What Is Raw Meal (FARIN)

“Farine” is a word of French origin that means “flour”.

“Raw meal” is the raw material of clinker, being a mixture of clay and limestone that, when required, can be enriched with the addition of additives such as iron ore, bauxite, etc.

Before being fed into the furnace, the material, which is chemically formed and has a dimension of -50 mm and various levels of moisture, is ground to approximately 20 µ in size with a maximum of 1% moisture and is stored in silos. The raw material with the desired chemical and physical characteristics is called FARIN.

Clinker, as one of the main constituents of cement, is produced from farin following heat treatment at 1500°C.

What is clinker?

Clinker, a mixture of clay and limestone, is raw meal that has been heat treated. It can be considered as the initial state of cement. Clinker is comprised of 30% heat-treated clay and 70% heat-treated limestone. To obtain cement from clinker, it must be mixed and ground with 2–6% plaster stone (by weight).

Clinker has its own binding properties and sets quickly after reacting with water. When clinker is ground with plaster stone, it sets slower, allowing the concrete to be given a form or to be poured properly into the formwork. Depending on the purpose of use, other materials may be added during grinding.

What is cement?

“Cement” is an inorganic binder with a ground form that hardens as a result of a hydration reaction, preserving its strength and stability after hardening.

Cement is used for binding sand and gravel, with the raw materials being limestone and clay. Cement needs water to become a binder and acquires its binding feature after reacting with water.

Portland Cement is obtained by adding 4–5% plaster stone to clinker that has been produced from raw meal under heat treatment.

The main constituents of cement are clinker and plaster stone. Blended cement is obtained by adding trass, high furnace cinder, volatile ash, silica smoke, etc. in specific quantities to clinker and plaster stone.