Cement Production

Portland Cement
By definition —
a hydraulic cement
produced by pulverizing
clinker consisting
essentially of hydraulic
calcium silicates, usually
containing one or more of
the forms of calcium
sulfate as an interground
addition
Source: PCA, 2003
Raw Materials Necessary for
Portland Cement Manufacture
Must Provide the Following
Calcium
Silica
Alumina
Iron
Calcium Iron Silica Alumina Sulfate
Alkali waste Blast-furnace Calcium silicate Aluminum-ore Anhydrite
Aragonite flue dust Cement rock refuse Calcium
Calcite Clay Clay Bauxite sulfate
Cement-kiln Iron ore Fly ash Cement rock Gypsum
dust Mill scale Fuller’s earth Clay
Cement rock Ore washings Limestone Copper slag
Chalk Pyrite cinders Loess Fly ash
Clay Shale Marl Fuller’s earth
Fuller’s earth Ore washings Granodiorite
Limestone Quartzite Limestone
Marble Rice-hull ash Loess
Marl Sand Ore washings
Seashells Sandstone Shale
Shale Shale Slag
Slag Slag Staurolite
Traprock
Source: PCA, 2003
 Traditional Manufacture of
Portland Cement

1. Stone is first reduced to 125 mm (5 in.)

Source: PCA, 2003
size, then to 20 mm (3/4 in.), and stored.
2. Raw materials are ground to powder and blended.

or Source: PCA, 2003

2. Raw materials are ground, mixed with water to form slurry,

and blended.
3. Burning changes raw mix chemically into cement clinker.

Source: PCA, 2003

Source: Mindess, Young, and Darwin, 2004
Source: Mindess, Young, & Darwin, 2004
3. Burning changes raw mix chemically into clinker. Note
four stage preheater, flash furnaces, and shorter kiln.

Source: PCA, 2003

 Pyro-
Processing
Source: PCA, 2003
4. Clinker is ground with gypsum into portland cement and
shipped.

Source: PCA, 2003

 Clinker Gypsum

Source: PCA, 2003

 Grinding
Clinker is ground with
gypsum (calcium sulfate) to
produce portland cement

Fine grinding is necessary

for high early strength
– 85-95% -325 mesh (45
microns)
– ~ 7 trillion particles per
pound

Gypsum absorbs water and

prevents setting of C3A
during shipment
Source: van Oss and Padovani, 2002
 Process of Clinker Production

Source: PCA, 2003

Source: PCA, 2003
Source: PCA, 2003
Source: Taylor, 1997
Source: MacLaren and White, 2003
Source: MacLaren and White, 2003
 Clinker Phases
Alite or 3CaO•SiO2 or C3S
– Hydrates & hardens quickly
– High early strength
– Higher heat of hydration
(setting)

Belite or 2CaO• SiO2 or C2S

– Hydrates & hardens slower
than alite
– Gives off less heat
– High late strength (> 7 days)

Modern cements are

manufactured to be higher in
alite for early strength
 Clinker Phases
Aluminate or 3CaO• Al2O3
or C3A
– Very high heat of hydration
– Some contribution to early
strength
– Low C3A for sulfate
resistance

Ferrite or 4CaO• Al2O3 •

Fe2O3 or C4AF
– Little contribution to strength
– Lowers clinkering
temperature
– Controls the color of cement
Microscopic Images of Clinker
Microscopic Images of Clinker

Alite
Microscopic Images of Clinker

Belite
Microscopic Images of Clinker

Aluminate
Microscopic Images of Clinker

Ferrite
Types of Portland Cement
ASTM C 150 (AASHTO M 85)

I Normal
II Moderate sulfate resistance
III High early strength
IV Low heat of hydration
V High sulfate resistance
Source: Mindess, Young, and Darwin, 2004
Source: Mindess, Young, and Darwin, 2004
Source: Mindess, Young, and Darwin, 2004
Source: Mindess, Young, and Darwin, 2004