The chemical and food industries cannot be imagined without the use of limestone and lime products. It is used in a wide variety of applications in everyday and specialised products.

In the food industry, lime products play an indispensable role in the production of sugar and soda.

Milk of lime, which is added to the sugar juice obtained from sugar beet, serves as a flocculating agent to precipitate non-sugar substances, especially proteins, which are subsequently filtered out in the form of calcium carbonate before the actual crystallisation of the sugar.

Carbon dioxide is also added to the juice during sugar production. It forms carbonate crystals in solution, which are subsequently removed from the sugar. For the production of carbon dioxide, sugar mills use limestone (calcium carbonate), which they burn in their own lime kilns. On average, 20 to 25 kilograms of limestone are used to process a tonne of sugar beet, or 130 to 165 kilograms of limestone per tonne of raw sugar.

Versatile Applications in Industries: From Glass Manufacturing to Pharmaceuticals and Disinfectants

Soda ash (sodium bicarbonate) is an important raw material in many industries. It is used in the manufacture of glass, detergents, soaps and foodstuffs, as a bleaching and dyeing agent. In the food industry, it is an essential ingredient in baking powders and is also a component of fertilisers and pesticides. Soda is produced from rock salt (sodium chloride) and limestone by a chemical precipitation and filtration process. Between 1100 and 1250 kilograms of limestone are needed for one tonne of soda ash.

Limestone and lime products are also widely and diversely used in the chemical industry. Chemical plants use limestone and lime products, including PCC, in the production of inorganic and organic calcium compounds, as reagents in chemical syntheses, in the production of carbide lime from which acetylene is produced or in the adjustment of pH values.

Lime is used in the production of citric acid, adhesives, paints and varnishes. In addition to the paper industry, lime milk is also used as a lubricant and stabiliser in the manufacture of plastics or as a lubricant in the metal industry. Due to its water-repellent properties, it is also used in construction chemistry.

PCC is a component of toothpastes, cosmetic products, paper and rubber goods, mineral paints and pharmaceuticals, infant formula or diet foods. Chlorine lime (calcium hypochlorite), for the production of which lime hydrate is used, is widely used for its strong disinfectant properties.