Optimise the cement as well as the mill

Upgrading cement mills, companies typically seek to increase their production rate and reduce energy consumption. Often these considerations do not cover the properties of the product, but those are of key importance to the consumer and must also be upgraded. The quality of cement is determined by the separator efficiency, and therefore the maximum separation of large particles to be returned to the mill, and small particles for the finished product should be achieved. It is known that particles larger than 32 μm do not have a significant effect on the strength of cement, so the maximum possible (with the existing equipment) reduction of their number will make it possible to produce higher quality cements and satisfy the consumer to a greater extent. Reducing the amount of fraction larger than 32 μm in the final product will also improve the environment, since concrete producers will need less cement per 1 m3 of concrete, thereby reducing CO2 emissions per 1 ton of concrete.

Author: M. Mutter, L. Evans

Section: Equipment and technology

Keywords: cement grinding, separation, specific surface area, particle size distribution, strength.