Cement

Introduction
 In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder,
a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can
bind other materials together.
 The Cement is the product obtained by combining materials
rich in CaO and other materials such as clay which contains
silica along with oxide of aluminium, iron and magnesium.
The average composition of portland cement is
CaO(50-60%), SiO2(20-25%), Al2O3(5-10%), Fe2O3(1-2%), MgO(2-
3%), Na2O(1%), K2O(1%)
 Raw materials required for cement
production
Calcareous materials: Which supply the lime e.g.
Lime stone Chalk, clay/marl, marine shales and west calcium
carbonate from industrial process.
Argillaceous materials: Which supply the silica(SiO2) , alumina
(Al2O3), iron oxide (Fe2O3). e.g. clay, shale, ashes, blast furnace
slag.
Gypsum (CaSO4. 2H2O)
Principle in cement production
 Cement production consists of grinding of raw materials
into fine powder and mixing them with various
ingredients in suitable proportions followed by burning to
about 1300-15000 C in a large rotatory kiln where the
materials fuse to produce clinker.
 At calcination zone (10000 C) lime stone fuses to give
CaO, which then fuses with SiO2 , Al2O3 and Fe2O3 to form
hot clinker material at clinkering zone (15000 C).
 At this zone lime and clay react to yield calcium
aluminates and calcium silicates in the form of hard and
small stones known as cement clinker.
 The chemical reactions that occur during the process are
as follows:
 2CaO + SiO2 2CaO SiO2 [dicalcium
silicates(C2S)]
 3CaO + SiO2 3CaO SiO2 (C3S)
 3CaO + Al2O3 3CaO Al2O3 (C3A)
 4 CaO + Al2O3 + Fe2O3 4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3
(C4AF)
 The clinker is then cooled and grinded to fine powder, along
with the addition of 2-3% gypsum (CaSO4. 2H2O) in grinding mills.
 The addition of gypsum is necessary for the regulation of the
setting time of the cement.
 3CaO Al2O3 + x CaSO4 . 2H2O 3CaO. Al2O3 . X
CaSO4. 2H2O
 The gypsum retards the dissolution of tri-calcium aluminates by
forming tri-calcium sulfoaluminate which is insoluble and
 The resulting product is commercial Portland cement used
throughout the world. The cement thus obtained is packed
in airtight bags to avoid contact with the moisture.
 The raw materials can be mixed and ground either in water
or in dry condition hence there are two processes namely
wet and Dry process.
Dry process
The calcareous and argillaceous raw materials are crushed in the
gyratory crushers to get 2-5cm size pieces separately. The crushed
materials are again grinded to get fine particles in to a ball or tube
mill. Each finely grinded material is stored in a hopper after
screening. These powdered minerals are mixed in the required
proportion to get dry raw mix which is then stored in silos and kept
ready to be sent into the rotary kiln.
The mixture is fed at the upper end while pulverized coal is blown
in by an air blast at lower end of slightly inclined kiln is about
1300-1500⁰C. The water is driven off and CO2 is liberated from
calcium carbonate. After passing the series of chemical reaction in
the kiln, 20-30% of dry material becomes liquid and lime , silica
and alumina recombine and fused in to balls known as clinker.
The clinker drops into coolers which are very hard and grinded with gypsum.
The grind material is cement.

Figure: Rotatory Kiln

Figure: Flow sheet diagram of dry process
Wet process:
In the wet process the raw materials are firstly crushed, powdered and
stored in silos. The clay is then washed in wash mill. the powdered
limestone and water washed clay are sent to flow in the channels and
transfer to grinding mills where they are completely mixed and pes is
formed which is known as slurry. The slurry is agitated, blended(adjusted
for proportion using corrective ingredient) and stored in various kinds and
sizes of cylindrical tanks until it is fed to the pyro processing
system(1500⁰C)to get clinker. The material is fed to the cement mill with
the proportion of 95% and 5% (clinker and gypsum) and grind in vertical
cement mill to produce Portland cement.
Figure: Flow sheet diagram of wet process
Main steps in cement production
1. Crushing :
2. Grinding and blending the materials in the correct proportion:
3. Strong heating (pyro processing):
4. Storing clinker and final grinding:
5. Storage and packaging
 Types of cement-OPC and PPC
On the basis of properties such as component, strength, heat
generation, the percentage of several components, durability,
grades , cost, eco friendly nature, application, setting time, etc.
the cements nowadays are mainly classified as:
1. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
2. Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
 Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
 Most commonly used cement in the world because of the low cost of production
 It is prepared by the grinding the mixture of limestone and other raw materials
like argillaceous, calcareous, gypsum
 The OPC cement has been classified into three grades namely 33 grade, 43 grade
and 53 grade.
 The grade of the cement means its strength at 28 days when tested as per
IS:4031-1988.
 This Indian Standard ( Part 6) (First Revision) was adopted by the Bureau of
Indian Standards on 10 March 1988.
 If the strength is not less than 33 N/mm2 , it is called 33-grade cement.
Characteristics of OPC cement
 It is less durable in aggressive weather
 It is costlier compared to PPC
 Its initial strength is higher than PPC
 It has lower resistance against alkalies, sulphates, chlorides etc.
 It has high % of chloride, sulphate, alkalies etc.
 The emission of CO2 occurs during the manufacturing process
 The hydration process is fast and the heat of hydration is high thus making
the cement unsuitable for the mass concreting.
Uses: Useful for fast concreting
Portland Pozzolana cement (PPC)

 PPC is obtained by adding a pozzolanic materials i.e. fly ash and volcanic ash
to the OPC.
 Pozzolana materials are added to the cement in the ratio of 15% to 35% by
weight.
 The addition of these materials improve the strength and durability of the
cement and even reduces the costs of the manufacture
 PPC has low initial setting strength but hardens over a period of time with
proper curing.
 PPC is available in one grade which has similar strength to 33 grade OPC after
curing.
Characteristics of PPC cement

 It is cheaper than OPC

 It has a slow setting hydration process and thus generates less heat than OPC,
therefore is suitable for mass concreting and makes concrete more durable
 Setting time of PPC is higher with an initial setting of 30 min and 600 min for
the final sets.
 PPC uses the natural and industrial waste thus reducing environmental
pollution
Uses: PPC is highly resistant to sulphate and chloride attack, hence it is used in
the construction of dams, foundations, buildings near the seashore, reservoirs
etc.
 OPC PPC

Definition/ A mixture of limestone and other raw
Components materials like argillaceous, calcareous,
gypsum is prepared and then grinded to
prepare OPC.
PPC is prepared by adding Pozzolanic materials to
OPC. So, the main components are OPC clinker,
gypsum and pozzolanic materials (15~35%) which
includes calcined clay, volcanic ash, fly ash or silica
fumes.

Strength Initial strength is higher than PPC. PPC has higher strength than OPC over a longer
period of time.

Heat of hydration Generates more heat than PPC in It has a slow hydration process and thus generates
hydration reaction which makes it less less heat than OPC.
suitable for mass casting.

Durability Less durable in aggressive weather. More durable in aggressive weather.

Cost Costlier than PPC. Cheaper than OPC.

Environmen Emits CO2 during the manufacturing process. It constitutes industrial and natural waste which makes
tal Impact it eco-friendly.

Application It is suitable where fast construction is It is suitable for all types of construction work. For
required but not suitable for mass concreting example RCC casting of buildings, mass concreting for
due to heat issue as mentioned above. bridges and even plastering and other non-structural
works.

Setting Time Lower than PPC. Its initial setting time is 30 Setting time of PPC us higher than OPC. Its initial
minutes and final setting time is 280 minutes. setting time is 30 minutes and final setting time is 600
Its faster setting time helps faster minutes. Its slower setting time helps to get better
construction. finishing.

Grades 33 Grade, 43 Grade, and 53 Grade OPC cement are No specified grade of PPC cement is available.
available available.
 Workability Lower than PPC. Higher than OPC.

Resistance against It has lower resistance against It has higher resistance against alkalis, sulphates,
chemical attack alkalis, sulphates, chlorides etc. chlorides etc.
 Manufacture of Portland cement with
flow sheet diagram
 Manufacture of Portland cement involves the following steps:
i. Quarrying: The raw materials are extracted by blasting or by the
application of heavy machineries. These materials are then
transported to the crushing site via dumper trucks.
ii. Crushing: Limestone are crushed with the help of crushers and it
is then transported to plant stack pile by the help of conveyor
belts.
iii. Grinding blending and homogenization: The crushed limestone is
further subjected to crushing process and thus obtained fine
material is blended with corrective ingredients like clay/shale,
silica and iron ore in required amount. It is then mixed
homogenously to produce clinker of the desired composition.
iv. Pyro processing: The blended raw materials are stored in
silos before being fed into the kiln. The silos store the several
days supply of materials so that the production of cement
continues even if there is some problem with the raw
materials arrival from the quarry. The blended material is
heated for about 1300-15000 C in a rotatory kiln to produce
clinker. The chemical reactions and physical changed that
occur during the pyro processing can be summarized as
follows:
i. Evaporation of free water
ii. Evolution of combined water in the argillaceous
materials
iii. Evaporation of volatile constituents (sodium,
chlorides etc)
iv. Calcination of calcium carbonate
CaCO3  CaO + CO2
 v. Reaction of CaO with silica to form dicalcium
silicates and with excess CaO gives tricalcium silicate
2CaO + SiO2  2CaO SiO2 (C2S)
3CaO + SiO2  3CaO SiO2 (C3S)

vi. Reaction of CaO with the aluminium and iron

bearing constituents to form the liquid phase
3CaO + Al2O3  3CaO Al2O3 (C3A)
4 CaO + Al2O3 + Fe2O3  4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 (C4AF)

vii. Formation of clinker nodules

v. Storing clinker and grinding: The clinker coming from the
burning zone are very hot. The temperature is lowered by
passing the air in a counter-current direction at the base of
the kiln. The cooled clinkers are collected in small trolleys.
The clinker is then powdered along with 2-3% of gypsum to
produce cement.
The grinded cement is stored in silos (bin for storage), from
which it is sold either in container or packaged into the sacs
of 50kg each.
Figure: Flow sheet diagram for the manufacture of Portland cement
Cement industry in Nepal
The Himal cement company was the first cement plant established in 1975 had a
production rate of 160tons per day. But it was late shutdown in 2002. After this
Hetauda cement industry and Udayapur cement industry limited were
established. Nepali cement producer are producing OPC and PPC of which OPC is
widely used by consumer. Honghi-shivam cement private limited , a Nepal-China
joint venture company has start cement production in march 2018 it is the
largest cement factory in Nepal with production rate 6000 ton per day. According
to the department of industries, 27 mini, medium and large scale cement
industries, more than 17 mini and mini clinker based ement industries have been
registered in Nepal. Some of them are mentioned below.
Public sector
1. Himal cement company 2. hetauda cement industry ltd.
3. Udaypur cement industry ltd
Private sector
2. Jagdamba cement industries pvt.ltd. 2. Arghakhanchi cement industry
Clinker based cement industry
3. Mittal cement industry pvt. Ltd. 2. pashupati cement industry pv. Ltd.