Difference Between

Clinker vs Cement
 

Earlier stages people did not have sophisticated homes; they used simple things found in the environment to build houses. But today there are many advanced materials and equipments, which assist in constructions. Cement is a marvelous material among them. Before developing high standard cements, which are in the market today, there were primitive types of cement made out from limestone. Earlier cements were not that stable, and they were not a great binging agent. However, today cement has evolved in such a way it has become a reliable building material.

Cement

Cement has a long running history. It is a binding material used to bind things together often in building construction work. Its property to manipulate it as we want when it is mixed with water is remarkable. And then when it is allowed to dry it binds other material together and become a very hard substance. Further, there is no harm to the cement when it is exposed to water after it dries. This property makes cement suitable for wider usages in building construction. As cementing material, people in the past have used a variety of substances from various sources. Egyptians used calcined gypsum as cement material to build their pyramids. Ancient Greek and Roman people used heated limestone as cement material. Cement is a very fine grey powder and is the key ingredient of concrete. The cement producing process starts with collecting limestone and other raw materials. The limestone is combined with clay, and they are ground in a crusher. Sand, iron and bottom ash are also added to this mixture, and it is allowed to be ground into a fine powder. This fine powder is passed through a pre heater tower into a large klin while heating. In the klin, the mixture is heated to 1500 ⁰C. Heating turns the mixture into a new product called clinker, which is like pellets. Clinker is then mixed with gypsum and limestone and ground to an ultra fine powder. Cement manufacturing requires large, powerful machinery and a lot of simultaneous processes are involved. There are various types of cements such as Portland cements, Portland blend cements (Portland flyash cement, Portland pozzolan cement, Portland silica fume cement, expansive cement), non Portland hydraulic cements (super sulfated cement, slag-lime cement, calcium sulfoaluminate cement) etc.

Clinker

Clinker is a substance which is formed during the cement manufacturing process. These are marble size pellet like materials formed in a klin. The limestone which is taking to make cement is finely powdered and in a klin, it is subjected to high heat. During this stage, clinker is formed. When gypsum and other necessary raw materials are added and ground with clinker, cement is produced. According to the adding materials, the cement type varies. Clinker can be stored in dry conditions without a problem. Therefore, when cement manufacturers do not have enough raw materials, they buy clinker and use it for cement production.