Low temperature preparation of belitic cement clinker

Cement clinker production is a slow process as raw materials have to be treated at 1350-1450 °C. Several modifications to the conventional procedure have been proposed to improve the production process. In this work, we synthesize a Portland belitic clinker from calcite and natural zeolite. The preparation through the conventional thermal treatment is compared to the material synthesized by a modified combustion method. This procedure, using urea and ammonium nitrate, reduces drastically calcination time and temperature. The particle size effect of the initial minerals is discussed. The compounds were identified by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy.