Wide range of possibilities
Lime is an extremely versatile natural material. But what exactly is it needed for? And which everyday products contain lime or limestone? Learn more in our application overview!
Applications
- Industry
- Environment
- Construction Materials
- Underground Road Construction
- Agriculture
Iron and steel industry
Cars, wind turbines, construction steel: all steel products require lime in their manufacture.
Glass industry
Limestone is one of the most important components of glass products.
Chemical industry
Many chemical reactions could not take place without lime products.
Sugar industry
Of course, nobody sprinkles lime in their coffee. But without it, sugar production would not be possible.
Air pollution control
Special lime and limestone products clean exhaust gases and thus ensure low emission values.
Drinking water treatment
For clean water, we cannot do without lime.
Wastewater treatment & sludge treatment
According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost 10 billion cubic metres of wastewater are treated in Germany every year.
Lake liming
Large quantities of lime are used for neutralisation during the remediation of former open-cast mining pits.
Sand-lime brick
Sand-lime brick consists of the natural materials lime, sand and water.
Aerated concrete
The special properties of aerated concrete are excellent thermal insulation and low weight.
Plaster and mortar
Even in ancient times, master builders produced mortar with the addition of lime.
Erdbau
Quicklime in the soil provides stability, regulates moisture and protects against frost damage.
Road and path construction
From the substructure to the surface course: limestone in different grain sizes is used everywhere in road and path construction.
Concrete chippings
As an aggregate in concrete, limestone provides particular strength.
Hydrate in asphalt
Roads should be durable, load and weather resistant. Hydrated lime in asphalt mixtures is a good complement to achieving this.
Fertiliser
Farmers need to regularly lime their soil and fields to ensure a good harvest.
Sanitisation
No chance for germs: Lime improves animal health in livestock housing.
Feed lime
Feed lime provides livestock with important trace elements and minerals. As a purely natural product, it does not require any chemical additives.
-
Iron and steel industry
Cars, wind turbines, construction steel: steel is the basic material for countless products. Lime and limestone are needed to produce iron and steel – and in large quantities.
-
Pig iron is obtained from iron ore by separating unwanted components at high temperatures. Limestone is used to lump the fine ore in the sintering plant. The lumpy iron ore is then converted into pig iron in the blast furnace.
-
High temperatures and limestone are required to obtain pig iron, which separates the unwanted components and binds them in the slag. In hot metal desulphurisation, the sulphur is then removed by adding quicklime.
-
In the steelworks, the pig iron is processed into steel and this cannot be done without burnt lime. It binds undesirable accompanying substances such as phosphorus and sulphur. The ongoing transformation of the steel industry towards CO2-neutral steel production also requires large quantities of lime.
-
Yvonne Hanka from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Glass industry
“Take 60 parts sand, 180 parts ash from sea plants, 5 parts chalk – and you get glass.” This recipe can be found on clay tablets from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal around 650 BC. Chalk – i.e. limestone – is still one of the most important components of glass today.
-
Glass is formed by the amorphous solidification of a mixture of quartz sand, soda, potash and limestone, which is melted at temperatures of around 1,500 degrees Celsius. The calcium oxide from the limestone acts as a hardening agent, making the glass hard and dense.
-
This so-called soda-lime glass is the most commonly used type of glass. It forms the basis for the production of drinking glasses, bottles, food packaging, mirror and window glass.
-
Glass produced using limestone can be found in many everyday objects – from computer screens and LCD panels to insulating materials such as glass wool.
-
Between 200 and 350 kilograms of limestone are needed to produce one tonne of glass. It is one of the most sustainable applications of this natural material: glass can be 100 per cent recycled.
-
Dr. Alexander Cepak from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Chemical industry
Many chemical reactions could not take place without lime products. This is why lime is used to manufacture a wide variety of products: from A for aluminium to Z for cellulose.
-
There are two aspects in particular that make lime so interesting for the chemical industry. On the one hand, calcium is provided. The other is its alkaline properties.
-
Calcium carbide, which is produced when lime and coal are fused at approx. 2000 °C, is used for metallurgical processes and for the production of acetylene for welding. Calcium carbide is used to produce calcium cyanamide. A fertiliser with a good effect against weeds and plant diseases.
-
The production of soda, for example, only becomes economical through the use of lime because it regenerates ammonia. In paper production, the industry uses lime products in several ways, for example for the alkaline pulping of the pulp.
-
Limestone is often used as a filler in various industries. It is used in the plastics industry as a cost-effective filler that can also be used to adjust the physical properties of the plastic, such as stiffness and hardness. In paper production, calcium carbonate is used as a filler to reduce the porosity of the paper and increase its opacity.
-
Dr. Alexander Cepak from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Sugar industry
Sugar beet is grown on almost 390,000 hectares of land in Germany – that’s more than 490,000 football pitches. Without lime, no sugar could be obtained from any of these plants.
-
The average sugar beet weighs 770 grams and contains around 20 per cent sugar. After harvesting, it is washed, crushed and then mixed with hot water to extract the sugar.
-
Therefore milk of lime is added to the raw juice. It ensures that non-sugar substances are bound in the juice.
-
Lime products are used not only in the production of sugar beet, but also in the production of sugar cane. The following applies: around 130 to 165 kilograms of lime are needed to produce one tonne of raw sugar.
-
Dr. Alexander Cepak from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Air pollution control
Special lime mixtures clean exhaust gases and thus ensure low emission values. They reduce acidic harmful gases and absorb substances such as mercury, dioxins and furans.
-
Whether in power stations, in waste incineration or in industry: lime products are used for exhaust gas purification almost everywhere where energy sources or waste are incinerated.
-
A distinction is made between three cleaning processes: In the so-called dry process, hydrated lime is injected into the flue gas flow without the addition of water. In quasi-dry flue gas cleaning, milk of lime is brought into contact with the flue gas, causing the water content to evaporate and the lime to bind pollutants. The third process is wet washing. Here, milk of lime or limestone water is injected against the smoke jet and flows through the flue gas.
-
In addition to cleaning the exhaust gases, the wet scrubbing process in the power plant industry has the side effect that a highly pure and recyclable FGD gypsum is produced from the combination of lime and sulphur. FGD gypsum accounts for a significant proportion of gypsum production in Germany. Its use saves natural resources.
-
Fels supplies over one million tonnes of high-quality lime products every year just for air pollution control systems.
-
Daniel Finke from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Drinking water treatment
For clean water, we cannot do without lime: Before drinking water flows out of our taps, lime is often used for treatment. Extracted raw water is treated with lime to produce high-quality drinking water. Lime is used to adjust the equilibrium pH value.
-
The drinking water for our daily needs is obtained from groundwater and surface water. Last but not least, naturally occurring heavy metals are bound with lime and thus removed from our drinking water.
-
Drinking water is subject to the German Drinking Water Ordinance and must fulfil the defined requirements. For this purpose, the drinking water is treated with qualified lime in specific process steps in compliance with DIN 12518.
-
Lime has other important properties for the drinking water supply. It neutralises acids dissolved in drinking water such as carbonic acid, softens the water and thus prevents pipe corrosion and scale formation in household appliances within the drinking water distribution system. By adding Fels lime, aggressive carbonic acid is bound and the water – depending on the initial hardness – is made softer or harder.
-
Heiko Zillig from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Wastewater treatment & sludge treatment
According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost 10 billion cubic metres of wastewater are treated in Germany every year. Many of them with high-quality, effective lime products. The natural product is also convincing in the treatment of sewage sludge.
-
In municipal wastewater treatment plants, milk of lime not only neutralises acidic wastewater, but also precipitates many pollutants dissolved in the water. Fels lime is used in hundreds of municipal sewage treatment plants not only to dewater and minimise (treat) the sewage sludge produced, but also to produce a valuable and safe secondary raw material fertiliser thanks to its hygienising effect.
-
The defined qualities of process water required for industrial processes can also be adjusted with milk of lime. As a buffer against acids and bases, lime improves the quality of rivers and lakes. In treatment plants for industrial waste water, milk of lime neutralises acidic waste water and removes heavy metals. In this way, the process water can be returned to the water cycle.
-
With the addition of lime, sludge can be better sedimented, mechanically dewatered and converted into a drier, crumbly consistency. The hygienising effect of lime-based biocidal products can be used to create germicidal conditions.
-
Nicole Wendl from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Sand-lime brick
Sand-lime brick consists of the natural materials lime, sand and water and is used for interior and exterior walls.
-
Fels fine quick lime, mixed with sand and water, becomes high-density sand-lime bricks under vapour pressure. Sand-lime brick has two decisive advantages: its high density ensures stability and it has the positive building biology property of being open to diffusion.
-
Another advantage of sand-lime brick is its high sound insulation. The solid stone absorbs noise like almost no other building material.
-
Patric Pankatz from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Aerated concrete
This building material is a talented lightweight. The special properties of aerated concrete are excellent thermal insulation and low weight.
-
Aerated concrete is mainly based on the natural materials sand, lime, cement and gypsum. It gets its porous structure from a gas development in the cast raw material triggered by aluminium.
-
Aerated concrete is used to produce bricks and prefabricated components. Although the building material is so light, it is very strong due to its lime content.
-
André Kossler from the Fels team will be happy to help you
André Kossler
Sales representative Building Materials & Agriculture
-
Plaster and mortar
Even in ancient times, master builders produced mortar with the addition of lime.
-
Even today, lime products – as limestone or in refined form as quicklime – can be found on every building site. Mortar connects bricks, is used for plastering, thermal insulation, as a screed, for gluing tiles or for surface design.
-
Lime mortar is mainly used as an interior plaster due to its good moisture-regulating properties. Lime plasters are alkaline and have a brightening and adhesion-improving effect.
-
Christoph Meier from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Erdbau
Quicklime in the floor regulates the moisture and improves the building properties. Companies in civil engineering and road construction make use of these properties.
-
Soil improvement is a process used to facilitate the execution of construction work. Fels StradaCal is used to improve the physical properties of the floor, such as compressive, shear and tensile strength.
-
Mixed binder increases resistance to future traffic and climatic stresses. It gives soils frost resistance.
-
One of Fels’ specialities is the remediation of contaminated soils. Special Fels StradaCal products neutralise acids, fix heavy metals and bind pollutants. The treated soils do not have to be disposed of in landfill and help to conserve resources.
-
Marc Wörner from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Road and path construction
From the substructure to the surface course: limestone in different grain sizes is used everywhere in road and path construction.
-
Even the ancient Via Appia in Rome has a limestone surface – and is still passable after 2,300 years. Even today, lime products are used in everything from dirt tracks to motorways.
-
The road structure itself often consists of limestone in various grain sizes. Here, as in the other layers, the positive properties of the limestone are utilised.
-
Kathrin Braun from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Concrete chippings
The strengths of concrete chippings are increased wherever demands are placed to the concrete, such as rapid strength development, low thermal expansion or high fire resistance.
-
Bridges, tunnels or reservoirs: the strengths of limestone concrete chippings are wherever concrete is exposed to high demands.
-
Rapid strength, low thermal expansion, high elasticity and frost resistance: concrete chippings made from high-quality hard limestone are valued for these properties.
-
Kathrin Braun from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Hydrate in asphalt
Roads should be durable, load and weather resistant. Hydrated lime in asphalt mixtures is a good complement to achieving this. Because hydrate makes road surfaces more durable.
-
From a chemical point of view, the addition of hydrated lime causes an exchange of calcium ions between the stone and the bituminous mortar. The result: the asphalt mixture becomes more durable and resilient.
-
The improved adhesion and reduced embrittlement make roads more durable. The hydrated lime results in fewer ruts, less abrasion and fewer cracks.
-
Marc Wörner from the Fels team will be happy to help you
-
Fertiliser
Farmers need to regularly lime their soil and fields to ensure a good harvest. The lime adds calcium and magnesium to the soil – essential nutrients for healthy plants.
-
If the lime fertiliser is missing, the pH values drop in many soils and deficiency symptoms increase. The use of acidic fertilisers has also contributed to this.
-
Fels offers products specially tailored to the needs of agriculture. Fels quicklime is an efficient lime fertiliser: it counteracts acidification, loosens the soil and sustainably increases yields.
-
Unburnt products in the form of carbonated lime also contribute to increasing the pH value in the soil.
-
André Kossler from the Fels team will be happy to help you
André Kossler
Sales representative Building Materials & Agriculture
-
Sanitisation
Farm animals run the risk of being infected by germs or parasites. No chance for germs: Lime improves animal health in livestock housing.
-
Due to its alkaline properties, lime has a germicidal effect and it also improves the air in the stable. Many farmers therefore “whitewash” their barn walls with lime or milk of lime.
-
The use of lime for hygienisation leads to less infestation, reduces the use of medication and thus ensures higher yields for agriculture.
-
Fels has developed a wide range of specific lime products for hygienisation that work reliably, quickly and permanently.
-
André Kossler from the Fels team will be happy to help you
André Kossler
Sales representative Building Materials & Agriculture
-
Feed lime
Feed lime provides livestock with important trace elements and minerals. As a purely natural product, it does not require any chemical additives.
-
Fels feed lime is made from unburnt, ground Harz limestone and is exceptionally pure with a calcium carbonate content of over 97 per cent. It can be scattered as a single feed or added to compound feed.
-
Feed lime promotes bone formation and the animal’s immune system. It prevents deficiency symptoms that can result from milk production of cows.
-
André Kossler from the Fels team will be happy to help you
André Kossler
Sales representative Building Materials & Agriculture
-
Lake liming
Large quantities of lime are used in the rehabilitation of former open-cast mining pits in order to neutralise the open-cast mining ponds created during flooding and to create a self-regulating water balance and good water quality. This is also the basis for the economic utilisation of the former open-cast mining areas.
-
Large quantities of lime are used in the rehabilitation of former open-cast mining pits. In the Lusatian and Central German lignite mining areas, one of the largest environmental projects in the Federal Republic of Germany, lime is used, for example, to neutralise the resulting lake landscapes in order to make life possible again.
-
The lime can be added into the water in various ways. One variant is by ship, where the fertiliser is spread using a container that is pulled through the water by the ship. A second option is to blow the lime into the lake via a submerged floating pipe.
-
Heiko Zillig from the Fels team will be happy to help you
