ADDITIVES/IMPROVERS

I Creative grinding solutions

by Philippe Jost and
Jorg M Schrabback,
The use of chemical processing agents in the manufacture of cement is
well known and state-of-the-art today. The latest developments in the
Sika Services AG, chemical industry have opened new possibilities to further improve the cost
Switzerland/Germany structure. Sika has introduced a new approach to the grinding aid business.
The brand SikaGrind stands for new creative solutions for grinding aids and
performance enhancers.

I
n the mid-1930s, cement plants started
to use cement additives to increase
the production volume of cement. It
became evident, that the use of cement
additives enabled producers to achieve
cement fineness and qualities which would
hardly be possible without them.
The basic raw materials used then
were amines, amino-acetates, glycols and
gluconates. In the last decades, the main
focus was to find new and more efficient
amines concerning grindability and
hydration-enhancement.

New technology
Sika has now developed a new raw
material with excellent properties in Figure 1: total feed of cement mill consisting of fresh material,
terms of improved grindability. The the return from the separator and SikaGrind

SikaGrind® latest generation of SikaGrind® cement

additives is based on polycarboxylate
Switzerland and are produced worldwide
by all Sika’s polymer-production plants.

Technology (PCE) polymers. These products allow for

a consistent production at the highest
The PCE polymers, which look similar at
the molecular level to amines and glycols,
The brand SikaGrind® stands production rates. The special ViscoCrete and contain similar ionic groups are quickly
for cement grinding aids which polymers have been developed in distributed to their field of action due to
are developed to improve the Sika’s central R&D laboratory in Zürich, the excellent mixing behaviour of the mill.
production rates of ball mills and
increase the separator efficiency. Production [tph] Energy [kWh/t
95 60
90
As a joint effect, the grinding 90
installation produces more tonnes 85
85 55
per hour and leads to cost savings 80
due to a lower relative power 80
50.2
consumption per ton of cement. 75 50
Sika offers various types of products, 47.3
70
from basic grinding aids which
44.7
achieve a constant production 65 45

on higher output-level to special 60

grinding aids with additional quality
55 40
enhancing properties like impoved
strength, accurate air entrainment 50

and adjustment of cement powder 45 35

flowability. Blank 0.018% SikaGrind 0.035% SikaGrind
Figure 2: adjustable mill output related to the dosage of SikaGrind®-800

ICR SEPTEMBER 2007

 ADDITIVES/IMPROVERS

grinding conditions Since the usually achieved final strengths

Production Blaine
40 4400 (see Figure 1). for this particular cement where always
Production (tons/h) 40
Blaine (cm²/g)
at the upper limit according to EN 197-1,
35 36
Production Production an additional test series was performed
34
30 4077
target Blaine 4117 + 18%
4000
increase targeting a 200cm²/g lower Blaine value
4000 +/- 100
cm²/g
3840 Products developed of the finished cement, which ultimately
25 out of these new resulted in another production increase. In
Production PCE polymers total, product performance of these new
20 3600
+ 6% include the new PCE polymer based products allowed for a
15 SikaGrind®-800 production increase of 18 per cent.
Series. These new
10 3200
0.05% Glycol 0.03% SikaGrind 0.03% SikaGrind
products respond Strength increase
optimised very well to ball mill Another of the plant trials was set the
systems. Cement target to increase the slag content at a
Figure 3: increased mill efficiency with SikaGrind®-800 technology
output could be constant production rate, in this case of
easily increased. The a CEM II/B-S 32.5 R (Blaine 3100cm²/
The easy dispersable PCE polymers higher the dosage, the more production g). Sika’s new grinding aid technology
support cracking behaviour of the cement gain could be achieved (Figure 2). This allowed for the production of a cement
particles by direct contact of the millions makes it possible to quickly find an with finer granulometry, all at the same
of smallest molecules which can be found economical solution for each individual low dosage rate of the grinding aid
in each drop of SikaGrind. This critical situation and react flexible on the demand and the same production parameters,
property of grinding aids is achieved in for cement volume
the case of these new polymers mainly in the market.
through two mechanisms: (1) they avoid Compressive strength in N/mm²
60
re-agglomeration of particles, and (2) they Process Max. 28d strength CEM 32.5 R acc. EN 197-1
50
improve the performance of the separator optimisation
40
significantly, decreasing the return feed, Figures 4 and 5
30
allowing for an increase of the fresh show the results
20
feed and thereby increasing the overall of one of the
production rate. many executed 10
min. 2d strength CEM 32.5 R acc. EN 197-1

plant trials, in this 0

0.05% Glycol 0.03% SikaGrind
0,03% SikaGrind
optimized
Synergies case a CEM II/B- 24h 9.1 7.6 7.8
During the laboratory grinding trials S 32.5 R (Blaine 2d 22.2 21 20
7d 37.3 35.7 34.6
in Sika’s research and development 4100cm²/g). Sika’s 28d 54.8 54.7 52.3

centre for cement additives in Leimen, new grinding

Figure 4: optimised strength results with SikaGrind®-800 technology
Germany, it became evident, that the best aid technology
grinding behaviour could be achieved achieved at a
with products based on formulations of significant lower dosage an additional six compared to the amine based product
special PCE polymers and existing, proven per cent production throughput compared currently in use.
raw materials. This synergy effect was to a traditional Glycol based product This lead to an increased early strength
confirmed in multiple international plant while maintaining the performance of the as well as an increased final strength (see
trials with different cement types and finished cement. Table 1) which then can be used to reduce
the clinker content and hence reduce the
CO2 emissions of this cement plant.
Density q3lg in 1/mm
40
Mill temp.: about 100 °C Powder flowability
35 Sympatec Helos dry dispersion In addition to the standard grinding
30 and performance enhancing properties,
SikaGrind®-800 series offers also the
25
possibility to adjust the cement powder
20 flowability to the desired performance:
15 flowable enough to ensure a quick loading
and unloading of silos and transportation
10
amine based grinding aid vessels and resistant enough to stay on
5 SikaGrind®-800 Technology conveyor belts at critical slopes. This
0 effect can be measured for example with
1 10 100 the test method according to Imse or
Particle diameter in µm indirectly with the bulk density of the
Figure 5: finer granulometry with SikaGrind®-800 technology cement powder.

SEPTEMBER 2007 ICR

ADDITIVES/IMPROVERS

Table 1: optimised fineness and strength

results with SikaGrind®-800 series

Product amine based SikaGrind®-800

competitor technology
Dosage ml/min 220 220
Product (tph) 70 71
Dosage % 0.20 0.20
Blain cm2/g 3090 3125
Sieve residue 32mm in % 31.5 24.9
Inclination ‘n’ in RRSB net 0.80 0.83
‘x’ in RRSB net 21.5 19.8
Compressive strength N/mm2 – –

1 day 7.2 9.1

Figure 6: in addition to the ball mill, Sika’s central cement laboratory is
equipped with all the necessary tools to provide support 2 days 17.6 19.4
7 days 32.9 36.2
28 days 50.9 54.9
Tailor made solutions and plant trial with
on-site support constant production
Since every type of cement has its own conditions. grinding aids based on polycarboxylate
characteristic and the challenges of Figure 8 displays the fresh feed and the polymer technology.
cement manufacturing vary according to return from the separator from a CEM I These new products offer all the positive
the local conditions, every single cement effects, why grinding aids have been
plant needs to be handled individually. used over the last decades, mainly which
Therefore, Sika offers different basic improve the production rates of ball mills
technologies and tailor made solutions, and increase the separator efficiency,
always with the target to assist producers resulting in improved through-put over
in creating new markets and improve their existing products.
profitability. The increased productivity of this new
In one of the applications, the target set grinding aid technology enables producers
by the cement manufacturer was to supply to react flexible to the demands for
a special amine free grinding aid, which cement volume in the market.
would at least meet the same productivity In addition, these products improve the
and achieve the same cement performance Figure 7: Sika supports plant trials with a
granulometry as well as powder flowability
as the up to this date used amine based consulting service and active participation, like of the finished cement.
grinding aid. Grinding trials as well as the taking of samples These advantages can be used to obtain
all standard cement powder and mortar cost savings due to lower relative power
analyses in Sika’s central cement laboratory consumption per tonne of cement or
(Figure 6) demonstrated the capablity 52.5R production (Blaine 5000cm²/g) after to gain quality enhancement. As a joint
of SikaGrind and enabled Sika’s team to the balanced system had been reached effect of the multiple reduction of CO2
prove the company’s quality in plant trials. and before next variations where tested. emission, from energy saving and clinker
Finally, the production rates with this It demonstrated how Sika’s products replacement, costs are saved and the
tailor made product could additionally be lead to very constant production environment is better protected. _______I
increased by five per cent compared to the parameters at an
conventional grinding aid. increased level
Material flow in tph
In addition to these new generation of compared to the 90
81
grinding aids and existing technologies traditional and 80
for cement additives, Sika offers also the commonly used 70 75
Return to mill
Production
necessary support in the preparation, grinding aid (amine 60
+ 15%
execution and analysis of the plant trials based). 50 45
40
(see Figure 7). Usually, during a first Fresh feed of mill 39
30
screening plant production, different types Summary 20
and dosages of SikaGrind are tested to Besides offering a 10
with amine based grinding aid
with SikaGrind
see the reaction of the mill on this new range of traditional 0
technology. cement additives, 0:00 1:00 2:00 2:59 3:59 4:59 5:59
Time in hours:minutes
The positive performance of the ball mill Sika has developed
in combination with Sika’s product at the and introduced a Figure 8: constant and increased cement production
chosen dosage is then analysed in a longer new generation of with SikaGrind technology

ICR SEPTEMBER 2007