1824, PORTLAND CEMENT IS PATENTED IN ENGLAND

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Porland cement, the most common type of cement, that was patented on a day like today in 1824.

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout.

It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th century by Joseph Aspdin, and is usually made from limestone. 

It is a fine powder, produced by heating limestone and clay minerals in a kiln to form clinker, grinding the clinker, and adding 2 to 3 percent of gypsum.

Several types of portland cement are available. The most common, called ordinary portland cement (OPC), is grey, but white Portland cement is also available. Its name is derived from its resemblance to Portland stone which was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.

It was named by Joseph Aspdin who obtained a patent for it in 1824. His son William Aspdin is regarded as the inventor of modern portland cement due to his developments in the 1840s.

The low cost and widespread availability of the limestone, shales, and other naturally-occurring materials used in portland cement make it one of the lowest-cost materials widely used over the last century. The most common use for portland cement is in the production of concrete.

Concrete is a composite material consisting of aggregate (gravel and sand), cement, and water.

Concrete produced from Portland cement is one of the world's most versatile construction materials, and has changed the world in almost every observable aspect. It is one of the most widely used substances on Earth, and as such, portland cement manufacturing is currently vital to the world's economy. It is one of the construction industry's largest cause of climate changing carbon dioxide emissions.

Portland cement was developed from natural cements made in Britain beginning in the middle of the 18th century. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone, a type of building stone quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.

The development of modern portland cement, sometimes called ordinary or normal portland cement, began in 1756, when John Smeaton experimented with combinations of different limestones and additives, including trass and pozzolanas, relating to the planned construction of a lighthouse, now known as Smeaton's Tower.

More information: Cement

In the late 18th century, Roman cement was developed and patented in 1796 by James Parker.

Roman cement quickly became popular, but was largely replaced by portland cement in the 1850s.

In 1811, James Frost produced a cement he called British cement. James Frost is reported to have erected a manufactory for making of an artificial cement in 1826.

In 1811 Edgar Dobbs of Southwark patented a cement of the kind invented 7 years later by the French engineer Louis Vicat. Vicat's cement is an artificial hydraulic lime, and is considered the principal forerunner of portland cement.

The name portland cement is recorded in a directory published in 1823 being associated with a William Lockwood and possibly others.

In his 1824 cement patent, Joseph Aspdin called his invention portland cement because of its resemblance to Portland stone. Aspdin's cement was nothing like modern portland cement, but a first step in the development of modern portland cement, and has been called a proto-portland cement.

William Aspdin had left his father's company, to form his own cement manufactury. 

In the 1840s William Aspdin, apparently accidentally, produced calcium silicates which are a middle step in the development of portland cement.

In 1848, William Aspdin further improved his cement. Then, in 1853, he moved to Germany, where he was involved in cement making. William Aspdin made what could be called meso-portland cement, a mix of portland cement and hydraulic lime.

Isaac Charles Johnson further refined the production of meso-portland cement, middle stage of development, and claimed to be the real father of portland cement.

More information: Science Direct

In 1859, John Grant of the Metropolitan Board of Works, set out requirements for cement to be used in the London sewer project. This became a specification for portland cement. The next development in the manufacture of portland cement was the introduction of the rotary kiln, patented by Frederick Ransome in 1885 (U.K.) and 1886 (U.S.); which allowed a stronger, more homogeneous mixture and a continuous manufacturing process.

The Hoffmann endless kiln which was said to give perfect control over combustion was tested in 1860, and showed the process produced a better grade of cement. This cement was made at the Portland Cementfabrik Stern at Stettin, which was the first to use a Hoffmann kiln.

The Association of German Cement Manufacturers issued a standard on portland cement in 1878.

Portland cement had been imported into the United States from Germany and England, and in the 1870s and 1880s, it was being produced by Eagle Portland cement near Kalamazoo, Michigan.

In 1875, the first portland cement was produced in the Coplay Cement Company Kilns under the direction of David O. Saylor in Coplay, Pennsylvania.

By the early 20th century, American-made portland cement had displaced most of the imported portland cement.

Portland cement manufacture can cause environmental impacts at all stages of the process. These include emissions of airborne pollution in the form of dust; gases; noise and vibration when operating machinery and during blasting in quarries; consumption of large quantities of fuel during manufacture; release of CO2 from the raw materials during manufacture, and damage to countryside from quarrying. Equipment to reduce dust emissions during quarrying and manufacture of cement is widely used, and equipment to trap and separate exhaust gases are coming into increased use. Environmental protection also includes the re-integration of quarries into the countryside after they have been closed down by returning them to nature or re-cultivating them.

Portland cement is caustic, so it can cause chemical burns. The powder can cause irritation or, with severe exposure, lung cancer, and can contain a number of hazardous components, including crystalline silica and hexavalent chromium. 

Environmental concerns are the high energy consumption required to mine, manufacture, and transport the cement, and the related air pollution, including the release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, dioxin, NOx, SO2, and particulates.

More information: Becosan

It is not the beauty of a building you should look at;
its the construction of the foundation
that will stand the test of time.

David Allan Coe