CEMENT INDUSTRY

CE 3-H

Cement
A cement is a binder, a substance used for construction that sets, hardens
and adheres to other materials, binding them together. Cement is seldom used on
its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement is used
with fine aggregate to produce mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel
aggregates to produce concrete.
Raw Materials used in manufacturing cement
1. Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock,
composed mainly of skeletal fragments
of marine organisms such as coral,
forams and molluscs. Its major materials
are the minerals calcite and aragonite,
which are different crystal forms of
calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
About 10% of sedimentary rocks
are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions
leads to karst landscapes, in which water erodes the limestone over
thousands to millions of years. Most cave systems are through limestone
bedrock.
Limestone has numerous uses: as a building material, an essential
component of concrete (Portland cement), as aggregate for the base of
roads, as white pigment or filler in products such as toothpaste or paints, as
a chemical feedstock for the production of lime, as a soil conditioner, or as
a popular decorative addition to rock gardens.

2. Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular
material composed of finely divided rock
and mineral particles. It is defined by size,
being finer than gravel and coarser than
silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class
of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing
more than 85 percent sand-sized particles
by mass.
 The composition of sand varies, depending on the local rock sources and
conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental
settings and non-tropical coastal settings is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2),
usually in the form of quartz. The second most common type of sand is
calcium carbonate, for example, aragonite, which has mostly been created,
over the past half billion years, by various forms of life, like coral and
shellfish. For example, it is the primary form of sand apparent in areas
where reefs have dominated the ecosystem for millions of years like the
Caribbean.
3. Clay
Clay is a finely-grained natural rock or soil
material that combines one or more clay
minerals with possible traces of quartz
(SiO4), metal oxides (Al2O3 , MgO etc.)
and organic matter. Geologic clay
deposits are mostly composed of
phyllosilicate minerals containing variable
amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to
particle size and geometry as well as water content and become hard,
brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing. Depending on the soil's
content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white
Mixtures of sand, silt and less than 40% clay are called loam. Loam makes
good soil and is used as a building material.

4. Marlstone
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or
lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains
variable amounts of clays and silt. The
dominant carbonate mineral in most marls is
calcite, but other carbonate minerals such as
aragonite, dolomite, and siderite may be
present. Marl was originally an old term
loosely applied to a variety of materials,
most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an
intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under freshwater
conditions; specifically an earthy substance containing 35–65% clay and
65–35% carbonate.
5. Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock
composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay
minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles)
of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.
Shale is characterized by breaks along thin
laminae or parallel layering or bedding less than
one centimeter in thickness, called fissility. It is
the most common sedimentary rock.
6. Fly ash
Fly ash, also known as "pulverised fuel ash" in
the United Kingdom, is a coal combustion
product that is composed of the particulates
(fine particles of fuel) that are driven out of
coal-fired boilers together with the flue gases.
Ash that falls to the bottom of the boiler is
called bottom ash. In modern coal-fired power
plants, fly ash is generally captured by
electrostatic precipitators or other particle filtration equipment before the
flue gases reach the chimneys. Together with bottom ash removed from
the bottom of the boiler, it is known as coal ash. Depending upon the
source and makeup of the coal being burned, the components of fly ash
vary considerably, but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon
dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous and crystalline), aluminium oxide (Al2O3)
and calcium oxide (CaO), the main mineral compounds in coal-bearing
rock strata.
7. Gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of
calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical
formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and
is used as a fertilizer, and as the main
constituent in many forms of plaster,
blackboard chalk and wallboard. A massive fine-grained white or lightly
tinted variety of gypsum, called alabaster, has been used for sculpture by
many cultures including Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome, the
Byzantine Empire and the Nottingham alabasters of Medieval England.
Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison,
defines hardness value 2 as gypsum. It forms as an evaporite mineral and
as a hydration product of anhydrite.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement
CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASES
Production of cement completes after passing of raw materials from the following
six phases. These are;

1. Raw material extraction/ Quarry

2. Grinding, Proportioning and Blending
3. Pre-heater Phase
4. Kiln Phase
5. Cooling and Final Grinding
6. Packing & Shipping

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE 1: RAW MATERIAL EXTRACTION

Cement uses raw materials that cover calcium, silicon, iron and aluminum. Such
raw materials are limestone, clay and sand. Limestone is for calcium. It is
combined with much smaller proportions of sand and clay. Sand & clay fulfill the
need of silicon, iron and aluminum.

Extraction of raw material and crushing of material

Generally cement plants are fixed where the quarry of limestone is near bye. This
saves the extra fuel cost and makes cement somehow economical. Raw materials
are extracted from the quarry and by means of conveyor belt material is
transported to the cement plant.

There are also various other raw materials used for cement manufacturing. For
example shale, fly ash, mill scale and bauxite. These raw materials are directly
brought from other sources because of small requirements.

Before transportation of raw materials to the cement plant, large size rocks are
crushed into smaller size rocks with the help of crusher at quarry. Crusher reduces
the size of large rocks to the size of gravels.
CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE II: PROPORTIONING, BLENDING &
GRINDING
The raw materials from quarry are now routed in plant laboratory where, they are
analyzed and proper proportioning of limestone and clay are making possible
before the beginning of grinding. Generally, limestone is 80% and remaining 20%
is the clay.

Proportioning of raw material at cement plant laboratory

Now cement plant grind the raw mix with the help of heavy wheel type rollers
and rotating table. Rotating table rotates continuously under the roller and
brought the raw mix in contact with the roller. Roller crushes the material to a
fine powder and finishes the job. Raw mix is stored in a pre-homogenization pile
after grinding raw mix to fine powder.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE III: PRE-HEATING RAW MATERIAL

After final grinding, the material is ready to face the pre-heating chamber. Pre-
heater chamber consists of series of vertical cyclone from where the raw material
passes before facing the kiln. Pre-heating chamber utilizes the emitting hot gases
from kiln. Pre-heating of the material saves the energy and make plant
environmental friendly.

Preheating of raw material | Vertical cyclone

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE IV: KILN PHASE
Kiln is a huge rotating furnace also called as the heart of cement making process.
Here, raw material is heated up to 1450 ⁰C. This temperature begins a chemical
reaction so called decarbonation. In this reaction material (like limestone)
releases the carbon dioxide. High temperature of kiln makes slurry of the
material.

Rotary kiln
The series of chemical reactions between calcium and silicon dioxide compounds
form the primary constituents of cement i.e., calcium silicate. Kiln is heating up
from the exit side by the use of natural gas and coal. When material reaches the
lower part of the kiln, it forms the shape of clinker.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE V: COOLING AND FINAL GRINDING

After passing out from the kiln, clinkers are cooled by mean of forced air. Clinker
released the absorb heat and cool down to lower temperature. Released heat by
clinker is reused by recirculating it back to the kiln. This too saves energy.

Clinker cooling | Cement making process

Final process of 5th phase is the final grinding. There is a horizontal filled with steel
balls. Clinker reach in this rotating drum after cooling. Here, steel balls tumble
and crush the clinker into a very fine powder. This fine powder is considered as
cement. During grinding gypsum is also added to the mix in small percentage that
controls the setting of cement.

Rotating ball mill

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS PHASE VI: PACKING AND SHIPPING

Transportation of cement from silos

Material is directly conveyed to the silos (silos are the large storage tanks of
cement) from the grinding mills. Further, it is packed to about 20-40 kg bags. Only
a small percent of cement is packed in the bags only for those customers whom
need is very small. The remaining cement is shipped in bulk quantities by mean of
trucks, rails or ships.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS FLOW CHART

After explaining the complete process of cement making, flow chart would be like
that. flow chart present the summary of whole process as shown below.

http://www.engineeringintro.com/uncategorized/cement-manufacturing-
process/