cement industry essay
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Cement is an indispensable building material required for the construction of houses, bridges, tunnels, dams etc.
The start of cement manufacturing in India goes back to 1904, when the first cement factory was set up in Madras. Its production was as low as 30 tonnes a day, as such it failed.
The real beginning of this industry came up in 1913, when three units were set up at ICatni (Madhya Pradesh) in 1915, Lekheri (Tamil Nadu) in 1916 and Porbander (Gujarat) in 1913. The First World War gave incentive to the industry and a few more factories were set up at Japla (Bihar), Dwarka (Gujarat) and Banmore (Madhya Pradesh). In 1934, ten out of eleven cement manufacturing companies merged together and formed one Associated Cement Company (A.C.C.).
The Dalmia Group entered in the field of cement manufacturing in 1937. This group set'up its factories at Dalmianagar Bihar, Dadri (Haryana) and Dalmiapuram (Tamil Nadu). At the time of partition, there were 18 cement factories with an annual installed capacity of 21-15 Lakh tons.
Three more factories were established just after independence at Talaiyuthu (Tamil Nadu), Kottayam (Kerala) and Sikka (Gujarat).
The production of cement was boosted up after 1950. It is because of developmental work in the country, like construction of multipurpose river valley projects, means of transport, industries and housing activity.
Percentage production of cement
In order to meet the growing demand of cement, a number of factories were set up in the country. Presently, there are 120 factories.
The industry depends upon the availability of limestone, clay or shale and gypsum. These natural materials are mined in different regions; as such factories are set up close to the sources of raw material.
Development of means of transport and availability of capital are other factors which determine development of cement industry.
Although, in India, cement manufacturing has developed in different states except a few like Punjab, yet 85% of the cement manufacturing is carried on in the states of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Eleven types of cement is manufactured in India like
Portland 71%
Pozollana 18%
Slag Cement 10%
Rest Others.
Tamil Nadu.
The state of Tamil Nadu has a very well developed cement industry.
Tamil Nadu.
The state of Tamil Nadu has a very well developed cement industry. There are eight factories, Ths Talukapatli cement factory is one of the largest in the country. Its annual capacity is about 10 lalch tonnes.
The industry is attributed to enormous reserves of raw material in the state, availability of cheap labour and demand for cement.
Other cement factories are at Madhukarni, Dalmiapuram, Poliyur, Chhattisgarh, Alangulam, Talaiyuthu, Sankaridurg and Aryalur.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
These two states are the largest producer of cement in India. The centres are at Jamul, Satna, Banmore, Katni, Gopalnagar, Durg, Kaymore, Tilda, Khor, Mandhar.
The Akaltara Cement Factory produces about 11 lakh tonnes of cement every year. New plants are located at Rewa and Neemuch.
Gujarat .
Cement manufacturing is carried on at a number of centres in the state of Gujarat. The Saurasthra Cement Company and Digvijay Company dominate cement production in the state.
The Vadodra, Okha, Viraval, Bhavnagar factories are located at Ranavav, Sikka, Ahmedabad, Dwarka, Porbander, Sevalia and Amiragarh. Gujarat state has rich resources of raw material required for cement manufacturing.
Bihar .
Cement manufacturing in the Bihar state is done at Japla, Sindri, Dalmianagar, Kalyanpur, Khalari and Chaibasa. Two new factories have been set up at Bhawanthpur. The rich coal and lime-stone reserves are the major assets for the development of cement manufacturing.
Rajasthan.
Rajasthan has rich potentials for cement manufacturing. Cement factories are located at Lakheri, Sawai Madhopur, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bundi, Banas, Beawar, Nimbaheda and Sirohi.
Cement is also produced in various other states of the country. These are :
Karnataka: Bangalore, Wadi, Hosdurga, Bagalkot, Shahabad, Krukunta. Dadri.
Himachal Pradesh: Bilaspur (Gaggal) Paonta Sahib.
Kerala: Kottayam
Andhra Praqdesh: Hyderabad and Vijaywada, Panyon, Tandur, Adilabad, Vishakhapatnam.
Uttar Pradesh: Allahabad Churk, Dalla Chun
Maharashtra: Chanda, Ratnagiri, Mumbai, Kohlapur.
West Bengal: Prulia, Durgapur, Asansol.
Assam: Guwahti.
Production of cement in this country is controlled mainly by private companies. The Associated Cement Company Ltd. (A.C.C.) and the Dalmia Group control bulk of the cement production.
The Cement Corporation of India, a public sector concern has set up a number of cement factories, in die country, one each in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Haryana, two in Andhra Pardesh and three in Madhya Pradesh.
Cement is the second most consumed substance in the world, and is second only to water consumption. A brief history of Portland cement sees that it was invented and produced in the UK in 1824 by an English bricklayer named Joseph Aspdin. He found that by Burning limestone and clay together at incredible heat (approx than 2700 degrees Fahrenheit) it made the two minerals fuse together. Once this newly created material was cool enough it was then ground down into a fine ash, this newly created substance could then be mixed with water and the resulting substance that when allowed to set, would be as hard as the Portland stone that gave it its name.
This article appeared in the Guardian on Thursday May 11 2006 on p1 of the technology section.Cement is one of the single most important materials relied upon in the world, without cement we would not be able to build houses, roads, bridges and other public structures that cement products help to build. We need cement to produce concrete; concrete is basically a mixture of two components: aggregates and paste. The paste is usually composed of Portland cement and water, and when mixed together it binds the fine and coarse aggregates together.
A typical mix is about 10 to 15% cement, 60 to 75% sand/aggregate, 10 to 20% water and 5 to 8%The manufacturing of cement is still one of the most energy consuming processes that is under taken in the world today. But a lot of development has and still is taking place within the cement manufacturing industry with a view to meeting the government targets of reducing the amount of greenhouse gases produced per tonne of cement manufactured.
“Cement is said to be one of the most environmentally hazardous materials in the world, adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the entire weight of the global airline industry” – quote from the Guardian Newspaper.
Most of the stages in the manufacturing of cement have a negative impact on the environment, and this report highlights those direct and indirect effects, and how the future of cement manufacturing will continue to implement new methods of manufacturing to reduce the negative effects on the environment.
The first stage in manufacturing cement is to obtain the raw materials from a quarry; the raw materials are then crushed usually 2 or 3 times to approx 3” or less and then fed into a kiln in a dry state. The raw materials are then heated up to approx 2700 degrees F in large steel rotary cylinder, which is lined with a special heat resistant brick. Kilns are usually at least 12 feet in diameter and mounted on a slight incline. The finely ground raw material is then fed into the higher end of the kiln and at the lower end you have a roaring flame being applied and controlled very precisely, usually produced by coal, oil or gas with a controlled amount of forced draft.
As the process flow continues through the kiln gas elements are burned off and the remaining elements form a new substance called a “clinker” these are in the form of small marble type shapes.
Clinkers are discharged from the lower end of the kiln and brought down to a manageable temperature by means of various types of coolers. The coolers do however at this stage help towards reducing Co2 emissions by saving fuel by returning the hot air emitted from the cooling clinkers back into the cylindrical kiln as part of the controlled air used to sustain the flame used.