Title Proposal:

EFFECT OF KANGKONG FIBERS (WATER SPINACH) AS PARTIAL

REPLACEMENT FOR CEMENT IN CONCRETE

Introduction
Housing is the most essential in family raising. It is a structure or building that provides
protection and comfort to us people who currently lives in a fast-growing population country.
The present population of the Philippines is over 100 million which had increased of 8.22%
compared to the statistical population of year 2005 and is semi-rapid currently increasing.
Buildings and infrastructure is one of the most essential in human needs and human living that
made our worldly constructions developed and innovated. The higher the population, the higher
the demand of a structure to be constructed. These informations are in accordance of
Worldometers who is owned by Dadax, a foreign Independent company that provides monitoring
of population all over the world.
A cement is a binder, a substance used in construction that sets, hardens and adheres to
other materials, binding them together. Cement is seldom used solely, but is used to bind sand
and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement is used with fine aggregate to produce mortar for
masonry, or with sand and gravel aggregates to produce concrete. The demands of cement are
growing rapidly due to the rapid development and construction worldwide. The primary product
in producing cement is limestone and required 1400 C to heat in the kiln. Cement manufacture
causes environmental impacts at all stages of the process. These include emissions of airborne
pollution in the form of dust, gases, noise and vibration when operating machinery and during
blasting in quarries, and damage to countryside from quarrying. Equipment to reduce dust
emissions during quarrying and manufacture of cement is widely used, and equipment to trap
and separate exhaust gases are coming into increased use. Environmental protection also
includes the re-integration of quarries into the countryside after they have been closed down by
returning them to nature or re-cultivating them.
Pozzolans are materials with an amorphous siliceous or siliceous and aluminous content that
react with calcium hydroxide in the presence of water to form cementitious hydration products
(calcium silicate hydrates and calcium silicate aluminate hydrates).
Kangkong or Water Spinach in common English term, have a very pleasant, mild, sweet
flavour and a slightly slippery texture, which contrast when cooked with the crispness of the
stems. Used as a common food source by many social groups whicn in fact, eaten 2-3 times a
week for many people. Water spinach is used most frequently as a cooked vegetable of the
Filipinos. It will become a pest if it gets too old. Kangkong is only edible when young depending
where it grew and cultivated. Unlike the undesirable growth of these aquatic plants in polluted
areas, Kangkong could be dangerous to eat because of the wide variety of pollutants that might
have been present in its area of growth. It multiplies rapidly with pieces of the stems covering a
large place in a short time. It invades wetlands, where its long, floating stems, form dense mats
which can block the flow of water and prevent passage of boats. Water spinach can quickly get
out of control that is why they will be considered as pests if ignored and have not taken care of.
Due to the reason of more and more buildings and structures that are constructed during
the time being, the demand of the building materials had come to its peak point where the
concern of public and related industries have been disturbed. Shortage of building materials is
not the only issue but also its great impact to the environment. Kangkong as an agricultural
source, can generate an agro-waste material after the fibers had been left aside because the only
part that is safe to eat are the young top leaves. And also it could become a pests after it becomes
fully grown due to the fact that its not edible anymore. *that is why we came up to the idea of
inventing and experimenting a new partial source of cement in concrete mixture.
Background of the study
Over the last few decades, there has been an increasing trend on blending ordinary
Portland cement with locally sourced raw materials such as industrial, agricultural or domestic
waste. Fly ash, blast furnace slag, silica fume, rice husk, oil palm shell, coconut shell, corn cob,
tobacco waste, bamboo leaf, sugarcane baggage, groundnut shell, egg shell have already been
tested as suitable and dependable alternative materials in cement production due their wide
availability and successfully utilized, wherever applicable. Amongst these, rice husk, fly ash,
blast furnace slag, silica fume and egg shell and water hyacinth have proven their effectiveness
as partial cement replacement material both in laboratory and practice.
Water Spinach (Ipomoea Aquatica) commonly known as Kangkong, an entirely free
source of biomass. It is a semi-aquatic tropical plant grown as a leaf vegetable and it does not
grow well where the mean temperature is below 24C. Leaves are flat, and vary in shape
depending on variety, from heart-shaped to long, narrow and arrow-shaped. The stems can grow
up to 12 inches (30cm) tall with trailing stems thare 7-10 feet (2-3 meters) long, but can get to
almost 70 feet (21 meters). The older parts of the plants are often used for feeding domestic
animals and cultivated fish. Water spinach often is cultivated in eutrophic, shallow ponds and
canals or in former rice fields that are subject to flooding, and it has a proven ability to control
water quality.
The vigorous and its prolific growth can quickly covers expanses of water and can invade
most cultivated areas such as rice and sugarcane fields and other areas with varying water levels.
The search for a new and viable alternative is important for conservation of natural
resources and reduction in the manufacturing cost. This research will focus on Kangkong stems
as a partial replacement in cement and its effect in concrete mixture.

Statement of the Problem

Aims to study the impact of kangkong stems/fibers in concrete.
Hypothesis
The effect of Kangkong Fiber Ash as a partial replacement for cement in concrete mixture would
result an enhancement of the strength and durability of the concrete mixture. Also, the
effectiveness of KFA as a substitute for the cement will become one solution for the disposal of
improper cultivated Kangkong which grew in polluted area.
Objective of the Study
This study was conducted to achieve the following objectives:

1. To discover new material that could be a partial replacement in concrete mixture.

2. To determine the effect of kangkong fibers as a partial replacement in concrete

mixture.

3. To study the development of tensile strength and compressive strength of a

kangkong fiber concrete mixture.

4. To determine the water absorption of a concrete containing kangkong fibers (water

spinach) as partial replacement for cement in concrete mixture.

Significance of the Study

To impart a knowledgeable experiment that could help in attaining progress and
innovative industry of the civil engineering applying a new and modernized method of
making a concrete solution/mixture.
To become a guide in discovering a new building structure components using renewable
and reusable organic materials
We are hoping that this research will become successful, so that it could become a source
of new knowledge and discoveries in the near future for the aspiring future engineers of
our world.
For Environmental Concerns:
- To reduce the waste production and to implement recycling and reusing of natural
and organic resources.
Scope and limitations of the Study

Related study and literature

Evaluation of Water Hyacinth Stem Ash as Pozzolanic Material for use in blended
cement by Neelu Das and Shashikant Singh of India
WATER LILY (Nymphaeaodorata) FIBERS AS ADDITIVE IN MAKING CONCRETE
TEGULA ROOF by Reinalyn Nequinto, Anica Bianca Ordan and Alyssa Nicole Satorre
of Santa Cruz, Laguna, Philippines

Methodology: conceptual framework