The diagrams below show the stages and equipment used in the cement-making process, and how cement is used to produce concrete for building purposes.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
This cement production diagram is from Cambridge IELTS 8 Test 3 Writing Task 1.
Sample Essay
The diagram on the left illustrates how cement is manufactured, while the one on the right shows the use of that cement in the production of concrete for construction.
Overall, there are four main steps in the manufacture of cement: crushing the raw materials and mixing them, heating them, and then grinding the result into a fine powder. To make concrete, cement is mixed proportionally with other ingredients. (I used “grinding the result” instead of “grinding them” because “them” would refer to the raw materials. However, after they are heated, they are chemically changed and therefore are not raw materials anymore.)
First of all, the two raw materials, limestone and clay, are fed into a crusher which breaks them down into a powder. After being blended in a mixer, the powder is burned at high temperatures in a rotating heater. It is then ground in a grinder and the resulting fine powder is cement, which is subsequently sent for packaging.
To produce strong and durable concrete for building purposes, cement is combined in a concrete mixer with other ingredients in fixed proportions: 15% cement, 25% sand, 50% gravel, and 10% water. As the cement becomes hydrated, it binds the sand and gravel to form concrete. (Note that I used “15% cement”, not “15% of cement”. “15% of cement” means 15% of the cement, not 15% of the whole mixture.)
