Methods, Processes, and

Equipment Involved in
Manufacturing Cement
Presented by:
Añonuevo, John Michael E.
Bobis, Anthony L.
Malaca, Darelle David B.
BSME – 5A
 Definition of Cement
• Cement is a greenish grey colored powder, made of calcined mixtures of
clay and limestone. When mixed with water, it becomes a hard and
strong building material.
• It is a binder—a 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. With sand and gravel, produces concrete.
• Cement is the most widely used material in existence and is only behind
water as the planet's most-consumed resource.
Cement Manufacturing Process Phases

1. Raw Material Extraction

2.Grinding, Mixing, Proportioning, and Blending
3. Pre-Heater Phase
4. Kiln Phase
5. Cooling and Final Grinding
6. Packing and Shipping
 Phase 1: Raw Material Extraction
• The major raw materials used in the manufacture of cement are Calcium,
Silicon, Iron, and Aluminum. These minerals are used in different form
as per the availability of the minerals.
Calcareous
Argillaceous Materials
Materials
Calcium Silicon Aluminum Iron
Limestone Clay Clay Clay
Marl Marl Shale Iron Ore
Calcite Sand Fly Ash Mill Scale
Aragonite Shale Aluminum Ore Refuse Shale
Shale Fly Ash Blast Furnace Dust
Sea Shells Rice Hull Ash
Cement Kiln Dust Slag
 Phase 1: Raw Material Extraction

• Generally cement plants are fixed where the quarry of limestone is

nearby. This saves the extra fuel cost and makes cement somehow
economical. Raw materials are extracted from the quarry. By means of
conveyor belt, material is transported to the cement plant.
• Before transportation of raw materials to the cement plant, large size
rocks are crushed into smaller size rocks with the help of crusher at
quarry. Crusher reduces the size of large rocks to the size of gravels.
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending

The mixing procedure of the manufacture of cement is done in two

methods:
• Dry Process
• Wet Process
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending
Dry Process
• The both calcareous and argillaceous raw materials are firstly crushed in
the gyratory crushers to get 2-5 cm size pieces separately. The crushed
materials are again grinded to get fine particles into ball or tube mill.
• Each finely grinded material is stored in hopper after screening. Now
these powdered minerals are mixed in required proportion to get dry raw
mix which is then stored in silos and kept ready to be sent into rotary kiln.
Now the raw materials are mixed in specific proportions so that the
average composition of the final product is maintained properly.
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending
Wet Process
• The raw materials are firstly crushed and made into powdered form and
stored in silos. The clay is then washed in washing mills to remove
adhering organic matters found in clay.
• The powdered limestone and water washed clay are sent to flow in the
channels and transfer to grinding mills where they are completely mixed
and the paste is formed, i.e., known as slurry.
• The grinding process can be done in ball or tube mill or even both. Then
the slurry is led into collecting basin where composition can be adjusted.
The slurry contains around 38-40% water that is stored in storage tanks
and kept ready for the rotary kiln.
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending
 Phase II: Grinding, Mixing,
Proportioning, and Blending
Comparison of Dry Process and Wet Process of Cement Manufacture
Criteria Dry Process Wet Process
Hardness of raw Any type of raw
Quite hard
material material
Fuel consumption Low High
Time of process Lesser Higher
Quality Inferior quality Superior quality
Cost of production High Low
Overall cost Costly Cheaper
Physical state Raw mix (solid) Slurry (liquid)
 Phase III: Pre-Heater Phase
• After grinding, the material is
ready to face the pre-heating
chamber. Pre-heating chamber
consists of series of vertical
cyclone from where the raw
material passes before facing the
kiln. It utilizes the emitting hot
gases from kiln. Pre-heating of
the material saves the energy and
make plant environmental
friendly.
 Phase IV: Kiln Phase
• The burning process is carried out in the rotary kiln while the raw
materials are rotated at 1-2 rpm at its longitudinal axis. The rotary kiln is
made up of steel tubes having the diameter of 2.5-3.0 meter and the
length differs from 90-120 meter. The inner side of the kiln is lined with
refractory bricks.
• The kiln is supported on the columns of masonry or concrete and rested
on roller bearing in slightly inclined position at the gradient of 1 in 25 to 1
in 30. The raw mix of dry process or corrected slurry of wet process is
injected into the kiln from the upper end. The kiln is heated with the help
of powdered coal or oil or hot gases from the lower end of the kiln so that
the long hot flames is produced. As the kiln position is inclined and it
rotates slowly, the material charged from upper end moves towards
lower end at the speed of 15 m/hr.
 Phase IV: Kiln Phase

Three Zones in Kiln:

• Drying Zone
– In the upper part, water or moisture in the material is evaporated at
400°C temperature.
• Calcination Zone
– In the central part, the temperature is around 1000°C, where
decomposition of lime stone takes place. The remaining material is in the
form of small lumps known as nodules after the carbon dioxide is
released.
 Phase IV: Kiln Phase

• Clinkering Zone
– The lower part have temperature in between 1500-1700°C where lime
and clay are reacts to yielding calcium aluminates and calcium silicates.
This aluminates and silicates of calcium fuse to gather to form small and
hard stones are known as clinkers. The size of the clinker is varies from 5-
10 mm.
Phase IV: Kiln Phase
 Phase V: Cooling and Final Grinding

• After passing out from the kiln,

clinkers are cooled by mean of
forced air. Clinker released the
absorb heat and cool down to
lower temperature. Released
heat by clinker is reused by
recirculating it back to the kiln.
This too saves energy.
 Phase V: Cooling and Final Grinding
• Final process of 5th phase is the
final grinding. There is a
horizontal filled with steel balls.
Clinker reach in this rotating
drum after cooling. Here, steel
balls tumble and crush the clinker
into a very fine powder. This fine
powder is considered as cement.
During grinding gypsum is also
added to the mix in small
percentage that controls the
setting of cement.
 Phase VI: Packing and Shipping

• Material is directly conveyed to the silos or large storage tanks of cement

from the grinding mills. Further, it is packed to about 20-40 kg bags. Only
a small percent of cement is packed in the bags only for those customers
whom need is very small. The remaining cement is shipped in bulk
quantities by mean of trucks, rails, or ships.
Summary
 Reference:

• https://www.engineeringintro.com/uncategorized/cement-
manufacturing-process/
• https://theconstructor.org/building/manufacture-of-cement/13709/