EFFECT OF HYDROCARBON IMPURITIES ON THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

Abstract

While in its fresh and hardened state, concrete often interact with its environment which can adversely affect its engineering properties. This paper reports the results of investigation into the effect of hydrocarbon (diesel) impurities on the compressive strength of concrete made with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The mixing waters for the normal concrete were contaminated in the order of 5,10,15,20 and 25% respectively with hydrocarbon (diesel) impurities to prepare concrete cubes using mix ratio 1:3:6 and water-cement ratio of 0.5. The results revealed that the higher the percentage of diesel oil in mixing water, the lower the concrete compressive strength obtained. The 28-day compressive strengths diesel oil contaminated concrete cubes were in the range of 86.89% to 47.23% of the control concrete cubes. The use of hydrocarbon contaminated water in concreting should be avoided as much as possible