MATERIALS 

// Grinding

Grinding aids increase the productivity and cost-effectiveness of cement production.

A comprehensive experimental test program and a variety of computer simulations were
used to determine the physical and chemical mechanisms of action.

TEXT Dr. Martin Weibel, Sika Technology AG, Zürich/Switzerland

Dr. Ratan K. Mishra, Institute for Building Materials, ETH Zürich/Switzerland

Sika Technology
Center Zürich

SIKA TECHNOLOGY AG

Comprehensive understanding
of grinding aids
1 Introduction pounds as well as various mixes and also at differ-
Grinding aids have been used successfully for dec- ent dosage levels. The influence of the type, num-
ades in cement production and many other areas, ber and combination of functional groups as well
such as ceramics, pigments etc. The main effect is as molecular weights of compounds over a wide
to reduce energy consumption and increase the range was investigated systematically. A detailed
grinding efficiency. Additional features can be description of all the experimental and computa-
improved – e.g. powder flowability and strength tional test results would go beyond the constraints
development of binders. There is surprisingly lit- of a single paper. This article will concentrate on
tle verified knowledge about the way in which the the underlying phenomena and the new findings
substances contained in grinding aids act effec- relating to the mode of action of grinding aids.
tively. There are correspondingly many hypotheses
in the scientific literature as well as in industrial 2 Basic physical and chemical principles
practice. Starting from basic physical and chemical The first and second laws of thermodynamics sug-
background, the laboratory screening process cov- gest that everything tends towards a state with the
ering several hundred compounds and mixtures as lowest possible energy and the greatest possible
well as extensive computer simulations (molecular disorder. A free-standing powder heap tends to
modelling) [1, 2] provide a better understanding of become stable and spread out, i.e. to achieve the
grinding aids. This makes it possible to design new, lowest possible energy and degree of order attain-
more efficient, customized additives. able under the given conditions. Energy reduction
Experimental studies on the action of grind- or higher randomness by itself can be the driving
ing aids during clinker grinding have been done to force for physical and chemical process, but com-
cover all types of organic, and some inorganic com- binations of both terms are more common: the free

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 Grinding // MATERIALS

1 (l) The milling media

(balls) coated them-
selves with cement if
no grinding aid is used

2 (r) Grinding aids keep

the milling media (balls)
clean and increase the
productivity

enthalpy or Gibbs energy tends towards the lowest at above 50 °C temperature. This can occur if silos
possible value. Entropic contribution (the attempt are filled with hot cement.
to achieve disorder) is often substantially small- Mostly adsorption of grinding aids is revers-
er with respect to the total energy contribution; ible. As the binding forces are small at the usual
therefore it will not be emphasized separately in mill operating temperatures (80-120 °C), adsorbed
this paper. molecules can desorb from the clinker surface. The
The milling media (balls) in Figure  1, which boiling points of liquids correlate with the inter-
are coated by ground particles, represent a state molecular interactions (“strength of the adsorption
of minimum energy of a system without grinding of molecules on one another”). If the liquids are
aids. Likewise the clean milling media in Figure 2 chemically similar, the strengths of adsorption on
represent a state of minimum energy of a system clinker surfaces correlate with the boiling points.
with grinding aids. Presence of grinding aid leads
to a different minimum energy state [3]. 2.2 Dispersion mechanisms during grinding
Dispersion of organic molecules during grinding
2.1 Irreversible and reversible processes can occur via two basic mechanisms: gas phase
As a rule of thermodynamics, chemical reactions transfer and surface contact transfer. This can eas-
only take place by themselves if this involves ily be proved in simple grinding experiments in
the release of energy (usually heat). They cannot a closed batch mill. For instance various alcohols
therefore be reversed without external energy. This with boiling points below grinding temperature
is also the case in the reaction of cement with wa- improve grinding efficiency significantly (Table 2).
ter. Water from moist raw materials and from the They are adsorbed so weakly due to the high vola-
injection of cooling water is usually present during tility that they can still be smelt even on cold ce-
the industrial grinding of cement, even without the ment. It must therefore be assumed that they are
use of grinding aids. Therefore it can be assumed dispersed, either partially or completely, via the
that the surfaces of the majority of commercial gas phase.
clinkers are predominantly or even completely hy- On the other hand, polymers like polycarboxy-
droxylated. This is also important because it as- late ethers (PCEs) also improve grinding efficiency
sists the grinding, in other words water is a weak significantly. PCEs can only evaporate with irre-
grinding aid. The chemical reaction of oxide ions versible decomposition. During grinding, however,
(O2–) with water (H2O) to form hydroxide ions (OH–) the molecules remain substantially intact [4, 5] 3 Reaction on the
takes place irreversibly (Fig. 3). – they retain their action as concrete plasticizers clinker surface (tri-
Decomposition of organic compounds also – so the evaporation mechanism can be excluded. calcium silicate, C3S):
takes place irreversibly. Compounds with boiling Dispersion must be considered via surface contact water molecules (H2O)
react with top surface
points of 50–400 °C, i.e. significantly below and transfer. layer oxide ions (O2-)
above the grinding temperature, were tested (Ta- At this point, it should be pointed out that a to form hydroxide ions
ble  1). Few organic compounds are stable above plasticizing effect only occurred in trials with (OH-) [2]
200 °C temperature. They decompose, usually
forming volatile secondary compounds. However,
in the presence of air, in thin molecular layers and
on inorganic materials, they can decompose at sub-
stantially lower temperature (e.g. 100 °C) within
hours or days. Various internal investigations have
shown that the usual grinding aids and also con-
crete additives are well able to withstand normal
grinding conditions. Appreciable decomposition is,
however, possible if the cement is stored for weeks

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MATERIALS // Grinding

Tab. 1 Boiling point b.p. Molecular Molecular

range of chemical addi- Range of b.p. (boiling point) [°C] Example
[°C] formula weight [g/mol]
tives used as grinding
< 100 Very low Ethanol* 78 C2H6O 46
aids for clinker
80 – 120 Grinding temperature
100 – 200 Low Propylene glycol PG 188 C3H8O2 76
200 – 300 Medium Diethylene glycol DEG 245 C4H10O3 106
300 < High Triethanolamine TEA 335** C6H15NO3 149
150 < Decomposition*** Polycarboxylate ethers PCEs C2xH4xOx 25 000 – 50 000
* Ethanol and other very low boiling solvents are not used commercially.
** Extrapolated value, according to other references 360 °C, decomposition ≥ 190 °C.
*** The decomposition velocity depends strongly on the compound and the conditions (temperature, oxygen availability, layer thickness,
substrate). It starts for most organic compounds between 100−200 °C.

particularly high dosages of grinding aids. With cohesion (air-liquid interface shown in Figure  4,
commercial grinding aids containing PCEs, such as [6]). The energy of the top layer of surface atoms is
SikaGrind®-820, -840 and -870, the dosages typi- above zero due to less binding sites. Solid materi-
cally used in cement production are not sufficiently als possess surface energy and liquids also have
high for a measurable effect. surface tension. Nominally these two are identical
The majority of commercial grinding aids have due to same value and dimension. Surface tension
boiling points and decomposition temperatures is a common phenomenon. Therefore, small drop-
that are significantly above the grinding tempera- lets are round and water striders as well as other
ture (e.g. PG, DEG, TEA, see Table 1). Their vapour small water-shedding objects do not become wet
pressures are low but sufficiently high that they are but “float” on the top of water (Fig. 5, [7]).
presumably dispersed via both mechanisms, gas Work must be performed against the surface
phase transfer as well as surface contact transfer. tension for the creation of additional surface area.
Adsorbed liquids on the clinker surface are The more finely a liquid is sprayed, the more pres-
in equilibrium with their gas phases. The vapour sure is needed at the nozzle. In the same way that
pressure depends on the boiling point, temperature a large number of fine liquid droplets have greater
and also on the solid, which is covered. In rela- energy than a few large ones, dust also has greater
tive terms, propylene glycol (b.p. 188 °C) is distrib- energy than coarse powder. The major part of the
uted most readily, diethylene glycol (b.p. 245 °C) energy consumed during the grinding process of
moderately and triethanolamine (b.p. 335 °C) least cement is converted into heat, but a small frac-
via the gas phase. The effective ratio of gas phase tion (≤ 0.5 %) is retained in the cement as surface
transfer to surface contact transfer is difficult to energy (Table 3).
measure and not known. It depends not only on The behaviour of liquids on solid surfaces can
the grinding aid but also on the mill and the grind- differ widely. The droplet shape (Fig. 6) always cor-
ing parameters. Probably surface contact transfer responds to the lowest energy level of the system
is usually more important than gas phase transfer. that can be reached. This depends on three factors:
the surface energy (surface tension) of the liquid,
2.3 Surface energy and surface tension the surface energy of the solid and the interfacial
Tab. 2 Results of grind- Atoms, molecules and ions always interact with energy (the interactions) between the two com-
ing experiments with one another. Within homogeneous solids and liq- pounds.
clinker and solvents uids, the internal forces of opposite direction with Liquids with high surface tension do not wet
in a laboratory mill
(sieve residue at 32 µm,
equal magnitude cancel each other out. The for- substance with low surface energy. Mercury forms
fineness according to mal energy is zero in the bulk. But at the interface, beads on non-metallic materials. On the other hand,
Blaine) there is a resultant force directed inwards due to liquids with low surface tension spread out on sub-
stances with high surface energy. Penetrating oil
Water + … Boiling point [°C] Res. 32 μm [%] Blaine [cm2/g] penetrates into the finest cracks and eventually cov-
Reference (pure clinker) 35.3 2325 ers the entire work piece. In the same way, grinding
Water 100 31.3 2710 aids distribute themselves over the entire surface of
Hexane 69 31.8 2645 the clinker. However, on materials with low surface
Paraffin oil 170 30.7 2740 energy, such as plastics, they form shallow droplets,
Mixture of aromatics 180 29.9 2740 i.e. the surface is only partially wetted.
Rape seed oil 360* 29.5 2785
Dioxan 101 29.8 2810 2.4 Reduction in the surface energy of clinker
Acetone 56 29.5 2790 The high surface energy of dry clinker is reduced to
Ethyl acetate 77 28.3 2870 a certain level by hydroxylation. Further decrease
Isopropanol 82 27.0 2983 is only possible through organic grinding aids (e.g.
Diethylene glycol 245 27.3 2943 SikaGrind®). Organic additives do also work in pure
* Rape seed oil decomposes above 200 °C. form, but for technical and economical optimiza-

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 Grinding // MATERIALS

tions they are usually mixed with water. In both cas- 4 Diagram of differ-
es they act primarily by reducing the surface energy. ent directional forces
on molecules. Surface
This process consists of three parts (shown in
tension is the effect of
equation 1). In the presence of water and grind- one-sided forces on the
ing aids, clinker attempts to lower its surface en- surface [6]
ergy (ES C: surface energy of clinker). The surface
of the grinding aid must be increased on the basis
of energy gained through the reduction of the sur-
face energy of clinker, i.e. the surface energy of
the grinding aid (ES G) must be overcome. And the
clinker/grinding aid interfacial energy (EI C/G) must
be negative or, at most, weakly positive.
5 Water striders are
–ES C + ES G + EI C/G = ES CG (1) carried by the surface
tension [7]

If the surface energy of the clinker covered with

grinding aid (ES CG) is negative, i.e. energy is released
during the coverage, then the grinding aid spreads
out even without any mechanical assistance. The
contact angle of grinding aid on clinker is 0 ° (Fig. 6).
This means that grinding aids must not only
reduce the surface energy of the clinker (ES C) but
also adsorb sufficiently strongly on it (i.e. have a
low interfacial energy EI C/G). These two properties
can only be partially combined with one another. On the other hand, commercial grinding aids
Therefore it does not mean that the grinding aids consist of nonpolar hydrocarbon skeletons as well
with the lowest surface energy (ES G) perform best. as polar functional groups. The latter interact read-
Comprehensive experiments show that moderate ily with clinker. The majority of active compounds
values, i.e. the range from 30–50 mJ/m2, are the are alcohols, i.e. they have polar organic hydrox-
most suitable (Table 4). ide groups (R-OH). Triethanolamine (TEA) is a tri-
alcohol and diethylene glycol (DEG) is a di-alcohol.
2.5 Interactions between grinding aids and clinker Very good grinding performance is also achieved
surface using some mono-alcohols, such as isopropanol.
Nonpolar solvents, fuels and oils have low surface However, these are not used in commercial cement
tensions and energies. They contain no or only production because of their low boiling points
weakly polar functional groups in the molecules (< 100 °C) (Table 2).
and interact therefore only weakly with polar com- With the aid of computer simulations it has
pounds. They are not miscible with polar water but been possible to demonstrate that the molecules
do spread out rapidly on polar clinker surfaces. always turn their polar functional groups towards
Because of the poor interaction with clinker they the clinker surface. Figure 7 shows two tri-isopro-
adsorb too weakly to form stable separating layers panolamine molecules on dry tricalcium silicate
between particles. The clinker particles form ag- (C3S, alite). The polar alcohol groups (-OH) partially
glomerates that are held together by strong polar offset the polarity of the clinker and the nonpolar
interactions. Nonpolar liquids are therefore not hydrocarbon groups (R = alkyl, e.g. CH3 or alky-
suitable as grinding aids in spite of their low sur- lene, e.g. -CH2-CH2-) shield it. The interactions, and
face tensions (Table 2 and 4). therefore the attractive forces between the cement

Energy per Energy per Percent of Tab. 3 Grinding, surface

g cement m2 cement grinding energy and agglomeration
[mJ/g]* [mJ/m2]* [%] energies of cement
Grinding energy of cement (typical value**): 40 kWh/t 144 000 240 000 100.00 without and with grind-
ing aids
Surface energy of dry C3S 800 1340 0.56
Agglomeration energy of dry C3S 270 450 0.19
Agglomeration energy of hyd. C3S 140 230 0.10
Agglomeration energy of hyd. C3S with glycerine 70 120 0.05
Agglomeration energy of hyd. C3S with MDIPA 30 50 0.02

* Typical surface of cement (BET value): 0.6 m2/g. This corresponds to about 0.3 m2/g (3000 cm2/g) according to Blaine.
** The better the used grinding aid, the lower the energy consumption. The indicated rough value primarily visualizes the huge
difference to the small surface and agglomeration energies.
*** Hydroxylated C3S surface is denoted by hyd. C3S.

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MATERIALS // Grinding

Drop
Wetting
Contact Interfacial Example tion themselves in accordance with minimum en-
shape angle energy
ergy and optimized charge equilibration [2]. In the
usual presence of water (or hydroxide ions) this
Non-wetting 180 ° >>>> 0 Mercury on takes place particularly rapidly as the hydrogen ion
nonmetals
transfer (movement of protons), with half-lives in
Partial non-wetting < 180 ° >>> 0 Water on Teflon
the pico-second range, is one of the fastest known
90 ° >> 0 chemical processes.
The propagation velocity of fractures in clinker
Partial wetting >0° >0 Grinding aid
on plastics
is extremely high. Simulation results show that it
Complete wetting 0° =0 Grinding aid reaches 11,500  km/h along the cleavage faces of
on clinker alite mineral, which is almost ten times the speed
Spreading 0° <0 Grinding aid
on clinker
of sound in air [8]. The spreading velocities (prop-
agation) of liquids are substantially lower [8, 9].
Wetting velocities of 1 µm/s to 10 m/s (36 km/h),
6 The drop shape particles, fall with decreasing surface polarity. This depending on the conditions (Fig.  6), are men-
depends on the inter- minimizes the tendency to form agglomerates and tioned in [10]. Because spreading velocities are
action between liquid
maximizes the grinding output. much slower than crack propagation velocities and
and solid surface
Comprehensive laboratory trials have not only surface relaxation and charge balancing happens
confirmed suitability of well-known glycols and quickly, it must be assumed that grinding aids are
alkanolamines additives, but also provided consist- always, or to a very great extent, adsorbed on neu-
ent correlations between molecular structure and tral surfaces (Fig. 9 and 10). This statement has not
performance. The focus was on organic compounds been directly proved for clinker but it is supported
with a well-balanced ratio of polar to nonpolar for all investigated ionic compounds. Organic acids
parts. Inorganic compounds assist the grinding and salts and quaternary ammonium compounds,
only to a limited extent, but they can modify vari- that can counterbalance charges, perform worse
ous other cement properties such as setting, initial than the corresponding alcohols. This contradicts
and final strength in desirable way. the often postulated action of grinding aids by
charge balancing.
3 Surfaces without and with grinding aids Water, glycerine, diethylene glycol (DEG) and
Figures 8-13 show various possible ways how new diisopropanolamine (DIPA) assist grinding in as-
surfaces are formed and subsequent chemical and cending order (Figs. 10-13). Water dissociates into
physical processes during grinding. Calcium oxide positive hydrogen ions and negative hydroxide
(CaO) is used in the diagrams for simplification in- ions (H2O ➝ H ∙∙∙∙ OH ➝ H+ + OH–, hydroxylation),
stead of a clinker phase. Exposed surface ions are which position themselves so that the surface po-
denoted with full charge (Ca2+, O2–) but the overall larity of the clinker is reduced. The alcohol groups
crystal is neutral, so no charges are marked in the (R-OH) of the grinding aids reduce the surface po-
intact crystal lattice. The lighter the colour of the larity further. The hydrocarbon parts (R, consist-
squares in the diagrams the lower is the polarity. ing of CH, CH2 and CH3) shield the polarity. The
Tab. 4 Boiling point, The thinner the green arrows, the weaker are the hydrocarbon parts of glycerine are small (shown in
surface energy (surface interactions between cleaved surfaces. A cleav- Fig. 11), of diethylene glycol moderate (Fig. 12) and
tension) and polarity of age with significant charge separation (Fig.  8) is of diisopropanolamine large (Fig.  13). The larger
grinding aids (glycerine,
only possible in the complete absence of water and the hydrocarbon parts the smaller is the surface
DEG, PG) to show the
deviation from other even then is very unlikely. Freshly cleaved polar energy of covered cement particles and the better
liquids surfaces relax immediately. Surface atoms reposi- is the grinding effect.
Figures 9-13 show models that do not only cor-
Surface energy/ relate well with the practical experiments but also
Boiling points Polarity
Liquid Surface tension
[°C] (Interaction) correspond to the molecular configurations that
[mJ/m2 or mN/m]
Mercury 357 476 (Metallic) were found with molecular simulations (section 4).
Water 100 71 High The forces of attraction between the ground cement
Water with surfactants 100 30 (Polar) particles as well as between cement particles and
Glycerine 290 63 milling media (steel balls etc.) that, without the use
Ethylene glycol 196 48 of grinding aids (Figs. 9-10) lead to agglomeration
Diethylene glycol (DEG) 245 45 Medium
and adhesion to the grinding media (Fig. 1) depend
Propylene glycol (PG) 188 36
Ethanol 78 22 on the surface energy.
Rape seed oil 360 (>200 dec.) 32
Low
Diesel fuel* 200 – 300 28
(Non-polar)
4 Molecular modelling (computer simulation)
Hexane 69 18 Macroscopic properties, like temperature or parti-
Liquid nitrogen -196 9 Very low cle fineness, are usually the consequence of various
* Diesel fuel consists of paraffin oil and aromatics (see Tab. 2). mechanical, physical and chemical processes and

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 Grinding // MATERIALS

are relatively easy to measure. On the other hand,

it is often only molecular modelling that can pro-
vide an insight into specific values or trends such
as adsorption energy, agglomeration energy and
mechanism of molecular interactions on the sur-
face. One familiar method is the Monte Carlo sim-
ulation based on the random principle. However,
“molecular dynamics simulation”, which is more
suitable for this purpose, was applied as part of a
doctoral thesis financed by Sika Technology AG at
University of Akron (USA) [1] and in cooperation
with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in
Zürich [2].
In the NVT ensemble molecular dynamics, the
number of particles (N), the volume (V) and the The grinding trials with clinker resulted in a dif- 7 Interactions of two
temperature (T) remain constant throughout the ferent sequence of Blaine values and sieve resi- TIPA molecules (triiso-
propanolamine) on dry
simulation. The most important part of any at- dues (32 µm). Glycerine had the poorest effect and
C3S surface (tricalcium
omistic modelling work is to use validated force methyl diisopropanolamine (MDIPA) had the best. silicate, alite) [1]
field parameters, which should be consistent with There is no correlation between adsorption energy
physical-chemical properties for each compound and grinding performance. The grinding perfor-
in comparison to experimental measurements. We mance depends on other properties.
present simulation results of carefully validated
models of cement minerals [2, 11]. 4.2 Agglomeration energy of C3S and C3A
Figure 13 shows the adsorption of diisopropan- Agglomeration energy can be understood as fol-
olamine (DIPA) schematically. The spatially correct lows: the release of stored energy when two paral-
arrangement of the similar triisopropanolamine lel relaxed cleaved surfaces come together or equal-
(TIPA) on hydroxylated tricalcium silicate (C3S, ly the required energy to separate them. Dry and
alite) is shown in Figure 14. Hydrogen atoms (H) hydroxylated tricalcium silicate surfaces (“C3S”,
from the alcohol groups of the TIPA form hydrogen “HC”) without and with various grinding aids were
bonds with oxygen atoms (O) of silicate and hy- simulated in analogy with Figures 9-13. Figures 16
droxide ions. The calculated average bond lengths and 17 show a monomolecular layer of glycerine in
are shown in Figure 14. Oxygen atoms (O) of the the confined and separated states between cleaved
alcohol groups of the TIPA coordinate with calcium C3S surfaces. The difference between the two cal-
ions (Ca) of the C3S. Similar interactions and ar- culated energy levels is the agglomeration energy.
rangements also occur with other clinker phases The distribution of the glycerine molecules in the
(C2S, C3A) and grinding aids [11, 12]. separated state does not play a crucial role [2]. An
example with equal distribution is shown in Fig-
4.1 Adsorption energy of grinding aids on ure 18.
C3S surface The agglomeration energy (Fig. 19, data in mJ/m2
The adsorption energies of various organic com- of surface) correlates at 90 °C inversely with the
pounds on clinker surfaces were determined in order grinding performance of clinker in the laboratory
to clarify whether the grinding effect is dependent trials [2].
on the strength of adsorption. Instead of the route
via the surface and interfacial energies (equation 1) Agglomeration energy:
of C3S and grinding aid, there was direct simulation C3S > HC > HC-glycerine > HC-TEA >
of the quantity of energy that is released during the HC-TIPA > HC-MDIPA
adsorption of gaseous molecules on C3S.
The sequence changes slightly depending on Grinding performance:
the conditions (Fig. 15, data in kcal/g of adsorbed Clinker < HC < HC-glycerine < HC-TEA <
substance). At 110 °C (383 K; typical grinding HC-TIPA < HC-MDIPA
temperature) and with hydroxylated surface, TEA
adheres the most weakly and glycerine the most Not all clinker phases behave the same. In case of
strongly. tricalcium aluminate (C3A), the agglomeration ener-
gies and their ranking are partially quite different as
Adsorption energy on C3S: is shown in Figure 20 (data in mJ/m2 of surface) [11].
TEA < TIPA < MDIPA < glycerine
Agglomeration energy:
Grinding performance with clinker: C3A > HC > HC-TIPA > HC-glycerine >
glycerine < TEA < TIPA < MDIPA HC-TEA > HC-MDIPA

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MATERIALS // Grinding

8 Energetically unfavorable, improbable frac- 9 Fracture without water and grinding aid. The 10 Fracture only with water. The formed
ture with partly separated charges formed surfaces attract each other very strongly surfaces attract each other strongly

11 Fracture with water and glycerine. The 12 Fracture with water and diethylene glycol 13 Fracture with water and diisopropanola-
formed surfaces attract each other moderately (DEG). The formed surfaces attract each other mine (DIPA). The formed surfaces attract each
weakly other very weakly

C3A surfaces covered with TIPA have higher ag- hydroxylated C3A are almost double those of the
glomeration energy than C3S surfaces covered with corresponding values for C3S. The beneficial effect
TIPA, while the opposite behaviour is obtained of grinding aids is therefore substantially more
with all other organic molecules. And, even more marked with C3A than with C3S. This means that
important, the agglomeration energies of dry and grinding aids can equalize to some extent the dif-

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 Grinding // MATERIALS

ferent grindabilities of the clinker phases and thus H O C Si Ca H-bond length in Å 14 Two triisopropanola-
also of clinkers with different compositions. 1.71 mine (TIPA) molecules
on hydroxylated (OH−)
The fundamentally different grindabilities of 1.55 tricalcium silicate (C3S)
the different clinker phases are pointed out in [13] 1.44 surface. For simplifica-
and [14]. According to [13] C3S is the easiest to Ca complexation tion, only top layer of
grind, C3A is intermediate and C2S and C4AF are TIPA C3S surface is shown
the hardest. The chemical composition and micro-
structure (e.g. porosity) also have an effect [14].
The computer simulations show that the effective-
ness of grinding aids depends on the mineralogy, OH -
i.e. the percentages of the different phases. This is
one of the reasons why, depending on the cement,
grinding aids do not always have the same effect.
Grinding aids reduce the agglomeration energy
in all cases. This leads to the central proposition
of this article. The simulations establish the cor-
rectness of the hypotheses voiced decades ago that pending on the chemicals, at 0.01 to 0.1 % by weight
the grinding performance in the fineness range of organic compound [9]. This corresponds approxi-
relevant for cement is directly dependant on the mately to monomolecular coverage of the solid sur-
agglomeration formation [15, 16], i.e. the strength face [9, 13, 17]. “The deterioration in the comminu-
of the attractive forces between the particles or the tion result at excessive dosage level is attributed to
agglomeration energy. the multimolecular layer on the solid surfaces. This
can lead to the formation of capillary forces that
4.3 Molecular layer thickness favour agglomeration. The influence of the abra-
The effect of grinding aids (e.g. SikaGrind®) de- sive comminution component can be reduced by the
pends on the dosage level. An upper effectiveness lubricating effect and the powder flowability is so
limit was established with molecular modelling. strongly increased that coarse particles are also dis-
This limit is reached when a monolayer of organic charged with the fine material” [9].
molecules lies between the clinker surfaces [2, 11]. Plant trials by Sika show that dosage levels
More layers do not produce any substantial im- above the optimum amount can reduce the resi-
provement but also no deterioration [2, 11]. For dence time of the cement in the mill in such a way
glycerine, for example, the distance between the that the material is inadequately ground. Optimum
highly polar C3S planes caused by the mono-layer dosage levels and excessive dosages depend on the
is 4 Å (Fig. 16). The agglomeration energy falls to chemical structure of the added compounds and the
half the value when compared with the hydroxy- local cementitious materials (clinker and supple-
lated C3S surfaces. With more efficient grinding mentary cementitious materials) as well as on the
aids, such as MDIPA, it can be reduced still further fineness and the mill system (type and condition).
down to a fifth of the value (Table 3, Fig. 19). There are various reasons for the fact that the
For an effective surface area of 0.6  m2/g maximum effect calculated with molecular mod-
(6000 cm2/g BET ~ 3000 cm2/g Blaine) a monolay- elling is already achieved at the very low dosage
er between the particles corresponds to a dosage level of 0.015 % organic compound (Table 5). The
of about 0.015 % by weight of glycerine. The free simulations were carried out on smooth C3S planes,
particle surface area is only 50 % covered (Table 5). but crushed clinker has unevenness, indentations
Double the quantity (0.03 %) is needed for com- and fine cracks in which organic molecules can ac-
plete coverage of the free surface area, which leads cumulate. These are then absent elsewhere, espe-
to a double layer for touching particles. Required
dosage of organic compound is proportional to the 15 Adsorption energies
cement fineness (Table  5). The theoretical results of triethanolamine,
triisopropanolamine,
are compared with the experimental ones and dis-
methyl-diisopropanol-
cussed in the following section. amine and glycerine on
dry and hydroxylated
5 Effects of grinding aid’s dosage level C3S (tricalcium silicate)
at 25 °C and 110 °C [2]
Without exception, the laboratory trials show that
the grinding performance in the lower dosage range
of grinding aids increases with further addition of
grinding aid. In the upper range it flattens out [15]
and at very high levels it even falls below the level
without additives [9]. According to the literature the
most favourable addition level generally lies, de-

ZKG 6 2014   35
MATERIALS // Grinding

The screening process, which covered several

hundred compounds and mixtures, shows clearly
that ionic compounds, such as pure acids, are not
suitable as grinding aids. However, they are to be
found in many commercial products as supple-
ments, mainly to neutralize alkaline components.
Whether they also have an appreciable effect on
the grinding result and the manageability of the
cement has not been finally clarified. However,
the few acid groups of the PCEs, given their high
molecular weights, do not explain the outstanding
effect of grinding aids containing PCEs (e.g. Sika-
Grind®-820, -840, -870).
16 (l) Two C3S surfaces cially at exposed points. In practice, it is therefore Trials with other large and branched molecules,
with an intermediate necessary to increase the amount added in order with and without charges, and computer simula-
monolayer of glycerine
to cover at least half the clinker surface. This is the tions suggest that the good performance is a con-
molecules [2]
only way to ensure that there is always a monolay- sequence of steric effects. But these are of a differ-
17 (r) Two C3S surfaces er of organic molecules between touching particles ent type than those that PCEs deploy as concrete
with an intermediate (Figs. 16-18). plasticizers. In the latter case the polyether side
monolayer of glycerine
The speed of dispersion can also play a part. chains project far into the aqueous medium and
molecules in separated
state; both surfaces are The higher the addition level of the grinding aid prevent so the cement particles from coming too
half covered [2] the more rapidly are newly formed clinker surfaces close. In the former case, during dry grinding both,
covered, the fewer or weaker agglomerates form the main chains containing carboxylate groups
and the finer or more productive is the grinding. and the polyether side chains adsorb on the clinker
Simulations, trials and literature agree in sug- surface [12, 19] (Fig. 21). However, the branching
gesting that the technically maximum effect is prevents flat adsorption of the entire PCE molecule.
reached when the clinker particles are separated For steric reasons the distance between two clinker
from one another by at least one layer of organ- surfaces is 9 Å [12] (Fig. 22), i.e. twice as large as
ic molecules during the production. The quantity with glycerine (Fig. 16).
necessary for this depends on the required cement In contrast, completely flat adsorption is pos-
fineness or, more accurately, on the surface area sible with linear molecules [12]. Figure 23 shows
to be covered (Table  5). On the other hand, the a polyethylene oxide chain with the same molec-
optimum addition level from the aspect of cost- ular weight as the polycarboxylate ethers in Fig-
effectiveness is obtained from the specific increase ures 21-22. Because of limited computer capacity,
in production and the local conditions, such as en- polymers were just simulated with 1700  g/mol.
ergy, product and transport costs. Commercial PCEs for plasticizing concrete have
typically 25 000-50 000 g/mol.
6 PCEs as grinding aids A specific steric effect occurs if branching
Polycarboxylate ethers (PCEs) have been used with makes flat adsorption impossible or if very long
great success for a long time as concrete additives, polymer chains overlap, i.e. with bulky or very
e.g. in Sika® ViscoCrete® superplasticizers. How- large molecules.
ever, their unique properties as cement additives
were only recognized in recent years. In 2009, for
example, Schrabback [18] showed how, for the
same dosage level, an increase in production of 9 %
could be achieved with a conventional grinding aid
product but an increase of 16 % was achieved with
one containing PCE.
On the one hand, PCEs work in a similar way to
the low-molecular weight compounds. They par-
tially compensate the polarity of the clinker surface
through the coordination of their polar groups and
they reduce it further through the shielding effect
of their nonpolar alkylene groups. Though, in con-
trast to traditional grinding aids, PCEs contain no
18 Distribution of chemical groups of moderate polarity, in particu-
gylcerine molecules
lar no alcohol groups, but only weakly polar ether
on approximately half
covered clinker surface groups and strongly polar acid groups or charged
(top view) carboxylate groups.

36    ZKG 6 2014 www.zkg.de

 Grinding // MATERIALS

6.1 Specific behaviour 19 Agglomeration

All the trials confirm that PCEs alone do not work HC: Hydroxylated C3S energies of dry and
800 hydroxylated C3S as
as well as good low-molecular weight grinding aids

Agglomeration Energy [mJ/m2]

well as hydroxylated
do [4]. This is in agreement with the computer sim- C3S with glycerine,
600
ulations that organic intermediate layers of, for ex- triethanolamine,
ample, 4 Å are sufficient for good performance. If triisopropanolamine
and methyl-diisopro-
the same dosage level is used for PCEs then along- 400
panolamine at 90 °C
side areas with a fairly thick covering uncovered (For numeric values see
clinker surface occur. Additionally it is also likely 200
Table 3) [2]
that large polymers disperse more slowly.
Figure 22 shows that large molecules can theo-
0
retically not only separate clinker particles but also C3S HC HC-Gly HC-TEA HC-TIPA HC-MDIPA
link them. However, polymer bridging is not likely.
At overdosages of PCEs, cohesiveness of cement
powder decreases significantly and powder flowa- 20 Agglomeration
bility exceeds the required level. This can affect the energies of dry and
HC: Hydroxylated C3A
800 hydroxylated C3A as
Agglomeration energy [mJ/m2]
grinding process and the cement handling. well as hydroxylated
Thus, PCEs improve not only the grindability C3A with triisopropan-
600
but also the flowability of cement. In addition to the olamine, glycerine,
steric effects this can be explained in the following triethanolamine and
methyl-diisopropanola-
way. When cement particles are pressed against 400
mine at 90 °C [11]
one another the large PCE molecules are less easily
displaced then the small more mobile molecules of 200
the traditional grinding aids. This means that im-
mobile PCE chains reduce more strongly temporary 0
agglomerate formation and particle cohesion. C3A HC HC-TIPA HC-Gly HC-TEA HC-MDIPA

6.2 Mixtures of PCEs and low molecular weight

compounds 7 How do grinding aids work?
Commercial PCE-based grinding aids always con- Based on results from comprehensive experimental
tain low molecular weight compounds. Probably tests and extensive molecular dynamics simula-
the former contribute to the success of such a for- tions, we present the crucial properties of grind-
mulation because of their steric effects and the ing aids. There are consistent correlations between
latter because of the faster and better dispersion molecular structure and their grinding effective-
during grinding. Throughout the production pro- ness. We also compare the gained understanding
cess, they optimize particle spacing and the asso- with previous attempts to explain the mode of ac-
ciated minimal agglomeration energy. Extensive tion. This work resolves many discrepancies, which
studies with all ratios from pure PCEs to pure TEA are described below as disproved and confirmed
and DEG have been published by Heller, Müller effects of grinding aids for cement.
and Honert [4]. The technical and economical op-
timum ratios lie at different points. They depend 7.1 Disproved effects
on the compound, clinker, type of mill and mode » Reduction of the crushing energy
of operation. (Rehbinder effect)
The investigations into which PCEs, which mo- The reduction of the mechanical toughness by
lecular details and which mixtures give the best surface-active compounds is not verifiable [9,
result with respect to grinding and cement han- 15].
dling, and why, are continuing. Some observations » Saturation of surface charges
and considerations indicate that it is particularly There is no evidence of significant quantities of
during the air separation process that PCEs develop charges on clinker surfaces nor do ionic grind-
their full effect. However, the now available exper- ing aids have advantages over neutral ones.
imental and theoretical research findings provide a » Electrostatic repulsion
good basis to further exploit the various benefits of This force only opposes agglomeration in liq-
PCEs as grinding aids. uids. But in case of dry powders electrostatic

Cement fineness Half covering Complete covering Tab. 5 Required

(Blaine) Monolayer between particles Double layer between particles grinding aid dosage
3000 cm2/g 0.015 % 0.03 % (g glycerine per g
cement) for covering
4000 cm2/g 0.020 % 0.04 % the cement surface
5000 cm2/g 0.025 % 0.05 %

ZKG 6 2014   37
MATERIALS // Grinding

more efficient is grinding. This is the main

mode of action of grinding aids [15, 16].
» Steric effects
PCE molecules do not only plasticize fresh con-
crete through steric repulsion but also reduce
agglomeration during grinding through their
spatial conformation. However, the molecular
mechanisms with dry cement particles are com-
pletely different from those in wet concrete.
» Dispersion via gas phase
21 PCE (polycarboxylate ether) molecule on hydroxylated clinker (C3S) [12, 19] Many compounds with boiling points below the
grinding temperature that are not used because
of their volatility perform well in closed mills.
Also traditional grinding aids (e.g. DEG and
TEA) have vapour pressures that are sufficient
for a certain degree of gas phase transfer.
» Dispersion through surface contact
Various compounds that only evaporate with
decomposition perform well. Evaporation can
be excluded because PCEs, for example, retain
their concrete-plasticizing effect [4, 5]. Pre-
sumably contact dispersion is the more impor-
tant transfer mechanism for all common grind-
ing aids even though it is slower.
» Water solubility
The majority of good grinding aids contain wa-
22 PCE (polycarboxylate ether) molecule between hydroxylated clinker, distance of the
two C3S surfaces: 9 Å [12] ter for both technical and economic reasons.
Water increases the safety (higher flash point)
and is itself a weak grinding aid. It also assists
the rapid and uniform dispersion of the organic
compounds.
» Synergistic effects of mixtures
There are mixtures that are of technical, of
economical or of combined interest, especially
those containing PCEs [4, 18].

8 Conclusions
23 PEO (polyethylene oxide) molecule on hydroxylated clinker (C3S) [12] A whole series of underlying effects and molecular
as well as material properties play various roles
interactions (repulsions and attractions) must during grinding with grinding aids. Reliable per-
be as small as possible. formance predictions are possible when the rela-
» Strength of adsorption tive importance of the effects and interactions are
The strength of adsorption of compounds does known and understood. Usually, the best com-
not correlate with the grinding performance [2]. pounds are those that represent a balanced com-
promise concerning the different requirements.
7.2 Confirmed effects Through a skilful combination of compounds,
» Reduction of surface polarity as it is the case in commercial products, it is possi-
Grinding aid molecules, with their polar and ble not only to optimize the grinding performance
nonpolar parts, compensate and reduce the po- but also to adjust many other properties, such as
larity of the clinker surfaces to a considerable powder flowability, early and final strength devel-
extent. opment and the workability of mortar and con-
» Reduction of surface energy crete. New dimensions with respect to produc-
In parallel with the polarity there is also a re- tion efficiency are being achieved, especially with
duction in surface energy. grinding aids like SikaGrind®-820, -840 and -870
» Reduction of agglomeration energy that contain PCEs.
The agglomeration energy correlates inversely
with the grinding performance. The lower the Acknowledgements
forces of attraction between two surfaces the We acknowledge the Swiss Commission for Tech-
fewer and smaller agglomerates form and the nological Innovation (KTI 13703.1 PFFLR-IW).

38    ZKG 6 2014 www.zkg.de

 Grinding // MATERIALS

We are grateful for discussions with Robert J. Thomas Müller (Sika Deutschland GmbH) and
Flatt (ETH Zürich) and Hendrik Heinz (Univer- Jorg Schrabback (Sika Services AG) for compre-
sity of Akron). Special thanks are owed to Dr. hensive previous work, practical help and fruitful
Emmanuel Gallucci (Sika Technology AG), Dr. discussions.

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