Evaluation of Physical and Chemical Properties of OPC and PPC Cement

Cement is a one of the largest industrial product that is manufactured in more than 120 countries. Increasing costs of cement have recorded a continuous growth in its usage in the Indian construction industry. India is marching forwarding cement Production. Cement was first invented by the Egyptians. India started the same in 1904 in Tamil Nadu in Ariyalur. OPC and PPC are the two most widely used cement types in India. There are significant differences in mortar strength, fineness, consistency, soundness, chemical composition and setting time of same type of cement collected from different cement suppliers. Experiments were conducted on 9 brands of OPC and 6 brands of PPC samples collected from local market in Solapur, Maharashtra, India. In this study, the amounts of main chemical constituents such as Silicon oxide (SiO2), Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), Iron Oxide (Fe2O3), Magnesium Oxide (MgO), Sulphur Trioxide (SO3), Calcium Oxide (CaO), and Loss on Ignition (LOI) were determined and compared. All the results pbtained during this study were presented in order to provide qualitative and quantitative differentiation between cement sample. These results were compared with limits specified in the BIS. The possible reasons for variation in chemical composition and their effect on properties of cement have been discussed.