1. CementProduction

Cement Production
Chapter 6, Sections 6.1 and 6.2 in

Textbook
Binding materials in the past
• Principally – lime based materials
• Major use of pozzolans (sometimes
inadvertently)
• Bitumen
Towards Modern Cement..
• John Smeaton, while planning the building of
Eddystone lighthouse tower in 1756, discovered that
the best limes for mortar contained a high degree of
clayey matter
• Ultimately, such a lime was used along with
pozzolana in equal quantities
Eddystone lighthouse tower
•Completed in 1759
•72 feet tall; 93 steps
•Newer lighthouse
constructed in 1882;
Smeaton’s tower was
moved stone-by-stone to
Plymouth, where it is still
the most major landmark
Hewlett, 2001
Portland Cement
• L. J. Vicat: Prepared artificial hydraulic lime by calcining an
intimate mixture of limestone (chalk) and clay – principal
forerunner to Portland Cement
• Proto  Meso  Normal Portland cement
• 1824 – Joseph Aspdin, while obtaining a patent for his
hydraulic cement, termed it as Portland cement, upon Portland
stone (limestone from Dorset, UK), which had a high quality
and durability and a similar appearance – ‘Proto’ Portland
cement
• Later, William Aspdin (son) – ‘Meso’ Portland cement
(William) Aspdin’s creation
A – Alite, or C3S
B – Belite, or C2S
Kiln for burning Hewlett, 2001
Comparison of PC – then and now
Parameter Aspdin clinker Modern clinker
Relative burning rate Slow (poor) Quick
Alite size 60 μm 10 – 40 μm
Belite size 5 – 10 μm 20 – 60 μm
Cooling rate Slow (poor) Quick
αC2S Nil 10 – 20%
Kiln Vertical (beehive) Rotary

Portland Cement
• An unusual industrial product produced in huge quantities in
special plants that can produce nothing else
• The product is produced by a combination of unusual unit
operations involving mining, very fine scale blending of raw
materials, very high temperature clinkering reactions, controlled
cooling, grinding, blending, and finally shipping under controlled
conditions
• Chemical composition is maintained within narrow limits
despite huge tonnages
Portland cement production
• Typical plant costs range upwards of $250 million - a fairly
substantial fixed investment.
• Plant must produce continuously to pay off capital costs
• Plant must also produce continuously to maintain kiln
integrity - 3 shifts per day!
• Plant must comply with severe environmental constraints
• All this must be done to produce a commodity product that
sells for Rs. 6 - 8 / kg
Raw Materials for Cement
• Calcareous material – Containing CaCO3 (primary
source – limestone); impurities such as iron and alumina
are sometimes present
• Argillaceous material – Containing clayey matter, source
of SiO2, Al2O3
• Gypsum – Added in the final stages of manufacture as a
set regulator
• Ground limestone (or even fly ash) is also added to
cement in varying quantities (IS permits up to 5% in
OPC)
Raw material sources
Calcium Silicon Aluminum Iron
Limestone Clay Clay Clay Note:

Marl$ Marl Shale Iron ore $ Limestone
Calcite Sand* Fly ash Mill scale deposits with a
Aluminum ore high fraction of
Aragonite Shale Shale
refuse clay minerals
Shale Fly ash Blast furnace dust
* Usually a
problem, as quartz
Sea Shells Rice hull ash
is hard, remains in
Cement kiln dust Slag
the coarse fraction
http://iti.northwestern.edu/cement/monograph/Monograph3_3.html
Cement Production
Schematic depiction of process
www.ieagreen.org.uk/jan46.htm
Lafarge Arasmeta (Chattisgarh)
Pulverization
• Raw material feedstock should be Equipment involved:
pulverized to the right size Jaw crushers
• Reduces overall power Roll crushers
consumption Hammer and impact crushers
• Better blending and burning Gyratory crushers
possible with reduced size of
material Ball mills
• Desired size: Residue of 1% on Roller presses
200 micron sieve and 12% on 90 Classifiers
micron sieve
Blending of raw materials
• Choice of blending process
- Wet or dry
• Wet process – more uniform mixing
• Dry process – higher output, lower power consumption
(3000 kJ/kg as opposed to 5500 for wet process)
• Dry process with precalciners are the order of the day;
almost no wet process plants today…some semi-wet (when
limestone is wet)
Blending – Wet Vs. Dry
• When moisture content of raw materials is > 15 - 20%, wet
blending (in slurry form) is preferred
• When MC < 8%, dry blending is done
• For 8% < MC < 15%, raw meal slurry (similar to wet
process) is prepared, sent through a short kiln with a
cyclonic preheater
• Wet blending – better blend
Preheaters / Precalciners
Wikipedia
Stack of cyclonic separators – ensures uniform

heating
Precalciner – fuel introduced into the cyclone 
causes reactions to partially complete even before
kiln
Burning in kiln
• Only rotary kilns used nowadays
• Typical kilns are long ~ 30 – 70 m (5 – 6 m dia)
• Length of kiln also depends on blending process
• Temperature inside kiln varies from 850 (at inlet) to 1450
oC (at the outlet)
• Reactions are not completed inside kiln; some require

cooling to occur
• What comes out of kiln is called ‘clinker’
Reactions in the kiln
• The clinkering reactions involve conversion of mixtures of
calcium carbonate and silica and alumina- bearing
components to a mixture of special crystalline components
capable of reacting with water to produce controlled setting
and strength gain
• The major components in clinker are impure but well
crystallized fine (ca. <50 µm) crystals of tricalcium silicate
and dicalcium silicate
Kiln reactions (continued)
• Minor but important crystalline components are extremely
fine crystals of tricalcium aluminate and calcium aluminate
ferrite solid solution (ferrite)
• Of great importance despite minor amount present are
deposits of soluble crystalline components (alkali sulfates and
calcium alkali sulfates) on the surfaces of clinkers
Kiln reactions - schematic
Mindess and Young, 1981

Kiln reactions
Up to 700 oC: activation of silicates through
removal of water and changes in crystal structure
700 – 900 oC: dacarbonation of CaCO3, initial
combination of A, F, and activated silica with
lime
900 – 1200 oC: Belite (C2S) formation
> 1250 oC (more particularly, > 1300 oC): liquid
phase appears and promotes the reaction between
belite and free lime to form alite (C3S)
Cooling stage: molten phase (containing C3A and
C4AF) gets transformed to a glass; if cooling is
Hewlett, 2001 slow, C3A crystallizes out (causes setting
problems), or alite converts to belite and free
lime
Clinker Cooler
Grate cooler Cross-bar cooler
http://www.cementkilns.co.uk/cooler_gra http://www.flsmidth.com/en-
te.html US/eHighlights/Archive/Cement/2010/N
ovember/Latest+cross-bar+cooler
Intergrinding with gypsum
• Final step in cement manufacture
• Gypsum added as a set regulator (absence  flash set)
• Strict control on temperature required
• Done in ball mills; vertical roller presses are now used for
better efficiency
• All other blending materials are typically introduced at this
stage (e.g. fly ash for PPC)
• Cement of required fineness produced
Other issues
• Cement manufacture today is a highly controlled process
• However, there is lot of variation in quality of cements
(between brands, in the same brand, sometimes in batches
produced on the same day!)
• Quality control during cement manufacture  done at
every stage in the process
Quality control
• Sampling and evaluation should be performed
after excavation from the quarry, before and after
blending the feedstock, after formation of clinker,
after intergrinding clinker with gypsum, and
finally before packaging in the bags and drums
Quality control parameters
Lime saturation factor (LSF) = C/(2.8S + 1.2A + 0.65F), where C, S, A,
and F are the % amounts of CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3, respectively.
Generally between 92 – 98%; more than 100% => presence of free
lime
Silica ratio (or modulus) = S/(A + F); generally 2.0 – 3.0
Alumina ratio (or modulus) = A/F; generally 1.0 – 4.0
Potential C3S from Bogue formulation
The LSF is particularly important because it dictates the amount of free
lime that will be present in the product. Too much free lime can cause
unsoundness of the cement.
Further reading
http://www.theconcreteportal.com/cem_prodn.html
http://www.lafarge-na.com/wps/portal/na/en/2_2_1-Manufacturing_process
http://www.cement.org/cement-concrete-applications/how-cement-is-made
http://www.engineeringintro.com/uncategorized/cement-manufacturing-process/
https://cembureau.eu/cement-101/the-manufacturing-process/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv71N_NztAw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH6S7WpAsFU

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Cement Production

Chapter 6, Sections 6.1 and 6.2 in

•72 feet tall; 93 steps

Relative burning rate Slow (poor) Quick

Cooling rate Slow (poor) Quick

αC2S Nil 10 – 20%

Kiln Vertical (beehive) Rotary

Limestone Clay Clay Clay Note:

Stack of cyclonic separators – ensures uniform

• Reactions are not completed inside kiln; some require

Mindess and Young, 1981

Grate cooler Cross-bar cooler

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