Class Notes: CVS 228 h/out II 2020/21

1.2 MANUFACTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT

Th process of manufacture of cement consists essentially of grinding the raw materials
(calcareous and argillaceous stones containing silica, alumina and iron oxide), mixing
them intimately in a certain proportion and burning in a large rotary kiln at a
temperature of approximately l3000C to l9000C, when the material sinters and partially
fuses into balls known as clinker. The clinker is cooled and ground to fine powder, with
some gypsum added, and the resulting product is the commercial Portland cement so
widely used throughout the world.

Manufacturing Process
There are two processes employed for the manufacture of the cement:
 Wet process
 Dry process
Both processes involve the following steps (trace in Fig. 1.1):
(i) Collection of raw materials;
(ii) Crushing, grinding and mixing of raw materials;
(iii) Burning; and
(iv) Grinding of clinker.

The Wet Process

(i) Collection of raw materials - Calcareous materials such as limestone, marl, chalk
etc. are quarried by blasting. Argillaceous materials such as clay, slate etc. are
transported to the site by wine ropeways or dumping trucks.
(ii) Crushing grinding and mixing of raw materials - When chalk is used it is finely
broken up and dispersed in water in a wash mill; this is a circular pit with
revolving radial arms carrying rakes which break up the lumps of solid
matter. The clay is also broken up and mixed with water, usually in a similar
wash mill. The two mixtures are now pumped so as to mix in predetermined
proportions and pass through a series of screens. The resulting cement slurry
flows into storage-tanks.
When limestone is used it has to be blasted and then crushed usually in two
progressively smaller crushers, and then fed into a ball mill with the clay

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 dispersed in water. There the grinding of the limestone’s (to the fineness of
flour) is completed, and the resultant slurry is pumped to storage tanks.
The slurry is a liquid of creamy consistency, with a water content between 35
to 40 per cent. There is usually a number of storage tanks in which slurry is
kept, the sedimentation of the suspended solid being presented by
mechanical stirrers or bubbling by compressed air The slurry then passes into
silos where the proportioning is finely adjusted to ensure the correct chemical
composition. From these silos the slurry is fed into the kilns.

Fig. 1.1

(iii) Burning : The fine slurry is pumped into the upper end of the rotary kiln set
at a slight gradient. The rotary kiln (Fig. 1.2) is a large, refractory-lined steel
cylinder upto 4 metres in diameter sometimes as long as 150 metres, slowly
rotating about its axis, The slurry is fed in at the upper end while pulverised

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 coal is thrown in by an air blast at the lower end of the kiln, Where the
temperature reaches 1400 to 1500°C: The coal used must not have too high an
ash content. Oil and natural s can be used instead of coal.

The slurry, in its movement down the kiln, encounters progressively higher
temperature. At first the water is driven off and CO2 is liberated further on, the dry
material undergoes a series of chemical reactions until finally, in the hottest part of the
kiln, 20 to 30 per cent of the material becomes liquid, and lime silica and alumina
recombine. The mass then fuses into balls, 0.3 cm to 2.5 cm diameter, known as clinker.
The clinker drops into coolers, which are of various types and often provide means of
exchange of heat with the air subsequently used for the combustion of the pulverised
coal. A larger kiln can produce 700 tonnes of cement a day.

(iv) Grinding: The cool clinker which is characteristically black, glistering and
hard is interground with 3 to 4% gypsum in order to prevent flash setting of
cement. The grinding is done in a ball mill consisting of several
compartments with progressively smaller steel balls. In some plants a closed-
circuit grinding system is used; the cement discharged by the mill is passed
through a separator, fine particles being removed to the storage silo by an air
current, while the coarser particles are passed through the mill once again.
Close circuit grinding avoids the production of a large amount of excessively
fine material or of a small amount of too coarse material, faults often
encountered with open circuit grinding.

Fig. 1.2 Rotary kiln.

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Once the cement has been satisfactorily ground it is ready for packing in bags. Each bag
contains 50 kg of cement.

The Dry Process

In the dry or semi-dry processes the materials are crushed and fed in the correct
proportions into a grinding mill, where they are dried and reduced in size to fine
powder. The dry powder called, raw meal, is then pumped to a blending silo, and final
adjustment is now made in the proportions of the material required for the manufacture
of the cement. To obtain uniform and intimate mixture the raw meal is blended, usually
by means of compressed air inducing an upward movement of the powder and
decreasing its apparent density. The air is pumped over one quadrant of the silo at a
time and, this permits the apparently heavier material from the un-aerated quadrant to
move laterally into the aerated quadrant. Thus the aerated material tends to behave
almost like a liquid, and by aerating all quadrants in turn for a total period of about one
hour a uniform mixture is obtained. In some work continuous blending is used.

The blended meal is now sieved and fed into a rotating dish called a granulator, water
weighing about 12 per cent of the meal being added at the same time. In this manner,
hard-pallets about 1.25 cm diameter are formed. This is necessary, as powder fed direct
into a kiln would not permit the air flow and exchange of heat necessary for the
chemical reactions of formation of cement clinker.

The pallets are baked hard in a pie-heating grate by means of hot gases from the kiln.
The pallets then enter the kiln, and subsequent operations are the same as in wet the
process of manufacture. Since, however, the moisture content of the pallets is only 12
per cent as compared with the 40 per cent moisture content of slurry used in the wet
process, the dry-process kiln is considerably smaller. The amount of heat required is
also very much lower as only some 2 per cent of moisture has to be driven off
additional, but additional heat has already been used in removing the original moisture
content of the raw materials (usually 6 to 10 per cent). The process is thus quite
economical, but only when the raw materials are comparatively dry.
Dry process (modern technology) is now preferred and adopted in most of the Cement
industries due to the following reasons:

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 1. For dry process the heat required per kg of clinker, reduced is less.
2. The blending of dry powders has now perfected and the wet process which
requires much higher consumption of power can be replaced with confidence.
3. The application of modern technology has made the production of cement by dry
process more economical and of superior quality.
Composition of Cement Clinker

The cement clinkers (which are formed when calcareous and argillaceous raw materials
are mixed and burned in rotary kilns) consist of the following compounds:

The MAJOR compounds however are:

Compound Abbreviation Common proportion

Tricalcium silicate(3CaOSi02) C3S 40%

Dicalcium silicate (2CaOSiC2) C2S 32%
Tricalcium aluminate (3CaOA1203) C3A 10.5%
Tetracalcium aluminium C4A.F 9%
ferrite (4CaO A1203 Fe203)

Gypsum

Besides these major compounds, the proportion of other constituents varies from
0 to 5% and that of gypsum (CaSO3) 3 to 4% which is added while grinding the
clinkers (Gypsum is added to retard or to slow down the initial setting action of
cement)

The properties of the compounds of clinker are discussed below:

1. Tricalcium silicate (C3S)

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 i) Generates heat more rapidly.
ii) Hydrates more rapidly.
iii) Possesses less resistance to chemical attack.
iv) Develops early strength.
2. Dicalcium silicate (C2S)

i) Imparts ultimate strength to the cement.

ii) Offers more resistance to chemical attack.
iii) Hardens more slowly.
iv) Hydrates slowly.
3. Tricalcium aluminate (C3A)

i) Weak against sulphate attack.

ii) Reacts fast, generating a large amount of heart.
iii) Does not contribute to develop strength.
iv) Causes initial setting of cement.
4. Tetra calcium aluminium ferrite (C4AF)

i) Poor cementing value.

ii) Reacts slowly, generating small amount of heat
iii) Comparatively inactive

NB: It has been observed/analysed that most of the strength developing properties of
cement are controlled by C3S and C2S (the sum of their percentages varies from 70 to 80
per cent).

 High percentage of C3S and low C2S result in

- rapid hardening,
- high early strength with, high heat generation, and
- less resistance to chemical attack.
 Low percentages of C3S and high C2S result in
- slow hardening,
- much more ultimate strength with less heat generation, and
- greater resistance to chemical attack.
Thus, by changing the relative proportions of these compounds, various types of
cements are manufactured. General types as per ASTM are as listed in table.

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1.3 SETTING AND HARDENING OF CEMENT

 The chemical reaction between cement and water is called hydration of cement or
simply cement hydration.
 When cement is mixed water (varying from 25 to 35 per cent by weight), a stiff
and sticky paste is formed which remains plastic for a short period. With the
passage of time, the plasticity gradually disappears and the cement paste
becomes tiff due to initial hydration of cement. This phenomenon by virtue of
which the plastic cement changes into a solid mass is known as setting of cement.
On setting, the cement binds the aggregates into a solid mass which gains
strength as the time lap set till the hydration of cement is complete. Thus, the
phenomenon by virtue of which the cement paste, which is finally set, develops
strength is known as hardening of cement.
 As mentioned above, cement during its reaction with water sets and hence
hardens. This reaction evolves heat. The rate of setting and hardening of cement,
the rate of evolution of heat and the resistance to sulphate attack are affected by
the proportions of different cement compounds as discussed below:
- C3S and C2S constitute about 70 to 80% of all Portland cements. C3S hydrates
more rapidly than C2S and develops strength in concrete for the first 28 days. It
also generates more heat. C2S is next to hydrate but it hydrates slowly and is
responsible for the ultimate strength. C2S takes 2 to 3 years for its complete
hydration which contributes towards ultimate strength of cement mortar on
concrete. It is more resistant to sulphate attack.
- When cement reacts with water, C3A is the first to react with war and causes the
initial set. It generates great amount of heat and is easily affected by sulphates. It
contributes little to the strength of concrete. It is rendered ineffective by addition
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 of gypsum during the grinding of clinkers. Gypsum reacts with C 3A and turns it
into calcium sulpho-aluminate which causes expansion during setting. C3A is
therefore not available in substantial quantity for reaction when water is added
to Cement.
- C4AF is inactive and contributes little to the strength of concrete and the heat of
hydration.
- Fig. 1.3 shows the contribution of each cement compound to the development of
strength.

Fig. 1.3: Compressive strength of cement compounds with age.