Characteristics of Foam Concrete Produced from Detergent used as Foaming Agent

摘要

Foam concrete is a popular material used for thermal insulation of built infrastructure. In many parts of the world, however, its use is limited owing to higher cost of the foaming agents, an essential ingredient for the production of foam concrete. In this study, the possibility of production of low-cost foam concrete using locally manufactured detergent powder was experimentally investigated. Various foam concrete mixtures using an indigenous detergent as foaming agent were produced and tested for as-placed density, oven-dry density, compressive strength, thermal conductivity, and water absorption and their properties were compared with corresponding mixes produced with regular foaming agent. Besides a comparison of the mechanical characteristics, cost comparison of the two types of foam concretes was made in local currency. Test results showed that production of foam concrete using locally manufactured detergent powder as foaming agent is a viable practice of producing low-cost foam concrete. Resulting foam concrete was found to have mechanical properties comparable to that of foam concrete produced with regular foaming agent. A significant reduction in production cost was estimated when regular foaming agent is replaced with the indigenous detergent powder for the production of foam concrete.