CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Definition:
• Defined as a product material obtained by calcination of
calcareous (a material containing lime) and argillaceous
(a material which contain silica) materials.
• According to (specification stand as) ASTM (American
standard testing material)
“Cement is defined as a product obtained by
pulverizing (crushing followed by grinding) clinkers to
which no addition has been made except H2O.”
 Composition
• Chemically cement is a mixture of Silicates, Aluminates
like aluminoferrites with some amount of MgO and
gypsum.
• Various complexes which are contained in cement are
• (2CaO.SiO2) Di Calcium Silicate (C2S) 22-24%
• (3CaO.SiO2) Tri Calcium Silicate (C3S) 50-58%
• (3CaO.Al2O3) Tri Calcium Aluminate (C3A) 10-11%
• (4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3) Tetra Calcium Aluminoferrite (C4AF) 8-9%
• (6CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3) Hexa Calcium Aluminoferrite (C6AF) traces
• MgO <5%
• Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) 4-5%
 Various oxides
• Cement contains various oxides as follows
1) CaO 60-66%
2) Total silica 20-15%
a) Combined silica/active silica
b) Uncombined or inert silica
3) Alumina (Al2O3) 3-8%
4) Fe2O3 1-5%
5) MgO <5%
6)Alkalies <5%
 Color
• The gray color in cement is due to presence of complexes
of Ferric ions in O.P.C (ordinary Portland cement).
• White cement is produced from those raw materials which
contain extremely low conc. of Iron & even like low conc.
of Iron is converted from Fe+3 to Fe+2 (which can be done
by reducing or maintaining atmosphere in the kiln) &
eventually the product appears to be white.
 Raw materials used in the production of
O.P.C:

1) Lime stone
2) Clay
3) Gypsum
Lime stone:

• Lime stone on calcinations gives CaO which is an essential

component of all the complexes (silicates, aluminates and
aluminoferrites) present in cement. Lime stone is available
in two lime forms.
A) High lime:
• High lime is that lime stone which on calcination gives
CaO of greater than 90% purity. The high lime contain
Magnesia (MgO) less than 5% and rest of the impurities
may be alumina, Fe2O3,SiO2.High lime is available in
Pakistan in the area of Banu District Kohat ,D.G khan ,
D.I khan ,Salt area of Mianwali.
 Cont..
B) Low lime
• Low lime means the limestone which on decomposition
yields CaO of less than 90% purity. Alumina & MgO is
present to an extent of greater than10%.
• Dolomite rich in MgCO3 should not be used in the
manufacture of Portland cement.
Clay

• The complexes such as silicates, aluminates & aluminoferrites

all contain SiO2, & Al2O3.These are added into O.P.C by clay.
• Ordinary clay found in the area close to the mines of lime stone
have high quality clay.
• The clay need for all production of O.P.C should meet the
following requirements.
1) It must be high in silica contents
2) Comparatively low in the amounts of Al2O3
3) Low in the amount of alkalis
• In case if clay doesn’t conform to the required specifications of
oxides then the clay has to be beneficiated before use.
Gypsum

• When H2O is added into the cement & it is not thoroughly

mixed then tricalciumaluminate picks up H2O and rapidly
hardens. This phenomenon is called as flash setting.
• The flash setting in cement is retarded by the addition of
Gypsum which forms the following complex
(3CaOAl2O3.3CaSO4.31H2O)
• The time of hardening of cement is increased. Thus the
Gypsum containing cement gets hardened in comparatively
longer period of lime.
Fuel
• Prior to 1971 the cement industry used furnace oil as fuel in
cement industry. As an higher energy consuming industry in
which energy is required for crushing, grinding, mixing &
running of various units.
• Prior to 1971 most of the industries in Pakistan used
furnace oil as a fuel. However after 1971 the majority of the
cement industries was switched over to natural gas.
• In the past few years the importance of natural gas was
realized for the production of petrochemicals and the cement
plants were converted into furnace oil fired units now most
of the cement industry is being switched over to using coal
as a fuel.Coal is available in Pakistan in Baluchistan, area of
Makarwal (Mianwali district)
• The indegeneous coal contains high % of organic as well
as inorganic sulphur which in some cases is as high as
6.8%.
• High sulphur contents make the Pakistan coal inferior as
the S compound lower the calorific value of coal.
• If coal contains high contents of “S” is burnt, proportional
higher quantity of SO2 or SO3 will be added into the
exhaust of flue gasses.
Water

• If cement is produced by wet process large quantity of H2O

is needed. The H2O should not be saline in nature.
 Various steps involved in the
Production of cement:
• Cement production involves following steps

1) Crushing & grinding of clay and lime stone.

2) Mixing of ground raw material to obtain an almost
homogeneous mass.
3) Transportation of material ground raw materials to rotary
kilns & burning of raw materials to clinkers.
4) Grinding of clinkers in the presence of CaSO4.2H2O
• Step no 3 & 4 are as like on all the cement plants however
step no 1 & 2 may be carried out in two ways.
a) The crushed materials is ground & mixed in the presence
of H2O to obtain slurry containing 40%H2O &60% solids.
This method is called as wet method.
b) If the crushed material is ground & mixed in absence of
H2O & dry homogenized mass is fed into the kiln for
burning. The process is called as dry process.
 Comparison between wet and dry processes:
Wet process
1. Soft raw material is used
2. The crushed material is ground in
the presence of H2O to form a
slurry paste .The slurry is than
fed in to the rotary kiln for the
manufacture of cement
3. Grinding is done in rotary ball
mills in the presence of H2O to
obtain slurry of ground lime stone
& clay.
Dry process
1. Hard or soft any type of raw
material is used for the
production of cement.
2. The crushed material is ground
in dry &the feed given to the kiln
is in the form of dry powder.
3. The grinding is conducted in the
roller mill which combines
grinding drying as well as
classification. In that roller mills
particles of dried size are
collected through a
classification.
4. Fuel consumption is
comparatively more as the slurry
added in the rotary kiln is 30-
40%H2O and 60-70% solids.
Substantial amount of heat is used
in evaporation of H2O
5. Exposure to the effect of heat is
for a longer period and hence the
operating life of the lining of the
kiln is less.
6. The length of the rotary kiln is
more which may be between 300-
400 ft usually and it may be
sometime even as long as 500 ft.
4. Since water has not to be
evaporated so less fuel
consumption.
5. Exposure to the effect of heat is
less & hence the operating life of
the lining of the kiln is more.
6. The length of kiln is usually
about 150 ft which may in some
cases be 250 ft.
7. The cost of insulation is high.
8. Thermal efficiency is higher as
the flue gases leave the kiln at
about 1000C.
9. The loss of raw material in the
form of dust contained in the flue
gas coming out of the kiln is less.
It amounts to about 1.5% of the
clinker produced.
7. The cost of insulation of kiln is
less.
8. Thermal efficiency in the kiln is
less as the gases leaving the
rotary kiln are about 300oC.
9. The loss of the raw material in the
form of dust is much higher and
about 15% raw material is lost
with the flue gas coming out of
the kiln.
10. The dust particles leaving with 10. Dust contained in the flue gas is
the flue gas are recovered by recovered in the same way as in
installing scrubbers, cyclone wet process.
separators and by installing
high density electrical
precipitators.
11. The heat recovery in dry process
11. The recovery of heat from the is 20% more in this process.
flue gases is less.
Crushing & grinding of clay and lime
stone
• The limestone and the clay needed for the production of
cement as excavated from the quarries are crushed to
approximately a particle size of 100mm using crushers
which are called as the primary crushers.
• The secondary crusher installed in the same area crushes
the limestone and the clay to obtain a particle size of about
10mm.
• In the wet process, the crushed lime and clay is fed into a
rotary grinding ball mill in the presence of water. The
grinding is carried out using the technique of close circuit.
Mixing of ground raw material to
obtain an almost homogeneous mass
• The lime and clay obtained from the classifier is received in
a correcting tank where the composition w.r.t. limestone
and clay is adjusted. The slurry should contain 65-70%
limestone and 30-35% clay in it. In case any of the two is
less in quantity, the difficulty is made up by adding required
quantity of deficient material.
• Then slurry containing corrected limestone and clay is
pumped to a dark thickener where excess of water of any is
removed which in turn is reused for grinding in the ball mill.
The slurry obtained from the dark thickener should contain
30-40% water and 60-70% of the solids. This slurry is then
introduced into the kiln for pyro processing (heat treatment).
Transportation of ground raw materials to
rotary kilns & burning of raw materials to
clinkers
Construction and working of the rotary kiln:
• The pyro-processing of slurry obtained in the wet method
and the dry ground raw materials in the dry process is
carried out in a rotary kiln. It is made from sheets of plain
carbon steel riveted together to obtain a shell.
• In the old versions the rotary kiln tapered towards the top.
Now a days large no. of cement industry is using rotary
kiln of uniform internal diameter.
• In the old versions the rotary kiln was placed in a way that
it made an angle of 15 degrees with the horizontal which
facilitates the movement of material from the feed end to
the discharge end.
 Construction and working of the rotary
kiln:
• Now a days the inclination of shell with the horizontal has
been reduced to about 5-6 degrees. To facilitate the
movement of the material from feed end to the discharge
end, chains are installed inside the rotary kiln.
• The kiln rotates in the clockwise direction by standing at
the discharge end. The revolutions of the kiln about its axis
ranges between half to one rpm in some cases, while in the
others it may be 1-3 rpm.
• This depends upon the size of the kiln which may be 300-
400 ft in case of wet process and up to 150 ft in dry
process. From the feed end to the discharge end the total
time taken for the movement of material is between 2-3
hours.
 Cont..
• The temperature maintained inside the rotary kiln ranges
between 300-1400 degree Celsius in dry process and
100-1400 degree Celsius in wet process.
• At elevated temperature, calcium oxide behaves as a very
strong base and it can attach the material of construction of
the shell of rotary kiln. It is therefore necessary to take
appropriate measure to increase the working life of rotary
kiln. For this purpose, lining is provided on the interior of
the shell of rotary kiln.
 Merits of Lining in rotary kiln

• A lining provided in the rotary kiln has the following

merits:
1. The chemical attack of calcium oxide leading to corrosion
of material of construction of shell be eliminated.
2. The lining used is of a refractory material which processes
very low thermal conductivity hence heat losses from
rotary kiln to atmosphere would be reduced.
 Cont..
• The ordinary fire bricks which contain a very high
percentage of silica cannot be used for the purpose of
lining as silica contained in it may react with CaO to form
CaSiO2 which may solidify inside the kiln forming rings
which may obstruct the movement of material inside the
kiln from the feed end to discharge end.
• Usually high aluminium bricks produced from bauxite are
used for the purpose of lining. In the old version of the
rotary kiln the lining of 9 inches were provided from first
100 ft staring from discharge end where as the next 110ft
was lined with 7 inches thick brick of bauxite. Now a days
the kiln usually processes a uniform lining.
 Temperature Zones of Rotary kiln

Temperature Range Working

1. 100-300 0C 1. Evaporation of water. This zone

shall not be existed in dry
process.
2. 300-600 0C 2. (a)Evaporation of combined water
means chemically bound water.
(b)Decomposition of carbonate
starts.
3. 400-800/900 0C 3. Burning of organic matter.
 Cont..

4. 600-900oC 4. Volatilization of alkalis.

Volatilization of chlorides.
Evolution of CO2 from CaCO3
and the existence of free CaO
start.
5. 900-12000C 5. In this zone, main reaction
between lime and clay takes place
which is further subdivided into
the following:
a) 900-11000C (Formation of
tricalcium aluminate and
tetracalcium aluminoferrite.)
b) 1100-12000C (Max. formation of
tricalcium aluminate and
dicalcium silicate.)
 Cont..

6. 1250-12800C 6. Commencement of liquid

formation.
7. 1280-14000C 7. Further formation of molten
mass and the formation of main
constituent of cement i.e.
tricalcium silicate. In this range
most of CaO from the
decomposition of lime stone gets
associated to form various
complexes.
 Clinker Formation
• The product obtained due to high melting temperature gets
converted into the form of circular balls called as clinkers
which vary in this size between 1/8 to 3/8 inches, the
clinkers are collected in a cooler where they are cooled
using a draft of cold air. Wet air gets heated to 700-8000C
and used in the burning of fuel in the rotary kiln.
• The flue gases leaving at the feed end pass through an
integrated system of scrubbers, cyclone separator and
electrical precipitators to recover the dust particles of the
raw material.
CLINKER GYPSUM
Grinding of the clinkers:

• The clinkers are ground in the presence of 4-5% gypsum to

obtain fine powder which may confirm to the following
specification:
• ASTM
The 78% of the ground material should pass through 200
mesh sieve.
 THE CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS
quarry

dumper
loader

Quarry face

1. BLASTING 2. TRANSPORT

crushing storage at
the plant
conveyor

3. CRUSHING & TRANSPORTATION

1. BLASTING : The raw materials that are used to manufacture cement (mainly limestone and clay) are blasted
from the quarry.
2. TRANSPORT : The raw materials are loaded into a dumper.
3. CRUSHING AND TRANSPORTATION : The raw materials, after crushing, are
transported to the plant by conveyor. The plant stores the materials before they are Next
homogenized.
 THE CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Raw grinding and burning

storage at Raw mill

the plant
conveyor Raw mix

1. RAW GRINDING
preheating

kiln

cooling

clinker

2. BURNING

1. RAW GRINDING : The raw materials are very finely ground in order to produce the raw mix.
2. BURNING : The raw mix is preheated before it goes into the kiln, which is heated by a flame that can
be as hot as 2000 °C. The raw mix burns at 1500 °C producing clinker which, when it leaves the kiln, is
rapidly cooled with air fans. So, the raw mix is burnt to produce clinker : the basic material needed to
make cement.
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 THE CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Grinding, storage, packing, dispatch

Gypsum and the secondary additives are added

to the clinker.
clinker
storage Finish grinding

1. GRINDING
silos

dispatch

bags

2. STORAGE, PACKING, DISPATCH

1.GRINDING : The clinker and the gypsum are very finely ground giving a “pure cement”. Other secondary
additives and cementitious materials can also be added to make a blended cement.

2. STORAGE, PACKING, DISPATCH :The cement is stored in silos before being dispatched either in
bulk or in bags to its final destination.
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