Effect of the Textures and Particle Sizes of Limestone on the Quicklime Reaction Activity

Abstract

Quicklime is not only an important raw material for the steel and nano-calcium carbonate industries but also a key carrier for capturing carbon dioxide in the fight against global warming, and its reaction activity plays a vital role in these processes. Recent studies have found that quicklime produced from limestones with similar chemical compositions under the same production process has significantly different reaction activities, which indicates that something other than the chemical composition of limestone affects quicklime reaction activity. To explore the factors affecting quicklime reaction activity, this study analyzed the textures and calcite particle size of limestone collected from different areas of Guangxi, China, and measures the quicklime reaction activity with different calcination times. It has been found that: (1) limestone with a clastic texture is preferred to that with a crystalline texture (including transition type) in yielding quicklime with higher reaction activity; and (2) for limestone with a clastic texture, fine-grained limestone tends to produce the same or higher quicklime reaction activity with lower energy consumption.