidhant and Kevin for helping me out in the lab. I'll see you all next week!
Max Polosky Coconut Fact #6: "The coconut palm bears fruit for 15 to 60 years. In ideal conditions, fruit production lasts for up to 80 years and the maximum age of the coconut palm is between 100 and 120 years." - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food-news/world-coconut-day-interesting-facts-about-coconut-that-you-need-to-know/photostory/85859171.cms?picid=85859228.
Week 11: Break Testing and Presentation Prepping
Week 11:Compresssive Strength Tests and Presentation Goals
Hello once again everybody, we are in the final report before the presentation on Saturday. I hope everyone's excited to see (and share) their work! On my end this week, I've:
Prepared and performed the compressive strength test on the non-acid treated Coconut Shell Ash cubes at Cemex with the help of Nick.
Got the 4-week test results on the industrial Coconut Shell Ash concrete.
Started curating my data and research for the final presentation (and research paper).
So let's get into it!
Cube Testing (Non-Acid Treated)
After rehydrating the first set of cubes (Control 0% CSA, 10%, and 20% non-acid CSA) on Monday (to help them gain strength), I brought them to Cemex. There, Nick helped me measure them up then crush them. This was very sad for me as I had come to like them over 15 days. Anyway, due to the small cube size, there was no loud cracking noises, but it was still entertaining seeing the variations in strength and cracking patterns. This inconsistency also shows the lack of control in hand-mixing ass compared to industrial mixes, which usually show a <8% variation between samples in a batch. Still, I will analyze the data and prepare for Friday 5/17's (cutting it close) acid cube compressive tests.
Chemical Analysis of Acid Treatment Residues
After the re-separation of the coconut shell ash from the 4 acid solutions last week, I discussed the interesting formations of solid at the bottom of the beakers. For this reason, I'm asking Cemex if they can perform a chemical analysis of the residual solutions and see if any part of the coconut shell ash was separated out. If what separated out was an impurity/salt like Sulfur, which could reduce concrete strength, then that would be great. But if it somehow separated out a pozzolanic material such as alumina, silica, etc., that's less ideal. This is why we do science: for the unexpected and exciting outcomes.
Industrial Test Results from Cemex - 28 Days
Let's get to the results (pictured below). Somehow, the burned CSA has a similar strength to the previous unburned CSA, despite being at a lower % replacement than before. As we can see in the 4th graph below, the burned is indeed weaker than the old unburned version. This is perplexing, as burning means lower content, which should mean a higher concentration of strength-giving chemicals like alumina, silica and calcium oxide. We have to wait for chemical analysis and see why this disappointing result occurred.
Still, I believe bad results are just as valuable as good ones, although sometimes the science publishing community doesn't think so. The failure here is more interesting than a success would've been, and gives me more burning questions to answer in the future as I gain more data. Fascinating.
Presentation Preparations
Concrete can seem boring. We see it every day and it doesn't do anything like nanotechnology does or AI does or quantum mechanics does, but it is very important. I want to use pictures and easy-to-understand language to make concrete exciting and communicate the massive role it plays in climate change. The current plan is to seamlessly transition through background information, then the literature review, followed by industrial test and acid treatment (pending) results, and finally a strong conclusion. I fear I will go over time, but I will make that sacrifice for concrete. Another goal is to inspire people to think interdiscipline-arily when thinking of global issues such as climate change, as only a culmination of perspectives leads to feasible and equitable changes in society.
Thanks for reading the penultimate post, and I hope to see you all soon (don't be late like Sidhant).
Max Polosky
Week 12: Project's End ... and New Beginning!
Never Set in Stone: What the Future Holds for Coconut Shell Ash and for my Project
Hello friend(s)! It's been great getting to know each other through the BISV senior project website. Technology is truly a marvel, not just for communication, but also for analyzing and collaborating on concrete, which you'll see soon. Here, we'll conclude the project and reflect on all the challenges we met along the way. Let's get into it!
As always, for the main blog, videos and other extra content, go to: https://itsjustmax.wixsite.com/maxseniorproject
Link to video of my final presentation: https://youtu.be/OPm337l4T2k
Last Minute Research: Acid-Treated CSA Concrete
On the Tuesday of the week of the presentation, I once again journeyed to Safeway (not sponsored) to buy distilled water to pour into my makeshift hydration chamber at school. This chamber, also used for the previous cubes, consisted of water poured into a Dr. Davies plastic box, in which I placed the cube trays, making sure the water level was over the concrete for continuous hydration reactions to gain concrete strength. Then, I placed another Dr. Davies box on top to prevent hydration. Diagram below.
Then, on Friday (the day before the presentations), I brought the samples down to Fortera, and Nick helped me do compressive strength testing once again.
The results seemed promising, with 3/4 of the 10% cement replacement with acid-treated CSA recipes being stronger than the normal 10%. Even so, no conclusion can be drawn, as statistical deviations between cubes within each mix type were too large, up to a 20-30% variation between individual cubes and the average of the 3 same-recipe cubes in some cases. The reason is likely the less controlled hand-mixing method I used instead of the regular concrete mixer. The 4 graphs below, used in the final presentation, demonstrate this point better:
Since some acid remained in the CSA after acid treatment (leading to yield >100%), I accounted for that dilution of the CSA in the 3rd and 4th graphs. There is a trend with decreasing strength as replacement increases, which is not good in the eyes of the industry and the people living in 15-story concrete buildings.
Chemical Analysis Results Bring Clarity, and More Questions
Now, the results of the Industry tests at Cemex also showed similar results in terms of strength loss, so obviously something is up with the Coconut Shell Ash. Electron Microscope Imaging below reveals that despite heavy burning in the kiln for 5-9 hours at 500-900C, the carbon in the ash was only reduced by <10%. Still, this should've meant a bit more strength than the previous project part's unburned 90-95% carbon CSA concrete, so it's odd that it would be weaker now.
Reflections
This project has truly been a culmination. I'm very happy with the interdisciplinary path I set out on, integrating the geopolitical, economic, scientific and environmental factors of concrete, while also exploring a new area within this longstanding industry. I was able to take my knowledge from my favorite classes such as Colonial and Post-Colonial History and Rhetoric (for analyzing papers and world politics and making my speech), AP Environmental Science (for obvious reasons), all the chemistries and STEM classes (for creating experiments and analyzing data), and even Business/DECA/Economics. Not only that, I was able to use my soft skills to learn and navigate the numerous challenges that waited around every hard, concrete corner of the project. Using what we know to pursue new ideas with an endless passion and curiosity, I believe this is the meaning of higher academics and life in general.
As I venture off to college, this experience won't just be a footnote, but a foothold to higher places, whether that be academic success or success in internships/job opportunities. I'm grateful for the experience, and grateful to my amazing friends and family who helped along the way. We do stand on the shoulders of giants after all. I hope to continue working with concrete and other areas that have the potential for massive environmental improvements, continuing to combine society and science in a search for implementable and feasible solutions to save a dying planet.
Future of Coconut Shell Ash and Concrete
Although current results look grim, the humanities-sided literary analysis actually looks at CSA favorably. The main coconut producers (Indonesia, India, the Philippines) are all important members of the Non-Aligned Movement, and could use CSA to meet climate goals set by the UN and the likes, while not getting involved in the global trade wars that characterize the US-China relations by importing more cement or other SCMs. CSA could also be invaluable extra income for impoverished coconut farmers. On the science side, we need more bulk testing of CSA and novel SCMs to meet the growing demand, while also creating new standards for measuring emissions of these SCMs. On top of that, investigating other materials such as 100% SCM 0% cement geopolymer concrete and recycled materials could lower the demand for cement as well.
As I said before, solutions exist, but making them viable to be applied large-scale is a while other mountain to climb. I don't think this should discourage us though. In fact, humans have always been motivated by a good challenge, and this time is no different. Go out there and start making a difference people, no matter how small. Movement is movement and that is more than most people dare to do.
Keep being great.
Max Polosky out.
Coconut Fact number I forgot: The coconuts of success await us at the top of the palm of challenge. Time to get climbing!