Limestone waste powder is an industrial and environmental burden. This fine-grained powder is a by-product of the stone industry. Therefore, exploring new engineering solutions to this problem should be highly beneficial to the industry and the public health and well-being. Hence, the main objectives of this project is to study the effect of calcination temperature (decomposition of limestone) on the production of lime and to investigate the possibility of producing construction materials such as cement, refractories or ceramic materials.
The main procedure in this project is to mix the limestone powder with calcium chloride solution and burn the dry mix at different temperatures: 700 ºC, 800 ºC, 900 ºC, 1000 ºC. Also, samples were burnt at 700 ºC for different time periods to study the effect of time on the calcination process and product. As a result, at higher temperature the weight loss, due to carbon dioxide loss, increases and the lime yield, too. Also, the addition of calcium chloride (CaCl2) has an effect of lowering the decomposition temperature of CaCO3 (limestone), increasing the rate of the reaction (hence the released amount of CO2), and producing a porous and strong material at a temperature as low as 700oC.