Significance of Metakaolin in the Cement Industry

Posted On: Apr-2022 | Categories : Chemicals and Materials

Metakaolin plays a vital role in the entire cement industry. Metakaolin is a compound that is rich in kaolin minerals, which are mostly utilized in the manufacturing process of porcelain. Adding this metakaolin in the composition of cement can lead to an increase in the corrosion resistance, strength, and even the appearance of the concrete as well. Hence metakaolin is a vital element in the whole cement industry. Due to this, the demand for metakaolin will go high in the next forthcoming years. But unfortunately, it has not been so popular in the industry till now, and hence it is yet to come into the entire cement industry.

Since the metakaolin has a lot of benefits in terms of performance, it primarily acts as a performance booster for the cement industry. Metakaolin is amorphous in nature and is produced by calcining kaolin. The required temperature for calcining kaolin ranges between 650°C to 850°C. Based on demand and volume of metakaolin, it was around 250,000 tons in the year 2012. Also, the total quantity of metakaolin that was sold to the entire concrete market in the same year was about USD 48 Mn, thereby making it an overall consumption of more than 50 percent.

Read More About Metakaolin Market Report Here

Moreover, according to the ASTM, metakaolin is defined as the aluminous or siliceous material that reacts with lime chemically. It does so at ordinary room temperature so that it can produce compounds having similar properties as that of cement. The metakaolin is mostly sold in the bags in terms of dry powder. Moreover, depending upon the amount of coloring oxides that are present within it, like titanium dioxide (TiO2) and iron oxide (Fe2O3), the colour of metakaolin changes from white to orange or pink as well.

Furthermore, on a traditional basis, the calcination of metakaolin is mostly performed by using gas-fired rotary kilns. In this case, the throughput, as well as the temperature, are controlled in a careful way so that it can increase the overall amount of the amorphous metakaolin that is produced. In accordance with Demeter Technologies Inc., California, the U.S.-based materials technology company, the consumption of energy of flash-calcined metakaolin material is 2.5 times less than the traditional calcining. Moreover, in the year 2020, the leading ceramics consumer was China, followed by India and Brazil, respectively. China had an area of about 7,859 million square meters, whereas India possessed an area of 885 million square meters in the year 2020.