Special Inorganic Cements: Complete Technical Guide

Special Inorganic Cements is the systematic monograph of the cement families beyond the Portland: the mute line between the “ordinary” and the “special” cement: the book by Ivan Odler, professor and cement scientist of long career (his textbook on the special cements of the 2000s stays the standard reference of the field), walks the reader through the calcium aluminate, the sulfoaluminate, the alinite, the expansive, the magnesium phosphate, the oxychloride, the alkali-activated and the other exotic binders: who they are, how they hydrate, what they can do and where they fail: the handbook that the refractory engineer, the oil well engineer, the specialist concrete engineer and the research scientist all consult from one shelf.

The Complete Cement Technical Package (931 files including the books, the Excel tools, the courses and the presentations: $249.99 one-time: instant download via the PayPal payment) includes this Special Inorganic Cements PDF with its chapters, its tables of the phase chemistry and its hydration schemes: this article walks the book: the families of the special cements, the chemistry of each hydration system, the fields of the application, the performance numbers and the honest boundaries: the reader finishes with the map of the special binders and the ability to pick the right cement for the unusual job.

Why the specialist knowledge matters: the Portland cement, for all its success, has its frontiers: it does not set in minutes on the pavement of the airport, it cannot serve at 1,800 C in the furnace, it dissolves in the sulfur water of the geothermal well, its brick does not drink on the acid floor: the world of the special binders is built exactly at those frontiers: each special cement trades some of the Portland convenience (the price, the worldwide availability, the long track record) for one or more extraordinary properties: this article mirrors the organization of the book: the domain of the special first, the systems of the chemistry second, the applications third, the practice of the selection last.

How to read the book efficiently: each family chapter follows the same discipline: the phases and the chemical reaction first, the synthesis and the manufacture of the clinker second, the hydration products and the kinetics third, the engineering properties (the setting, the strength, the durability, the heat) fourth, the applications and their limits last: the engineer who needs only the selection table can jump to the last section of each chapter, and the reader who needs the depth reads the middle of the chapter: the book is built to be used the way the industry uses it: the shelf of the specialist, not the page-turn of the novel.

1. The World beyond the Portland: What Makes a Cement “Special”

The book opens with the placement of the special cements on the industrial map: the classification of the binders by the main hydraulic phase, and the definition of the “special” as the cement that departs from the C3S-C2S-C3A-C4AF system of the Portland clinker:

• The families: the calcium aluminate cements (CAC), the calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA), the magnesium oxychloride and the magnesium phosphate, the gypsum binders, the alkali-activated and the one-part systems, the phosphate cements, the glass-based binders of the vitrified wastes, the oil well cements: each family a separate chapter with its own phase chemistry;
• The dimension of the volume: the special cements are the small share of the tonnage but the large share of the value: the tonne of the special cement costs a multiple of the Portland tonne and earn a multiple of the performance: the markets: the refractories, the fast repair, the oil wells, the dental and the bio, the fire protection, the acid resistance;
• The boundaries of the knowledge: the book is honest from the first page: the hydration of the Portland dominates the scientific literature and many special families remain the field studies: the book compiles what the industry really knows, the phase data, the accepted kinetics, the case of the application: the reader receives the documented knowledge and the flags of the uncertainties;

The book also defines the relation of the special to the standard: the EN 197 and the ASTM requirements generally concern the Portland and the blended Portland: the special cements live under the product standards of their applications (the refractories, the oil well, the masonry, the expansive): the engineer reads the two legal worlds side by side: the book introduces the reader to both.

2. The Calcium Aluminate Cements: The Speed and the Fire

The first great family of the book is the calcium aluminate cement (CAC): the cement of the kiln at 1,400 C, the bauxite and the limestone, the monocalcium aluminate CA as the main phase:

• The chemistry: the raw mix of the bauxite (Al2O3 38-55%) with the limestone and the calcination to the partial melt: the phases CA, CA2, C12A7 and the ferritic and the spinel impurities: the alumina content of the product ranks the grade: the 40% alumina by the metallurgy, 50-80% in the alumina-rich and the tabular derivatives;
• The hydration: the key of the family: the CA hydrates fast with the formation of CAH10 (below 20 C), C2AH8 (20-30 C) and C3AH6 + AH3 (above 30 C and with the steam): the conversion phenomenon: the hexagonal phases convert to the cubic C3AH6 with the porosity and the strength retrogression: the engineer of the CAC learns the conversion: the temperature and the water/cement limit it: the book devotes full treatment to the kinetics and to the ways around: the low w/c, the additives, the evaporative drying, the design conservatism;
• The performance: the high early strength (200-300x in the hours), the refractory service to 1,600-1,800 C with the aggregates, the resistance to the sulfates, the cold and the etc: the negative: the conversion, the lower long-term strength in the wet heat, the alkali: the rules of the correct use are the content of the chapter:
• The applications: the refractory concrete of the kilns of the industry, the floors of the chemical plants, the sewage and the sulfate environments, the quick repairs (the runways, the railroad), the bio-compatible dental and the bone cements: the book splits the applications by the environment:

The manufacture of the CAC also differs from the Portland: the raw mix of the bauxite and the limestone is melted in a kiln or in a fused process at about 1,400-1,500 C, well above the sinter temperature of the Portland clinker but without the portland-phase demands: the fused product is tapped, cooled, crushed and ground to the great fineness: the grinding of the CAC is easier than the grinding of the Portland clinker, and the energy of the manufacture is comparable per tonne, which explains why the CAC price sits at the 2-4 times of the Portland: the book gives the industrial chemistry (the bauxite quality, the iron, the alumina ratio) and the quality criteria of the acceptance tests: the engineer in the field specifies the CAC by the alumina grade and the iron content, not by the brand.

The refractory branch deserves its own paragraph: the CAC is the hydraulic binder of the castables that line the cement kilns, the steel ladles, the incinerators and the petrochemical furnaces: the refractory concrete of the 1,000-1,800 C service: the low cement content of the modern castables (3-8% CAC) with the microsilica and the dispersants, and the high-alumina aggregates: the chapter explains the dehydration curve of the CAC castable during the first heat-up, the critical window of the steam venting, and the drying schedules that prevent the explosive spalling: the field practice of the kiln lining is one of the applications where the book of Odler meets the other books of the package (the kiln operating practice, the refractory service sheets): the engineer who reads the full library works the castable with the complete knowledge of the water and heat.

The chapter on the CAC closes with the important health and manufacture history: the alkali regulation of the concrete practice: the use of the CAC in the structural concrete withdrew and the CAC serves the refractory and the repair: the honest history of the book: the reader knows exactly the safe applications: the knowledge of the limits is the value of the chapter.

3. The Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cements: The Expansive and the Green

The calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA, the “Sulfobelite”) family: the ye’elimite (C4A3S) as the reactive phase, the anhydrite and the belite around: the cement that the 21st century rediscovered for the low CO2 and the fast:

• The chemistry: the clinker of the limestone, the bauxite and the calcium sulfate at 1,250-1,300 C (a lower burn than the Portland): the phases: ye’elimite (calcium sulfoaluminate), belite, the ferrite, the anhydrite: the formation of the clinker demands no C3S;
• The hydration: the ye’elimite + sulfate forms the ettringite (Aft) rapidly: the early strength high, the CO2 lowest of the calcium binder family: the addition of the gypsum tunes the set and the expansion: the ternary systems (CSA-Portland-gypsum) are the base of the fast-setting repair and the low-CO2 formulations;
• The expansion control: the same chemical that gives the fast hydration produces the expansion of the ettringite when the sulfate is limited: the expansive cements of the shrinkage-compensation or the pre-stress: the book maps the safe envelopes of the expansion in the field of the use:
• The applications and the economics: the fast floor repairs, the grouts, the shrink-free concrete, the parts in the cold climate, the workable low-CO2 binder for the future: the CO2 of the CSA clinker ~60-70% of the Portland at the same compressive: the chloride resistance, the alkali-silica: the book completes the picture with the reality of the sulfate and the humid:

The book is careful in this chapter: the CSA is not a drop-in Portland replacement: the rate of the hydration and its heat, the sulfate sensitivity, the long-term availability of the carbonate, the alkali environment: the chapters of the book the applications and the limits: the engineer strengthens the CSA’s specific advantages instead of the sacristy of the Portland.

The practical applications today: the industry makes the CSA clinker in the standard rotary kilns with the ye’elimite feed: the cement is delivered in bags and in bulk, and the concrete engineer controls the expansion by the sulfate balance of the mix: the formula of the fast floor: the CSA at 10-30% of the binder with the Portland cement and the sand, the low water demand, the plasticizer and the top cure: the strength of the slab reaches the walkable levels after 2-6 hours: the chapter ends with the test data of the ternary mixes, the heat development curves and the underground durability: the new materials revolution of the industry, and the reader of the package reads it side by side with the chemistry of the Taylor volume.

4. The Expansive Cements and the Shrinkage Compensation

The next families of the book: the systems where the hydration intentionally grows: the expansion of the ettringite and the MgO come in the service of the concrete:

• The type K, M, S: the expansive Portland with the CSA clinker (K), the aluminate (M) or the sulfate-bearing phase (S) in addition: the restrained expansion creates the internal compression of the concrete that compensates the drying shrinkage of the structure: the bridge closures, the parking slabs, the industrial floors:
• The free water rule: the expansion needs the water (the wet soaks, the sealed): the chapter details the water requirement, the restraint, the drying of the thin: the successful structural expansion concrete is the design value that the engineer controls, not a chance:
• The shrinkage-reducing chemistry: the additive route, the SRA (shrinkage-reducing additives) — by the chemists): versus the expansion route of the cement: the comparison: the two families of the anti-shrink engineering: the combination approaches on the heavy industrial floor:

The book is the clear in this chapter: the expansive cement is a precision instrument: the total concrete design (the restraint, the joint spacing, the cure) decides the outcome: the unhappy projects of the type K served the industry the lessons the book name: the cure of the binder against the bond: the value of the chapter is the honest recipe of the use: the right concrete for the job, no more.

5. The Activated Alkali Cements: The Slag and the Geopolymer World

The fifth chapter crosses to the alkali-activated systems: the ground granulated blast furnace slag, the fly ash and the metakaolin as the raw, the alkali hydroxide or the silicate as the activator: the binder family that the environmental industry has pushed at the last of the alternatives:

• The slag-based route: the GGBS (the ground granulated blast furnace slag) with the Ca(OH)2 or the cement (the ordinary Portland blends) develops the desirable properties: no kiln needed: the moderate strength, the low heat, the sulfate resistance: the separate AAM (alkali-activated materials): the slag activated with the NaOH, the waterglass: the CASH gel: the high early strength, the harsh chemical resistance: the rapid set of the siliceous mixes: the calcium sulfate and the silica fume join the modifiers:
• The geopolymer concept: the metakaolin and the fly ash with the alkaline dissolve, polymerize to the N-A-S-H gel: the aluminosilicate network at the room temperature: the CO2: the main driver of the interest: the realistic review: the CO2 of the activator (the sodium silicate is the energy-hungry), the standards and the durability: the book reports the realistic picture: the “geopolymer” as the engineering alternative with the open issues: the standardization, the long-term database:
• The practice: the mixing, the curing temperatures, the alkali depressor (the brick, the skin), the efflorescence (the ASR risk of the reactive aggregates + the alkali), the typical solutions: the pre-cast cured at 60-80 C in the product factories: the ready-mix of the field is the difficult: the book’s honest roadmap: what the industry deploys today vs. what the research hopes;

The chapter does what the book does best: the perspective of the industrial user: the alkali-activated cement is a real family with the real performance, a part of the package of the low-CO2 world, but it is neither the simple substitute of the Portland nor the universal tool: the phrase “too green and too costly” is not the grammar of the book: it brings the operating data of the market demonstrations and the durability evaluations of the factories.

6. The Magnesium Oxide and the Phosphate Cements: The Fast and the Fire

The next families: the magnesium phosphate cements (MPC) and the magnesium hydroxide: the binders of the minutes:

• The MPC: the magnesium oxide (hard-burned) with the ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (or the phosphate): the exchange reaction: the magnesium phosphate and the heat of the exothermy: the set in the minutes (the military repairs, the runway patches): the temperature tolerance of the cold fire and the very low porosity: the osmotic pressure of the phases:
• The MOC (magnesium oxychloride): the Sorel cement: the MgO + the salt brine: the extraordinarily many: the compressive strength, the abrasion, the binding of the wood fibers (the floors, the sand, the aggregate): the sensitive to the water, the re-polish, the chloride: the application in the dry industrial floors:
• The MgO in the cement: the periclase of the calcined magnesia in the special binders: the carbonation of the magnesium oxides as the low-carbon binder of the future: the brucite (Mg(OH)2) carbonates: the interest driven by the availability of the limestone and the renewables: the book summarizes the active literature: this is the research frontier of the “special” area:

The chemistry of the chapter: the ionic acids: the exchange at the room temperature: the fast properties, the erosion of the water, the hot: each family profile: the table of the book: “the material X: the set times minutes, the strengths this, the limitation: the moisture and the price”: the three USPs, the three watchouts: the honest specification format that the chapter uses.

7. The Reference Cements: The Dense, the Sulfate and the Oil-Field

The well-drilling cements of the oil and gas well, and the sulfate-resistant cements, are the two old specialties with the deep literature, and the book covers them both:

• The oil well cements (OWC): the pump of the cement slurry at the well site at 20,000+ ft, the temperature from the ambient to the 200 C of the geothermal and the HPHT, the pressures of 1000+ bar: the cement classes of the API 10A (A, G, H, and the special): the additives: the retarders, the thickeners, the anti-gas migration, the fluid loss: the chemistry of the cement in the downhole conditions: the design of the class: the specialized chapter of the book:
• The sulfate resistance: the SR classifications (MSR, HSR): the C3A control <3-5%: the sulfate attack: the ettringite in the wet ground: the sulfate-resistant Portland: the specific chemistry of the chloride, the pH of the geography: the technical limits and the design: the OPC with the slag/fly, the CAC the complement on the acid:
• The high temperature field: the beyond 200 C the cement dehydration and the strength: the retardants, the silica sand the admixtures: the geothermal field of the cementing with the silica: the book: the temperature ladder of the additives: the concrete engineering of the high temperature: the launch of the sections:

The book: the well cement is the only industry where the cement is the continuous pumpable barrier of the formation: the reliability is the definition, not the benchmark: the chapter brings the test methods (the consistometer, the HPHT) with the depths: the cement used in the well is a “special” even when it is a Portland-classified cement: the book: no company skip the specialized chapter.

8. The Fast-Setting and the Repair Cements: The Minutes of the Service

The repair family of the fast-setting: the cements that are used in the first hours of the day: the road repairs, the flight deck, the industrial plant maintenance:

• The chemistry of the fast: the CAC blends, the CSA blends, the rapid Portland with the micro-cement, the MCP: the same fast logic: the hydration of the reactive phases (CA, C4A3S, the C3S ground) accelerated with the additives: the setting of minutes to the hours: the book compares the families table:
• The trade: the early strength comes the price: the heat, the drying, the shrinkage, the water demand: the repair cement is the compromise of the professional: the chapter organizes the selection logic: the ambient, the traffic, the time to the service, the mechanical of the repair, the support pavement:
• The ready-mix metric: the repair logistics: the methylene (the brand spread), the mixing, the temperature window, the use of the overlays, the bleeding: the quality: the book the section table: the cold-weather, the hot-weather, the height, the thickness:

The chapter is the engineering: the repair of the highway line: the cement the “time”: the planning quantitative: the designer: the chapters of the chemistry and of the field: the polymer-modified repair mortars with the low shrinkage: the C2 class of the repair: the section of the hands-on.

The fix for the repair uses the matrix: the requirement of the minutes or the hours, the load of the traffic, the temperature of the ambient: the book tables the families: the blended rapid OPC for the 2-4 hours of the traffic wait, the CSA for the 1-2 hours, the MPC for the 20 minutes of the urgent patches, and the CAC for the matrices that must also fight the sulfates: the chapter includes the weather factors (the hot mix goes off quicker, the cold slows the phosphate) and the practical dosages, so the maintenance engineer of the plant plans the materials by the hour of the close of the road: the time is the currency of the repair, and the book tracks the currency.

9. The Refractory and the Masonry: The Specials of the Furnace and the Wall

The book side tour: the masonry cements and the refractory mortars, the specials of the construction of the furnace and the brick:

• The refractory castables: the CAC with the aggregate (the bauxite, the corundum, the silicon carbide), the low-cement: the use in the cement kiln, the steel ladle: the hot installation, the ramming, the vibration: the phase of the refractory: the book: the model: the installation: shape and the excavation: the sections of the chapters:
• The mason: cements: the Portland-masonry (ASTM C91): the mortars of the wall: the flexibility, the lime, the workability, the rate: the bricklaying: the chapters and the ASTM: the par: the mortar: the bond: the multi-storey: the fire: the book the two families together under the roof of the “industrial-mortar specials”: the grain of the micrometer vs the brick wall: the same art:
• The thermal and the acoustic: the insulations, the fire-stop, the pumpable: the thermal: the reference: the measurement of the fire: the reflection of the material: the temperatures 1400: the installations: the special of the industrial the Italian: the pages the bases: the burners:

The chapter keeps the book’s promise: the special cement is a family of the materials: the refractory (the furnace) and the mortar (the wall) are the brothers: the CAC-rich binders appear on both sides: the book: the grain and the engineering: the two matrix: the learning: the book completes the page of the “furnace family” with the dusting, the vibration and the drying rates of the heat: the construction of the furnace follows the same discipline of the wall.

10. The Testing of the Special Cements: The Methods Are Not the Same

The critical chapter of the testing: the special cements cannot be tested with the same mortars, the same maturities, the same ratios as the Portland: the book teaches the test disciplines:

• The tests of the CAC: the hot mortar tests, the strength retention, the conversion index: the mortars cured at the elevated temperatures: the refractory test of the prisms in the furnace: the residual strength after the heat cycles:
• The hydrated content: the XRD of the phases, the TGA for the water, the microscopy (the ESEM, the bonite): the free lime, the gypsum, the SO3: the right of the special, the new SR: the book gives the modern instrument panel:
• The calorimetry: the hydration calorimetry of the fast families: the heat of the hydration kJ/kg: the isothermal method of the exothermy: the curves of the fast, the poisoners: the engineering: the size of the monolith, the heat of the conversion: the section: the calorimetry of the special: the intrinsic difference to the port:
• The durability batteries: the sulfate cycles, the wet-dry, the frost, the leach: the test: the immersion in the above-ground: the special: the long service, the concrete: the little test target: the book: each family: the credible test, the duration, the indicator:

The chapter: the engineers: the audit of the laboratory: the tests of the special: the arrogant “test it like a Portland” is the recipe of the failed projects: the book: the matrix of the requirement against the tests, the qualification versus the verification, the audit of the calibration: no corner of the claim left to the superlative.

11. The Selection Logic: The Choice of the Right Special for the Job

The book culminates in the selection: the chapter that turns the families into the decisions: the tool of the engineer: the matrix:

• The six questions: the temperature, the wet/dry, the mechanical, the chemistry of the environment, the duration of the service, the price of the lifecycle: the matrix: the families “better-fit”:
• The price: the CAC: 3-6x the Portland; the phosphate: the high: the CSA: the moderate: the activation: the energy/market: the selection: the price of the tonne must be measured the value: the special: the weight of the failure, the service-time, the maintenance:
• The speed: the time-to-service: the CAC: the rapid: the MPC: the minutes: the Portland: the 28-day class: the road: the track: the book: the cost: calculate: the downtime of the machine: the details: the cycle: the deadline: the captain:
• The system: the whole: the reinforcement, the restraint, the testing, the inspection: the failure of the system: the special cement: the system: the whole: the supplier: the QMS: the book: the matrix: the couple: the last: the best:

The selection chapter organizes the decision tables: the column of the application (the acid tank, the furnace, the runway, the floor, the well): the row of the family: the cells: “yes,” “no,” “with care”: the historian: the paragraph of each: the book: the result: the confident: the special: the choice: the specialist: the menu: the “how to build the decision process” of the industrial: the annual: the audit: the equivalence of the alternate.

12. The Sustainability of the Specials: The Low Carbon of the Families

The last technical chapter: the special as the agents of the carbon: because the special chemistry changes the balance of the cement industry:

• The CSA radical: the lower clinker the temperature: the 0.5-0.6 t/CO2/t vs the Portland 0.8-0.9: the applications market: the expansion: the challenge: the future: the capacity: the book: the reason:
• The apples: the alkali: the low CO2: the arrays of the LCA: the allocation: the functional: the strength: the alkaline: the niche: the honest framing for the reader: the LCA of the special. the functional: the “cement vs cement”:
• The supplements: the clinker: the fundamental: the substitution, the SCM: the special: the synergy with the Portland: the ternary: the low-CO2 formulations: the blend of the CSA-PG-OPC: the markets: the book: the toolbox: the best: the CO2:
• The circular: the special: the waste: the bauxite: the aluminate: the exhausted: the ash: the fluoro-gypsum: the secondary: the circularity: the book: the waste: the interfaces: the cement pair:

The chapter: the “CO2 tool” concept: the cement industry of the future will measure the cement portfolio of the duty per CO2, and the special cements are the deep and the high places of the portfolio: the book: the number: the book does not make the special “the single hero”: the family: the toolbox: the system: the LCA, the catalysts: the table: the science: the market price: the special cements act as the “battery” of the carbon, not as the savior alone.

13. The Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly does “special inorganic cements” include in the book?

The families beyond the plain Portland: the aluminate (high alumina), the sulfoaluminate (CSA), the expansive, the alkali-activated and the geopolymer, the magnesium phosphate and the oxychloride, the well cements, the refractory and the masonry binders: the book organizes them by the main active phase and by the application discipline, with the chemistry and the engineering of each: the same “special” mixing, the full picture.

Are the special cements better than the Portland in general?

In general, no: they are different: in the specialty they are unmatched (the refractory of the CAC, the minutes of the MPC, the speed of the CSA, the well of the OWC), and in the ordinary applications they lose: the price, the availability, the standards, the long-term durability of the wet heat: the special means “specialized for the duty”: the book applies the honest verification of the claim: no family sells the universal.

What is the conversion phenomenon of the calcium aluminate?

The conversion: the metastable hydrates (CAH10, C2AH8) transform in the moist heat to the C3AH6 with the release of the water: the reduction of the volume of the solid phases: the strength and the porosity change is the complex: the control: the low water/cement, the drying, the silica/aggregate chemistry and the right application: the book: the bricks: this is the most documented and the most misunderstood chapter of the CAC: the only full.

Are the CSA and the alkali-activated cements truly green?

Yes, in the right accounting: the CSA has the lower burn temperature and the CO2 of the clinker ~60-70% of the Portland: the alkali-activated can reduce more when the activator chemistry is managed (the sodium silicate and the ash have their own carbon cost): the LCA depends on the boundary, the activator, the transport, the durability: the book: the honest net: the portfolio: the CSA+GBFS blends the best carbon per the performance: the “greenest” special depends on the duty and the region.

Can the specialists of the book be used in the ordinary concrete of the building?

Only with the design: the CSA fast concrete in the slabs, the CAC in the sulfate-problematic geographies and the floors: the well cement in the columns of the foundation of the special: the alkali-activated precast in the elements: the engineer of the book: the standards (the “application”) and the mixture optimizations: the book: the general category “ordinary concrete” the three elements: the availability and the long-term data of the binder: the chapter 10: the whole the process of the specialty.

Is the book useful for the cement producer modern or only the specialist?

Both: the producer: the alternative chemistry of the cement in general and the roadmap of the low-carbon portfolio: the specialist: the chapters of the phases and the disciplines: the professor: the reference: the book: the average of the “special” and the disciplines: the cement professional of the plant learns the phases, the rates and the breadth of the binder families.

14. Conclusion

Special Inorganic Cements: the book of the binders of the other side: the aluminate, the sulfoaluminate, the phosphate, the activated: the many families of the cement: the mechanical and the refractory, the fast and the massive: the Odler monograph: the chemistry and the engineering: the phases of the hydration, the limitations, the applications, the price: the engineer: the whole: the family map: the confidence: the choice of the special: the real job.

The Complete Cement Technical Package (931 files including the Excel tools, the books, the courses and the presentations: $249.99 one-time: instant download via the PayPal payment) includes this Special Inorganic Cements PDF together with the Portland Chemistry of the Taylor, the Lea, the structure and the performance of the Barnes: the other book of the family: the package: the complete library of the cement binder: the special: the same one-click purchase: the library: the professional: the front of the alkali and the fire: the one price: the cement of the day: the click “Buy”.

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