CEMENTS

Cements

Stages Of Cement Manufacture

Raw Material Extraction & Preparation Clinker Manufacture Clinker Grinding

RAW MATERIALS
Chalk/Limestone (Calcium Carbonates) + Clay/Shale (Complex Alumino Silicates) + Gypsum (Calcium Sulphate)

REDUCTION OF RAW MATERIALS

Raw materials reduced via a series of crushers to a fine meal

Raw materials are stockpiled to ensure constant production supply

BLENDING
Dry Process - Raw meal blended to the required chemical composition 75% Calcium Carbonates 25% Complex Alumino Silicates

INTRODUCTION TO KILN
Raw meal pre-heated in pre-heating tower by heat generated by the kiln Dry process more economical than wet process Dry process quicker than wet process

KILN
75 150m in length Up to 6.0m in diameter Rotate on inclined axis Temperature 1450 oC

STAGES IN THE KILN

1. Drying 100o C 2. Decarbonisation/Calcining 800 oC 3. Formation of C2S, C3A & C4AF (@ approximately 1450 4. C2S reacts with excess lime to produce C3S

COOLING & STORAGE OF CEMENT CLINKER

Cement Clinker cooled rapidly to prevent C3S reverting back to C2S & excess lime

Cement Clinker is stockpiled prior to reduction

GRINDING OF CEMENT CLINKER

Cement Clinker reduced to the required fineness in tube mills

CLINKER GRINDING (TUBE MILL)

Cement clinker is ground down by hard chrome steel balls within the tube mill until it has be reduced sufficiently to pass through the perforated sides of the mill Gypsum is added to control the setting time Cement is routed to silos prior to packaging

Packaging & Distribution of Cement

Cement is pumped to silos prior to packaging or bulk distribution

MAIN COMPOUNDS OF OPC

C2 S C3S C3A C4AF Gypsum Di-Calcium Silicate Tri- Calcium Silicate Tri-Calcium Aluminate Tetra-Calcium Alumino Ferrite Calcium Sulphate

TYPES OF CEMENT
Hydraulic Cement is a term used to describe a powder which has the ability when mixed with water to set & harden either in air or water, by from hydrated compounds which increase in strength with age Composite Cement is a term used to describe blended cement, usually a combination of OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Cement) or PFA (Pulverised Fuel Ash)

GGBS, PFA & OPC MICROGRAPH

HYDRATION OF OPC
Water + OPC = Calcium Silicate Hydrate (Tobermorite Gel) + Calcium Hydroxide (Alkali)

HYDRATION OF OPC
Hydration is defined as the collective reaction of each compound with water. C3A + water = heat evolution & initial stiffening. C2S + C3S + water = Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C3S2H3) The reaction of the Tri-Calcium Aluminate & water is delayed until all the gypsum has been used.

HYDRATION OF OPC
Tobermorite Gel is an extremely finely divided rigid material; as a result it has enormous surface area energy. This enormous surface area energy produces strong physical forces of attraction known as adhesion. As hydration continues, more Tobermorite Gel is formed resulting in a near solid mass of finely divided rigid material, with massive adhesive forces.

The Calcium Hydroxide (alkali) produced has a crystalline form & exists as an integral part of the hardened cement paste.

TESTING CEMENTS, INITIAL/FINAL SET

Test measuring time taken for the cement paste to change from a fluid to a rigid state (Vicat Apparatus) Time elapsed, between mixing & the penetration of the cement paste. Initial set < 45 min. Final set >10hrs. Initial set is usually 2-3hrs Final set is no longer specified.

TESTING CEMENTS STRENGTH

Mortar prisms 160mm x 40mm x 40mm are cast, 1 part cement to 3 parts standard sand with a water cement ratio of 0.5. After curing, prisms are broken in half using a flexural test, each half is then tested in compression: 2@7 days & 1@28 days. 3 days < 15N, 28 days < 34N, >52N

TESTING CEMENTS SOUNDNESS

Measure of the expansion in hardened concrete, on heating and cooling (Le Chatillier Apparatus) Excessive expansion within the cement paste can cause an increase in internal stresses, which may lead to the failure of the concrete. Expansion >10mm, a typical value of OPC is 2mm

TESTING CEMENTS FINENESS

A measure of the cements specific surface area in m2/kg (Lea and Nurse Test) Derived from the pressure required to permeate a layer of cement. O.P.C < 275m2/kgR.H.P.C <350m2/kg

LATENT HYDRAULIC BINDERS

GGBS & PFA are both latent hydraulic binders; powders of a similar fineness to OPC which have little or no cementitious properties unless in the presence of an alkaline medium. Calcium Hydroxide is an alkali and is produced during the hydration of OPC, the calcium hydroxide activates the cementitious properties of the latent hydraulic Binder (PFA, GGBS) which then hydrate in its their own right, although at a slower & lower rate than the OPC

HYDRATION OF COMPOSITE CEMENTS

Calcium Hydroxide (Alkali) + PFA/GGBS/Micro Silica/Metakaolin Additional hydration products are produced resulting in a denser cement paste matrix: Reducing porosity & permeability Increasing strength & durability

GGBS (GROUND GRANULATED BLAST-FURNACE SLAG) GGBS, is a by-product of the steel manufacturing industry, molten pig iron slag is super cooled using high pressure water jets to produce small granules, these granules are then ground down. Benefits of this material: Increase in suppliers product range Reduced heat evolution Reduction of the concretes overall cost Increased cohesion, sulphate and acid resistance

PFA (PULVERISED FUEL ASH)

Pulverised Fuel Ash, is a by-product of coal burning power stations, ash from the combustion process is collected using electromagnetic precipitators Benefits of this material: Increase in suppliers product range Reduced heat evolution Reduction of the concretes overall cost Additional benefits of this material: Higher workability for a given w/c ratios Reduced w/c ratios & increased strength. Reduced creep & bleeding. Improved cohesion & resistance to segregation (ideal for pumping)

MICRO SILICA
Also known, as Silica-fume and is available in both in pellets & slurry form By-product of the quartz and iron ore smelting & consists of glassy particles one hundred times finer than OPC (8598% silicon dioxide), reacts with calcium hydroxide produced during the hydration of OPC to form a cementitious product in its own right Reduces capillary voids therefore reducing porosity & permeability Increases strength & durability

FALSE SET
False set can be described as: a sudden stiffening of the concrete approximately 5-10 minutes after batching caused by the skeletal formation of hydration products Re-mixing the concrete will reverse the process

FLASH SET
False set is caused be the intense and almost immediate reaction, between Tri-Calcium Aluminate (C3A) + Water Flash set is caused by poor distribution of the gypsum or an insufficient amount of gypsum During flash set heat is evolved, once started the process is irreversible.

HAC (HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT)

Limestone (Calcium Oxide) + Bauxite (Alumina Oxide). Kiln temperature 1500-1600 0C. Raw materials are combined at a 1:1 ratio Hydration normally complete within 24hrs with 80% of strength attained. Rate of hydration results in massive heat evolution, as such this material is only placed in small quantities

CONVERSION IN H.A.C
At 20 0C+, in the presence of water: CAH10 C3AH6 + Alumina Gel CAH10 (decahydrate with a psuedohexagonal form) C3AH6 (sesquihydrate with a cubic form) This chemical reaction results in change in density, whilst the volume remains constant, leading to a loss in strength & durability due to an increase in the porosity and permeability of the cement paste