Reduction of CO2 Emission and Production Costs by Using Pozzolans in Lamerd Cement Factory

Two major concerns for cement factories are environmental aspects and production costs. The number of cement factories is increasing in Iran which from an environmental point of view is not favorable. Different pozzolans such as brick, potted clay, volcanic rocks, sedimentary rocks and rice bran were used in the cement produced by Lamerd factory in the south of Iran. Among these additives, rice bran fails to be proper pozzolan. This research shows that using pozzolans up to 10% does not have a significant effect on the quality of Lamerd cement. Almost the similar textures of compositions for differently mixed types of cement were determined using XRD and XRF experiments. Considering these additives, volcanic and sedimentary rocks seem to be more favorable regarding both quality and price. In fact, the additives can reduce both the emission of CO2 (reduction of more than around 400 tons CO2 per day) and the production costs (the money saved is around $76000 per day) in cement factory of Lamerd.