Resource mapping of China clay for LC3 application in India

Abstract

Low carbon cement is a ternary blended Portland cement with clinker factor as low as 0.50. It uses the synergetic hydration of clinker, calcined clay produced from mine waste and non-cement grade limestone to achieve properties comparable to commercial cements. In this limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) one of the most important raw material is the china clay. The present paper discusses the availability and occurrence spread of china clay in India. It has been shown through a GIS map that china clay is available almost throughout the entire country. The resource map is based on a GIS platform to have real time data on the raw material availability. To enable an informed decision making by cement companies, the occurrences and availability of fly ash used as pozzolana has also been shown in addition to location of integrated cement plants and grinding units. The map shows that there are quite some regions in India where the production of LC3 is feasible. This is contradictory to the view that almost the whole of India is feasible for fly ash pozzolana cement.