The domes are where they keep the raw materials before sending it through the kiln. The kiln is the big, l-o-n-g tube set at about a 40-degree angle. The componets are fed in to the top of the heated tube and are converted into cement as they get dehydrated as they flow down the tube.
Here's a great book that describes all the different industrial things that make up our civilized world: Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape Even my DW read found this book interesting, though mainly to answer all the DDs' questions. -Blast
One of the cement factories is sitting right beside the Alaskan Way Viaduct, both on some of the most unstable ground in Washington State. All I can think if is that, if the cement factory goes, the shrapnel will probably take down the viaduct!
"The kiln is the big, l-o-n-g tube set at about a 40-degree angle."
The kilns can also be essentially horizontal. I once visited a former East German cement plant that was built to provide cement to the entire country. The plant had 4 spinning kilns about 100 yards long and 8 feet or so in diameter. The plant polluted so much that a neighboring town had to sweep all their roofs periodically to remove all the ash and other by-products that settled out of the air.
Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
This book is a great read and very informative. One begins to see how thoroughly messed up our lives can be when these systems are interrupted by a major calamity. It is also thick and heavy. I will keep a copy by my bed to protect me during an earthquake.
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