TNS 1 Reviewer

Chemistry of Cement

Cement – a fine powder which sets after a few hours when mixed with water, and then
hardens in a few days into a solid, strong material. Cement is mainly used to bind fine
sand and coarse aggregates together in concrete.
“A cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens and can bind other materials
together. Its principal constituents for constructional purposes are compounds of Ca
(calcareous) and Al + Si (argillaceous)”
The word "cement" can be traced back to the Roman term opus caementicium, used
to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed rock
with burnt lime as binder

PROPERTIES OF CEMENT:
 Provides strength to masonry.
 Stiffens or hardens early.
 Possesses good plasticity.
 An excellent binding material.
 Easily workable.
 Good moisture-resistant.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CEMENT
Lime – 63%
Silica – 22%
Alumina – 6%
Iron oxide – 3%
Gypsum – 1 to 4%

HYDRAULIC CEMENT - The cement that has the property of setting and hardening
under water, by virtue of certain chemical reactions with it.
PORTLAND CEMENT - An extremely finely ground product by calcinising together, at
above 1500oC, an intimate and properly proportioned mixture of argillaceous (clay) and
calcareous (lime) raw materials, without the addition of anything subsequent to
calcination, excepting the retarder gypsum
 Ordinary Portland cement
 Modified Portland Cement
 Rapid Hardening Portland Cement
 Low Heat Portland Cement
 Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement
 Water-repellent Portland Cement
 Water-proof Portland Cement
SPECIAL CEMENT
 High Alumina Cement
 Blast Furnace Cement
 Quick Setting Cement
 Calcium Chloride Cement
 White Cement
 Colored Cement
 Expanding Cement
 Super Sulphate Cement
 Masonry Cement
NATURAL CEMENT – This type of cement can be obtained by burning limestone
containing 20-40% clay and crushing it to powder.
ARTIFICIAL CEMENT – A mixture of calcareous (containing lime) & argillaceous
(containing clay) material.
ORDINARY PORTLAND CEMENT
 Developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the mid-19th century.
 Basic ingredient of concrete, mortar.
 Originates from limestone.
MODIFIED PORTLAND CEMENT
 Used in general construction where moderate heat of hydration is required.
 Developed in the USA to reduce the disadvantage like very low early strength.
 Recommended where moderate sulfate may occur.
RAPID HARDENING PORTLAND CEMENT
 Containing higher tri- calcium silicate (C3S) content & finer grinding
 Gains strength more quickly than OPC
 Also known as High-Early Strength Portland Cement
 Applicable for cold weather concreting
LOW HEAT PORTLAND CEMENT
 Has excellent performances like high final strength and sulfate corrosion
resistance.
 Has low water requirement & high lasting properties
 Has high fluidity & good volume stabilization
 Necessary for marine concrete
 Not allowed to be used in the heat position
SULFATE RESISTANT PORTLAND CEMENT
 Moderately lower heat of hydration
 High sulfate resistance
 Used where concrete is exposed to soils high in sulfate content
 Not resistant to acids & other highly corrosive substances
WATER- REPELLENT CEMENT
 Has greater frost resistance
 Has imperviousness to water than ordinary cement
 Containing the power to minimize the hygroscopicity of cement
WATER-PROOF PORTLAND CEMENT
 Prepared by mixing with ordinary or rapid hardening cement, a small percentage
of some metal stearate (Ca, Al, etc.) at the time of grinding
 More resistant to penetration by water and some oils than that made from OPC
 Adequately resistant to the corrosive action of acids and alkalies.
HIGH ALUMINA CEMENT
 Rapid hardening cement of chocolate color.
 Manufactured from Bauxite and limestone in a special reverberatory containing
35% of Alumina
 Resists the action of acid and high temperature
 Does not expand on setting
BLAST FURNACE SLAG CEMENT
 Made by inter-grinding Portland Cement clinker.
 Has lower evolution of heat
 More resistant to attack weathering agencies
 Cheaper than OPC
 Color is blackish Grey
QUICK SETTING CEMENT
 Contains less percentage of gypsum
 Costlier than OPC
 Initial and Final Setting Times are 5 minutes and 30 minutes respectively.
 Due to its quick setting it is used under water or running water
WHITE CEMENT
 Made from raw material containing very little iron oxide & manganese oxide
 Dries quickly & possesses high strength
 Has superior aesthetic values
 Should not set earlier than 30 minutes
COLORED CEMENT
 Prepared by adding 5 to 15% of suitable coloring pigment before the cement is
finally grounded.
 Also known as “Colourcrete”
 Much costlier than OPC
 Widely used for fishing floors, external surfaces, etc.
EXPANDING CEMENT
 Produced by adding an expanding medium like sulpho-aluminate & a stabilizing
agent to the ordinary cement
 Expands whereas other Cement Shrink
 Used for construction of water retaining Structures.
 Employed for repairing the damaged concrete surfaces
SUPER SULPHATE CEMENT
 Highly resistant to seawater
 Offers resistance to peaty acids
 Used in a variety of aggressive conditions like marine work, mass concrete jobs,
etc.
 Should not be mixed with other cement
MASONRY CEMENT
 Prepared by intergrinding a mixture of Portland cement clinker with inert
materials.
 Initial and final setting times are 90 minutes and 24 hours respectively.
 Compressive strength is 2.5 N/m𝑚2 for 7 days.
 Much costlier than ordinary cement.
MANUFACTURING CEMENT
1. Mixing and Crushing of raw materials
a) Dry process
b) Wet process
2. Burning
3. Grinding
4. Storage and Packing

THE WET PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CEMENT

The manufacture of cement is a very carefully regulated process comprising the
following stages:
 Quarrying - a mixture of limestone and clay.
 Grinding - the limestone and clay with water to form a slurry.
 Burning - the slurry to a very high temperature in a kiln, to produce clinker.
 Grinding - the clinker with about 5% gypsum to make cement.
DRY PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CEMENT
 The raw materials are so hard (solid) that they do not disintegrate by water.
 Cold countries, because the water might freeze in the mixture.
 Shortage of the water needed for the mixing process.
PROPERTIES OF CEMENT
Setting – the stiffening of original plastic mass due to the formation of tobermonite gel. It
can be divided into 2 stages:
 Initial Set is when paste being to stiffen
 Final Set is when the paste beginning to harden and able to sustain some loads
Hardening – the development of strength due to formation of crystals.

SPECIAL CEMENT: White Portland Cement (or) White cement

 Is white in color due to absence of iron compounds
 Obtained by calcining the raw materials of Portland cement which are free from
iron oxide
Properties
 More expensive than ordinary Portland cement
 Acts as pore – blocking and water–repelling agent

✓ Repairing and joining marble pillars and blocks

✓ Manufacture of tiles and mosaic walls

SPECIAL CEMENT: Water proof Cement (or) Hydrophobic cement

 Is a cement obtained by adding water proofing substances like calcium stearate,
aluminum stearate and gypsum with tannic acid to ordinary Portland cement?
Properties
 More expensive than ordinary Portland cement
 Acts as pore – blocking and water – repelling agent

✓ Used to make concrete which is impervious to water under pressure

✓ Used in construction, where absorption of water needs to be avoided

✓ Used in construction of bridges and under water constructions

USES OF CEMENT
1. It is used in mortar for plastering, masonry work, pointing, etc.
2. It is used for making joints for drains and pipes.
3. It is used for water tightness of structure.
4. It is used in concrete for laying floors, roofs and constructing lintels, beams,
stairs, pillars etc.
5. It is used where hard surface is required for the protection of exposed surfaces of
structures against the destructive agents of the weather and certain organic or
inorganic chemicals.
6. It is used for precast pipes manufacturing, piles, fencing posts etc.
7. It is used in the construction of important engineering structures such as bridges,
culverts, dams, tunnels, light houses etc.
8. It is used in the preparation of foundations, water tight floors, footpaths etc.
9. It is employed for the construction of wells, water tanks, tennis courts, lamp
posts, telephone cabins, roads etc.

Nuclear Chemistry

Radiation – a moving particles/waves. We experience radiation as light and heat.

IS RADIATION DANGEROUS?
 If it has enough energy radiation can
o Heat things up
o Move electrons
o Move atoms
 This can damage cells, DNA, materials
 But you get lots of radiation every day:
o Radon 55%
o Cosmic & Earth 16%
o What you eat 11%
o Medical exams 15%
o Everything else 3%
WHY ARE WE INTERESTED IN NUCLEAR POWER?
 There is a LOT of energy contained in atoms.
 Fissioning 1 gram of Uranium-235 produces 24,000 kW-hr of energy.
o This is the same as burning 3 tons of coal, or 12 barrels of oil, or
50,000ft^3 of natural gas
 Your house uses ~20 kW-hr per day
 A Nuclear reaction, not a Chemical reaction
WHY NUCLEAR POWER?
 Not burning anything – no exhaust.
 We have lots of cheap nuclear fuel
 Uranium comes from nicer places:
o Australia 24%
o Kazakhstan 17%
o Canada 9%
o USA 7%
o South Africa 7%
 It produces a lot of power – we need a lot of power

NUCLEAR FISSION
 Nuclear fission is the process of splitting a nucleus into two nuclei with smaller
masses.
 Fission means “to divide”
 Remember that fission has 2 s’s, therefore it splits into TWO parts.
FISSION
 Only large nuclei with atomic numbers above 90 can undergo fission.
 Products of fission reaction usually include two or three individual neutrons; the
total mass of the product is somewhat less than the mass of Uranium-235.
CHAIN REACTION – an ongoing series of fission reactions. Billions of reactions occur
each second in a chain reaction.

FISSION CHAIN REACTION

 This is the process that allows reactors to exist:
o One free neutron causes one U-235 atom to fission
o That fission produces 2 or 3 new free neutrons

NUCLEAR FUEL – Nuclear (fission) reactors use Uranium as fuel.

NUCLIDES – Nuclide, also called nuclear species, species of the atom characterized by
the number of protons, the number of neutrons, and the energy state of the nucleus.

NUCLIDES VS. ISOTOPES

 Nuclides of an element that have the same number of protons but not the same
number of neutrons are called isotopes of that element. They are a variant of a
basic element.
Uranium “enriched” into U235 concentrations can be used as fuel for nuclear power
plants and the nuclear reactors that run naval ships and submarines. It also can be
used in nuclear weapons.

FUEL PACKAGING
 Want to be able to surround uranium with fluid to carry away heat
o lots of surface area is good
 Also need to slow down neutrons
o water is good for this
 So, uranium is packaged in long rods, bundled into assemblies
 Rods contain uranium enriched to ~3% 235U
 Need roughly 100 tons per year for a 1 GW plant
 Uranium stays in three years, 1/3 cycled yearly
CONTROL ROD ACTION
 Simple concept: need exactly one excess neutron per fission event to find
another 235U
 Inserting a neutron absorber into the core removes neutrons from the pool
 Pulling out the rod makes more neutrons available
 Emergency procedure is to drop all control rods at once
HOW DOES A NUCLEAR REACTOR WORK?
 Boil Water!
1. Produce heat
2. Boil water into steam
3. Use steam to turn a turbine-generator

 This is the same as a:

o Coal power plant
o Oil power plant
o Natural gas plant
o Solar thermal plant

CONTROLLING A REACTOR
 They control the fission chain reaction by getting rid of neutrons
o Insert control rods to absorb neutrons
 Fewer neutrons = fewer fissions = less heat
o This can be very fast – full power to shut down in <1 second!

NUCLEAR SAFETY
 Protect people from radiation
o Rules on radiation exposure from man-made sources
 Keep radioactive material contained
o Keep the fuel cool and shielded
o Put waste somewhere safe

HANDLING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

 Reduce dose to people from sources
o Shielding, distance, time
o Dosimeters
 Prevent spread of contamination
o Protective clothes
o Monitors