History of Cement Industry •
Archeological Archeolo gical discoveries discoveries and researches researches perform performed ed on remaining remaining parts of of ancient buildings and of historians historians issues issues show that Romans were the first people found out the quality and application of cement and its concepts regarding setting and hardening. Since 2600 BC to the mid-eighteenth century, in addition to clay and gypsum, another cohesive material called baked lime was produced synthetically which was obtained by baking limestone called quicklime (cao) and then it could be changed to slake lime by sprinkling water which subsequently it turned into limestone powder. Lime mortar which was mentioned above was used exclusively to construct brick walls, temples and the like, but it was not used in construction of channels because it could not become hard in the water. Therefore it could not satisfy needs of marine construction such as bridges, dams, jetties and so forth. After centuries Romans were achieve a great discovery and added a substance to lime powder called pozzolan which was added to quicklime powder. They added water and made a mortar which could stay hard after setting under water and in the air. After this great discovery, the benefits of the mixture containing baked lime and clay were realized which is considered as the first step to make cement. In that age, a product obtained via combination of pozzolan and lime was named CAEMENTE, derived from the Greek word "CAEDER "(meaning cutting, to be cut and break) which was referred to the broken stones (rubble). CAEMENTE CAEM ENTE,, up to the mid-eighteenth century was applied for those materials used in mixture with an object and therefore led to increase the object's hardness. Cement Cem ent wit with h its cont contemp empora orary ry mea meaning ning was first used by Par Parker ker (PA (PARK RKER) ER) Englishma Englishman n in 1796 1796.. The word "cement" in German, English and French are used to refer to all the materials(except asphalt)with adhesion properties which are used in buildings and roads. In Germany, Cement was standardized for the first time in 1878 with the symbol DIN 1164. •
The year 1756 AD is considered as the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Portland cement. Because in this year, an Englishman, JOHN SMAETONE, who lived between 1792-1724 discovered a great and valuable point. He needed a water resistant mortar for reconstr reconstruction uction of the lighthou lighthouse se building (seaside lights) to guide ships in the PLYMOUTH PLYMOUTH EDDY EDDYSONE SONE LEUCHTTURM LEUCHTTURM port. Finally after great efforts and tests and through baking limestone (GLAMORGAN) for the first time he discovered a special quality of hydraulic lime mortar by which he became aware of a very significant phenomenon. This means that chemical analysis of limestone indicated the existence of clay in the mixture. But this great discovery was not welcomed until 1796 when an Englishman named JAMES PARKER by baking London Marley stones obtained a product called ROMANCEMENT. Between 1819-1815 the two great French scientists called Wicca VICAT (1861-1786) and another German scientist named J. FJOHN (1847e-1782) reviewed separately this research and concluded that baking the mixture of lime stones and clay to the amount of 25 to 30 , will result the most appropriate hydraulic product. Aspdin (JOSET ASPDIN), ASPDI N), an English architect, architect, in 1824 made an artificial mixture mixture from limestone and clay and and then gridded it in a wet method to be changed to slurry and well homogenized. Then it was heated in a temperature lower than melting temperature. The obtained product is called Portland cement due to its similarity with a yellow stone called PORTLANDSTONE which was extracted in the Portland island of England. Aspdin – W in the year 1843, the son of Joseph Aspdin, Aspdin, began to produce Portland Portland cement in the newly established factory, and when was making British Parliament Parliam ent building found out that the cement was much better than Roman cement. Further investigations investigations made
clear that the main reason of this excellence is that the Portland cement mix has been heated to the sweating point (sintering). •
Scientists like Mykalys W. MICHAELS (1911-1840), Loshatlyih lechatelier (1936-1850), Hans Kohl HANS KUEHL (1969-1879) and others went to look an unknown world and performed scientific researches in the field of chemistry of cement. German scientist (ELAGEN) in 1862 discovered the latent hydraulic property (LATENTHYDRAULIC) of furnace slag and finally in 19014 discovered sulfate slag cement where the sulfate had the role of slag activator. High aluminum cement or aluminum cement called TONERDESCHMELZZEMENT) melted alumin cement was discovered by French chemist called JULE BIED In 1908 and was produced for the first time during the first International War I (1918-1914) •
Rotary kiln entered cement burning technology by the Englishman RANSOME for the first time in 1885 which its next stage of evolution was a turning point in the cement industry and then was completed by an American engineer. The first rotary kiln in Germany was set up by V. FORELL in 1897 in LOLLAR located on GIESSEN district based on Ransome invention . The Length of this kiln was 16 meters with a daily capacity of 30tons. In Germany, Portland cement was produced in BUXTEHUDE city for the first time in 1850, based on the method which was usual in England. Founder of Portland cement in Germany was a person named BEEIBTREU(1881-1824) constructed the two cement factory, one in TUELCHOW (1855) STETTIN near OBERKASSEL and the other near Bonn (1858). At the end of the nineteenth century, Rotary kiln entered the cement baking technology with slurry method. In this method, at first, raw materials become slurry in a basin in order to be highly homogeneous. Pioneers of slurry System are the companies polysius, Krupp, MIAG, FELLNER and ZIEGLLER from Germany and Smith L.F from Denmark. The next step occurred in 1929 and that was the innovation of the system named (LEPPOL LELLEP POLYSIUS) which is known in America as (ALLIS-CHALMERLELEPP) (ACL). (LELEPP is the name of the above mentioned system inventor). This is considered as another major advance in cement technology, because the system is equipped with mesh pre heaters which are considered as special properties of this system. since it was economical and from fuel consumption point of view had more advantages in compare with the other systems. years later, for the first time, the kiln equipped with a cyclone pre heater was entered the market of the cement industry by KLOCKNER-HUMBOLDT-DEUTZ which is the most common dry system in cement technology world now. In recent years in order to develop the kiln tonnage a kind of secondary or auxiliary pre heater has been developed so that a significant proportion of the materials become calcinated before entering the kiln and therefore this causes an increase in tonnage. •
The first stage of cement application in Iran entered by the foreigners for using their facilities in public places such as churches, embassies, commercial ports and so forth. But social revolutions and industrialization movements of the country increased the necessity of supplying cement. From the time of the construction of large buildings such as the state railways, bridges and tunnels and stations, cement began its role as an import item in the country whereas the mentioned goods were not produced So each year some of the exchanges Log out of the country while the raw material for cement production was available in the country in a great amount.
Therefore the government decided to purchase necessary machineries to build a small factory with one hundred tons of cement production capacity. In 1310 earnings of sugar and sugar productions which were allocated for railway construction, actually allocated to the establishment of cement factory and the action was performed in February 1310 in 7 km far from south of Tehran near the Bibi Shahrbano and sorsore mountains and ended in December 1312. Machineries of FL Smith factory (FL SMIDT), Danish factory, were purchased and installed in late Year 1312 and started the operation. But whereas consumption of cement is increasing more and more and the products of above mentioned factories do not satisfy internal demands, therefore construction of new plants with capacity of 200 tons of cement in south of the previous plant building established in . Construction of this building started at 1315 and ended in early 1316. New machineries purchased from German factory (Polysius) and then installed. People welcomed produced cements and the government decided to purchase and install three hundred ton kilns and also purchased another plant in the vicinity of Polysius and all necessary steps performed to purchase the said machinery and construction was started, but because of the second World War and lack of connection with Germany, the projects was stopped. Finally in 1330, based on the building materials co. suggestion and MPO approval to set up the plant whose construction progress was about 57 percent during 1318 to 1320, the action was taken and, machineries were purchased from German company and installed and became in operation in second half of 1334. In 1317, making a hundred-ton plant in Lorestan province and three hundred-ton plant in Tabriz, Mashhad and Shiraz were planned by the ministry of Industries and Mines which remained suspended due to the second international war
Cement Industry in India Cement Industry in India is on a roll at the moment. Driven by a booming real estate sector, global demand and increased activity in infrastructure development such as state and national highways, the cement industry has witnessed tremendous growth. Production capacity has gone up and top cement companies of the world are vying to enter the Indian market, thereby sparking off a spate of mergers and acquisitions. Indian cement industry is currently ranked second in the world. The origins of Indian cement industry can be traced back to 1914 when the first unit was set-up at Porbandar with a capacity of 1000 tonnes. Today cement industry comprises of 125 large cement plants and more than 300 mini cement plants. The Cement Corporation of India, which is a Central Public Sector Undertaking, has 10 units. There are 10 large cement plants owned by various State Governments. Cement industry in India has also made tremendous strides in technological upgradation and assimilation of latest technology. Presently, 93 per cent of the total capacity in the industry is based on modern and environment-friendly dry process technology. The induction of advanced technology has helped the industry immensely to conserve energy and fuel and to save materials substantially. Indian cement industry has also acquired technical capability to produce different types of cement like Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement (PBFS), Oil Well Cement, Rapid Hardening Portland Cement, Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement, White Cement etc. Some of the major clusters of cement industry in India are: Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Gulbarga (Karnataka), Yerranguntla (Andhra Pradesh), Nalgonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), and Chandoria (Rajasthan). Cement industry in India is currently going through a consolidation phase. Some examples of consolidation in the Indian cement industry are: Gujarat Ambuja taking a stake of 14 per cent in ACC, and taking over DLF Cements and Modi Cement; ACC taking over IDCOL; India Cement taking over Raasi Cement and Sri Vishnu Cement; and Grasim's acquisition of the cement business of L&T, Indian Rayon's cement division, and Sri Digvijay Cements. Foreign cement companies are also picking up stakes in large Indian cement companies. Swiss cement major Holcim has picked up 14.8 per cent of the promoters' stake in Gujarat Ambuja Cements (GACL). Holcim's acquisition has led
to the emergence of two major groups in the Indian cement industry, the Holcim-ACC-Gujarat Ambuja Cements combine and the Aditya Birla group through Grasim Industries and Ultratech Cement. Lafarge, the French cement major has acquired the cement plants of Raymond and Tisco. Italy based Italcementi has acquired a stake in the K.K. Birla promoted Zuari Industries' cement plant in Andhra Pradesh, and German cement company Heidelberg Cement has entered into an equal joint-venture agreement with S P Lohia Group controlled Indo-Rama Cement.
India Cement Industry Total production The cement industry comprises of 125 large cement plants with an installed capacity of 148.28 million tonnes and more than 300 mini cement plants with an estimated capacity of 11.10 million tonnes per annum. The Cement Corporation of India, which is a Central Public Sector Undertaking, has 10 units. There are 10 large cement plants owned by various State Governments. The total installed capacity in the country as a whole is 159.38 million tonnes. Actual cement production in 2002-03 was 116.35 million tonnes as against a production of 106.90 million tonnes in 2001-02, registering a growth rate of 8.84%. Major players in cement production are Ambuja cement, Aditya Cement, J K Cement and L & T cement.
Apart from meeting the entire domestic demand, the industry is also exporting cement and clinker. The export of cement during 2001-02 and 2003-04 was 5.14 million tonnes and 6.92 million tonnes respectively. Export during April-May, 2003 was 1.35 million tonnes. Major exporters were Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. and L&T Ltd.
The Planning Commission for the formulation of X Five Year Plan constituted a 'Working Group on Cement Industry' for the development of cement industry. The Working Group has identified following thrust areas for improving demand for cement;
i.
Further push to housing development programmes;
ii.
Promotion of concrete Highways and roads; and
iii.
Use of ready-mix concrete in large infrastructure projects.
Further, in order to improve global competitiveness of the Indian Cement Industry, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion commissioned a study on the global competitiveness of the Indian Industry through an organization of international repute, viz. KPMG Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. The report submitted by the organization has made several recommendations for making the Indian Cement Industry more competitive in the international market. The recommendations are under consideration.
Cement industry has been decontrolled from price and distribution on 1st March 1989 and delicensed on 25th July 1991. However, the performance of the industry and prices of cement are monitored regularly. Being a key infrastructure industry, the constraints faced by the industry are reviewed in the Infrastructure Coordination Committee meetings held in the Cabinet Secretariat under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Coordination). The Committee on Infrastructure also reviews its performance.
Technological change Continuous technological upgrading and assimilation of latest technology has been going on in the cement industry. Presently 93 per cent of the total capacity in the industry is based on modern and environment-friendly dry process technology and only 7 per cent of the capacity is based on old wet and semi-dry process technology. There is tremendous scope for waste heat recovery in cement plants and thereby reduction in emission level. One project for co-generation of power utilizing waste heat in an Indian cement plant is being implemented with Japanese assistance under Green Aid Plan. The induction of advanced technology has helped the industry immensely to conserve energy and fuel and to save materials substantially.
India is also producing different varieties of cement like Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement (PBFS), Oil Well Cement, Rapid Hardening Portland Cement, Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement, White Cement etc. Production of these varieties of cement conform to the BIS Specifications. Also, some cement plants have set up dedicated jetties for promoting bulk transportation and export.
Concrete Evidence ! The cement industry... Indian cement industry comprises 130 large cement plants and 365 mini-cement plants. The total installed capacity in the country is estimated at 240 million tons per annum making India the second largest cement producer in the world after china...... It is estimated that there is 75% capacity utilization in this industry which means the annual industry volume is 180 MT per year The industry is growing at 8% CAGR every year. The sale price per bag of cement ( 1 Bag = 50 KG) is Rs.250 which makes the total industry size at today prices a whopping Rs. 90,000 Crores or USD 18 Billion! The top four companies, ACC, Ambuja Cement, Grasim and UltraTech (L&T) account for nearly 40% of this industry. In terms of regional distribution, North, South, West, East & Central account for approximately 20%, 30%, .
20%, 15% & 15% share of consumption respectively with the southern and northern region showing maximum growth in recent times. The housing sector accounts for nearly 50% of this consumption.
Commonly there are three types of cements. The Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) that accounts for 70% of the total production and then there are the blended types like the Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and the Portland Slag Cement (PSC). Incidentally, The history of Portland Cement dates back to the time when it was found that by burning limestone containing clay and silica, a cementing agent was produced which hardened under water and after hardening was not soluble in water. This end product somewhat resembled the commonly available Portland stone in colour and character, hence it was named Portland Cement.
Limestone, Coal and Transportation costs are the major cost components in the manufacturing of cement. For those who are interested - Each cement bag contains 50 Kg of cement and is transported in a railway rake where each each wagon accommodates 1040 bags of cement. which means throughout the year the cement industry requires 34,62,000 such wagons!!!
