Using x-ray powder diffraction as a cost effective tool in cement industry

Rietveld Analysis of cement diffraction patterns have been used to determined the composition of cement since John Taylor's pioneering work in the 1990's. Since then many workers have used this techniques to analyse cement and supplementary cementitious materials and their hydration products, both for research and production control purposes. Nevertheless there are a number of factors, including the amorphous content of the cement and relative proportion of mineral polymorphs present in the initial clinker, whose impact on analysis are still not completely understood. X-ray powder diffraction beamlines from the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) and the Australian Synchrotron, which produce more intensity and better resolution than normal x-ray diffraction sources, were used to investigate cement diffraction patterns and the hydration products of a range of cement pastes cured for up to 28 days. This study highlights the information that can be obtained from X-ray diffraction analysis for controlling and optimizing cement production and concrete durability.