CEMENT MANUFACTURING

PROCESSES
REFUGIO, KYLE M.
WHAT IS CEMENT?
Cement, one of the most important building
materials, is a binding agent that sets and hardens
to adhere to building units such as stones, bricks,
tiles, etc.
Figure 1: Cement
Cement mixed with water causes a chemical
reaction and forms a paste that sets and hardens to
bind individual structures of building materials.

Cement is an integral part of the urban

infrastructure. It is used to make concrete as well
as mortar, and to secure the infrastructure by
binding the building blocks.
Figure 2: Cement mixed with water
CEMENTS
Materials of making Cements:
 Lime, is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. The presence of lime in a sufficient quantity is required to
form silicates and aluminates of calcium.
 Silica, Silicon Dioxide, it imparts strength to cement. Silica usually presents to the extent of about 30
percent cement.
 Alumina, Aluminium Oxide, it imparts quick setting property to the cement.

 Magnesia, Magnesium Oxide, should not exceed to the 2% in cement, it will reduce the strength of the
cement.
 Iron Oxide, it imparts the color of the cement.

 Calcuim Sulfate, this is present in cement in the form of gypsum, it slows down or retards the setting action
of cement.
 Sulfur Trioxide, it should not be present for more than 2%. Excess Sulfur Trioxide causes the cement to
unsound.
 Alkaline, it should not be present more than 1%. Excess Alkaline matter causes efflorescence.
CEMENTS

Figure 3: Components of making cement and their percentage

CEMENT
STAGES OF CEMENT PROCESSES

1. Extraction – Raw materials employed

in the manufacture of cement are extracted
by quarrying in the case of hard rocks such
as limestones, slates, and some shales, with
the aid of blasting when necessary. Some
deposits are mined by underground
methods. Softer rocks such as chalk and Figure 4: Extraction process

clay can be dug directly by excavators.

CEMENT
2. Crushing and grinding the raw materials
All except soft materials are first crushed,
often in two stages, and then ground, usually
in a rotating, cylindrical ball, or tube mills
containing a charge of steel grinding balls.
This grinding is done wet or dry, depending on
the process in use, but for dry grinding the raw
materials first may need to be dried in
cylindrical, rotary dryers. Soft materials are
broken down by vigorous stirring with water in Figure 5: The process of crushing
and grinding of raw materials
wash mills, producing a fine slurry, which is
passed through screens to remove oversize
particles.
CEMENT
3. Blending the materials – The powders are blended (the ‘raw meal’) and preheated to around 900°C
using the hot gases from the kiln. The preheating burns off the impurities.
4. Burning – Next the material is burned in a large rotary kiln at 1500°C. Heating starts the de-
carbonation where Carbon Dioxide is driven from the limestone. Kilns—up to 200 metres (660 feet)
long and six metres in diameter in wet process plants but shorter for the dry process—consist of a steel,
cylindrical shell lined with refractory materials. They rotate slowly on an axis that is inclined a few
degrees to the horizontal. The raw material feed, introduced at the upper end, moves slowly down the
kiln to the lower, or firing, end. The fuel for firing may be pulverized coal, oil, or natural gas injected
through a pipe. The temperature at the firing end ranges from about 1,350 to 1,550 °C (2,460 to 2,820
°F), depending on the raw materials being burned. Some form of heat exchanger is commonly
incorporated at the back end of the kiln to increase heat transfer to the incoming raw materials and so
reduce the heat lost in the waste gases. The burned product emerges from the kiln as small nodules of
clinker. These pass into coolers, where the heat is transferred to incoming air and the product cooled.
The clinker may be immediately ground to cement or stored in stockpiles for later use.
CEMENT
5. Cooling and final grinding – The clinker is then cooled and ground to a
fine powder in a tube or ball mill. A ball mill is a rotating drum filled with
steel balls of different sizes (depending on the desired fineness of the
cement) that crush and grind the clinker. Gypsum is added during the
grinding process to provide means for controlling the setting of the cement.
The cement is bagged transported for concrete production.
CEMENT
EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERIES IN
CEMENT PROCESSES

 Cement Crusher

The raw materials are fed into cement crusher

by vibratory feeder; the breaking material is
transported by the belt conveyor to the impact
crusher for further crusher. There are various
types of cement crusher on the market,
including jaw crusher, cone crusher, hammer
crusher, impact crusher, and etc. Figure 6: The various types of
cement crusher
CEMENT
 Cement mill

Cement ball mill, vertical cement mill, and

cement roller press are common types of
cement grinding plant. Cement mill is used to
grind the crushed material into fine size
before clinker production. A cement mill is
also applied for grinding clinker into finished
cement. The cement clinker grinding is the
last step of the cement manufacturing
process, in this step, cement mill grinds
cement clinker, gelatinizing agent and other
materials into the required size, which can
meet the requirement of cement. Figure 7:Example of a vertical
cement mill
CEMENT
 Cement kiln

Is used to make cement clinker, and it is

the core equipment of cement
production line; usually, apply for dry
method cement production. There are
two main kinds of cement kiln to
manufacture cement clinker. One is the
cement rotary kiln, and it is horizontal
and can rotate. Rotary kiln is widely Figure 8: A cement kiln
applied to the cement clinker
production. Another one is vertical and
fixed kiln, so it is called as a vertical
kiln.
CEMENT
 Clinker cooler and dryer

During the operation, the dryer

supplies heat stably, ensures the
drying quality and cement quality.
The cement cooler is also used for Figure 8: A clinker cooler
clinker production. Using blower
blowing cold air, quench the cement
clinker that laid on the grate plate,
decrease the temperature of clinker
from 1200℃ to 100℃ and below, the
cooling exhaust gas enters into the
kiln as secondary air.
Figure 9: A clinker dryer
CEMENT
DIAGRAM OF THE
CEMENT
PROCESSES

Figure 10: A cement process diagram

References
 https://
www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/cement-materials-and-manufacturin
g-process/
.
 http://www.cement-plants.com/cement-making-machine-overview/.
 https
://www.britannica.com/technology/cement-building-material/Cement-testin
g
.
 https
://civiltoday.com/civil-engineering-materials/cement/10-cement-ingredient
s-with-functions
.