The Use of Bagasse Ash as a Source of Silica for Production of Container Glass

Abstract

The study focused on the feasibility of recycling sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) to produce container glass. The bagasse was calcined through a Gallenkamp muffle furnace at 600°C and then held at 700°C for 1 ½ hrs and large amount of bagasse ash was obtained. 30 and 18 mesh sieves were used simultaneously to produce a fine powdered of the materials. 5g of SCBA sieved, calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate were passed through atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The result reveals SiO₂ 76.34wt%, Al₂O₃ 8.55wt%, Fe₂O₃ 2.93wt%, Na₂O 0.12wt%, TiO₂ 0.80wt%, K₂O 1.50wt%, CaO 0.07wt%, SO₃ 2.25wt%, Cr₂O₃ 0.05wt%, Mn₂O₃ 0.06wt% and LOI 6.42wt%. Interestingly, the ash contained high amount of silica of 76.34wt% which could supply all SiO₂ needed to produce soda lime silica glass. A container glass batch composition was formulated from 95.899g of SCBA, 19.220g of CaCO₃ and 25.556g of Na₂CO₃ and fired in muffle furnace at temperature between 1100°C-1200°C for 3 hours. The resulting glass was amber in colour which signifies the presence of iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) and sulphur trioxide (SO₃) in bagasse ash. This implies that the ash can be used to produce amber glass for beverages and storing pharmaceutical drugs especially those which are sensitive to light.