Abstract .
The Indian Cement Industry is characterized by use of widely different geological age and consequently vastly differing in their mineralogical and micro-structural characteristics on one side and use of coal of different geological age and characteristics on the other , that include the variations in ash contents from 15% to 40% and volatiles from 20% to 40% . These input variations when coupled with different processes operating in plants , create situations where the interrelationship of clinker properties with process parameters turns out to be a complex phenomenology. In this complexity , an attempt is made , based on a large number of operational data of industrial kiln systems to isolate the variations in some of the critical coal characteristics and limestone mineralogy on the clinker mineralogy and micro-structure .A few case studies have been discussed where the interrelationship between clinker properties and process parameters were used for process optimization . The paper was presented and published at the 10th ICCC Gothenburg Sweden June 1997