Cement: is a material with adhesive and cohesive properties which make it capable of

bonding minerals fragments into compact whole .For constructional purposes, the meaning of
the term "cement" is restricted to the bonding materials used with stones, sand, bricks,
building stones, etc.

The cements of interest in the making of concrete have the property of setting and hardening
under water by virtue of a chemical reaction with it and are, therefore, called hydraulic
cement.

The name "Portland cement" given originally due to the resemblance of the color and quality
of the hardened cement to Portland stone - Portland Island in England.
Manufacture of Portland cement:

Raw materials:
• Calcareous material - such as limestone or chalk, as a source of lime (CaO).
• Clayey material - such as clay or shale (soft clayey stones), as a source of silica and
alumina.

Methods of cement manufacturing:

1- Wet process -grinding and mixing of the raw materials in the

Existence of water.
2- Dry process -grinding and mixing of the raw materials in their dry state.

The process to be chosen, depend on the nature of the used raw materials .The two processes
differ only in the treatment of raw materials . In dry process no water is added to the material
during grinding and thus no slurry is made. Otherwise both processes are very much similar
and same equipment are used for the both case. Considering the following factors usually
does the choice of method between two processes

a) Physical conditions of the available raw materials. If the raw materials is so

hard (solid) that they do not disintegrate by water
b) The place of manufacturing and climate condition around it
c) Cost of fuel
d) Cold countries ,because the water might be freeze in mixture
e) Shortage of water needed for mixing process

If the raw materials i.e. lime and clay is soft, climate of manufacturing location is moist and
the fuel is relatively cheap in that wet process is preferred. Otherwise dry process is

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employed .Cost involved in the manufacture in cement clinker by dry process is low. This is
because in dry process consumption of fuel for burning of material in rotary clinker is much
less.

The dry process was invented in America and still in America cement clinker is mostly
produced by dry process. However wet process is relatively older. It is mostly in Indian-
subcontinent and Europe

Dry process:

I. Grinding, mixing and pulverized of raw materials:

In this process the calcareous and argillaceous are separately crushed into small pieces of
about 1-2 inch size and then dried and stored separately. In this process crushing is carried
out in gyratory crusher and drying is done by means of rotary driers. The crushed raw
materials are then mixed in proper ratio by automatic weighing machine. The mixture is then
pulverized .The dry powder, called raw meal, is then pumped to a blending silo, and final
adjustment is now made in the proportions of the materials required for the manufacture of
cement. To obtain a uniform mixture, the raw meal is blended in the silo, usually by means of
compressed air.

The blended meal is sieved and fed into a rotating dish called a granulator, water weighing
about 12% of the meal being added at the same time. In this manner, hard pellets about 15
mm in diameter are formed .The pellets are baked hard in a pre-heating grate by means of hot
gases from the kiln. The pellets then enter the kiln

II. Rotary kiln:

The rotary kiln is a large long steel cylinder lined with refractory bricks. The kiln is set
inclined downward so that the materials move downward to the firing zone and come to
discharge end automatically .The general inclination is 3-6° per feet length .The kiln having
several tires rotates at a speed .5to 2 rpm. The length and diameter of the kiln vary from 30
to 50 meters and 2 to 5 meters respectively depending on the process and amount of
production.

The pulverized and mixed raw materials enters from the upper end of the rotary kiln while
the burning fuel and air are introduced from the lower end of the metal-to-metal kiln. The
raw meal moves downwards and enters into different zones of the kiln of increasing
temperature. The operating temperature and the changes of raw materials are briefly
described below

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 a) The upper portion of the kiln is known as drying zone. It is usually one fourth of the
total length. The temperature of this zone is about 400℃ .
b) The next lower zone of the kiln is known as preheating zone. In this zone
temperature varies from 400-700℃ . Here the magnesium carbonate decompose
c) The lower central part of the kiln is known as calcining or decarbonizing zone .In this
zone temperature ranges from 700-1000℃ . Here limestone is decompose to CaO
And CO2
CaCO3↔CaO+CO2
d) The materials then enter the hottest zone of the kiln. This zone is known as burning
or clinker zone .Here the temperature ranges from 1300-1500 ℃ .In this zone lime
and clay melt and react with each other forming aluminates and silicates. The
reactions involved in this section are
2 CaO+SiO2→2 CaOSiO2 (C2S) (Dicalcium silicates)

3 CaO+SiO2→3 CaOSiO2 (C3S) (Tricalcium silicates)

3 CaO+Al2O3→3 CaOAl2O3 (C3A) (Tricalcium silicates)

4 CaO+Al2O3+Fe2O3 → 4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 (C4AF)

(Tetra calcium alumino ferrite)

These materials are combined together to form hard, grayish pellets, which is known as
cement clinker.

III. Cooling the clinker:

This is very important part of the cement manufacturing process. The quality of cement
depends upon the rate of cooling .The hot clinker emerging from the kiln through clinker
conveyor falls into the cooler. In the colder atmospheric air passes over the hot clinker
thereby cool the clinker and it gets heated. The hot air so produced, is used for drying coal
before pulverizing. There are different types of coolers such rotary type coolers, planetary
coolers, air quench type coolers etc. The most commonly used cooler is rotary cooler .The
rate of cooling affects the quality of cement as described below:

a) Slow rate of cooling: If the cooling is very slow then the possibility of glass (calcium
silicates) will be less . As a result formation of dust or powder of dicalcium silicates
will take place. This phenomenon is known as dusting of clinker. This is caused by
conversion of β -form of dicalcium silicates into γ – form. The γ form of dicalcium
silicate does not have binding property and it hydrates slowly. so the presence of this
form is not desired in cement.

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 b) High rate of cooling: when the rate of cooling is very high, the melted alumina and
iron glassy material and there is no formation of any crystalline compound of
alumina and iron. The formation of any crystalline compound of aluminum and iron.
The formation of non-crystalline compound has got both advantage and dis-
advantage as because the crystalline 3CaO.Al 2O3 has some unfavorable properties
such as 4CaO.Al2O3. Fe2O3 compound has no hydraulic properties and non-
crystalline compound does not produce sufficient strength in cement
c) medium rate of cooling: The medium rate of cooling method of clinker is suitable as
because at this rate large quantity of crystalline tri-calcium silicates (3CaOSiO 2) forms
which gives high strength to the cement .If there is any magnesia (MgO) in the clinker
and the rate of cooling is very high then the glass formation of MgO will also take
place. MgO in the form of glass does not expand to high degree when exposed to
water. This will gave beneficial effect to the properties of cement. Crystalline MgO
hydrates very slowly when it is exposed to water or moist weather .As a result there
is large expansion of cement after some years

IV. Grinding of clinker:

The cement clinker obtained after cooling consists of granular masses having 0.65-
2mm diameter. This is finely pulverized with 2 to 6 % gypsum (which acts as retarder
of setting time of cement –water paste) .The finer is cement the higher will be
strength of concrete made from it. During grinding some other additives are mixed to
improve the quality of cement.

V. Storage and Packing: The

pulverized cement obtained from grinding mills is packed by automatic machine in
jute or paper bags each holding 50Kg for storage .during the packing moisture free
compressed is used to agitate the cement and keep it free from compaction by its
own weight. the

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 Fig . Flow sheet for manufacturing of Portland cement

A simplified diagram of manufacturing Portland cement presented below:

Calcareous materials Argillaceous materials

↓ ↓

Grinding Grinding

↓ ↓

Mixing

Pulverized

Dried
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 ↓

Burning in rotary kiln

Cement clinker

Cooling and Grinding

Cement

Storage

Packing

 Comparison between wet and dry process:

Wet process Dry process

1) Moisture content of the pellets is 12%
1)Moisture content of the slurry is 35-50%
S I 2) size of the kiln needed to manufacture Si
2) size of the kiln needed to manufacture the
m the cement is bigger cement is smaller
3)The amount of heat required is higher, so
3) The amount of heat required is lower, so
the required fuel amount is higher the required fuel amount is lower
4)Less economically 4) More economically
Th 5)The raw materials can be mix easily, so a
5) Difficult to control the mixing of raw
better homogenous material can be obtainmaterials process, so it is difficult to obtain
homogeneous material
Th 5) The machinery and equipment’s do not
Th 5) The machinery and equipment’s need
need much maintenance more maintenance