To rationally use low-grade phosphorous limestone as the raw materials for cement production, the influence of phosphorous introduced by fluorapatite during the clinker calcination process on the mechanical properties of cementitious materials is investigated. Hydration kinetics, phase evolutions, and microstructure of cement pastes have been studied by using calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that the mechanical properties of cementitious materials can be slightly improved due to the mineralization effect of the small amount of phosphorous in the clinker and significantly decreased with an increase of phosphorous. High content of phosphorous will reduce the content of C₃S and make the formation of α′-C₂S-xC₃P(x: 0–0.05), whose hydration reactivity is rather lower, such that on the one hand less-hydrated products, such as calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel, can be obtained, and on the other hand, the hydration reaction will be slowed by severely prolonging the induction period. Interestingly, small particles can be observed on the surface of hydration products, but no new phase can be detected by XRD. When the content of P₂O₅ is 2.0%, the cement can meet the requirements of P·II 42.5 cement in China. Hopefully, this can provide significant guidance for the use of cement prepared by fluorapatite as raw material.

With the increasing depletion of high-quality raw materials, siliceous limestone, sandstone and other hard-to-burn raw materials containing crystalline SiO₂ are gradually being used to produce clinker. This study investigates the influence of the quartz content and particle size in siliceous limestone on the calcination process and the resultant quality of cement clinker. Two different siliceous limestones were grinded to different fineness, and calcinated with some other materials. The content of the clinkers was analyzed with the XRD–Rietveld method and the microstructure of the clinkers was observed with laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Three key outcomes of this study provide new insights on the use of siliceous limestone in cement production, namely that (i) reducing the fineness values of siliceous limestone from 15% to 0% of residue on a 0.08 mm sieve decreases the quantity of these larger quartz particles, resulting in an increase in C₃S content by up to 8% and an increase in 28d compressive strength by up to 4.4 Mpa, which is 62.30 Mpa; (ii) the morphology of quartz—either as chert nodules or single crystals—affects the microstructure of C₂S clusters in clinker, finding that chert nodules result in clusters with more intermediate phases, whereas large single crystals lead to denser clusters; (iii) the sufficient fineness values of siliceous limestone SL1 and SL2 are 5% and 7% of residue on a 0.08 mm sieve, respectively, which can produce a clinker with a 28d compressive strength greater than 60 Mpa, indicating that for different kinds of quartz in siliceous limestone, there is an optimum grinding solution that can achieve a balance between clinker quality and energy consumption without having to grind siliceous limestone to very fine grades.