Other Industrial Consumers & Manufacturing

Lime is used in a thousands of different manufacturing processes, including:

Aluminium

Quicklime can be used as a component of continuous casting lubricants, and slaked lime as a lubricant carrier in wire drawing.

Continuous casting can also be used for materials based on different types of metals, such as aluminium. Aluminium based metals possess numerous desirable qualities and are used for a number of different products such as food and drink cans, to the construction of large international aeroplanes.

Pharmaceuticals

Products derived from lime, such Precipitated Calcium Carbonate are found in a number of pharmaceuticals, including dietary supplements, antacids and other well-known medicines.

Plastics

Quicklime reacts with any free water present to form hydrated lime. This removes water from the system and can be useful when dealing with products that are heated during the manufacturing process, such as plastic. When making plastic, if any potential water is not removed then steam bubbles may occur in the finished product, which can affect its strength and appearance. Quicklime is therefore often used in PVC and rubber manufacturing processes.

PVC itself is rated as one of the most valuable products in the chemical industry, and throughout the world over 50% of PVC manufactured is used for construction. As a building material PVC is cheap, durable, cost effective and easy to assemble. The uses of rubber range from household to industrial products, including the eraser on the end of your pencil, to the tyres on your car.

Paper

Lime is used in the manufacture of paper pulp, particularly in the production of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). Thanks to its exceptional physical and bleaching characteristics, it helps produce high quality paper. Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), is used as a whitening agent in the paper-making process. It helps recover caustic soda (white liquor) from paper-mill sludge.

Glass

Although limestone is generally more cost effective in the production of glass, dolomitic and high calcium lime in finely ground forms can also be used under specific circumstances. Burnt lime often provides greater transparency to the glass than limestone due to its lower content of organic matter.

Chemical Industry

Lime is mainly used as a neutralising agent (chemical base) in the petrochemical, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, animal feed and tanning industries.

The final chemical products are many and include propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin, calcium carbide, sodium carbonate, citric and lactic acid, plastics additives, fertilizers (mixed and nitrogen-based), human food products like gelatine, sugar and calcium phosphate.

Inorganics

Lime or its derivatives are essential building blocks in the manufacture of many inorganic salts such as Calcium Phosphate, a toothpaste additive, Calcium Citrate a food and drink additive and Calcium Nitrite an additive for sludge treatment.