1.

Introduction
Cement industries is the major industries and manufacturer of domestic goods (cement) in Nepal.
Hetauda Cement Industries Ltd., Udayapur Cement Industries Ltd., Shree Maruti Cement Ltd., KC
Super Cement, National Cement Pvt. Ltd. etc. And Kepy cement industries Pvt. Ltd is the another
major cement manufacturer located in Naubise, Dhading district of Nepal which was established
about eight years ago to manufacture Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Pozzalana Portland
Cement (PPC). This cement factory is based on Vertical Shaft Kiln technology. It was conceived
and executed in the most challenging environment reflecting the commitment and vision of the
management. The Kepy cement has 130 manpower in day and night shift among them 25 works
in night shift and other remaining work in daytime producing 54000 tons of cement
(www.kepycement.com, 2014).
Cement has been categories as the first fundamental constructive material. In the Modern society,
cement is one of the most reliable and important constructive material. Cement refers to material
which acts as a binding substance. In construction and civil engineering cement is used to bind
structural members for construction of buildings, Pavements, bridges, tunnels, roads and highways
etc. Cement may be Natural cement or artificial cement. Natural cement is manufactured by
burning and then crushing the natural cement stones. Cement stones are such stones which contain
20% to 40% of argillaceous matter i.e. clay and remaining content mainly calcareous matter which
is either calcium carbonate alone or mixture of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.
Artificial cement is manufactured by burning at high temperature an intimate mixture of
argillaceous and calcareous substances. The burnt mixture of calcareous and argillaceous matter
is known as clinker. And at last the resulting clinkers are crushed to a fine powder in which a little
gypsum is added. Gypsum is added to delay the setting action of the cement for some time, so that,
it may be properly mixed, applied and finished. Generally cement used in the construction works,
are of following types:
1. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
2. Blast Furnace Slag Cement (BFSC)
3. Portland Pozzolona Cement (PPC)
4. Rapid Hardening Cement (RHC)
5. Sulphate Resistant Cement (SRC)

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The OPC or the Ordinary Portland Cement is the only type of cement being produced in Nepal.
This is most commonly being used in simple construction like building house etc. Ordinary
Portland Cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world is a basic
ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout. It is a fine powder produced
by grinding Portland cement clinker (more than 90%), a limited amount of calcium (controls the
set time) and up to 5% minor constituents (as allowed by various standards).

The ordinary cement consists of three ingredients predominantly. They are clay or alumina, silica
and lime. Besides, these ingredient most cement contain small amount of iron oxide, magnesium
oxide, sulphur trioxide, alkalies and other materials. The typical percentage of these constituents
in good ordinary cement may be as follows (www.fncci.com, 2010).

Table 1: Composition of cement

S. No. Name of constituent Typical percentage Limit of %

1. Alumina or clay (Al2O3) 5% 3-8%
2. Silica (SiO2) 22% 17-25%
3. Lime (CaO) 62% 60-67%
4. Iron oxide 3% 0.5-6%
5. Magnesia (MgO) 2% 0.1-4%
6. Sulphur trioxide 1% 1-3%
7. Alkalies (soda and potash) 1% 0.2-1%
8. Calcium Sulphate(CaSO4) 4% 3-5%

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2. Objectives of case study
The objective of the research is to creative descriptive, analytical and explanatory understanding
of Kepy cement factory

 To study the existing operation of the Kepy cement.

 To study the technology used and technology gap.

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3. Operation of existing system

The production process and technology used in cement production:

e

Limestone Limestone Raw mill

Crusher Clay/shale, silica, iron ore
Quarry Stockpile

Coal Coal Mill

Clinker Klin Blending

Clinker Kiln feeds
Silos Silos

Gypsum Additives

Cement
Cement Mill cement Despatch
Silos

Fig: Process Layout of Cement Production

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3.1. Crushing:

Firstly the line major component in the composition of cement Calcium Oxide (CaO) is obtained
from the quarries is crushed to seven inch during primary crushing and 25mm during crushing. All
the crushed materials are checked for calcium carbonate, lime, alumina, ferrous oxide and silica
contains. This process is done repeatedly as there may be some variations in composition limestone
obtained from same quarries. If the composition of limestone does not meet the required or the
desired quality then some limestone having good composition is mixed.

3.2. Raw mill:

The raw mill is the equipment used to grind raw material into raw mix during the manufacture of
the cement. The raw mill stays of the process effectively defines the chemistry of the finished
cement and has the large effect upon the efficiency of the whole manufacturing process. The raw
minerals are fed to raw mills by the means of conveyer and proportioned the help of weight feeder
which are adjusted as per chemical analysis done on the raw materials. The raw materials are
ground to the desired finest in the raw mill. The resulting fine powder is blown upward where it is
collected in cyclones. The fine powder is fed to the large size continues blending by use of aero
pole. The mineral from the blending silo is dropped by gravity.

3.3. Clinkerisation:
Material is increased in stages from 60C to 850C with the help of hot gases having of 1000C. The
pre heater is a sloped kiln in which well-proportioned raw material is fed from top. Being the
material automatically comes at the lower end of the pre heater. The raw mixture is heated in a
cement kiln, a slowly rotating and sloped cylinder, with temperatures increasing over the length of
the cylinder up to a peak temperature of 1400-1450 °C. A complex succession of chemical
reactions take place (see cement kiln) as the temperature rises. The peak temperature is regulated
so that the product contains sintered but not fused lumps. Sintering consists of the melting of 25-
30% of the mass of the material. The resulting liquid draws the remaining solid particles together
by surface tension, and acts as a solvent for the final chemical reaction in which alite is formed.
Alite is the name for Tricalcium Silicate Ca3SiO5.. It is the characteristics mineral in the Portland

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cement . Too low a temperature causes insufficient sintering and incomplete reaction, but too high
a temperature results in a molten mass or glass, destruction of the kiln lining, and waste of fuel.
When all goes to plan, the resulting material is clinker.

3.4. Grinding

In order to achieve the desired setting qualities in the finished product, a quantity (2-8%, but
typically 5%) of calcium sulfate (usually gypsum or anhydrite) is added to the clinker and the
mixture is finely ground to form the finished cement powder. This is achieved in a cement mill.
The grinding process is controlled to obtain a powder with a broad particle size range, in which
typically 15% by mass consists of particles below 5 μm diameter, and 5% of particles above 45
μm. The measure of fineness usually used is the "specific surface", which is the total particle
surface area of a unit mass of cement. The rate of initial reaction (up to 24 hours) of the cement on
addition of water is directly proportional to the specific surface. Typical values are 320–380
m2·kg−1 for general purpose cements, and 450–650 m2·kg−1 for "rapid hardening" cements. The
cement is conveyed by belt or powder pump to a silo for storage. Cement plants normally have
sufficient silo space for 1–20 weeks production, depending upon local demand cycles. The cement
is delivered to end-users either in bags or as bulk powder blown from a pressure vehicle into the
customer's silo. In developed countries, 80% or more of cement is delivered in bulk, and many
cement plants have no bag-packing facility. In poor countries bags are the normal mode of
delivery.

3.5. Packing of cement

Cement are generally packed in jute bags conventionally and this is also used in packing of cement
in Nepal because of its low cost. But jute has many draw backs listed below
• Jute bags when emptied contains some cement which is wasted and because of this wastage
full quantity does not reach the concrete mixture.
• The handling of jute bags proves harmful to the health of laborer as they inhale a
Considerable amount of cement during loading and unloading.
• The quality of cement is affected due to entry of moisture from the atmosphere.

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4. Problems
Perfection cannot be achieved without having some faults. Even though there may be various faults
they are not always obvious. Efficiency may be increased simply changing small arrangement in
the design. Kepy Cement Industries Pvt. Ltd. too has no obvious faults; however, we have found
it to be inefficient in some sections such as:

 Formation dust and dirt produced which are collected by filter and suction is not
completely recycled hence some pollution.
 No exclusive system in measuring temperature in Clinkerisation process while klin are
heated instead checked in lab which is not accurate which results in quality of cement. The
major risks to process operational performance are:
• Low accuracy and reliability of the temperature measurement can lead to increased
energy cost.
• Nonscheduled maintenance can generate unexpected non planned costs.
• Unscheduled down time leading to loss of production.
• Inconsistent product quality due to out of spec kiln temperatures

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5. Proposed designs to solve the problems
The production of the cement is quite perfect and employs a number of filters and air suction to
prevent air pollution. However, Formation dust and dirt produced which are collected by filter and
suction is not completely recycled. And lack of exclusive system to measure temperature results
minor degradation in quality of cement.

Here, we purpose a better pollution control system and system to measure temperature exclusively
at clinker heater.

The different instruments and devices we propose to add are:

 The pollution controlling device like RABH (Reverse air bag house) and ESP (Electrostatic
Precipitator).

 The latest wireless temperature measurement technology helps to mitigate the risk
highlighted before: temperature sensors are mounted directly on to the rotating kiln, and
the readings are sent to the control and monitoring system through wireless
communication, without any external wiring. This solution, quick and easy to install, with
no special knowledge required, leaves the simplicity and effectiveness of thermocouple
reading, removing all the technical and process issues related to the kiln movement.

Fig: The Wireless Temperature Transmitter

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 Limestone Limestone Raw mill
Crusher Clay/shale, silica, iron ore
Quarry Stockpile

Wireless Temperature Coal Coal Mill

transmitter

Clinker Klin Blending

Clinker Kiln feeds
Silos Silos

Gypsum Additives

Cement
Cement Mill cement Despatch
Silos

Fig: Process Layout of Cement Production with temperature transmitter

The block diagram of the process can be interpreted as:

Converting the
Get Input Signal Signal Interfacing the
signal to digital
from Sensor Conditioning signal with
form
Microprocessor

Programming
Interfacing
the
Load Circuit.
Microprocessor

Fig: Block diagram of process

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The wireless transmitter is installed on the rotary kiln external surface and is getting the reading
from the thermocouple installed inside the kiln. A mechanical cover is mitigating the heat
irradiation from the kiln surface, protecting the transmitter electronics from the high temperature.
The temperature transmitter sends real time data to a wireless receiver installed not far from the
rotary kiln. The receiver is connected either with a 4-20mA or a Modbus connection to the control
system.

5.1 Signal Conditioning:

The signal conditioning is done so as to interface the sensor’s output with the Analog to digital
converter. The main aim of this module is to convert the output of sensors i.e., 0-1V from
temperature sensor 0-5V which is the acceptable working range for an analog to digital converter.

5.2 Converting to digital form:

ADC0809 is used for analog to digital conversion. The analog signal which we get from the sensors
is amplified to 0-5V and is given to the ADC 0809. The analog input from the temperature sensor
is given at IN0 port of ADC. The input port selection is done through the input selection lines
(ADD A, ADDB, ADD C) which are connected to the programmable peripheral interface. The
conversion starts when SOC (Start of Conversion) is given HIGH from the microprocessor through
8255. When the analog input is converted to digital form, the EOC (End of Conversion) port goes
HIGH, informing the microprocessor that the conversion is done. The clock to the ADC is given
from the microprocessor clock output.

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 Fig: ADC 0809 Pin Connection

5.3 Interfacing with microprocessor:

• The digital output from the ADC is interfaced with the microprocessor through a
programmable peripheral interface (PPI 8255).

• PPI 8255 is a 40 pin IC which consists of three 8-bit I/O ports, a 8-bit Bi-directional data
transfer port and a control logic buffer.

• The block diagram of 8255 is as follows:

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 Fig: 8255 PPI

The 8255 PPI is initialized as below:

• Port A - Assigned as Input

• Port B - Assigned as output
• Port CL - Assigned as Input
• Port CU - Assigned as output

The Port A takes input from the digital output pins of ADC. The Port B gives signal to SOC, ALE
and Input Select of ADC. The Port CL takes input from EOC. The Port CU gives the control signal.

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Control Word:

Fig: Control word of PPI

The control word for the PPI is – 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 i.e., 91H.

5.4 Programming logic:

• Configure 8255 I/O ports

• 8085 sends SOC command to ADC

• 8085 waits for EOC signal from ADC

• 8085 reads 8-bit temperature value from port A

• 8085 compares the value with set point value

• 8085 generates the control signal to control load.

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 START

Initialize 8255

Call Conversion

Is
Temp > SETP
PT

Adjust Temperature

Fig: Flow chart of the process

5.5 Economic and Resource benefits:

After implementing this changes significant improvement over the current system can be observed.
Using wireless transmitter will ensure that there is no need to measure the temperature of kiln in
clinkerization in the laboratory repeatedly. This will decrease the human resource as well as
associated cost. Accuracy of heating temperature is very important factor in which quality of
cement depend. So this proposed system will eventually improve quality of cement and benefits
the economic aspect.

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6. Conclusions and Recommendation
In today’s era, all things have been derived from tactical to practical. We visited Kepy Cement
Industries on the verge of our Case Study where we analyzed and studied the current system in use
to manufacture the cement. In this process it came to knowledge that some minor changes can be
made which could enhance the efficient the overall process and eventually increase the quality of
cement.

After study of current process we have proposed some changes like to use wireless temperature
measurement technology to replace the old system of checking temperature in lab with sample of
heated kiln for more user friendly and flexible system. This would result increase in quality of
cement as well as other benefits.

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References

[1] http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~cpatel2/links/310/data_sheets/8255.pdf

[2]https://www.honeywellprocess.com/library/marketing/casestudies/Wireless_CementRotaryKil
n

[3]https://www.iitg.ernet.in/asahu/cs421

[4]http://www.slideshare.net/revanth_nrr/microprocessor-based-temperature-controller

[5] S.N. Ghosh, Advances in Cement Technology, Published by: CRC Press, Jan 1, 2003
[6] Kim R. Fowler, Electronic Instrument Design 11th edition, Published by: Oxford University
Press 2011

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