PRODUCTION OF H I G H - Q U A L I T Y CALCIUM HYDROXIDE

V. I. B y s t r o v , F. S. N i s e n g o l ' t s , UDC 54-36(546.41)

a n d G. P. S o b o l e v

Calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) is finding still wider use in the oil processing industry for the produc-
tion of greases and addkives for m i n e r a l oils. On existing plants, however, c a l c i u m hydroxide is produced as
an i n t e r m e d i a t e and cannot be e m p l o y e d in the oil processing industry because its quaiity does not conform to in-
dustrial requirements, as confirmed by the data in Table 1,

To develop the technology of producing h i g h - q u a l i t y Ca(OH) z, therefore, investigations were conducted whose
results have been made the basis of a design for a pilot plant for producing c a l c i u m hydroxide, whose output c o m -
p l e t e l y meets the requirements of the oil industry for this product.

Experimental batches of c a l c i u m hydroxide, which should be sent to oil testing plants for industrial tests and
defining the individual operations of the process more precisely, were prepared in the pilot plant. A diagram of
this plant is shown in Fig. 1.

Lime obtained in a shaft furnace is charged to the hopper 1 whence it is fed through the nozzle 2 to the
scoop 3 of the skip elevator and then to the feed hopper 4. From this hopper the l i m e is charged by the feeder 5 to
the drum hydrator 6. The water for slaking is heated in the heat exchanger 7 to 85-90% then fed to the sprayer 8
in the hydrating zone and to the sprayers 10 in the rehydrating zone. The amount of water used for slaking is m e a s -
ured by the RS-5 rotameters 9.

The steam formed during slaking is drawn off via the tube 11 by the fan 13 through the wet centrifugal scrub-
ber 12 and e m i t t e d to the atmosphere.

The slaked l i m e from the hydrator is discharged to the aging hopper 14. After aging, the slaked l i m e is fed
v i a the feeder 15 for classification to the air-centrifuge separator 16, the finished product being discharged through
the nozzle 17 into the hopper 19 and the tailings by the tube 18 to the trolley 20.

To produce high-quality, finely-dispersed c a l c i u m hydroxide, highly active l i m e is required having a degree

of calcination of 90-96% [1]. Furthermore, to produce h i g h - q u a l i t y c a l c i u m hydroxide high requirements are set
for the limestone both in the content of the m a i n constituent (96-98% CaCO s) and the presence of a m i n i m u m
amount of impurities (not more than 0.7-1.0% SiOz). Therefore a shell limestone from the M a m a i deposit (Krymskaya
region) was chosen, whose c h e m i c a l composition and physicomechanical properties are presented in Table 2.

As m a y be seen from Table 2, shell limestone has little m e c h a n i c a l strength. Therefore, the possibility of
burning it in a gas-fired shaft furnace was tested. The use of gaseous fuel prevented contamination by impurities of
the l i m e produced. Burning the limestone in a shaft furnace at 950-980~ enabled l i m e of the required quality to
be produced.
While investigating the slaking of l i m e we studied the factors which affect the dispersion of the resulting c a l -
c i u m hydroxide.

TABLE 1. C h e m i c a l Composition of Calcium Hydroxide (%)

Industrial requirements (by d e - Plants
Constituents part mental t e c h n i c a l speci fi -
cation) for first-grade Ca(OH) z 1 2 3

Principal substance Ca(OH) 2. . . 95.00 87.00

CaCO 3, not more than . . . . . . 3.00 ZOO 7.00 5.00 [
SiO2 + insolubles in HC1 . . . . . 0.70 0,60 2.00 3.00 ! 8.10
Moisture, not more than . . . . . 2.00 1.00 2.oo 3.00 I 5.80

Scientific Research Institute of Basic Chemistry. Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel,
No. 12, pp. 21-23, December, 1968.

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Fig. 1. Flowsheet of plant for producing calcium hydroxide slaked lime): I) to atmosphere;
II) steam supply; IID water supply; IV) to waste; V) air supply.
TABLE 2. Chemical Composition and Physicomechani- In the slaking of lime by water the heat liberated
cai Properties of Shell Limestone causes intensive steam formation, the steam formed
breaking up the lime and favoring an increase in the
Content % Density, Temporary dispersion of the slaked lime. Furthermore, it protects
kg/m3 Poros' c ompress ive the material from an excessive rise in temperature. It
ity, resistance, is very essential to maintain a constant temperature of
i
kgf/cm 2 the water in slaking and a constant temperature of the
t2 reacting mixture. This is explained by the solubility
of CaO and Ca(OH)z decreasing with an increase in
97,76 0,74 0,56 0,28 2805 17;Jl [ 38,3 temperature [2]. Consequently, when lime is slaked
97,80 0,71 0,40 0,21 2Q52 1:7321 39,2 t ~ :
97,00 1,11 0,04 0,5412770 1:615] 40,2 31,6+61,1 by cold water the solution, while becoming saturated
in the first minutes of slaking at low temperature, is
found to be supersaturated at a higher temperature.
The calcium hydroxide precipitated from it envelopes the pieces of still unslaked lime and this prevents further hy-
dration. Consequently, the slakingprocess is accompanied by self-retardation. To eliminate this, V. N. Yung [3]
recommends that the slaking process be carried out at the boiling point of water since the heat liberated here will
not be expended in raising the temperature of the process but in evaporating the water. Supplying hot water for
slaking the lime eliminates the self-retardation and accelerates the process.

TABLE 3. Effect of Water Temperature and Hydrator Temperature on the Granular Composition of
Slaked Lime
Sieve analysis, %
Specific surface relative
Experimental conditions
to phenol, m2/g
1.0-0.5 0.5-0.25 0.25-0.12 < 0.12
mm mlTl mm mm

Water temperature 90~

(hydrator heated) . . . . . - 40 50 10 104.4
Water temperature 90~
(hydrator unheated) . . . 3 6O 35 2 89.2
Water temperature 20 ~
(hydrator unheated) . . . 30 32,5 36 1.5 82.5

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