Proposal on

Feasibility of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3)

For
M.P. Birla Cement, India

Submitted by
LC3 Technology Resource Centre
(A Centre promoted jointly by EPFL, IITD, IITM and TARA)
B-32, Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi 110016, India

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1. Background
India is currently the second largest producer of cement behind China, accounting for 6.9% of
the industrial CO2 emissions in India in the year 2015 as per the report on the ʻTrends in Global
CO2 Emissionsʼ by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European
Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) - 2016. This consumption is expected to grow
between 8%-10% annually. Thus the market and associated CO2 emissions are expected to
double every 8 to 12 years. In the 12th five-year plan released by the Government of India in
the year 2012, the government has taken a voluntary target of reducing the emission intensity
of its GDP by 20-25% from the intensity in 2008 until 2020. This responsibility is being put on
businesses and industries through incentive and taxation schemes. Business and industry will
hence be interested to adopt a low carbon technology if it is feasible and realistic to meet
their climate targets.
In such a scenario, the role of blended cement with reduced clinker factor is very crucial.
Efforts have been made to commercially produce various blended cements in India with
reduced clinker factors using various industrial wastes like fly ash based Portland Pozzolana
Cement (PPC) and slag based Portland Slag Cement (PSC). But the availability of cement grade
fly ash and blast furnace slag is gradually going to be limited which restricts to their
widespread use. Dependence on coal fired thermal power plant is gradually declining and no
further new investment will likely to be made beyond 2025 as the coal resources are going to
be rapidly exhausted and with renewed focus of renewable resource for power generation
(TERI, 2017).
Consequently, alternative sources of SCM’s such as calcined clays are of great interest which
exhibits excellent pozzolanic properties and can be easily used for the production of
cementitious blends which substitute clinker more than 50% without compromising it’s
performance in concrete. Limestone is the main complementary material with the calcined
clay in the blend. The preliminary lab investigation reveals that it can reduce CO2 emission
up to 30% compared to conventional OPC production. Again, the clay can be optimally
calcined below 900⁰C which is significantly lower than clinkerisation temperature (usually
conducted at 1450⁰C) leading to savings in energy and cost of production. On the other hand,
consumption of cement grade limestone can decline to 40%-45% with 50% substitution of
OPC. Thus, it also helps to improve the resource efficiency and reduced dependency on
cement grade good quality limestone. Hence the proposed new technology will be a clean,
resource efficient and cost effective means to fulfil our future demand of cement for concrete
applications.

2. Rationale of low carbon cement

The main ingredients of cement are calcium carbonate (limestone) and clay. These are also
among the most abundant materials in the earth’s crust, and they have a well-balanced
geographic distribution. Therefore, Portland cement can be considered a “local” material,
since it can be produced almost anywhere in the world. However, in some areas existing
quarries are being exhausted at a rapid rate.

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The majority (60%) of CO2 emissions associated with
clinker production (the main ingredient in cement) A key aspect of LC3 technology
come from the decarbonation of limestone is the potential to produce up to
(“chemical” CO2). The consumption of fuels makes up twice as much cement from
most of the remainder. each tonne of clinker and to
Strategies to lower the environmental impact of better use limestone sources
cement manufacturing are already applied by the not suitable for clinker
industry and their future potential has been production.
evaluated in detail in by the IEA (International Energy
Agency) for the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) study of the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Today the three most important approaches are:
• Improvement of energy efficiency
• Use of biofuels and other alternative fuels and
• Replacement of clinker by substitute materials or supplementary cementitious
materials (SCMs). Materials used include fly ash, various slags and natural pozzolana.
Beyond these approaches the CSI study imagines the remaining reduction in CO2 to come from
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which is now widely thought to be, at best, very expensive
(e.g. increasing cement prices 2-4 times). Thus this is presently and also in the near future not
relevant for consideration especially under African conditions. Gains from alternative fuels are
projected to increase, but remain a fairly modest proportion of the total. The projected impact
of the third option, substituting clinker by SCMs is limited by the forecast supply of commonly
used SCMs, notably slag and fly ash. For example, although slag can substitute up to 90% and
typically 70% of clinker in blends, the worldwide amount of slag available is only around 5%
of the amount of clinker produced. Fly ash although available in larger amounts (around 30%
of clinker worldwide, but absent in many countries) is of variable quality and much is
unsuitable for cement production. So the option of clinker substitution could go much further
if new sources of SCMs were available.
Low Carbon Cement can now fill the gap above. This allows a clinker substitution of around
50-60%, by a synergetic combination of calcined clay and limestone. This has been
demonstrated in the collaborative research between IIT Delhi and TARA in India and at EPFL,
Switzerland.
The present document proposes a step-by-step, phase wise transfer of LC3 technology for
adoption by cement companies.

3. The Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3)

LC3 is a family of composite cements containing clinker, calcined clay and limestone. The
LC3 technology promises a sustainable growth of economies around the world by reducing
CO2 emissions by more than 30% compared to plain Portland cement at lower production
costs.
LC3 works on the synergy between clinker, calcined clay and limestone phases. Calcined
clay reacts with hydration products of clinker and limestone reacts with calcined clay,
giving phases that make the microstructure denser. Calcined clays have been long used as
pozzolanic materials in cements and limestone is a well-established semi-reactive filler in
cements. In LC3 the added synergy from the reaction of calcined clays with limestone
producing carbo-aluminate phases improves the strength and durability of the cement.

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Due to the lower clinker content, the LC3 technology has several advantages over ordinary
Portland cement (OPC) and Portland pozzolanic cement (PPC). The main advantages are
• Improved resource efficiency
• Lower CO2 emission per tonne of cement produced
• Reduced production cost without compromising the performance of the cement
• Easy processing and supported by existing production facilities hence low capital
investment costs
• Almost double cement output per tonne of clinker
• Enhanced durability of building materials and concrete produced using LC³

4. LC3 Technology Resource Centre (LC3TRC)

The LC3 Technology Resource Centre in India has been initiated by a network of global
research institutions, i.e. EPFL Switzerland, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, CIDEM Cuba
and TARA India. The Centre is managed by TARA India.
Through an access to state-of-the-art knowledge on LC3 and related products, the Centre
provides consultancy services for establishing feasibility studies of LC 3 in cement
production and testing facilities for use of LC3 in concrete and concrete applications. The
LC3TRC also provides consultancy services on LC 3 process technology including material
characterization and calcination services for use of china clay resources in LC 3
formulation. It also provides LC3 based certified materials to research institutions. The
Centre has modern equipment, testing facilities and qualified scientific personnel.

5. Service Packages
It can be seen that the technical services for supporting the uptake of LC3 has been divided
into a couple of phases. This is necessary since after testing a particular Phase, if the clay
quality is not feasible then there is no need to go into the next phase or more clays need to
be explored for other areas. It can also be noted that the Phases does not take into account
the commercial services at scale e.g. detailed propsecting of clays to determine the reserve
and quality, analysis and modification/upgradation in production process and systems, choice
of calcinaion and associated plant and machineries, market analysis and product costing.
Although LC3TRC does not provide turnkey services for installing a LC3 production unit
however it provides consultancy services in each and every aspect of LC3 production and
adoption through a range 0f national and international experts.
Thus the following testing services and packages are proposed.

Phase 1: Technical testing of clays for use in LC3

Scope of work Output Remarks

- Field visit and sampling (25 kg
each) of kaolinitic clays
(maximum of 5 samples)
- Field visit to be limited to 3
areas within a radius of 200 km
from the cement plant or
based on the study carried out
- Test report and - Survey to be made by
recommendations for LC3 LC3TRC senior team at
suitability predetermined locations
in association with
cement companies
- Local logistics and
accommodations of 2

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 in Phase 1 by the cement senior experts to be borne
company. by client
- Laboratory testing and analysis - Selection of clay in
of all the raw clay samples association with cement
company based on
- Lab scale calcination of samples
viability
- Determination of pozzolanic
- 25 kg of clays to be
reactivity of calcined clay
collected and ground at
sample(s)
cement plant facilities
- Consultation and guidance on
- 1 kg clay of each type to
mining policies in different states
be sent to LC3TRC
of interest (Rajasthan, M.P.,
W.B.) - The rest to be kept at
cement plant for future
reference
• Timeline
1 month from the date of receipt of the clays
• Cost
Rs. 405,000 + 18% GST

Phase 2: Feasibility of clays for LC3 use at lab scale

Scope of work Output Remarks

- Collection of clays and their - Detailed suitability report - 30 kg of selective clay
testing (limited to a maximum of on LC3 made with selected (max. 2 samples) based on
2 clays as decided in Phase 1) clay analysis report
- Mineralogical analysis of clays - 25 kg LC3 each for the two - Other raw materials like
including TGA, XRD and XRF clay samples and 5 clinker, OPC, PPC, raw
cement mortar cubes of limestone and gypsum in
- Physical testing of all cement
each LC3 sent to cement required amounts for
production raw materials from
company for testing and preparation of lab blend
companies limited to clinker,
evaluation to be supplied by cement
limestone, gypsum, suitable for
company
use in LC3 production
- Physical testing including mortar
strength of various types and
grades of cement e.g. Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC), Portland
Pozzolana Cement (PPC, fly ash
based) preferably 43 grade of
any similar grade, being
manufactured by the company to
establish the baseline of quality
and performance for LC3
- Lab scale calcination of clay and
establishment of reactivity of
calcined clay
- Preparation of one LC3 batch (50
kg) each (limited to a maximum
of 2 clays) with the selected clays

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 using raw materials from cement
companies
- Evaluation of physical properties
of LC3 produced and strength
determination of LC3 mortar
(from the 2 selected clays)

• Timeline
2 months after receipt of samples
• Cost
Rs. 890,170 + 18% GST

Phase 3: Establishing feasibility of LC3 under pilot scale

Scope of work Output Remarks

- Selection of one kaolinitic clay in - Detailed suitability report - Calcination and grinding
consultation with cement on LC3 made with will be conducted at LC3
company depending on its selected clay pilot production facility at
quality, availability and financial TARA, Datia, MP.
- Mortar and concrete
feasibility
cubes sent to cement - All the required raw
- Lab scale testing of clays to re- company for testing and materials to be supplied
confirm the quality of raw evaluation by cement company to
materials LC3 pilot facility at Datia.
- 200 kg of LC3 blend and
- Calcination of clay in rotary kiln 50 kg of calcined clay
and determining calcination sent to cement company
parameters for further testing and
evaluation
- Grinding in continuous ball mill to
establish grinding parameters
- Preparation of LC3
- Evaluation of LC3 in mortars
- Evaluation of LC3 in two grades of
concrete (M25 and M50) for
durability
- Demonstration and training of 2
staff (cost to be borne by cement
company)

• Timeline
4 months after receipt of all the raw materials
• Cost
Rs. 19,69,000 + 18% GST

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Additional optional services customized as per requirement:
(Quotation for all the services can be offered as and when required based on the capacity and
other requirement)

a. Economic and financial services

Assessment of production cost based on clay availability, including financial analysis
and related investment required. LC3TRC has a wide panel of international experts
providing the services. They are cement professionals with more than 40 years of
experience of working in the cement sector and advise on securing investment.

b. Equipment selection and supply

LC3TRC has tie up with various equipment manufacturers for meeting the demands
of cement companies in adopting LC3. However these are limited only to calcination
technology and its up and down stream equipments. These turnkey services range
from a 100,000 tpa to 1,000,000 tpa of calcination capacity.

c. Advisory services for production scale trials of LC3

The advisory services consist of visits of senior technical teams during the production
of LC3 at site and advising on calcination, grinding and process quality control. During
the same, continous monitoring of grinding of LC2/LC3 are also supervised in
association with QC personnel from cement company to ensure uninterrupted
production. For this services, cement companies has to provide the lab testing
facility and personnel for a continuous period of 24 hours or till the quality is
established.

d. Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment of LC3

The LCA of LC3 production derives the Life-cycle assessment to assess environmental
impacts associated with all the stages of LC3’s life from raw material extraction
through materials processing, manufacture and bagging. For LCA the internationally
adopted methodology of cradle-gate is followed. During this evaluation the
sustainability issues are also taken into account. For this services Cement plants has
to provide access to the cement plant and energy and environment monitoring data
(if any).

e. Accessing carbon finance from International market services

Adoption of LC3 technology by cement companies can help in reducing the GHG
emisisons to the atmosphere and contribute to arresting global warming. The
LC3TRC team has access to prominent organizations to mobilize Climate Impact
Funds to finance climate action at scale especially in cement manufacturing. We
work with various national and international organizations, government and not-for-
profit organizations and help in pooling investments and mobilize co-financing for
companies that generate a quantifiable, positive climate impact.