A report on an Industrial visit at Gujarat Sidhee Cement Manufacturing plant at Kodinar, Gujarat Aspects of report

Reason of the visit

The third semester civil engineering students have been offered a subject named “concrete technology”. Concrete contains cement as the most important constituent for majority of the properties. It is therefore important to understand the cement as a material in all aspects starting from the manufacturing. By exploring the manufacturing process, one could have a better knowledge regarding the individual role of various chemical components. The process makes the study worth informative and interesting. Hence the visit was scheduled in the interest of the practical exposure of the students to the actual field of civil engineering.

Collaborative efforts

To materialize the visit, the entire civil engineering department involved with all the efforts. Students managed the transportation facilities and the lodging during the trip. The Vice president of Gujarat Sidhee cements plant helped us by allowing the students and faculty at their premises. The manager Mr. Bhaskar Joshi of the Sidhee cements remained present throughout the visit and provided worm support and guidance. Hence the visit was a collaborative effort to make the event successful.

The knowledge exploration at site

Students were in a new world during the site visit of the factory. They started with the raw material collection setup. The lime stones were brought to the factory and then sent to the crush mills. There after the crushed material gets heat in a rotator kiln. This is the most significant stage of the entire dry process of cement manufacturing. The required other ingredients are also added during this stage. The process could be monitored by the digital display at control room. Cooling and other processes are done in a separate silos and cyclones. The crushing of clinkers takes place at last and converted in a fine powder form called cement. The separate department handles the automatic packaging of cement bags and dispatch.

Benefits to the students

By having a great exposure to the real time manufacturing process, students could easily perceive the importance of basic materials required for the cement manufacturing. Cement plays a vital role in concrete mix. Hence it was important to see and understand how the cement is produced. On the other hand, by having a look on the structures and their huge scale, they could also understand the actual strength of the massive and giant structures. The main structures were the concrete frame and the supporting structures for cyclones were made of steel. Hence by looking at the factory they explored the amazing strength of both the construction materials. In overall the visit was worth informative in all senesces for the students as well as the faculty.

Acknowledgement

The institute, the department, the head of the department along with all the faculty members and students of civil branch are heartily thankful to the Gujarat Sidhee cement for their kind allowance for the study visit. Special thanks to the vice president of “work” and Mr. Bhaskar Joshi for their contiguous help and warm hospitality. We also acknowledge the special help and support received from Mr. Manish Doshi a leading structural consultant of the region, to make the visit possible through his personal relations with the Gujarat Sidhee cement Ltd.