Course Description
In today’s aggressive cement market, cement companies compete for customer satisfaction, retention and expansion of sales markets. Quality control becomes key for sustainable financial health. This quality and chemistry seminar focuses on the analysis of clinker and cement quality through microscopy.
What Do Participants Learn?
- Develop methodologies for correlations between microscopically and mineralogically analyzed clinker properties
- Optimize the burning conditions in the kiln
- Optimize clinker quality
Who Should Attend?
- Engineers
- Cement plant workers
What Will the Learning Experience Include?
Phase: 1
Introduce
- Comprehensive pre-program activities include:
- Web-based information forms & surveys completed by attendee.
- Direct consultation with the attendee about the expectations.
- During the training, participants engage in data, activities, and conversations that lead to insight and knowledge.
- Participants learn from expert trainers who have both academic and business experiences.
- Highly applicable training content & instructive activities for adding depth to training topics.
- **A half-day site visit for integrating the experience & plan next steps. Opportunities to provide connections, ideas & support.
Phase: 2
Explore & Practice
Phase: 3
Apply
- Apply & sustain the learning experience by using this ongoing support:
- To ensure participant has new skills or behavior progress.
- Optional, fee-based mentoring & coaching with the trainer.
- Training materials & additional documents (e-books, pdf files, presentations and articles)
- Evaluate your training experience by giving us feedbacks and help us to reach our organizational goals.
- Participant's Evaluation
- Trainer's Evaluation
Phase: 4
EVALUATE
Section 1. Introduction
- History of Clinker Microscopy
- Photomicrographs of Aspdin Paste
Section 2. Sampling and Sample Storage
- Sampling
- Sample Storage
- Storage of Prepared Specimens
Section 3. Stains and Etches
- Aluminates and Free Lime
- Silicates
- Calcium
- Fluoroaluminate
- Examination of Stained Cement
- Photomicrographs of Effects of Stains and Etches
Section 4. Preparation of Polished Sections,Thin Sections, and Particle Mounts
- Basic Steps for Rapid Polished Section Preparation
- Encapsulation, Impregnation, and Particle Mounting
- Encapsulation and Impregnation
- Sawing, Grinding, and Polishing
- Isomet and Minimet Method
- Use of Horizontal Rotary Grinder/Polisher
- Harris’s Technique
- Thin SectionsTechniques with Hyrax and Meltmount
- Particle Mounts on Thin Epoxy Film
Section 5. Microscopic Characteristics of Clinker Phases
- Alite
- Belite
- Comments on Belite Classification and Polymorphic Varieties
- Tricalcium Aluminate
- Alkali Aluminate Ferrite
- Free Lime
- Periclase
- Alkali Sulfates
- Miscellaneous Phase