Strength and durability characteristics of polymer modified concrete incorporating vinyl acetate effluent

Abstract

Waste generation from surface coating industries brings about worsening of the environmental scenery and human health in the world. The production of these wastes is detrimental to surrounding areas in landfill or dumping spaces, therefore necessary action is required to minimize the unpleasant situation. This research is aimed at using waste generated from the manufacture of paint known as vinyl acetate effluent as an admixture in concrete. The material is rinse water taken from the cleaning process reactor. Concrete of 0% vinyl acetate effluent cured in water with those of 2.5%, 5%, 10% and 20% by weight of cement were produced and cured using Japanese standard. The specimens were tested for compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and durability at 3, 7 and 28 days. Findings show that incorporating of 2.5% of Vinyl acetate effluent improves strength properties of concrete. Higher resistance of water absorption and sulfate conditions were observed in polymer modified concrete. The study has shown that incorporating vinyl acetate effluent in producing polymer modified concrete could bring lights of using the waste material for sustainable and environmental preservations.