The cement manufacturing process involves preparing raw materials, grinding them, heating the clinker in a kiln, and finishing the cement. Limestone, clay, shale, iron, and sand are used. Wet or dry grinding is used, and the finished product is packaged and distributed to builders and consumers.
The cement manufacturing process involves several key steps, including preparing the raw materials, grinding the materials, heating the freshly formed clinker in a kiln, and finishing the cement with fine grinding. Some of the main ingredients used to make cement include limestone, clay, shale, iron and sand. Different manufacturing techniques will use wet or dry grinding, but each cement manufacturing process will culminate in heating and fine grinding to finish the product.
The preparation of raw materials is often the first step in the cement manufacturing process and involves the extraction of limestone or obtaining safe industrial waste products. Drilling, blasting and crushing machinery converts the mined limestone into chips about 0.39 inch (about 1 cm) in diameter, after which they are stored until needed. Crushing practices will sometimes be used on the other materials as well, especially if they contain large or irregularly sized fragments.
Grinding is the next step in the cement manufacturing process and can occur in both wet and dry form. Wet milling involves combining all materials in a mill with water and grinding into slurry. In contrast, dry milling processes combine and grind materials without water, creating a substance known as kiln feed. Both types of milling will produce material that contains an average particle size of approximately 75 micrometers. After each processing, the materials are further mixed for proper homogeneity and placed in storage units.
Subsequently, heating takes place, which takes place in a rotating kiln which is fired at high temperatures. The kiln heats the clinker, the name of the dried material formed after the grinding process, to 2732°F (about 1500°C). Subsequently, the material is sent to a clinker chiller where the temperature is lowered to a reasonable level, at which point the material can be stored again.
The cement making process is completed when the cooled clinker is re-milled in a rotary finishing mill. A combination of gypsum and limestone is usually added in small quantities to the heated concrete during this last grinding stage, and coloring agents may also be added here. The fineness of the finished particles will vary based on individual preference and the concrete can reach a level of fineness where it will travel through liquid sieves. Completion of the finishing stage means the concrete is ready to be packaged and distributed to builders and consumers.
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