Assessment of Limestone of Fatha Formation for Ordinary Portland cement industry in Zurbatiya Area, Eastern Iraq

Limestone deposits from Fatha formation were assess for prepare of ordinary Portland cement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that calcite is the most abundant mineral in limestone, followed by quartz, and trace amount of dolomite. Chemical analyses by X-ray fluorescence analyses (XRF) showed that the major oxides (CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, Na2O, K2O, TiO2, SO3, and P2O5) are within the acceptable limits required for the cement industry. Based on the chemical parameters of cement (LSF, SR, and AR), the mixture was made from limestone of the Fatha Formation and the claystone from the Injana Formation. Based on the chemical parameters of cement (LSF, SR, and AR), another mixture was prepared using limestone and claystone as in the first mixture, with the addition of (sand and bauxite) as corrective materials, in order to enhance the quality of the product. The mixture was burned at 1450C by using special program burning, the produced clinker was assessed mineralogically and chemically to detect the major and minor phases of clinker. Bogue's equations indicated the percentage of (Alite, Billet, Aluminate and Ferrite) within international accepted limits. Moreover, the Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test indicates clear crystalline shapes of the clinker phases. The produced clinker has good quality and meet the required standard of ordinary Portland cement.