Paddy husk has been finding world wide attention for its utilization in various applications. Most of the research in this area, particularly in the field of cement and building materials has been carried out in the development of lime-rice husk ash cementitious materials. However, the strengths of these cements are low. The present paper deals with the utilization of both calorific value and reactive silica of paddy husk for producing Portland cement type clinkers. The physico-chemical and minerological properties of the clinkers and cements produced are presented. The burnability of the raw mixes containing husk as fuel is found to be better than those prepared with other fuels following the same process. This is attributed to the high reactivity of the insitu generated silica in the ash and rapid burning and cooling schedule maintained in the process of clinkerisation. Cements of various technological properties comparable to ordinary Portland cement can be produced using paddy husk as fuel at a significantly low LSF and low temperature of around 1300 deg.C. The clinkers generated are soft and porous and the fuel also being a waste material, the cement produced is expected to be of low cost.
