Chemistry and engineering of the production process: State of the art

The present paper discusses the evolution of the chemistry and engineering of the production process of cement since the last (12th) International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement held at Montreal in 2007 Beaudoin (2007). In the last decade, the developed areas have addressed mainly the concrete design and its utilisation Young (2008). They are not treated here. In addition to the concrete applications, significant trends of innovation in cement science concerning the chemistry and engineering of the production process are observed. These trends are the consequence of the commitment of the cement industry towards the environmental constraints, the compliance with economic needs and the evolution of the market. Based on analytical studies, it seems that the cement industry will have a sustainable future if, first of all, the rate of innovation becomes higher than the rate of the occurrence of constraints and if the cement industry is able to anticipate these constraints.