Rice Husk Ash -Properties and its Uses : A Review

The increasing demand for producing durable construction materials is the outcome of the fast polluting environment. Supplementary cementitious materials prove to be effective to meet most of the requirements of durable concrete. Rice husk ash is found to be superior to other supplementary materials like slag silica fume and flyash. Due to its high pozzolanic activity both strength and durability of concrete are enriched. Unlike other industrial by-products rice husk ash has to be produced out of the ra w agricultural waste, husk. The quality ofash is greatlyinfluencedbyits method of production. To convert this ash into an active pozzolanic material, certain controlled conditions of production and processing methods have to be followed, which are yet to be fully understood and evolved. This paper presents various applications of rice husk ash in general and as pozzolana in particular. Works done on ash production methods have been critically reviewed. Possible areas of research have also been identified.