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Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)

Portland cement (often referred to as OPC, from Ordinary Portland Cement) is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout. It is a fine powder produced by grinding Portland cement clinker (more than 90%), a limited amount of calcium sulfate (which controls the set time) and up to 5% minor constituents as allowed by various standards such as the European Standard EN197-1:
Portland cement clinker is a hydraulic material which shall consist of at least two-thirds by mass of calcium silicates (3 CaO·SiO2 and 2 CaO·SiO2), the remainder consisting of aluminium- and iron-containing clinker phases and other compounds. The ratio of CaO to SiO2 shall not be less than 2.0. The magnesium oxide content (MgO) shall not exceed 5.0% by mass.
(The last two requirements were already set out in the German Standard, issued in 1909).
ASTM C 150 defines portland cement as "hydraulic cement (cement that not only hardens by reacting with water but also forms a water-resistant product) produced by pulverizing clinkers consisting essentially of hydraulic calcium silicates, usually containing one or more of the forms of calcium sulfate as an inter ground addition." Clinkers are nodules (diameters, 0.2-1.0 inch [5–25 mm]) of a sintered material that is produced when a raw mixture of predetermined composition is heated to high temperature. The low cost and widespread availability of the limestone, shales, and other naturally occurring materials make portland cement one of the lowest-cost materials widely used over the last century throughout the world. Concrete becomes one of the most versatile construction materials available in the world.
Portland cement clinker is made by heating, in a kiln, a homogeneous mixture of raw materials to a sintering temperature, which is about 1450 °C for modern cements. The aluminium oxide and iron oxide are present as aflux and contribute little to the strength. For special cements, such as Low Heat (LH) and Sulfate Resistant (SR) types, it is necessary to limit the amount of tricalcium aluminate (3 CaO·Al2O3) formed. The major raw material for the clinker-making is usually limestone (CaCO3) mixed with a second material containing clay as source of alumino-silicate. Normally, an impure limestone which contains clay or SiO2 is used. The CaCO3 content of these limestones can be as low as 80%. Second raw materials (materials in the rawmix other than limestone) depend on the purity of the limestone. Some of the second raw materials used are clay, shale,sand, iron ore, bauxite, fly ash and slag. When a cement kiln is fired by coal, the ash of the coal acts as a secondary raw material.

History

Portland cement was developed from natural cements made in Britain in the early part of the nineteenth century, and its name is derived from its similarity toPortland stone, a type of building stone that was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.
The Portland cement is considered to originate from Joseph Aspdin, a British bricklayer from Leeds. It was one of his employees (Isaac Johnson), however, who developed the production technique, which resulted in a more fast-hardening cement with a higher compressive strength. This process was patented in 1824.[1] His cement was an artificial cement similar in properties to the material known as "Roman cement" (patented in 1796 by James Parker) and his process was similar to that patented in 1822 and used since 1811 by James Frost who called his cement "British Cement". The name "Portland cement" is also recorded in a directory published in 1823 being associated with a William Lockwood, Dave Stewart, and possibly others.
Aspdin's son William, in 1843, made an improved version of this cement and he initially called it "Patent Portland cement" although he had no patent. In 1848 William Aspdin further improved his cement and in 1853 he moved to Germany where he was involved in cement making. Many people have claimed to have made the first Portland cement in the modern sense, but it is generally accepted that it was first manufactured by William Aspdin at Northfleet, England in about 1842. The German Government issued a standard on Portland cement in 1878.

Cement grinding

In order to achieve the desired setting qualities in the finished product, a quantity (2-8%, but typically 5%) of calcium sulfate (usually gypsum or anhydrite) is added to the clinker and the mixture is finely ground to form the finished cement powder. This is achieved in a cement mill. The grinding process is controlled to obtain a powder with a broad particle size range, in which typically 15% by mass consists of particles below 5 μm diameter, and 5% of particles above 45 μm. The measure of fineness usually used is the "specific surface area", which is the total particle surface area of a unit mass of cement. The rate of initial reaction (up to 24 hours) of the cement on addition of water is directly proportional to the specific surface area. Typical values are 320–380 m2·kg−1for general purpose cements, and 450–650 m2·kg−1 for "rapid hardening" cements. The cement is conveyed by belt or powder pump to a silo for storage. Cement plants normally have sufficient silo space for 1–20 weeks production, depending upon local demand cycles. The cement is delivered to end-users either in bags or as bulk powder blown from a pressure vehicle into the customer's silo. In industrial countries, 80% or more of cement is delivered in bulk.

Typical constituents of Portland clinker plus Gypsum Cement chemists notation under CCN.

Clinker CCN Mass %
Tricalcium silicate (CaO)3 · SiO2 C3S 45-75%
Dicalcium silicate (CaO)2 · SiO2 C2S 7-32%
Tricalcium aluminate (CaO)3 · Al2O3 C3A 0-13%
Tetracalcium aluminoferrite (CaO)4 · Al2O3 · Fe2O3 C4AF 0-18%
Gypsum CaSO4 · 2 H2O 2-10%