International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Materials Engineering 2013 (ICMIME2013) 1-3 November, 2013, RUET, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Page | 508 Paper ID: IE-30 Characterization of Calcined Sugarcane Bagasse Ash and Sugarcane Waste Ash for Industrial Use Mst. Shanjida Sultana and Md. Aminur Rahman Mineralogy Division, Institute of Mining, Mineralogy and Metallurgy, BCSIR, Joypuhat-5900 E-mail: shammiswe@yahoo.com Abstract The utilization of waste material provides a satisfactory solution to some of the environmental concerns and problems associated with waste management. In this study sugarcane bagasse ash and sugarcane waste were calcined at 400 0 C, 600 0 C, 800 0 C and 1000 0 C temperature for 2hours.These samples has been chemically and physically characterized in order to evaluate the possibility of their use in metallurgical and materials industry. XRF analysis for chemical composition of the samples, XRD analysis for determination of composition and presence of crystalline material as well as physical properties has been studied. Carbon content has been determined by elemental analyzer. Bagasse ash is an industrial waste that mainly consists of high amount of silica (SiO 2 ) and carbon materials. Calcium, magnesium and potassium oxide presents as main minor compound. As temperature increases, the sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) and sugarcane waste ash (SCWA) color changes from black to grey and white which indicates that the carbon content present in the SCBA and SCWA were reasonably reduced. The ignition loss of SCBA and SCWA was significantly reduced with increasing temperature. Particle size analysis indicates sample fineness was improved with increasing temperature. Keywords: Bagasse ash, sugarcane waste ash, calcination, particle size 1. Introduction A large amount of industrial waste is producing day by day in Bangladesh. In present special attention has been devoted to the waste minimization practices, pollution prevention, and sustainable development as applied to the material field. Sugar industry lays an immense importance in agro-based economy of Bangladesh. Sugar cane, the only raw material of this industry is the main cash-crop of north Bengal of our country. Sugarcane is produced in 2.05% land of the country and it contributes 5.52% to agricultural GDP [1]. There are 15 sugar mills in Bangladesh and the bagasse is the major by-product of these mills. Some amount of the by-product is used as fuel for boiler in the millhouse. Mostly this is either under-utilized or unutilized as a source of heat energy. It is creating waste management problem, specially in the sugar milling sites. Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) which is a voluminous by-product in the sugar mills when juice is extracted from the cane. It is, however, generally used as a fuel to fire furnaces in the same sugar mill that yields about 8- 10% ashes containing high amounts of un-burnt matter, silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium oxides. But the ashes obtained directly from the mill are not reactive because of these are burnt under uncontrolled conditions and at very high temperatures. Ganesan et al [2] stated that 1 ton of sugarcane generates 280 kg of bagasse, and that based on economics as well as environmental related issues, enormous efforts have been directed worldwide towards bagasse management issues i.e. of utilization, storage and disposal. The ash, therefore, becomes an industrial waste and poses disposal problems. It’s utilization as an adsorbent as well as mineral admixture in cement and concrete has been examined [3]. Recently, the use of agriculture solid waste materials as pozzolans in the manufacture of blended mortars and concrete has been the focus of research [4,5, 6]. ASTMC618 [7] classified SCBA as N pozzolan and adapted for use in making cement [8, 9]. According to Sing et al [10], the ash produced by controlled burning of agro waste materials below 700°C transforms silica content of the ash in to amorphous silica and can be used as a pozzolanic material. SCBA has proved to be a viable by-product for admixture in cement, with its intrinsic characteristic such as high content of silica in the form of quartz [3]. However, the high carbon content is an obstacle for its use in cement/mortars.