Cement Manufacturing
Grinding and Milling
Cement Grinding and Milling Systems: Process, Operation and Troubleshooting
Operating and troubleshooting cement grinding systems, across ball mills, vertical mills and roller presses.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Cement grinding is the largest single electrical consumer on most plants and the place where product quality is finally set. This week covers the system types in use, their operating logic and where each struggles, then goes to operation: stable running, product changeovers, temperature and gypsum dehydration, and the grinding aids that help and the ones that mostly cost money. Troubleshooting is organised by symptom, because that is how problems present.
Who should attend
Grinding system operators and supervisors, process and energy engineers, maintenance planners for mill systems, and quality staff.
What you will be able to do
- Compare ball mill, vertical roller mill and roller press systems honestly.
- Operate a system stably through changeovers and load changes.
- Control mill temperature and gypsum dehydration.
- Assess specific energy consumption and improve it.
- Work from a symptom back to its cause.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Systems
- Ball mill circuits
- Vertical roller mills
- Roller presses and combined systems
- Choosing between them for a given product
Day 2
Operation
- Stable operation and the levers available
- Product changeovers
- Feed composition and its effect on grinding
Day 3
Temperature and sulphate
- Mill temperature control
- Gypsum dehydration and its consequences
- Water injection and cooling
Day 4
Energy
- Specific energy consumption benchmarking
- Grinding aids and their real effect
- Where energy is actually lost
Day 5
Troubleshooting
- Vibration in vertical mills
- Blaine and strength mismatch
- Throughput loss, and working back to its cause
What you leave with
- A system performance assessment.
- A changeover procedure that protects quality.
- A symptom based troubleshooting guide.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Cape Town, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Cairo, Egypt | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.