Industry

This gas is widely used for welding. Most processes to produce acetylene start with calcium carbide. To produce this, lime is combined with coke at 2,000º C.

Lime is used as a raw material for manufacturing many inorganic chemical products, such as calcium phosphate, calcium nitrate and caustic soda, and to manufacture additives for lubricants, including sulfurs, phenates and salicylates.

Lime has two functions in making cork: speeding up the vulcanization process and eliminating any possible excess dampness.

Given its great versatility, lime is used in numerous processes in the food industry, including the dairy industry, beer industry, gelatin industry and food preservation.

Calcium oxide is used in the glass-making process to make the final product harder, clearer and brighter. Plus, the mix melts faster, cutting costs and boosting productivity.

Calcium oxide is used to lower the melting temperature of metals. Plus, it also eliminates some impurities (phosphorus, sulfur, silica) by combining with them to make aggregates that become part of the slag. Steel products are coated with lime to neutralize the acids adhering to the metal and protect against corrosion. Lime acts as a lubricant in wire drawing.

Quicklime and hydrated lime are used to manufacture and refine non-ferrous metals such as copper, zinc, lead, nickel, silver, uranium, gold, etc. Depending on the case, they can be used as a flux, to remove impurities or control pH.

Both quicklime and hydrated lime are used in the paper industry. Lime whitens and removes impurities from the wood pulp. Plus, using lime boosts the quality of the paper and helps regulate its color, texture and shine.

Manufacturing precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) from lime slurry. PCC is used as an additive in plastics, a coating pigment for paper and paints.

Lime has several uses in the oil industry, including as a desulphurizing agent for refining oil, treating drilling mud, saponification of oil to manufacture lubrication oil and to treat process water.

Lime is used in many processes to manufacture pharmaceutical products, including:
· Important additives to manufacture toothpaste (calcium phosphate)
· Drug excipients
· Hair-removal products

Lime is also used to make soap. Lime hydrolyzes fatty acid esters to create salts with long-chain fatty acids, with a hydrophilic part (that attracts water) and a hydrophobic part (that attracts apolar substances like fats). This way the fats are suspended in the water and can be dragged along.

Quicklime is used in making sugar from sugar cane to remove the impurities from the raw juice after being crushed to obtain a solution rich in sucrose. It is also used in making sugar from beets.

The lime disinfects and hydrates the hides, boosting preservation.  It also helps separate the epidermis and hair roots, as well as eliminating insolubles fats and proteins that are not desired in the tanning process.