Scribd
Upload
8 views5 pages

5 TH

Cement is a crucial binder used in construction, primarily to bind sand and gravel, forming mortar or concrete, with hydraulic cement being the most common type. Hydraulic cements, like Portland cement, set through hydration reactions with water, while non-hydraulic cements set by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air. Cement production contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions, but its hardened products can reabsorb some of this CO2 over time.

Uploaded by

saksham.guleria2015
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8 views5 pages

5 TH

Cement is a crucial binder used in construction, primarily to bind sand and gravel, forming mortar or concrete, with hydraulic cement being the most common type. Hydraulic cements, like Portland cement, set through hydration reactions with water, while non-hydraulic cements set by reacting with carbon dioxide in the air. Cement production contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions, but its hardened products can reabsorb some of this CO2 over time.

Uploaded by

saksham.guleria2015
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction

that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them


together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand
and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixed with fine aggregate
produces mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel,
produces concrete. Concrete is the most widely used material in
existence and is behind only water as the planet's most-consumed
resource.[2]
Cements used in construction are usually inorganic, often lime-
or calcium silicate-based, and are either hydraulic or less
commonly non-hydraulic, depending on the ability of the cement to
set in the presence of water (see hydraulic and non-hydraulic lime
plaster).
Hydraulic cements (e.g., Portland cement) set and
become adhesive through a chemical reaction between the dry
ingredients and water. The chemical reaction results in
mineral hydrates that are not very water-soluble. This allows setting in
wet conditions or under water and further protects the hardened
material from chemical attack. The chemical process for hydraulic
cement was found by ancient Romans who used volcanic
ash (pozzolana) with added lime (calcium oxide).
Non-hydraulic cement (less common) does not set in wet conditions
or under water. Rather, it sets as it dries and reacts with carbon
dioxide in the air. It is resistant to attack by chemicals after setting.
The word "cement" can be traced back to the Ancient Roman
term opus caementicium, used to describe masonry resembling
modern concrete that was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as
binder. The volcanic ash and pulverized brick supplements that were
added to the burnt lime, to obtain a hydraulic binder, were later
referred to as cementum, cimentum, cäment, and cement. In modern
times, organic polymers are sometimes used as cements in concrete.
World production of cement is about 4.4 billion tonnes per year (2021,
estimation),[3][4] of which about half is made in China, followed by India
and Vietnam.[3][5]
The cement production process is responsible for nearly 8% (2018) of
global CO2 emissions,[4] which includes heating raw materials in
a cement kiln by fuel combustion and release of CO2 stored in the
calcium carbonate (calcination process). Its hydrated products, such
as concrete, gradually reabsorb atmospheric CO2 (carbonation
process), compensating for approximately 30% of the initial
CO2 emissions.[6]

Chemistry
[edit]
Cement materials can be classified into two distinct categories:
hydraulic cements and non-hydraulic cements according to their
respective setting and hardening mechanisms. Hydraulic cement
setting and hardening involves hydration reactions and therefore
requires water, while non-hydraulic cements only react with a gas and
can directly set under air.
Hydraulic cement
[edit]

Clinker nodules produced by sintering at 1450 °C


By far the most common type of cement is hydraulic cement, which
hardens by hydration of the clinker minerals when water is added.
Hydraulic cements (such as Portland cement) are made of a mixture
of silicates and oxides, the four main mineral phases of the clinker,
abbreviated in the cement chemist notation, being:
C3S: alite (3CaO·SiO2);
C2S: belite (2CaO·SiO2);
C3A: tricalcium aluminate (3CaO·Al2O3) (historically, and still
occasionally, called celite);
C4AF: brownmillerite (4CaO·Al2O3·Fe2O3).
The silicates are responsible for the cement's mechanical
properties — the tricalcium aluminate and brownmillerite
are essential for the formation of the liquid phase during
the sintering (firing) process of clinker at high temperature
in the kiln. The chemistry of these reactions is not
completely clear and is still the object of research.[7]
First, the limestone (calcium carbonate) is burned to
remove its carbon, producing lime (calcium oxide) in what
is known as a calcination reaction. This single chemical
reaction is a major emitter of global carbon dioxide
emissions.[8]

The lime reacts with silicon dioxide to produce


dicalcium silicate and tricalcium silicate.

The lime also reacts with aluminium oxide to form


tricalcium aluminate.

In the last step, calcium oxide, aluminium


oxide, and ferric oxide react together to form
brownmillerite.

Non-hydraulic cement
[edit]
Calcium oxide obtained
by thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate at high
temperature (above 825 °C).
A less common form of cement is non-
hydraulic cement, such as slaked
lime (calcium oxide mixed with water), which
hardens by carbonation in contact
with carbon dioxide, which is present in the
air (~ 412 vol. ppm ≃ 0.04 vol. %).
First calcium oxide (lime) is produced
from calcium carbonate (limestone or chalk)
by calcination at temperatures above
825 °C (1,517 °F) for about 10 hours
at atmospheric pressure:

The calcium oxide is then spent (slaked)


by mixing it with water to make slaked
lime (calcium hydroxide):

Once the excess water is completely


evaporated (this process is technically
called setting), the carbonation starts:

This reaction is slow, because


the partial pressure of carbon
dioxide in the air is low
(~ 0.4 millibar). The carbonation
reaction requires that the dry
cement be exposed to air, so the
slaked lime is a non-hydraulic
cement and cannot be used under
water. This process is called
the lime cycle.

You might also like