UNIT I: PROPERTIES OF CEMENT

Cement - Manufacturing, Types of cement

Properties of Cement - Testing of Cement
Field Testing Laboratory Testing methods
Setting properties of cement soundness of
cement fineness and compressive strength
of cement cement mortar tests - Heat of
Hydration

Cement: An active component of concrete

Cement: Finely pulverized, dry material that develop binding
property as a result of hydration. Cement by itself is not a binder.
Hydraulic cement: The materials hardens in presence of water and
sustain in water without undergoing much chemical or physical
change
Active ingredient in concrete which constitute around 10% of the
total volume of the concrete. This is the only scientifically
controlled medium in the concrete
Cement helps in linking other ingredients through chemical
bonding . The cement also helps in filling the voids between fine
and coarse aggregate
Egyptians used gypsum as cementing material in their
construction
Romans prepared cementing materials by burning calcium
carbonate

History of Cement Manufacturing

Modern cement, known as Portland cement, was patented in 1824
by Joseph Aspirin Burning limestone ( calcareous material) and clay (argillaceous
material) slurry below clinkering temperature
1845 Isaac Charles Johnson made a better cement burning a mixture of clay and chalk till the clinkering temperature

Figure 6

CO2

Lime stone (Fine

powder)

Slurry

1000 oC

Clay
Synthesis protocol by Joseph Adspidin

Cement

History of cement: Indian Scenario

In India, the first Portland cement was
manufactured in 1904 near Madras By
south India Industrial limited
1912-1913 India cements Co. Ltd was
established in Porpbander (Gujarat)- 1914
the company could deliver around 1000 ton
of cement by 1918 the production rose to
85000 tons / year
First Year Plan ( 1951-1956) production
rose to 2.6 million tons to 4 .6 million tons
by 1969 it went up to 13.2 million tons ( 9th
place in the world)
India is the second largest producer of
cement in the world with 300 million tonne
production capacity

Byculla, Mumbai
Concrete Masonry Building on
mound Road
Harki-phari Bridge at Haridwar,
1908
Cotton Depeot, Mumbai, 1922

The scope of cement manufacturing in India

Govt. of Indian Paining to

invest around 1 trillion
dollar in infrastructure
(twelfth year plan, 20122017) against 514 billion in
2007-2012)
185 large plants ( 97% total
installed capacity) 77 are
located in Rajasthan (21
plants ), Andra Pradesh (37
pants) and Tamil Nadu (19
plants).
365 small plants ( remaining
3%)
Figure 1

China

India

Top cement producers and consumers in the world

9.7 %

Figure 3

Challenges in Indian cement industry

Mismatch of demand an supply

Increase in input cost due to increase in price of
commodity, high interest rate, increase in power
cost, labor cost, dollar exchange rate
Dwindling natural resources ( lime stone, fuel,
water), acute shortage of local coal, long
gestation period

Figure 5

Major Indian Players

Cement Manufacturing Process

Portland Cement
Portland cement is a name given to modern cement which is
obtained by burring a intimate mixture of a calcareous material
and an argillaceous material to a partial fusion at a temperature of
around 1450 oC. The product obtained is called clincker . The
clincker is cooled and ground to the required fineness to produce a
material called cement
During grinding gypsum or plaster of pairs ( around 3-5% by
weight) is added to adjust the setting time
Calcareous material chalk, lime stone, oyster shell, marl
argillaceous material- (materials containing alumina) shale,
clay, slate, selected blast furnace slag

Wet Process and Dry Process

Source: MS Shetty, Concrete technology

30-50% water

Cement manufacturing: Process flow diagram

Lime stone

pyrite ash, coal fly

ash, sandy clay,
filter ash, Slag, and
Pozzolans
~
3%
3-5%

1450C

800C

Dry Process

Source: Huntzinger et al., 2009

Cement manufacturing: Process flow diagram

Sintering temperature

22 min

500 oC

10 min

Ambient temperature

- Affects the degree of crystallization, size of the crystal and amount amorphous
material present in the clinker

Important points
Clinker weigh normally varies from 1300 g to 1100 g per liter
1200 g per liter of clicker is satisfactory
Lesser the weight better the quality of cement
Gypsum or calcium sulfate is added 3-5% to avoid flash setting
Wet process:
Mixing and grinding of the material is done wet condition- good control
over mixing
30-50% water is added to the ingredients to form a slurry of uniform
composition
More energy consumption more fuel to dry slurry, more fuel for mixing
Consumption of coal per 1000 kg cement is 350 kg
Dry process
Mixing and grinding of the material is done dry condition using
compressed air
Less energy consumption
Consumption of coal per 1000 kg cement is 100 kg