Raw Materials for Cement

Lime Silica
Four essential elements are
needed to make cement.
CaO SiO2
They are oxides of Calcium,
Silicon, Aluminium and Iron.
Calcium is the main ingredient.

These are generally mined from

the quarry by either extraction or
blasting. Al2O3 Fe2O3
Alumina Iron Oxide
Sources of Raw Materials

LIME STONE CLAY IRON ORE BAUXITE

Source of Source of Source of Source of

CALCIUM SILICON IRON ALUMINUM

60-67 % 17-25 % 0.5-6% 3-8%

Role of Constituents – Lime
It is the main constituent for manufacturing of
cement which imparts cementing property to
cement.

An excess quantity of lime causes expansion

and disintegration of cement.

Deficiency in lime causes decrease in strength

and the cement set quickly.

If it is in right proportion, it makes the cement

sound and strong.
Role of Constituents – Silica

This play a major role in imparting strength to

concrete.

Silica undergoes the chemical reaction with

calcium to form dicalcium silicate (C2S) and
tricalcium silicates (C3S).

Excess silica adds strength to cement but it

prolongs the setting time.
Role of Constituents - Alumina

This forms complex compounds with silica and

calcium to impart setting property of cement.

It acts as a flux and lowers the clinkering

temperature.

Use of an excess amount of alumina quickens

setting time but reduces the strength of
cement.
Role of Constituents – Iron Oxide

This is mainly responsible for imparting colour

to cement.

The hardness and strength is also improved to

a certain extent.

It helps in the fusion of raw materials while

burning of raw materials in kiln during
manufacture of cement.
 PRE
HEATING
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BURNING CEMENT CEMENT

IN KILN GRINDING SILOS

PACKING
HOUSE

STOCK RAW
MINING
PILE GRINDING
Limestone Mining
The cement manufacturing
process starts from the
mining of limestone, which
is the main raw material for
making cement.

Limestone is excavated from

open cast mines after drilling
and blasting and loaded on
to dumpers which transport
the material and unload into
hoppers of the limestone
crushers.
Limestone Stockpile Limestone Crushers crush
the limestone to minus 80
mm size and discharge the
material onto a belt
conveyor which takes it to
the stacker.

The material is stacked in

longitudinal or Circular
stockpiles.

It is extracted transversely
from the stockpiles by the
reclaimers and conveyed to
the Raw Mill hoppers for
grinding of raw meal.
Raw Grinding
Limestone along with other
raw materials stored in
hoppers is fed to the Raw
Mill for fine grinding.

The ground raw material

mixture is called Rawmeal,
stored and homogenised in
Rawmeal silo.

Raw Meal extracted from

the silo (now called Kiln
feed) is fed to the top of the
Preheater for preheating
Pre Heating
Raw meal is fed from the top
of the preheater tower, and
it travels from there to the
bottom through several
cyclones.

Each cyclone in the

preheater serves as a heat
exchanger and a separator.

Heat generated and released

by the hot gases in kiln is
used in the preheaters to
promote energy efficiency.
Rotary Kiln
Rotary kiln is a long cylinder
rotating about its axis once
every minute or two. One
end, the feed enters and the
other end firing is done.

The kiln feed is fired to

temperatures of 1,450° C
where a chemical reactions
convert the materials into
hard lumps called Clinker

Clinker is cooled in a grate

cooler before grinding.
Cement Grinding Cooled Clinker along with
Gypsum (for OPC) and also
Pozzolana (for PPC) are
extracted from their
respective hoppers and fed
to the Cement Mills where it
is ground to a fine powder.

Mill discharge is fed to an

elevator, which takes the
material to a separator,
which separates fine product
and the coarse. The latter is
sent to the mill inlet for
regrinding and the fine
product is stored in Cement
silos
Packing and Despatching
Cement extracted from silos
is conveyed to the automatic
electronic packers where it is
packed in 50 Kgs. bags and
dispatched to various
locations.

The Despatch mode can be

rail or road. Also, instead of
50 kg bags, Bulkers may also
be used to send cement.