Civil Engineering Materials &

Construction CE-112

Cement Manufacturing
 Cement Manufacturing
• Steps
• Grinding & mixing . Raw materials are ground and mixed in
right proportions.
• Burning. Burning at 1300 to 1900oC and obtaining clinker
Grinding. Grinding of clinker to fine powder.
• Processes
• Dry process. Dry mixing and grinding of constituents.
Difficult for composition control, slow, costly.
• Wet process. Wet mixing and grinding into slurry which turns
into clinker on burning in kiln.
 Dry Process
• In this Process lime stone and clay are ground separately
to fine powders and are then mixed together in the desired
properties.
• Wateris then added to it so as to get a thick paste of
which cakes are then made dried and burnt in the kilns.
• To the clinker obtained after burning three to four percent
of gypsum is added and ground to very fine powder which
is cement.
 Dry Process

• Dry Process is slow and costly.

• It is difficult to have the correct proportion of constituents
and to do so is a unmanageable operation.
• The quality of cement prepared from this process is low
• This method has become outdated and wet process of
manufacturing cement is widely used.
Wet Process
Ball Mill
 Wet Process
Collection of raw materials
Calcareous materials (limestone, chalk, etc.) are quarried by blasting. Argillaceous
materials (clay, slate, etc.) are transported to the site.
Crushing, grinding & mixing of raw materials
◦ Chalk: chalk is finely broken up and dispersed in water in a wash mill. The clay
is also broken up and mixed with water in similar wash mill. The mixture is
passed through a series of screens. The resulting cement slurry flows into
storage tanks.
◦ Limestone: limestone is crushed & fed into a ball mill with the clay dispersed in
water. After grinding, the resulting slurry is pumped into storage tanks.
◦ Slurry: it is a liquid of creamy consistency, with water content between 35-40%
 Wet process (contd.)

Crushing, grinding & mixing of raw materials:

◦ Slurry is kept in storage tanks. The sedimentation of suspended
solid is prevented by mechanical stirrers or bubbling of
compressed air.
◦ The slurry is passed into silos where proportioning is finely
adjusted to ensure correct chemical composition.
Burning
◦ Slurry is pumped into upper end of the rotary kiln set at a slight
gradient. It is 4 m in diameter and upto 150 m long. It rotates
slowly about its axis. The slurry is fed at the upper end while
pulverised coal is thrown in by an air blast at the lower end
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 Wet process (contd.)
Burning
◦ When slurry moves down the kiln, it encounters progressively
high temperatures.
◦ At first water is driven off, and CO2 is liberated. The material
becomes dry.
◦ The dry material undergoes a series of chemical reactions until
finally, in the hottest part of kiln, 20-30 % of the material
becomes liquid, and lime, silica and alumina recombine.
◦ The mass fuses into balls, 0.3-2.5 cm dia, known as clinker.
◦ The clinker drops into coolers.
◦ A large kiln can produce 700 tones of cement a day
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 Wet process (contd.)

• Grinding
• The cool clinker is crushed with 3-4% of
gypsum (CaSO4) in order to prevent flash
setting of cement.
• Once the cement has been satisfactorily ground
it is ready for packing in bags.
• Each bag contains 50 kg of cement.
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 Zones of Rotary Kiln

CE-115 Civil Engineering Materials - Concrete 11/05/2022 11

Cement Manufacturing Process

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Cement Manufacturing Process

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Rotary Kiln (Furnace)

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Clinker

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Clinker Gypsum

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 Cement Clinker Composition
Tri-calcium silicate – 3CaO SiO2 or C3S (Alite)
◦ Best cementing material. About 40%. Main cause of hardness and
early strength
Di-calcium silicate – 2CaO SiO2 or C2S (Belite)
◦ About 32%. Resistance to chemical attacks. Hardens slow and takes
long to add to strength
Tri-calcium aluminates – 3CaO Al2O3 or C3A (Celite)
◦ About 10%. Rapidly reacts responsible for flash set, volume
changes, cracking and high heat of hydration
Tetra-calcium alumino ferrite – 4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 or C4AF
(Felite)
◦ About 9%. Responsible for flash set. 18
 Hydration of Cement
When Portland cement is mixed with water its
chemical compound constituents undergo a series of
chemical reactions that cause it to harden and set .This
chemical reaction with water is called Hydration. Each
one of these reactions occurs at a different time and
rate. The results of these reactions determine how
Portland cement hardens and gain strength.
 Cement Properties
Fineness: Fineness or particle size of cement affects
hydration rate and thus the rate of the strength gain.
Finer cements react quicker with water and increase
shrinkage of concrete.
Soundness: Change in volume of concrete after
setting. It may cause cracks, distortion and
disintegration of concrete.
 Cement Properties

Setting time: Initial setting time is that stage after which

any cracks that may appear do not reunite. Final setting is that
stage when it has attained sufficient strength and hardness.
Compressive strength: of cement and sand mortar should
not be less than
◦115 kg/cm2 after 3 days
◦175 kg/cm2 after 7 days
 Properties of cement components
Component Rate of Heat Ultimate
reaction liberated cementing
value

Tri-calcium silicate, C3S Medium Medium Good

Di-calcium silicate, C2S Slow Small Good

Tri-calcium aluminate, C3A Fast Large Poor

Tetra-calcium alumino Slow Small Poor

ferrite, C4AF
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 Setting and hardening of cement

The chemical reaction between cement and water

is called hydration of cement.
When cement is mixed with water (25-35% by
weight), a stiff and sticky paste is formed which
remains plastic for a short period.
 Setting and hardening of cement
With passage of time, the plasticity disappears and the
cement past becomes stiff due to initial hydration of
cement. This phenomenon of plastic cement changing
into a solid mass is known as setting of cement.
On setting, cement binds the aggregates into a solid
mass which gains strength as the time passes, till
hydration of cement is complete
 Setting and hardening of cement
• The phenomenon by virtue of which the cement paste, which is
finally set, develops strength is known as hardening of cement.

• Heat of hydration: The reaction of cement with water evolves

heat known as heat of hydration.

• The rate of setting and hardening of cement, the rate of evolution

of heat and resistance to chemical attack are affected by the
proportions of different cement components.
 Setting and hardening of cement
C3S and C2S constitute about 70-80% of all Portland
cements.
Tri-calcium silicate (C3S): C3S hydrates more rapidly than
C2S and develops strength in concrete for first 28 days. It
also generates more heat.
Di-calcium silicate (C2S): C2S is next to hydrate but it
hydrates slowly and is responsible for the ultimate strength.
C2S takes 2-3 years for its complete hydration which
contributes towards ultimate strength of cement mortar on
concrete. It is more resistant to sulphate attacks. 26
 Setting and hardening of cement
Tri-calcium aluminate (C3A): When cement reacts with water,
C3A is the first to react with water and causes the initial set. It
generates great amount of heat and is easily affected by
sulphates.
C3A contributes little to the strength of concrete.

C3A is rendered ineffective by addition of gypsum during

grinding of clinkers.
Gypsum reacts with C3A and turns it into calcium sulpho-
aluminate which causes expansion during setting. 27
 Setting and hardening of cement
• C4AF (Felite)
– It is comparatively
inactive and
contributes little to
the strength of
concrete and the
heat of hydration.

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