The Effect of Palm Frond Powder on the Heat-Reducing Ability of Cement Bricks

Cement brick is the primary building material. Until now, this building material continues to be developed in various ways, such as by adding reinforcement to cement bricks. Recently, many researchers have used natural materials as reinforcements. One of the natural materials being researched is natural materials from plantation waste. In Indonesia, there are many oil palm plantations. This plantation has side impacts, such as plantation waste in the form of oil palm fronds. Palm fronds are produced from pruning fronds that are no longer productive (pruning process). Palm oil frond waste is a natural material that can be used as a mixture for cement bricks. However, the influence of adding palm frond powder on the characteristics of cement bricks needs to be proven. This research aims to determine the effect of adding palm frond powder on the heat-reducing ability of cement bricks. Palm fronds are made into powder and mixed into a mixture of sand and cement to be molded into brick samples. The sample was created based on a full factorial design. The sources of variation were the cement/sand ratio and the percentage of palm frond powder. The cement/sand ratio factor is set at two levels, while the palm frond powder factor is three. The experimental results show that the percentage of palm frond powder and its interaction with cement/sand affect temperature, thereby increasing the heat-reducing ability of cement bricks.