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//CC-MEX <br /> July 10, 2012 <br /> Mr. Fionn 0' Neill - Director of Operations <br /> Kleen Industrial Services <br /> 50 Oak Court# Suite 210 <br /> Danville, CA 94526 <br /> Re: Recycling Spent Abrasives <br /> Dear Mr. O'Neill: <br /> In response to your request concerning the recyclability of spent abrasives such as copper slag, <br /> garnet, aluminum oxide, silica sand, and steel fines in the manufacture of Portland cement <br /> clinker, CEMEX has the capacity and desire to use these materials as they are produced. <br /> Spent abrasives such as copper slag, garnet, aluminum oxide, silica sand, and steel fines (as a <br /> spent blast grit or as a waste product from the generators) is used in the Portland cement <br /> manufacturing process as an ingredient for both the high iron oxide (Fe203) and alumina oxide <br /> (AI203) content of spent materials. Since basting abrasives such as copper slag, have already <br /> been heated, there is no additional CO2 to liberate. Therefore, the CO2 produced per ton of <br /> cement will decrease. Replacing raw feed with spent abrasives also eliminates the need to <br /> quarry raw material, reducing additional CO2 emissions. Portland cement is made from raw <br /> materials rich in the oxides of calcium, alumina, iron, and silica content. <br /> These materials are proportioned and ground into a fine mixture called "'raw mix" this mixture is <br /> then sintered in a kiln at temperatures in excess of 2700° F. In the kiln the "raw mix" melts and <br /> forms "clinker," this clinker exits the kiln and is air cooled. The cooled clinker is then ground with <br /> gypsum to produce Portland cement. <br /> Due to the large number of oxide rich materials that may be available throughout the United <br /> States and the world there is no set of national standards or specifications that regulate the use <br /> of spent abrasives such as copper slag or any other ingredient(s) as raw materials in Portland <br /> cement kilns. This does not mean that Portland cement manufacturing is without standards or <br /> specifications. Cement manufactures often have a set of internal standards or specifications for <br /> the quality of the raw materials. The reason for this is that each Portland cement kiln uses raw <br /> materials from varying sources or deposits. Making the formula for each Portland cement kiln <br /> unique owing to the differences in oxide concentrations found in their raw material sources <br /> (quarry). <br /> Portland cement product standards are set forth in ASTM C-150. This standard or specification <br /> has been around in its present form (more or less) since 1940. Prior to C-150, ASTM had other <br /> specifications for Portland cement dating back to ASTMS founding in 1889. <br />