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.
Issues concerning Cement Industry
High Transportation Cost is affecting the competitiveness of the cement industry. Freight accounts for 17% of the production cost. Road is the preferred mode for transportation for distances less than 250km. However, industry is heavily dependant on roads for longer distances too as the railway infrastructure is not adequate.
Cement industry is highly capital intensive industry and nearly 55-60% of the inputs are controlled by the government.
There is regional imbalance in the distribution of cement industry. Limestone availability in pockets has led to uneven capacity additions.
Coal availability and quality is also affecting the production.
Outlook
Outlook for the cement industry looks quite bright. Given the sustained growth in the real estate sector, the government's emphasis on infrastructure and increased global demand, it looks as if the juggernaut of cement industry would continue to roll on the path of growth.
High Performance Ceramic
Ceramics are frequently used in domestic or construction industry applications.
For decades ceramicists have known that the so-called high performance
ceramics have properties which are greatly superior to those of the commonly
used ceramics. Among these high performance ceramics can be included:
- Cutting tools for use in the metal-machining industry. In particular, in the machining of cast steel the machining time is reduced many times as compared to the use of hard metal tools.
- Printed circuit boards for high power electronic applications. The ceramic printed circuit boards are so thin that they can be rolled and are to a large extent good thermal conductors, while remaining good electrical insulators.
- Piezo electric elements, which make use of special ceramics which exhibit the piezo electric effect. These are used for example for the control of fuel injection devices for use in diesel engines.
- Ceramic pipes for the chemical industry, in which aggressive liquids can be transported in extremely thin tubes with internal diameter of as little as 100 µm.
- Ceramic components as bearing surfaces for joint replacement implants. In this application use is made of the following outstanding properties of ceramics, namely very low wear, very high biocompatibility and excellent wettability. Furthermore, a very high tensile strength can be obtained, which is equivalent to that obtained with metal parts. The manufacture of these ceramic implants, in particular with regards to very high reliability, is described in the following section.
The Manufacturing Process for Ceramic Components for Joint Replacement Implants
The received raw material is high purity alumina powder produced from aluminum oxide. In addition a number of additives must be included in the raw material, some in very small quantities and some in the case of a our alumina composite material in quantities up to 25%. In the following the manufacture of aluminum oxide ceramic (trade name BIOLOX® forte) is described. The manufacture
of mixed oxide ceramic (specifically CeramTec’s BIOLOX®delta) is different however only in a few work steps.
The Clay Life Cycle - Production Process
The manufacture of clay building products is constantly improving. The clay brick and tile industry is continually monitoring its energy usage which forms a significant part of total production costs. Much work has already been done to decrease energy consumption and consequently CO2 emissions in line with government guidelines. Firing gives our products their exceptional performance, long life and durability and is an indispensable part of the production process.
Some products are designed to be energy efficient in use and there has been a significant increase in thermal performance qualities of products over the past few years. Our objective is to continue this trend in order to deliver efficient products that are manufactured with careful energy usage, controlled emissions and minimal waste.
Production Process - Short description
After extraction from quarries, the clay raw material is laid out in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
Several stages are involved in preparing the clay. It is stockpiled , then crushed to attain the required grain size and then stockpiled again for several days or even months.
Before processing, the moisture content is controlled and it may be necessary to add water to obtain the right consistency for forming. Materials such as sawdust or residue of paper industry can be added to increase the porosity of the final product.
For bricks, the clay is extruded or moulded to obtain the shape required and then cut to size. In roof tile making, the clay can undergo a two-stage process, the second of which may occur after extrusion, depending on the roof tile being manufactured. For example, for interlocking tiles, the extruded clay is pressed between two moulds.
The formed clay is dried in order to reduce its moisture content and then loaded into kilns for firing. When this is completed and the products have cooled, they are packed ready for dispatch. Throughout all stages of production, the process is subject to rigourous quality control.
The Clay Life Cycle
Clay bricks and tiles form the basis of the European building tradition. They are the link between our architectural heritage and our future. When thinking about sustainable aspects of clay building materials, one has to consider all life cycle stages:
Quarrying and Reserves
Production Process
Design and Construction
Building in Use
Demolition and Recycling
The Clay Life Cycle - Demolition and recycling
The last phase in a product’s life cycle can become the first, if demolition is followed by recycling and re-use. Despite the potential long life of clay brick buildings (well in excess of a 100 years), they are sometimes demolished well before the end of their useful life. The text below examines the options for re-using ceramic building materials.
A research project carried out by TBE in the late 1990s concluded that the following are possible uses for recycled clay building materials:
Reclaim as bricks and tiles
Filling and stabilizing material for infrastructure works
Aggregates for in-situ and precast concrete and mortars
Aggregates for calcium silicate bricks
Tennis sand
Plant substrates
Other options
Building & demolition waste is used extensively throughout Europe for roadworks and for use as aggregate. This is facilitated by fast developing recycling technology that allows precise extraction of various materials from mixed demolition waste. Separating out ceramic matter provides an opportunity to recycle and re-use a very sustainable building material.
Demolition and recycling - European Policy
The European Commission is formulating a strategy for the reduction and recycling of waste. There are no barriers for the use of granulated ceramic material. But unfortunately, it is often mixed with contaminated demolition waste. If this is purely brick masonry it is not a problem when converted to landfill, as generally contact between ceramic material and ground or surface water causes no toxic side effects. After all, bricks and tiles in service are frequently exposed to ground and surface water and do not normally pose a threat.
For a more sustainable construction, ceramic building products should be incorporated into flexible buildings with long design lives in order to ward off the spectre of demolition for as long as possible. Ceramic products are certainly very durable and will stand the test of time to prove they are truly sustainable.