Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

MANUFACTURING PROCESSES OF CEMENT ........................................................................................................................... 2
THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF PORTLAND CEMENT .................................................................................................... 3
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................................................ 6
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Introduction
In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, a British stone mason, obtained a patent for cement he produced in his kitchen. He
heated a mixture of finely ground limestone and clay in his kitchen stove and ground the mixture into a powder
create a hydraulic cement-one that hardens with the addition of water. Aspdin named the product portland
cement because it resembled a stone quarried on the Isle of Portland off the British Coast. With this invention,
Aspdin laid the foundation for today's Portland cement industry. Today Portland cement is known for being the
most common cement used worldwide.

Manufacturing process of Portland Cement

Portland cement is mainly produced with closely controlled chemical combinations of calcium, silicon,
aluminum, iron and other small amounts of other ingredients to which gypsum is added in final grinding process
to regulate the setting time of the concrete, with Lime and Silica making up 85% of the mass.
Large mountains of rock must be broken down and taken to be crushed by crushers. The first crushing by
primary crushers reduces the rock to maximum size of 6 inches. The rocks then pass through the secondary
crushers that reduce these rocks to 3 inches or smaller.
Wet versus dry manufacturing method
There are 2 different processes involved in this production, wet and dry. In the wet process, the raw
materials are properly proportioned, then ground with water, thoroughly mixed to form a fluid, which is
calledslurry. After mixing this fluid form is then fed to the kiln. The dry process involves the raw materials
being crushed, mixed and fed to the kiln in a dry state (water not added). The key difference is the addition of
water but from this stage the two different processes are essentially alike.
The actual methods of manufacture depend also on the hardness of the raw materials used and on their moisture
content. If materials such as chalk and clay are used, the wet process can be invoked. The chalk is finely broken
down , dispersed in washmill ( a circular pit with revolving radical arms having rakes that break up matter) .The
clay is broken up , missed in predetermined proportions , passes through a series of screens and the result flows
into storage tanks. A material such as limestone usually goes through two crushers in order to get correct
fineness. The slurry has water content between 35-50% and only small fraction of 2 per cent. The slurry kept in
storage tanks go through final adjustment to get required chemical composition, this done by mixing different
slurries together. The slurry with desired lime passes through kiln and encounters high temperatures, CO2
liberated, further dried and under series of chemical reaction. 20-30 % of the material becomes liquid and lime,
silica and alumina recombine with mass fusing to form balls, 3-5 mm known as clinker. The kiln operated
continuously ensuring a steady regime, a uniformity of clinker. The flame reaches 1650oC. The wet process is
energy intensive so new wet-process plants are no longer built.
The dry and semi dry processes are crushed and grinded and fed to grinding mill ,dried ,reduced in size to a fine
power called raw meal ,then pumped to blending silo and final adjustment made to portion raw materials and
using means of compressed air to gain uniformity and intimate mixture . The air is pumped over one quadrant of
the silo at a time, permitting heavier material to move laterally into aerated quadrants, making them behave like
a liquid, by aerating all quadrants until a uniform mixture is obtained.
In the semi dry process blended meal is now sieved and fed to granulator and water weighing 12 per cent of
meal is added and hard pellets of about 15 mm in diameter are formed, baked and pre-heated in kiln by hot
gases.
In the dry process moisture content is 0.2 percent of raw meal, and this is passed through pre-heater, usually
suspending meal particles with rising gases, with raw meal heated to about 8000C, then fed to kiln .Since the
raw meal contains no moisture and is already heated the kiln process is short with parts of gas bled ff to ensure
alkali content is not to high. On exit of kiln regardless of the process, the clinker is cooled, heat being used to
preheat the combustion air. This is interderground with gypsum to prevent flash setting. Once the cement has
been satisfactorily ground, when it will have as many as 1.1 1012 particles per kg (5 1011 per lb), it is ready
for transport in bulk. Less commonly, the cement is packed in bags or drums.

The Chemical Composition of Portland Cement

Compound

Abbreviation

Chemical Formula

Tricalcium silicate
C3 S
3CaOSiO2
Dicalcium silicate
C2 S
2CaOSiO2
Tricalcium aluminate C3A
3CaOAl2O3
Tetracalcium
C4AF
4CaOAl2O3
alumino-ferrate
Fe2O3
Gypsum
CaSO4 2H2O
Figure 3: showing the chemical composition of Portland cement

Typical concentration
(%)
60-70
10-20
5-10
3-8
3-5

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from:

http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/inorganic/9B.pdf

Functions of the compounds in Portland cement:

1. Tricalcium silicatea. Hardens rapidly which makes it largely responsible for initial set and early strength.
b. By increasing the percentage of this compound will cause the early strength of Portland cement to
increase and it will also increase the rate at which strength is gained.
2. Dicalcium silicatea. Hardens slowly.
b. As time increases its effects on strength increases.
3. Tricalcium aluminatea. It is the first compound to be hydrated and it turns out higher heat of hydration therefore it
contributes to early and faster gain in strength development.
b. It is poor in sulfate resistance.
4. Tetracalcium alumino-ferratea. It acts as a catalyst in the manufacturing of Portland cement by lowering the temperature for
clinkering.
b. The iron present gives the ordinary Portland cement its colour.
5. Gypsuma. It hydrates very rapidly during the setting reaction.
b. It helps in controlling the initial setting rate.

Appendix :

Fig 1: showing the wet processing of cement

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from:
http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/construction-engineering/9780273786337/chapter-1dot-portlandcement/ch01lev1sec2

Fig 2 : showing the dry processing of cement

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from :
http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/construction-engineering/9780273786337/chapter-1dot-portlandcement/ch01lev1sec2

Figure 3 : showing Cement Kiln

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from :
http://www.concretethinker.com/solutions/Stewardship.aspx

Figure 4 : Showing the Washmill containing slurry

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from :
:http://www.concretethinker.com/solutions/Stewardship.aspx

Conclusion : the two methods of producing cement wet and dry both produce Portland cement. The
method used can depend upon the material used to make cement the dry method of cement processing is
favoured due to the lower energy costs for production .

References:
Figure 1

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/constructionengineering/9780273786337/chapter-1dot-portland-cement/ch01lev1sec2

Figure 2

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/constructionengineering/9780273786337/chapter-1dot-portland-cement/ch01lev1sec2

Figure 3

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from : http://www.concretethinker.com/solutions/Stewardship.aspx

Figure 4

Date Acquired: 23rd September 2013 Retrieved from :http://www.concretethinker.com/solutions/Stewardship.aspx

Websites:
Portland Cement Association (PCA), Cement and Concrete Basics ,accessed September 23, 2013,
http://www.cement.org/basics/howmade.asp

Books
A.M. Neville, Properties of Concrete, Fifth Edition