CEMENT MANUFACTURING

DEFINITION OF TERMS Calcination- is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. Cement - is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. Clinker - lumps or nodules, usually 3-25 mm in diameter, produced by sintering limestone and alumino-silicate during the cement kiln stage. Gypsum - is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO42H2O. Kiln - is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Portland cement (often referred to as OPC, from Ordinary Portland Cement) - is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient ofconcrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout. It is a fine powder produced by grindingPortland cement clinker (more than 90%), a limited amount of calcium

sulfate (which controls the set time) and up to 5% minor constituents. Pozzolana - also spelled pozzuolana, or pozzolan, hydraulic cement discovered by theRomans and still used in some countries, made by grinding pozzolana (a type of slag that may be either naturali.e., volcanicor artificial, from a blast furnace) with powdered hydrated lime. Pyriteor Iron Pyrite - is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold. Quarry - is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. Silo is a structure for storing bulk materials.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

INTRODUCTION Cement is a fine powder which sets after a few hours when mixed with water, and then hardens in a few days into a solid, strong material. Cement is mainly used to bind fine sand and coarse aggregates together in concrete. Cement is a hydraulic binder, i.e. it hardens when water is added. Cement plants are usually located closely either to hot spots in the market or to areas with sufficient quantities of raw materials. The aim is to keep transportation costs low. Basic constituents for cement (limestone and clay) are taken from quarries in these areas. Basically, cement is produced in two steps: first, clinker is produced from raw materials. In the second step cement is produced from cement clinker. The first step can be a dry, wet, semi-dry or semi-wet process according to the state of the raw material.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING PROCESS WET PROCESS Fig1. Flow Chart for Wet Process

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23407088/Cement

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

Wet Process In Fig1 where the flow chart of wet process is shown, each raw material is proportioned to meet a desired chemical composition and fed to a rotating ball mill with water. The raw materials are ground to a size where the majority of the materials are less than 75 microns. Materials exiting the mill are called "slurry" and have flowability characteristics. This slurry is pumped to blending tanks and homogenized to insure the chemical composition of the slurry is correct. Following the homogenization process, the slurry is stored in tanks until required. In the wet process, the slurry is fed to a rotary kiln, which can be from 3.0 m to 5.0 m in diameter and from 120.0 m to 165.0 m in length. The rotary kiln is made of steel and lined with special refractory materials to protect it from the high process temperatures. Process temperatures can reach as high as 1450oC during the clinker making process. DRY PROCESS Fig2. Flow Chart of Dry Process

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23407088/Cement

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

Dry Process In Fig2, dry process flow chart, each raw material is proportioned to meet a desired chemical composition and fed to either a rotating ball mill or vertical roller mill. The raw materials are dried with waste process gases and ground to a size where the majority of the materials are less than 75 microns. The dry materials exiting either type of mill are called "kiln feed". The kiln feed is pneumatically blended to insure the chemical composition of the kiln feed is well homogenized and then stored in silos until required. Kiln feed is fed to a preheater tower, which can be as high as 150.0 meters. Material from the preheater tower is discharged to a rotary kiln with can have the same diameter as a wet process kiln but the length is much shorter at approximately 45.0 m. The preheater tower and rotary kiln are made of steel and lined with special refractory materials to protect it from the high process temperatures. Semi-Dry Process The semi-dry process is a special example of the dry process and uses a Lepol kiln or shaft kiln.In either kiln, the raw material ground in the dry process is shaped into pellets with diameter of 10to 15 mm, so that about 13% of water is added.

Advantages of Wet Process While dry processing has several benefits including less fuel usage, there are many advantages of wet processing as well. First, because of the nature of liquids, this process is ideal for irregular surface applications. Additionally, wet processing works well if the raw materials are moist. Finally, when a wet slurry is dried in the kiln, it becomes a crumble that is palpable for later heating in that kiln.

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

FLOW CHART GENERAL FLOWCHART Fig1. General Flow Chart for Cement Manufacturing

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23407088/Cement

CRUSHING Fig2. Flow Chart of Crushing

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/23407088/Cement

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

RAW MATERIALS The main raw materials used in the cement manufacturing process are limestone, sand, shale, clay, and iron ore. The main material, limestone, is usually mined on site while the other minor materials may be mined either on site or in nearby quarries. Another source of raw materials is industrial by-products. The use of by-product materials to replace natural raw materials is a key element in achieving sustainable development. Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Function of Limestone Limestone is a very strong rock and is often cut into large blocks and used in the construction of buildings and skyscrapers. Crushed limestone is also used to make cement, plaster and chalk.Limestone fizzes in vinegar, which means that it reacts to acids. This also means that the outsides of many of our buildings and monuments are being affected by acid rain. Acid rain occurs when large companies pollute the air by releasing chemicals like sulphur into the atmosphere. The sulphur combines with hydrogen and oxygen in the air to form sulphuric acid Fig5. Limestone

Source:http://www.greerindustries.com/limestone.html

Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that forms from the compaction of silt and clay-size mineral particles that we commonly call "mud".
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CEMENT MANUFACTURING

Fig6. Shale

Source:http://geology.com/rocks/shale.shtml

Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO42H2O. Function of Gypsum Gypsum is added to cement clinker to 1 Increase the tensile strength of cement 2 Bind the particles of calcium silicate 3 Decrease the rate of setting of cement 4 Facilitate the formation of colloidal gel Fig7. Gypsum

Source: http://www.shibang-china.com/application/gypsum-crusher.html

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

EQUIPMENTS/MACHINERIES Cement is typically made from limestone and clay or shale. These raw materials are extracted from the quarry crushed and ground to a very fine powder and then blended in the correct proportions. Obviously, Cement production line involves limestone crushing, grinding process, coal grinding process, gypsum grinding process, clay grinding process, cement clinker grinding process etc.

Jaw Crusher A jaw or toggle crusher consists of a set of vertical jaws, one jaw being fixed and the other being moved back and forth relative to it by a cam or pitman mechanism. The jaws are farther apart at the top than at the bottom, forming a tapered chute so that the material is crushed progressively smaller and smaller as it travels downward until it is small enough to escape from the bottom opening.

Fig8. Jaw Crusher

Source: http://www.miningequipments.net/product/jaw-crusher.html

CEMENT MANUFACTURING

Kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials. Fig9. Kiln

Source: http://www.treehugger.com

Ball mill A type of grinder used to grind materials into extremely fine powder for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, and ceramics. Fig10. Ball Mill

Source: http://www.roller-mill.org/Beneficiation-Equipment/8.html

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CEMENT MANUFACTURING

TESTING INVOLVED MECHANICAL STRENGTH Machines and devices to determine the compression and flexural mechanical strength by means of a breaking test, with controlled parameters, over cement mortar samples. SPECIMEN PREPARATION Equipments and devices for preparing, the different types of samples to be tested. All the items are standardized to allow our customers to prepare samples in a reproducible way. One of the most important facts of the cement quality determination is the assurance of obtaining equal prepared samples. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES Equipments and devices for determining the most relevant physical properties of cement. Colour, hydration heat, granulometry , density, consistence, are properties which depends directly on the cement physical structure. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS Equipment and devices for chemical cement standard analysis. Chromium VI content, sulphates, phases analysis, etc depends on the quantitative and qualitative chemical composition of the raw materials, as well as the chemical reactions produced during the clinkering process. An inappropriate chemical composition will revert in the obtaining of soft and unstable cements, with bad hydraulic fixer properties and low aggression resistance from external agents.

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CEMENT MANUFACTURING

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473488/pozzolana http://www.essroc.com/default.aspx?pageid=183 http://www.ehow.com/facts_7705570_advantages-process-use-cement-industry.html http://www.cembureau.be/about-cement/cement-manufacturing-process http://www.scribd.com/doc/23407088/Cement http://www.oregrinder.com/solutions/crushing-plant/cement-plant-equipment.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/57686745/6/Semi-dry-process http://www.ibertestint.com/en/materials-testing/itemlist/category/6-chemical-analysis http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061023134035AAJlMLj http://www.allinterview.com/showanswers/56098.html

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