CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1
2. Basic composition and properties of cement 1
Physical properties
Chemical properties
3. Varieties of cement and their applications 4
4. Manufacture of cement 6
Wet Process
Semi-Dry Process
Dry Process
5. Flow sheet of cement manufacturing process 7
6. Operations in cement manufacture 8
Raw material grinding
Blending of raw material
Coal grinding and fine coal handling
Preheating of coal in the six-stage precalciner string
Pyro processing and calcination in the kiln
Clinker cooler and storage
Cement grinding & packing
1
CEMENT
INTRODUCTION
Joseph Aspdin of England first patent the manufacture of a very improved type
of cementatious material for building construction in 1824, and named it Portland
Cement, because the hardened stone from his cement resembled Portland stone
found in England.
Cement manufacturing is considered one of the strategic industries because it
is directly related to building and construction. Cement is used as a hydraulic binding
material, most often applied as a component of mortar or concrete.
Cement plants are usually sited near limestone, clay quarries in order to
minimize raw material hauling costs.
Definition: Cement can be defined as any substance which can join or unite
two or more pieces of some other substance together to form a unit mass. It is a
material with adhesive and cohesive properties. Cement, as used in construction
industries, is a fine powder which when mixed with water and allowed to set and
harden can join different components or members together to give a mechanically
strong structure.
BASIC COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF CEMENT
Cement is a chemical compound and hydraulic cements are primarily
composed of hydraulic calcium silicates.
Raw materials for making cement with their respective proportions in raw mix
Category Nature and proportion in
raw mix (%)
Materials
Principal Carbonates (75-90%) Limestone, chalk, marble
and seashell
Carbonate sludge of paper,
sugar and fertilizer
industries
Additive Silica Source Sand, sandstone, quartzite,
flyash
Alumino silicates (5-20 %) Clay, soil, slate flyash, and
volcanic rocks (I)
(II)
Lime silicates (5-20 %) Metallurgical slags and
nepheline wastes of
aluminium industry
Supplementary Correctives (1-5 %) Sand, bauxite, sandstone,
iron ore, red mud and
laterite
2
The raw materials used in the manufacture of Portland cement must contain
appropriate proportions of lime, silica, alumina and iron oxide components.
Range of chemical composition of raw mix for Portland cement clinker
Chemical composition Range in percentage
CaO 44-47 %
SiO
2
10-14 %
Al
2
O
3
2-4 %
Fe
2
O
3
1-3 %
MgO 1-3 %
Physical Properties
Physical properties of cement, which determine its quality and fitness for use.
Fineness
Setting time
Soundness
Compressive strength
Fineness
The quality of cement depends to a great extent on the fineness of grinding.
Finely ground cement has a higher initial strength, for it hydrates faster then coarsely
ground cement. It is normally expressed in Blaine (m
2
/kg). Fineness of cement is
determined by air permeability method.
Setting time
Cement sets and gives concrete sufficient strength within a reasonable time. It
is equally important that after mixing and placing setting should be complete within a
reasonable period. It refers to a change from a fluid to a rigid state. Initial and final set
are used to describe setting time.
Initial setting time
This is the time during which the cement paste remains in plastic condition and
can be moulded into any shape. Therefore, mixing, transportation, placing and
compaction shall be complete within initial setting time.
Final setting time
This is the duration after which the cement paste loses its plasticity and becomes
rigid.
Soundness
It refers to volume (dimensions) stability of hardened cement. It is necessary
that a cement paste, once set, should not undergo any volume change. In particular
3
there should be no expansion, otherwise under restraint conditions, cracks may
develop in the hardened paste. The test method for soundness depends on the
magnesia content of the cement.
Compressive Strength
It is the most important property of the cement. Depending upon its class and
type, cement should attain the compressive strengths in the respective cement
standard at 3, 7 and 28 days. In general a lower water cement ratio and a higher
proportion of cement result in higher strength. It is expressed as mega Pascals (MPa)
or Newtons per mm
2
.
Chemical Properties
The various chemical characteristics, which influence the quality of cements, are
Lime saturation factor (LSF)
Insoluble residue (IR)
Magnesia (MgO)
Sulphuric anhydride (SO
3
)
Loss on ignition (LOI)
Alkalis
Chlorides (Cl)
Lime saturation factor (LSF)
It is an indicator of the degree of fixation of lime in cement, which in turn
denotes the level of reactivity of the product. It is the ratio of the percentage of lime to
the sum of the percentages of silica, alumina and iron oxide. This factor should not be
greater than 1.02 and not less than 0.66.
Insoluble residue (IR)
In case of Portland Pozzolana cement, the IR will depend upon the content of
fly ash or calcined clay in the cement.
Magnesia (MgO)
Excess MgO present in the form of a synthetic mineral phase periclase
hydrates very slowly and the product of hydration expands, causing expansion cracks
in the concrete.
Sulphuric Anhydride (SO
3
)
Gypsum is added to clinker at the time of grinding to retard the flash setting
effect of C
3
A. It is termed as set retarder and serves to provide the required
workability of cement paste before its application. The gypsum added to the cement is
present in the form of Sulphuric anhydride.
Loss on ignition (LOI)
LOI of cement is determined by heating a cement sample to 900-1000
o
C until a
constant weight is obtained.
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Alkalis
Alkalis in cement come from raw material.
Chlorides
Chlorides in cement again owe to raw materials used in manufacture. Excess
presence of chlorides results in corrosion of reinforcement in RCC.
Heat of hydration
All cements liberate heat to varying extends during hardening, termed as heat
of hydration.
Colour of cement
Colour of cement depends upon the nature of the raw materials used in the
production of cement. Colour of cement has no influence on its physical and
chemical properties.
The major factors affecting the choice of cement are as follows:
Functional Requirements of the structure
Ground conditions
Environmental and exposure conditions
Speed and method of construction
Durability requirement
VARIETIES OF CEMENT AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
This type of cement develops enough compressive strength at 3 days, 7 days
and 28 days to be suitable for all types of modern civil engineering constructions.
33 Grade ordinary Portland Cement (OPC-33)
Used for general low-rise civil construction works under normal environmental
conditions. The compressive strength of this cement after 28 days is 33 N/mm
2
.
43 Grade ordinary Portland Cement (OPC-43)
It is mostly used for general civil construction works including residential,
commercial, industrial buildings, roads, bridges, flyovers and irrigation projects. Its
minimum compressive strength at 28 days shall be 43 N/mm
2
.
53 Grade ordinary Portland Cement (OPC-53)
It is mostly used for high-rise buildings, long span bridges, flyovers, chimneys
and prestressed concrete structures where high-grade concrete is normally required.
Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
Pozzolanas are clay matter either natural or synthetic, which, when ground
with lime or clinker and mixed with water, produce cementatious compounds. When a
highly reactive pozzolana or fly ash is mixed with Portland cement clinker and ground
5
with the addition of 5% to 6% gypsum the resultant cement is called Portland
Pozzolana Cement. It improves the durability of structure, and also the strength of
concrete over a period of time.
Useful for general construction works and especially suitable for works in
aggressive environmental conditions, marine works, mass concreting such as dams,
foundations, and sewage pipes.
Portland Slag Cement (PSC)
Portland slag cement is manufactured by inter grinding Portland cement
clinker, gypsum and granulated slag obtained from steel and Ferro alloy industries.
Used for general civil engineering construction but mainly for construction of marine
structures and in coastal areas where excessive amounts of chloride and sulphate salts
are simultaneously present.
Masonry Cement
Used for making mortars for brickwork and plastering. It has low compressive
strength. It contains air entering agents and other mineral admixtures.
Low Heat Portland Cement (LHC)
Used for making concrete for dams and other water retaining structures,
massive retaining walls and slabs, etc.
Rapid Hardening Cement (RHC)
Used for repair and rehabilitation works and where speed of construction and
early completion is required due to limitations of time, space or other reasons.
White Portland Cement (WPC)
Meant for nonstructural and mostly decorative use, normally used for flooring,
general architectural purpose, mosaic tiles, decorative concrete wall paintings, and
special effects.
Sulphate Resisting Cement (SPC)
Used for underground structures in sulphate salts abounding environment,
treatment plants, sugar and other chemical industries.
Super Sulphated Cement (SSC)
Marine structures, reinforced concrete pipes in ground water and in chemical
works. Also used for underside of bridges, over railway lines.
Oil Well Cement (OWC)
An advanced class of special purpose cements, used by the petroleum industry
for cementing the steel casing to the walls of the oil wells and to seal the formations.
Special Grade Cement (53-S and 43-S)
A very finely ground cement with high C
3
S content designed to develop high
early strength required for manufacture of concrete sleepers for Indian railways, high
rise buildings where strength concrete is required.
6
MANUFACTURE OF CEMENT
The cement manufacturing process may appear to be very simple. However, there are
a multitude of interlinked steps involved in the continuous process of large volume
cement manufacture. There are three processes of cement manufacture.
Wet Process
Semi-Dry Process
Dry Process
Wet Process
This was the first process to start with. In this process, the raw materials are
ground in a wet ball mill containing 29 to 33 percent water. The water provides the
medium for easy homogenization of the material.
Semi-Dry Process
The semi-dry process is a special example of the dry process and uses a shaft
kiln. In this process the raw material are ground in a dry ball mill. Vertical Shaft Kiln
(VSK) cement plants use this technology.
Dry Process
It is the contemporary modern process. The dry process because of saving in
energy, accurate control and mixing of the raw mixture is displacing the wet process.
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Flow sheet of cement manufacturing process
Mine
Limestone
mining
Mine
Limestone
Mining
Gantry
Storage of
Additives
etc.
Blending
Bed
Blending of
Crushed
Limestone
Mixing and
conveying
Proportioning of
Limestone, clay,
Iron oxide, etc,
And conveying
Raw
Mill
Raw mix
Grinding
Kiln with
PH &
Cooler
Burning of raw
mix
With coal or
Other fuel
Clinker
Gantry
Storage of
clinker
Coal
Mill
Grinding
of
Coal
Crusher
Limestone
Crushing
Cement
Mill
Grinding of
clinker
With
gypsum and
other
additives
Cement
Silo
Storage of
Cement
Bag House
Packing House
Cement Packing
Raw Meal
Silo
Blending &
Storage
8
OPERATIONS IN CEMENT MANUFACTURE
Various stages of cement manufacture are given hereunder.
1. Raw material grinding
2. Blending of raw material
3. Coal grinding and fine coal handling
4. Preheating of coal in the six-stage precalciner string
5. Pyro processing and calcination in the kiln
6. Clinker cooler and storage
7. Cement grinding & packing
Mining of limestone and its transport
Limestone or rocks of similar chemical composition (Marble, chalk, marl and
lime-kankar, etc.) constitute the major raw material for cement making. About 1.5
tonnes of limestone is consumed to produce 1 tonne of cement clinker. The limestone
mine is the lifeline of a plant. It is a major mining activity. The figure shows a
limestone quarry, a rock drill for making holed in the limestone bed for putting
explosives for rock blasting and fragmentation. Mechanical shovels or excavators into
a dump truck for carrying the material to the crusher haul the blasted rock
Limestone Crushing
The mined limestone containing mostly boulder and fragments of varying sizes
is size reduced in a primary crusher. The limestone from the mines is conveyed to the
crusher through conveyor. Crusher reduces the size of the limestone from 1cu.m to
25mm size. The crusher may be located in the quarry or the plant. A belt conveyer
will send the crushed limestone to stacker reclaimer. In order to control the emissions
from the crusher a suitable bag filter system will be provided.
More efficiency when compared to impact crushers
Less energy consumption per ton of limestone
Better maneuverability
Less noise generation
9
Limestone stockpile preparation
A Limestone Stockpile (Closed Stock Pile) has been proposed at the plant site
with stacker . Both high grade and low-grade crushed limestone are made into
stockpiles of 10000- 15000 tonnes by device called stacker. For this purpose, ratios of
different grades of limestone are predetermined such that extraction of the limestone
in slices by a reclaimer will provide the required quality of the reclaimed limestone.
By installing a reclaimer in the plant, the plant can achieve not only quality raw
material input but also the conservation of natural resources by utilizing low-grade
raw material. The crushed limestone is sent to the stacker and reclaimer, which will
improve the pre-blending in the ratio of 1:10.
Raw meal blending and storage
Raw materials are fed into a rotary dryer, where hot air or the flue gases
generated from the kiln dries them. The dried raw material is grinded in raw material
mill and transported to a pre-blending silo to be homogenized by compressed air. The
finely ground raw material called raw meal. The raw material out put from the pre-
blending silo is transported to the storage silo.
Raw meal burning - Pyroprocessing
The Vertical Roller Pregrinder Mill is used mainly for the pregrinding of
clinker. Clinker fed to the center of the mill table via a chute at a constant rate is
spread over the table by centrifugal force to form a uniform layer. The clinker is
caught between the rollers and table liner segments, crushed and conveyed outward
towards the periphery of the table. Ground clinker falls to the base of the mill, where
it is scraped by a paddle installed under the table towards the outlet and out of the
equipment. This crushed clinker is conveyed to a Screen and finer portion from the
10
screen is fed to cement mills and coarser portion of the clinker is sending back to
pregrinder.
In modern cement plants, the raw meal is preheated to a temperature of 900 to
1000
o
C in multi stage preheaters. The material fed from the top of the preheater
passes through stages of cyclones. The hot material from the precalciner will be sent
to a long rotating inclined Kiln for further calcination of the raw material to form
clinker. Kiln is slightly inclined away from the preheater to allow the heated raw
material to roll down slowly towards the outlet. Pulverized coal with the requisite
amount of combustion air is pumped through burners from the other end.
The speed of the rotation will be maintained between 3 to 5 rpm based on the
process conditions and raw material quality. Combustion gases preheat the raw
material at the entrance of the kiln, and provide the heat necessary for the
decomposition of calcium carbonate. The final product formed consists of hard
granular masses from 3 to 30 mm in size called Clinker.
The temperature of clinker at the kiln outlet is nearly 1000
o
C. The clinker is
made to pass through a cooling arrangement called coolers with circulating cold air to
take away the heat. Keeping in view of recent developments in the grate cooler
11
technology, a controlled fluidized grate cooler technology will be adopted in the
proposed cement plant. The temperature of the clinker at the outlet of the cooler may
drop to 95
o
C.
The clinker cooling is important for the following reasons:
o Hot clinker is difficult to convey.
o Ho clinker has negative effect on the grinding process
o The heat content of the clinker is about 200 Kcal/Kg. If we can reclaim this
heat energy and use it again, it lowers the cost of production.
o Proper cooling improves the quality of cement.
Clinker storage
The clinker from the cooler section will be transported by means of a chain
conveyer and will be stored in a closed clinker stockpile. The hot gases from the
clinker cooler will be sent to Electrostatic Precipitators system to collect the dust. In
modern plants the clinker from the cooler is stored under a covered shed or in the
clinker gantry. A common crane lifts the different materials and feeds to different
hoppers in required proportions for further processing.
12
13
Storage of additives
In most plants, additive e.g., gypsum, flyash, slag, etc., used for making
cement from clinker, are stored separately.
Finish grinding of cement
This is the final phase in cement manufacturing, wherein the clinker is ground
with gypsum, and with or without other additives to get the desired variety of cement.
A grinding mill is the machine to reduce the size of the materials. Material size
reduction of 0.25 in. or larger is rushing. Less than 0.25 in. is Grinding. The clinker is
then ground in closed circuit ball mill or in a combination of pregrinder or roll press
with ball mill that ensure an even size of cement particles in each batch of cement.
Storage and packing
After grinding, the cement is collected in a hopper and taken to the cement silo
through a bucket elevator. The cement from the cement silo is taken to the packing
plant. Most cement plants have electronically controlled rotating packing machines
with 8 to 12 nozzles. The system ha provision to account for the weight of empty bags
of different types and to ensure a 50 kg net weight of cement bags within 250 g
limit. These bags are automatically discharged from the packer on to the conveyor
belts to different loading areas.