CEMENTS

Cements

Stages Of Cement Manufacture

Raw Material Extraction & Preparation
Clinker Manufacture
Clinker Grinding

RAW MATERIALS
Chalk/Limestone
(Calcium Carbonates)
+
Clay/Shale
(Complex Alumino Silicates)
+
Gypsum
(Calcium Sulphate)

REDUCTION OF RAW
MATERIALS
Raw materials reduced via a series
of crushers to a fine meal

Raw materials are stockpiled to

ensure constant production supply

BLENDING
Dry Process - Raw
meal blended to
the required chemical
composition
75% Calcium
Carbonates
25% Complex Alumino
Silicates

INTRODUCTION TO KILN
Raw meal pre-heated in
pre-heating tower by heat
generated by the kiln
Dry process more
economical than wet
process
Dry process quicker than
wet process

KILN
75 150m in length
Up to 6.0m in
diameter
Rotate on inclined
axis
Temperature 1450 oC

STAGES IN THE KILN

1. Drying 100o C
2. Decarbonisation/Calcining 800 oC
3. Formation of C2S, C3A & C4AF
(@ approximately 1450
4. C2S reacts with excess lime to produce

C3S

COOLING & STORAGE OF CEMENT

CLINKER
Cement Clinker cooled
rapidly to prevent C3S
reverting back to C2S
& excess lime

Cement Clinker is
stockpiled prior to
reduction

GRINDING OF CEMENT CLINKER

Cement Clinker
reduced to the
required fineness in
tube mills

CLINKER GRINDING (TUBE MILL)

Cement clinker is ground
down by hard chrome steel
balls within the tube mill
until it has be reduced
sufficiently to pass through
the perforated sides of the
mill
Gypsum is added to
control the setting time
Cement is routed to silos
prior to packaging

Packaging & Distribution of Cement

Cement is pumped to
silos prior to
packaging or bulk
distribution

MAIN COMPOUNDS OF OPC

C2 S

Di-Calcium Silicate

C3S

Tri- Calcium Silicate

C3A

Tri-Calcium Aluminate

C4AF

Tetra-Calcium Alumino Ferrite

Gypsum

Calcium Sulphate

TYPES OF CEMENT
Hydraulic Cement is a term used to describe a
powder which has the ability when mixed with
water to set & harden either in air or water, by
from hydrated compounds which increase in
strength with age
Composite Cement is a term used to describe
blended cement, usually a combination of OPC
(Ordinary Portland Cement) and GGBS (Ground
Granulated Blast-furnace Cement) or PFA
(Pulverised Fuel Ash)

GGBS, PFA & OPC

MICROGRAPH

HYDRATION OF OPC
Water
+
OPC
=
Calcium Silicate
Hydrate
(Tobermorite Gel)
+
Calcium
Hydroxide
(Alkali)

HYDRATION OF OPC
Hydration is defined as the collective reaction of
each compound with water.
C3A + water = heat evolution & initial stiffening.
C2S + C3S + water = Calcium Silicate Hydrate
(C3S2H3)
The reaction of the Tri-Calcium Aluminate & water
is delayed until all the gypsum has been used.

HYDRATION OF OPC
Tobermorite Gel is an extremely finely divided rigid
material; as a result it has enormous surface area
energy.
This enormous surface area energy produces
strong physical forces of attraction known as
adhesion. As hydration continues, more
Tobermorite Gel is formed resulting in a near solid
mass of finely divided rigid material, with massive
adhesive forces.

The Calcium Hydroxide (alkali) produced has a

crystalline form & exists as an integral part of the
hardened cement paste.

TESTING CEMENTS,
INITIAL/FINAL SET
Test measuring time taken for the cement paste to
change from a fluid to a rigid state (Vicat
Apparatus)
Time elapsed, between mixing & the penetration
of the cement paste.
Initial set < 45 min.
Final set >10hrs.
Initial set is usually 2-3hrs
Final set is no longer specified.

TESTING CEMENTS
STRENGTH
Mortar prisms 160mm x 40mm x 40mm are
cast, 1 part cement to 3 parts standard sand
with a water cement ratio of 0.5.
After curing, prisms are broken in half using
a flexural test, each half is then tested in
compression:
2@7 days & 1@28 days.
3 days < 15N, 28 days < 34N, >52N

TESTING CEMENTS
SOUNDNESS
Measure of the expansion in hardened concrete,
on heating and cooling (Le Chatillier Apparatus)
Excessive expansion within the cement paste can
cause an increase in internal stresses, which may
lead to the failure of the concrete.
Expansion >10mm, a typical value of OPC is 2mm

TESTING CEMENTS
FINENESS
A measure of the cements specific surface
area in m2/kg (Lea and Nurse Test)
Derived from the pressure required to
permeate a layer of cement.
O.P.C < 275m2/kgR.H.P.C <350m2/kg

LATENT HYDRAULIC BINDERS

GGBS & PFA are both latent hydraulic binders;
powders of a similar fineness to OPC which have
little or no cementitious properties unless in the
presence of an alkaline medium.

Calcium Hydroxide is an alkali and is produced

during the hydration of OPC, the calcium
hydroxide activates the cementitious properties of
the latent hydraulic Binder (PFA, GGBS) which
then hydrate in its their own right, although at a
slower & lower rate than the OPC

HYDRATION OF COMPOSITE
CEMENTS
Calcium Hydroxide
(Alkali)
+
PFA/GGBS/Micro
Silica/Metakaolin
Additional hydration products are produced
resulting in a denser cement paste matrix:
Reducing porosity & permeability
Increasing strength & durability

GGBS
(GROUND GRANULATED BLAST-FURNACE
SLAG)
GGBS, is a by-product of the steel manufacturing
industry, molten pig iron slag is super cooled using
high pressure water jets to produce small granules,
these granules are then ground down.
Benefits of this material:
Increase in suppliers product range
Reduced heat evolution
Reduction of the concretes overall cost
Increased cohesion, sulphate and acid resistance

PFA
(PULVERISED FUEL ASH)
Pulverised Fuel Ash, is a by-product of coal burning power stations, ash
from the combustion process is collected using electromagnetic precipitators
Benefits of this material:
Increase in suppliers product range
Reduced heat evolution
Reduction of the concretes overall cost
Additional benefits of this material:
Higher workability for a given w/c ratios
Reduced w/c ratios & increased strength.
Reduced creep & bleeding.
Improved cohesion & resistance to segregation (ideal for pumping)

MICRO SILICA
Also known, as Silica-fume and is available in both in
pellets & slurry form
By-product of the quartz and iron ore smelting & consists
of glassy particles one hundred times finer than OPC (8598% silicon dioxide), reacts with calcium hydroxide
produced during the hydration of OPC to form a
cementitious product in its own right
Reduces capillary voids therefore reducing porosity
& permeability
Increases strength & durability

FALSE SET
False set can be described as:
a sudden stiffening of the concrete approximately
5-10 minutes after batching caused by the skeletal
formation of hydration products
Re-mixing the concrete will reverse the
process

FLASH SET
False set is caused be the intense and almost
immediate reaction, between Tri-Calcium
Aluminate (C3A) + Water
Flash set is caused by poor distribution of the
gypsum or an insufficient amount of gypsum
During flash set heat is evolved, once started
the process is irreversible.

HAC (HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT)

Limestone (Calcium Oxide) + Bauxite (Alumina Oxide).
Kiln temperature 1500-1600 0C.
Raw materials are combined at a 1:1 ratio
Hydration normally complete within 24hrs with 80% of
strength attained.
Rate of hydration results in massive heat evolution, as
such this material is only placed in small quantities

CONVERSION IN H.A.C
At 20 0C+, in the presence of water:
CAH10 C3AH6 + Alumina Gel
CAH10 (decahydrate with a psuedohexagonal form)
C3AH6 (sesquihydrate with a cubic form)
This chemical reaction results in change in density,
whilst the volume remains constant, leading to a loss in
strength & durability due to an increase in the porosity
and permeability of the cement paste