The reduction of CO₂ emissions is a major task for the cement industry in the 21st century. This can be achieved by using modern production techniques, optimisation of the burning process, fuel substitutions, alternative clinker compositions or by the production of blended cements with different additives.

Recently, the production of blended and composite cements using additives such as slag and fly ash has increased considerably. Controlling these additives quantitatively is essential to guarantee the cement norms.

The development of high-speed X-ray detectors has been instrumental in providing the required fast quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis and truly interactive process control.