Shiju Joseph

Economic Implications of Limestone Clinker Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) in India

Limestone Clinker Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) is a recently developed cement with a low clinker factor in which clinker is partially replaced by calcined clay, limestone and gypsum. This article presents a preliminary analysis of the economy of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement in India. The production cost of LC3 is compared with that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and Portland pozzolanic cement (PPC) on various cement plants and grinding units. While the results are encouraging, they demonstrate the subjectivity of economics of producing new cement blends. While it is found that LC3 is significantly economical compared to OPC, it was found to be economical with respect to PPC as well in many scenarios. At the level of concrete, even blends made using higher quality kaolinitic clays could be more economical.