Effect of used engine oil on the mechanical properties and embodied carbon of concrete blended with wheat straw ash as cementitious material

Every day, more and more binding materials are being used in the construction industry all over the world. However, Portland cement (PC) is used as a binding material, and its production discharges a high amount of undesirable greenhouse gases into the environment. This research work is done to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases discharged during PC manufacturing and to reduce the cost and energy incurred in the cement manufacturing process by making effective consumption of industrial/agricultural wastes in the construction sector. Therefore, wheat straw ash (WSA) as an agricultural waste is utilized as cement replacement material, while used engine oil as an industrial waste is utilized as an air-entraining admixture in concrete. This study’s main goal was to examine the cumulative impact of both waste materials on fresh (slump test) and hardened concrete (compressive strength, split tensile strength, water absorption, and dry density). The cement was replaced by up to 15% and used engine oil incorporated up to 0.75% by weight of cement. Moreover, the cubical samples were cast for determining the compressive strength, dry density, and water absorption, while the cylindrical specimen was cast for evaluating the splitting tensile strength of concrete. The results confirmed that compressive and tensile strengths augmented by 19.40% and 16.67%, at 10% cement replacement by wheat straw ash at 90 days, respectively. Besides, the workability, water absorption, dry density, and embodied carbon were decreased as the quantity of WSA increased with the mass of PC, and all of these properties are increased with the incorporation of used engine oil in concrete after 28 days, respectively.