There are limestone deposits all around my location. Why isn there any high calcium lime available locally?
The term limestone can refer to both dolomitic limestone or high calcium limestone. Most limestone deposits are dolomitic limestone, which is a mixture of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate in a general ratio of 40-60%. High calcium limestone is generally considered to be in excess of 90% calcium carbonate. Nature does create predominantly limestone deposits composed of predominantly calcium carbonate, however, these locations are considerably fewer than those of dolomitic limestone. Although both carbonates undergo the conversion to oxide in the kiln (CaO and MgO) there is an important, fundamental difference in their reactivity with water. Calcium oxide will react readily with water at normal temperatures to produce calcium hydroxide and an excess of heat (exothermic) whereas magnesium oxide requires special conditions to convert to magnesium hydroxide. Any magnesium oxide will remain unreacted in water, resulting in additional grit. If kilns were set up to process dolomitic l
Related Questions
- Why does the price of quicklime increase when I know that there are still enormous deposits of high calcium limestone available to be produced into quicklime?
- There are limestone deposits all around my location. Why isn there any high calcium lime available locally?
- How does the availability and quality of high calcium limestone deposits affect the price of quicklime?
