Wet Process Of Cement Manufacturing With Flow Chart

The raw materials used for the Manufacturing of Cement by Wet Process are calcareous materials, such as limestone or chalk, and argillaceous materials such as shale or clay. Cement factories are installed where this raw material is available in abundant quantity.

Cement manufacturing units are placed near the consumption area, eliminating the inconvenience of long-distance transportation of raw and finished materials.

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Wet Process Cement Manufacturing Process With Flow Chart

The following is a wet process of cement manufacturing step-by-step guide,

1. The raw limestone from quarries is first crushed into small size fragments. Then it is mixed with clay or shale in a ball or tube mill and ground to form a slurry of a fine consistency with the addition of water. (The slurry is prepared with a water content of about 35 to 50 percent, and finely crushed particles are held in suspension.)

2. This slurry is taken to slurry tanks or basins by pumping, where it is kept in an agitated condition using rotating arms with chains. Also, blowing continuously compressed air from the bottom to prevent the settling of limestone and clay particles.

3. Slurry composition in the tank is tested to give the required chemical composition and corrected periodically in the tube mill.

4. After that, the slurry is stored in the final storage tanks, and to keep the slurry inhomogeneous condition continuous the agitation is done in the tank.

The following is a cement manufacturing process flow chart,

Manufacturing of Cement by Wet Process — cement manufacturing process flow chart

5. As the per-flow diagram of the wet process of cement manufacturing, the rotary kiln is an essential and important component of a cement manufacturing factory.

6. It is made of a thick steel cylinder of diameter anything from 3 meters to 8 meters, lined with refractory materials, mounted on roller bearings, and capable of rotating about its axis at a specified speed.

7. It may of any length from 30 meters to 200 meters. When the slurry is sprayed on the hot surface of the flexible chain loses moisture and becomes flakes.

8. These flakes (fragments) are cut out and fall on the floor.) The rotary kiln keeps rotating causing the flakes to move from the upper end toward the lower end of the kiln.

9. At this stage, Lime, silica, and alumina get recombined.

10. The fused material turns into a nodular form of size 3 mm to 20 mm known as clinker.

11. This nodular form clinker is collected into a rotary cooler where it is cooled under controlled conditions the clinker is stored in silos or bins.

12. These clinkers have weights of about 1100 to 1300- gms per liter. The weight of the particle indicates the quality of the clinker.

13. These cooled clinkers are then taken in a ball mill with the addition of 3 to 5 percent of gypsum to prevent flash-setting of the cement.

14. For crushing the clinker a ball mill is used. It consists of a number of compartments charged with progressively smaller hardened steel balls.

15. The particles are crushed to require fineness are separated by currents of air and taken to storage silos from where the cement is bagged or filled into barrels.

16. In the modern method of cement grading, the particle size distribution of cement particles is maintained in such a way as to give a desirable grading pattern.

17. Same as the good grading of aggregates is essential for making good concrete, it is now recognized that a good grading pattern of the cement particles is also important.

Manufacturing of Cement

The manufacturing process of cement consists of,

Raw materials grinding.
Mixing this material in certain proportions depending upon their purity and,
Preparing Composition.
Burning this composition in a kiln at a temperature of about 1300 to 1500°C,
The process out clinker is cooled and ground to a fine powder with the addition of about 3 to 5% of gypsum.
The material produced by this process is known as Portland cement.
Cement manufacturing is done majorly by two methods known as wet process and dry process depending on their mixing is done with water or without water.
The wet process of cement manufacturing too popular for several decades because of the possibility of more accurate control while raw material mixing. After that, the dry process of raw material mixing gained momentum with the modem development of the technique of dry mixing of powdered materials using compressed air.
The dry process consumes much less fuel as the materials are already in a dry state, whereas in the wet process the slurry contains about 35 to 50 percent water. In a recent trend, the majority of cement factories are using the dry process of cement manufacturing.

Advantages

The following are the major advantages of the Wet Process of Cement Manufacturing,

Raw material can be mixed easily, so a better homogeneous material can be obtained.
Capital cost (Cost of establishment) is comparatively less.

Disadvantages

The following are the major disadvantages of the wet process of cement manufacturing,

Mixing of Raw materials in wash mill with 35 to 50% water.
Materials exiting the mill are called “slurry” and have flowability characteristics.
The size of kiln needed for the manufacturing of cement is bigger.
Fuel consumption is high i.e., 350 kg of coal per tonne of cement produced.
The cost of production is high.

Summary:

Wet Process of Cement Manufacturing	Description
Quarrying and Raw Materials	Limestone and clay are extracted from quarries and transported to the crusher where they are crushed into smaller particles.
Grinding of Raw Materials	The crushed materials are ground into a fine powder called raw meal in a raw mill.
Blending of Raw Materials	The raw meal is blended to achieve a consistent composition, ensuring uniform quality in the final cement product.
Preheating and Precalcining	The raw meal is preheated in the preheater and then passed through a precalciner to initiate partial calcination.
Formation of Clinker	The partially calcined raw meal is fed into a rotary kiln, where it undergoes intense heat, forming clinker nodules.
Cooling of Clinker	The clinker is cooled in a clinker cooler, and air is used to cool and recover heat for use in the process.
Grinding of Clinker	The cooled clinker is ground into a fine powder, known as cement, in a cement mill.
Addition of Gypsum	Gypsum is added to control the setting time of the cement, and the final product is ready for storage and distribution.
Packaging and Distribution	The finished cement is packed into bags or bulk containers and distributed for use in construction and other applications.