In the rapidly developing and changing conditions of the world, different energy resources and raw materials are needed to continue cement production. We present an overview of alternative fuel and raw material usage in the cement sector in order to be able to produce more environment-friendly and greener cements. You can check out Cement Additives: Chemical Additives Used in Cementitious Systems and Cement additives: Chromium VI in Cement and Sustainability to learn more about cement additives.
Alternative Fuel and Raw Material Usage
It becomes increasingly important to protect natural resources as well as mitigating the environmental harms originating from CO2 emissions. The production of Portland cement clinker causes approx. 0.5 tons of CO2 emissions per ton. Benefiting from the calories contained in wastes and using alternative fuels or raw materials in cement furnace are among the main actions to be taken in order to decrease CO2 emissions as well as to protect environment for the continued sustainability of nature.
Industrial waste is used as alternative fuels in cement and concrete sectors if they are not hazardous and if their calorific values are high while wastes with chemical content similar to natural raw material content are used as alternative raw materials.
Main benefits of using alternative fuels and raw materials may be listed as reducing costs of cement production, using wastes which do not decompose in nature for a very long time, preventing environmental pollution, preventing ash release as a result of using wastes as alternative fuels.
Alternative Fuels Used in Cement Production:
Some of the alternative fuels that can be used in cement production are listed below.
1. Used/Waste Tires
2. Wood Wastes
3. Textile Wastes
4. Plastic Wastes
5. Paper/Cardboard Wastes
6. Waste Oils
7. Used Dissolvents
8. Bleaching Earth
9. Bilge Wastes
10. Contaminated Wastes
11. Solvents
12. Treatment Sludges
Figure 1. Alternative Fuels Used in Cement Sector
Alternative Raw Materials Used in Cement Sector
Alternative raw materials used in the cement sector include materials released from other processes, containing compounds such as CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, and SO3. Examples include marble waste, plaster waste, casting sand, along with wastes obtained from various mining activities.
Figure 2. Alternative Raw Materials Used in Cement Sector
Waste to be used in cement production is included in the system by feeding from different points according to their types, calorific values, and grain sizes. To obtain the best efficiency from an alternative fuel and/or raw material, it has to be homogeneous, its chemical content has to be identified and the processing conditions have to be well-known.
Alternative fuels and raw materials used mainly in gray cement production are also used in white cement production nowadays. Alternative resources that can be used in both gray and white cements do not create a negative result in the product quality as long as the process is managed correctly.
In order to prevent negative situations that can develop, it is particularly important for clinker-cement mineralogy to be well-known, furnace conditions to be managed correctly and waste feeding to be conducted regularly. It is possible to produce more eco-friendly cement without compromising product quality through works conducted by taking heavy metals that can be found in the waste into consideration.
Importance of Alternative Fuel and Raw Material Usage
As protecting ecologic balance becomes increasingly important today, we continue to work in a sensitive manner to be able to increase alternative fuel and raw material usage to produce greener cement products without compromising the quality of our products.
