Different types of

cement for general

construction purpose

A presentation by :-
Rajib Chattaraj
Executive Engineer,PWD
(December 2011)
 Cement
• In the list of construction Materials - CEMENT will
definitely come on top of the list.

• From a small house to skyscrapers, from a small

culvert to a massive bridge, from village road to
Express Ways every where when binder is required for
construction purpose the name of cement comes first
in our mind.
• India is the second largest manufacturer of
cement in the world, only after China.

• There is a huge variety of cement

available in the Indian market.

• Of course for specialized purposes,

Special cements are required.
• But, for general purposes, i.e., for construction
of buildings, culverts, bridges, stadiums,
auditoriums, rigid pavements, etc. principally
three types of cement are used:-

i. OPC : Ordinary Portland Cement

ii. PPC : Portland Pozzolana Cement

iii. PSC : Portland Slag Cement

• OPC 33 Grade:IS : 269

• OPC 43 Grade:IS : 8112

• OPC 53 Grade:IS : 12269

• PSC :IS : 455

• PPC (fly ash based):IS:1489 (Part-1)

• PPC (calcined clay):IS:1489 (Part-2)

• There are so many brands available for these
types of cements which are manufactured in
larger plants, medium to small cement plants:
more than 150 large cement plants and more
than 300 mini plants.

• How to choose right cement out of so many

options?

• Have we ever given a rational thought over this

issue?
• If we apply our rational mind to judge this
issue, the criteria should be:

i. Strength

ii. Durability

iii. Economy

iv. Environmental issues

Ordinary Portland Cement

• It is the original variety of cement .

• Prior to 1987 in India, there was the only one

grade of OPC which was governed by IS:269-
1976.

• After 1987, three OPC grades namely 33 grade,

43 grade, and 53 grade based on their 28-days
strength in MPa(Mega Pascal) were introduced.
• The higher grade cements are a bit costlier than
33 grade OPC. However, they offer 10-20%
savings in cement consumption.

• Over the years, C3S proportion in OPC and its

fineness have been made increased which can
be attributed to the cause of higher strength than
it was around 30-40 years back.
Problems with OPC:-
• The principal constituent of OPC is Portland cement
clinker, the production of which is very energy intensive,
thus, costly. So the main problem with OPC is higher
cost.
• There are some technical problems with OPC like high
heat of hydration, cracking due to drying shrinkage,
surplus Ca(OH)2 after hydration which may cause
leaching of concrete, proneness to more chemical
attack, less sulphate resistant etc.
• Regarding these technical issues there are other school
of thoughts too.
• There are environmental issues also, because
production of OPC being very energy intensive, emission
of CO2 is also very high.

However, during 70 s when in replacement of OPC, the

concept of blended cement started coming in advanced
countries, environmental factor was not an issue.

• Thus, the main reason behind the concept of

replacement of OPC and introduction of blended cement
was – reduction of cost.
 The Concept of Blended
Cement
• Replacing a part of Portland Cement clinker by a suitable
percentage of principally two materials – blast furnace
slag and fly ash – by product (much cheaper) of Iron and
Steel industry and thermal power plants respectively,
Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Portland Pozzolana
Cement (PPC) are produced.

• Though there are debates on technical issues about the

pros and cons of PSC and PPC, it is established fact that
worldwide PSC and PPC had started replacing OPC and
today the production of PPC and PSC are much more
than OPC. In our country also, similar scenario prevails.
 Portland Slag Cement
• Portland Slag Cement is obtained by mixing Portland
Cement clinker, gypsum and granulated blast furnace
slag in suitable proportions and grinding the mixture to
get a thorough and intimate mixture. PSC comprises of
approx. 40-60% portland cement clinker, 40-50% slag, 3-
4% gypsum.

• As per IS : 455 : Indian Standard for Portland Slag

Cement, Slag constituent shall not be less than 25% and
not more than 65%.

• Only glassy granulated slag should be used for

manufacture of slag cement. Slag to be used in PSC
have to be quenched rapidly so that crystallization is
prevented and it solidifies as glass.
• If slag prepared in any other form is used, the required
quality of cement will not be obtained.

• Composition of slag which can be considered as

satisfactory is :-

42% lime, 30% silica, 19% alumina, 5% magnesia,

1% alkalis.

• The exact nature of hydration of Portland Slag Cement is

not very clear. The Portland Cement component
hydrated in normal manner and the calcium hydroxide
thus liberated appears to be give the correct alkalinity
needed to provide a starter for the hydration of
granulated slag. However, further hydration of slag is
direct and does not depend on combination with lime.
 Advantages and
disadvantages of PSC
• PSC has low heat of hydration, reduced permeability due
to refinement of pore structure, increased resistance
to chemical attack, therefore, can be used for marine
works with advantage but has slow rate of initial
hardening.

• On economical and environmental aspect PSC is

definitely better than OPC.
 Pozzolana & Portland –
Pozzolana Cement
• Pozzolana is a natural or artificial material containing
Silica in a reactive form.

• It possesses little or no cementations properly itself but

in finely divided form and in presence of moisture
chemically react with calcium hydroxide, liberated by
hydration of Portland Cement to form stable calcium
Silica Hydrate (C-S-H) which has cementations
properties.

• Volcanic ash, original pozzolana – pumicite, opaline

shales and cherts, calcined diatomaceous earth, burnt
clay, fly ash are the example of pozzolana.
• As per IS : 1489 (Part – I) : Fly ash based PPC, the fly
ash constituent shall be not less than 15% and not more
than 35% PPC comprises of approx. 60-70% Portland
Cement clinker, 25-35% fly ash, 3-4% gypsum.

• Fly ash with a minimum content of 70% Silica, alumina

and ferric oxide all together, a maximum SO3 content of
5%, a maximum loss of ignition of 12% and maximum
alkali content expressed as Na2O of 1.5% is suitable for
blending with Portland Cement clinker for production of
PPC.

• Fly ash with high lime content originating from Lignite

Coal (may have lime content as high as 24%), though
possesses cementitious properties itself, is not suitable
for blending to produce PPC.

• Thus, blending of correct quality of fly ash is very

important for good quality of PPC.
 The advantages and
disadvantages of PPC
• In comparison with OPC, in PPC, there would be lesser
calcium hydroxide content, because calcium hydroxide
formed due to hydration of Portland cement reacts with
reactive Silica. This reduces alkalinity which is turn
reduces the resistance to corrosion of steel.

• However, it is compensated significantly by the action of

refined pore structure and thereby reduced permeability
in case of PPC.

• PPC also shows good resistance to sulphate attack and

also to some other destructive agents. This is so
because the pozzolanic reaction with formed Calcium
Hydroxide out of hydration of Portland Cement in PPC
leaves lesser lime to be leached out which in turn
reduces permeability and carbonation.
• Portland-pozzolana cement gains strength slowly than
OPC, thus, needs curing for a longer period but the
ultimate strength is same or may even be more than that
of OPC.

• Hydration reaction mechanism of fly ash and surplus

calcium hydroxide is called secondary hydration. It is
estimated that for a typical OPC, hydrated mineralogical
phase will be 75% and Surplus Calcium Hydroxide will
be 25%. However, if 35% of fly ash replaces cement,
then due to secondary hydration, the hydrated
mineralogical phase will increase to 99% leaving only
1% surplus Calcium Hydroxide.

• The spherical shapes of crystalline part of fly ash helps

to reduce interparticle friction and thus facilitates mobility
which in turns helps to reduce W/C ratio to maintain the
same workability compared to concrete without fly ash.
 The environmental
aspect of use of cement
 Some facts on Environmental
issues on Production of Cement

• Production of cement contributes emission of

CO2 in two ways : (i) Calcinations of lime stone
which is done at around 14500C : large amount
of CO2 is emitted in this process. (ii) To achieve
this high temperature, lot of energy has to be
spent which again involves CO2 emission.
• The proportion of CO2 for (i) & (ii) varies from 50
: 50 to 60 : 40. More the energy efficient process
of manufacturing it would be, lesser will be CO2
emission for no. (ii) cause.
• Generally 1 ton of OPC production involves 0.9
to 1 ton CO2 emission.
• Japan tops the list where 0.7 ton CO2 is emitted
per 1 ton of OPC. Our country’s performance in
this regard is more or less good with 0.9 ton of
CO2 emission for producing 1 ton of OPC.
• The above data holds good for the production of
OPC only.
• Production of blended cement considerably
replaces Portland Cement clinker by fly ash or
granulated blast furnace slag with the same
result of OPC or even better on technical
aspects. So far as the CO2 emission are
concerned, blended cements are undoubtedly
much better than OPC which is very important
for sustainable development.

• Environmental wastes like fly ash and blast

furnace slags are also consumed to some extent
in cement industry which is double benefit.
• Thermal power being the cheapest, it is
estimated that up to 2050 A.D., in large
countries like USA, China, India, Australia,
more than 50% of the power will come
from thermal power, thus, production of fly
ash will go on increasing. So will be blast
furnace slag with increased use of iron
and steel. Thus fly ash and blast furnace
slag will be available in abundance.
• On the contrary, reverse of cement-graded
lime stone, the basic constituent for
production of Portland Cement clinker in
India stood at 97,430 million ton in March’
2006 out of which 22,931 million ton can
be used since more than 50% of reserve
are located in inaccessible or ecologically
sensitive areas.

• All the facts above help us to come to only

conclusion : blended cement is the
answer.
 The Scenario of Indian Cement Industry :-
Year OPC Production PPC Production PSC Production
% of total Production % of total Production % of total Production

1989 29.77 million ton 7.5 million ton 4.53 M.T.

70.76% 17.83% 10.83%
1999 61.73 M.T. 19.99 M.T. 9.34 M.T.
67.30% 21.80% 10.18%
2005 56.74 M.T. 68.46 M.T. 10.85 M.T.
41.52% 50.09% 7.94%
2006 50.32 M.T. 89.36 M.T. 12.66 M.T.
32.89% 58.41% 8.28%
2007 43.39 M.T. 107.05 M.T. 13.33 M.T.
26.38% 65.10% 8.10%
2008 44.26 M.T. 117.88 M.T. 14.44 M.T.
24.98% 66.53% 8.15%
2009 49.06 M.T. 136.26 M.T. 15.89 M.T.
24.20% 67.21% 7.84%

This statistics speak for itself.

 Conclusion

• Considering all the aspects–technical,

economical and environmental, blended cement
is certainly having edge over OPC for general
purpose of construction.
• But how to choose–which brand of cement,
make of which plant–large or mini ? Every
cement manufacturing company–from large to
small are telling that their product is the best–
meets all the testing criteria satisfactorily.
• It is easy to exceed the minimum strength
specified in standards but it is difficult to
maintain a high quality consistently.

• The index by which such consistency can be

checked is co-efficient of variation which is
expressed as the ratio of standard deviation and
mean strength expressed in %.

• Co-efficient of variation is generally expressed

on a monthly basis from the daily test results. If it
is less than 5%, it would mean consistency of
good quality.
Thank You