LIME: THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL
As a product derived from the Earth, it is fitting that many of lime's uses also benefit the Earth. Indeed, the second leading use of lime is for environmental applications, involving air, drinking water, wastewater, and solid wastes.
Industrial, utility and mining operations rely on lime to comply with a host of environmental regulations. Lime is used to treat industrial and mining wastewater, in which it adjusts the pH of acidic waste, removes phosphorus and nitrogen, and promotes clarification. A growing use of lime is in the treatment of stack gases from industrial facilities, power plants, medical waste incinerators and hazardous waste incinerators. Lime absorbs and neutralizes sulfur oxides from these gases, helping to prevent acid rain, and also reduces emissions of hazardous air pollutants, including mercury.
Lime is especially vital to municipalities in meeting their environmental and public health responsibilities at a reasonable cost. First, lime is widely used for potable water softening and to remove impurities (such as lead) from drinking water. Second, it is a highly cost-effective method to treat sewage sludge. Third, stack gases from municipal incinerators are treated with lime to remove sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride and other contaminants.
As America's pollution control regulations become increasingly stringent, these applications of lime are sure to become even more important to our efforts to maintain a clean environment.
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