Agriculture

Graymont produces a wide range of products used in the agriculture sector. These products are used primarily as soil conditioners and as a vital mineral for the animal feed sector.

As soil conditioners, lime and limestone products are vital ingredients in any fertilizer programme and make a significant contribution to healthy and productive soils. They are used to manage soil pH, assist with crop establishment and manage issues such as aluminum toxicity. High magnesium dolomite products are available from some regions across the Graymont network.

Graymont manufactures a wide range of crushed and screened pulverized limestone for the animal feed sector. Products are available that are utilized across several livestock types including swine, beef, dairy, sheep (in some regions) and poultry.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Construction

Graymont manufactures a wide number of essential materials for various construction applications including roading materials, stabilization binders, fillers and adhesion agents for asphalt.

The product range includes heavy duty materials for road construction such as road base, aggregates and selected fill.

Products to assist with erosion control such as rip rap and shot rock are available at some Graymont sites.

Graymont has substantial technical knowledge and capability supplying lime binders for soil stabilization and fill drying. We also manufacture hydrated lime and limestone fillers for asphalt manufacture.

For fine limestone products with specific sizing and chemical specifications please refer to the Pulverized Limestone section of the products section of our website.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Environmental

Lime is increasingly being used as a tool to assist in addressing a number of complex environmental issues and challenges.

Acid rain reduction, environmental rehabilitation, water and sewage treatment, agriculture, oil and gas production, and power generation are among the long and growing list of crucial sustainability-related applications for Graymont products.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Food

Lime and limestone products have many uses across the food industry in various applications such as brine manufacture, vegetable preservation, tortilla production, sugar refining and as a compound to absorb CO2 during the storage of fruits and vegetables.

Graymont’s joint venture partner in South America, Grupo Calidra manufactures high quality hydrated lime for use as a food processing aid. The product is marketed under the Nixtacal brand. For further information please contact our sales team.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Glass

A commercially important property of lime is its ability to form solutions with silicates.

When lime is heated with silica sand (SiO2) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), a solution is formed that does not crystallize when cooled. Instead, it hardens to an amorphous, clear and nearly colorless solid - namely, glass.

Because it is a mixture and not a pure compound, glass does not have a distinct melting point; it gradually softens as it is heated. Therefore, it can be molded and blown into many useful shapes. The production of container glass from lime is another ancient use of lime.

A range of chemical limestone, dolomite and lime product types are available for general applications and achieving various properties such as flux capture, color, managing viscosity, improving durability and chemical resistance.

Refer to the related products shown or contact our sales team to enquire about our lime products for the glass manufacturing industry.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Mining

The world's ability to support its population is sustained by the many products provided by the mining and metals industry. Mined materials are needed to build roads, hospitals, automobiles and houses, to make computers and satellites, generate electricity and provide the many other goods and services that consumers enjoy daily.

Consider a world without advanced manufacturing, agriculture or mass-scale energy production.

Virtually all of our needs must be dug from the earth, grown in the soil, or taken from the sea.

It is estimated, for instance, that we need to produce more than 40,000 pounds of new minerals a year for every person living in the United States. As the global population grows, increased demand for electronics, medicine, telecommunications, transportation and housing will accelerate the worldwide demand for minerals.

Limestone is one of those minerals. Aside from the many vital uses to which lime itself is put, limestone and quicklime products are used to help extract many of the other minerals the world relies on now and in the future.

Lime and limestone products are used for various mining applications including coagulation, flotation and recovery, milk of lime or lime slurry solutions, tailings treatment, acid mine drainage and storage activities.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Mortars & Plasters

Lime is a truly versatile material widely used in the construction of buildings. It can be utilized in masonry applications as a component of mortar or of the masonry unit, exterior (stucco) and interior plaster systems. Lime products may also be a component of mixes and mortars used in applications such as Hemp and Strawbale construction techniques.

Lime has been used in building construction for thousands of years to create durable mortar and plaster. Lime putty was originally used for such applications, however most modern applications now utilize hydrated lime. Dolomitic Type S hydrated lime is preferred for applications in North America, due to its exceptional water-retention capability and proven performance.

Lime provides benefits to mortar and plaster in both the plastic and hardened state. In the plastic state, lime can enhance workability and water retention. In the hardened state, lime products react with carbon dioxide to regenerate calcium carbonate or limestone. This is a slow, gradual process that increases the hardness of the finished surface and allows for the closing of hairline cracks by a process called autogenous healing.

Since initial strength is needed in most applications, additives such as gypsum, cement or pozzolans are mixed with lime in construction applications. Lime can react with pozzolanic materials in the mortar or plaster to produce a cement-like product. The strength of lime-based mixes can be modified according to the needs of the particular application. This is particularly beneficial in restoration applications, where low strengths and high vapor permeability are required.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Water

Lime is used to condition and treat many types of water and solids across the sector including potable water, wastewater and biosolids. Lime can also assist to balance mineral content of water supplied from desalination plants.

Lime is used by many municipalities/councils to improve liquid phases including to soften water, adjust pH, improve coagulation and purity remove impurities such as heavy metals and tannins.

Lime is also commonly used to dewater biosolids, control pathogens, minimize insect vectors and neutralize odors. Graymont can assist customers with the appropriate product and provide assistance with application methods.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Lime in Flue-Gas Treatment

Lime and limestone play a significant role in the removal of pollutants from the flue-gas streams of coal-fired power plants, incinerators, boilers and industrial facilities.

Lime and limestone are used in the treatment of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), sulfur trioxide (SO₃), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), fine particulates and mercury (Hg).

Lime and limestone products are used in both wet and dry flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) processes.

In wet FGD processes, these products are slurried with water and sprayed into a flue-gas scrubber vessel. The acidic gases, normally SO₂ and HCl, are absorbed into the water where they chemically react with the lime and limestone. The resulting products, primarily calcium sulfite, can then be oxidized to produce calcium sulfate, a salable gypsum byproduct that can be used for applications such as correcting soil sodicity.

There are three basic types of dry FGD processes.

• Dry-injection processes inject dry hydrated lime directly into the flue-gas stream.
• Spray-dryer processes inject finely atomized lime slurry into a separate vessel. Water from the slurry is evaporated before the solids contact the vessel walls.
• Circulating dry-scrubbing processes inject dry hydrated lime or humidified pulverized quick lime into a separate reaction vessel.

With all three processes, the acidic gases combine with lime to form a dry product that is removed from the flue-gas stream in particulate-control devices, such as baghouses or electrostatic precipitators.

Graymont services all of these wet and dry applications and is able to provide technical support to our customers.

Please refer to the related products shown or contact our sales team to enquire about our product range and services.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Pulp & Paper

Lime is an important ingredient in the manufacture of pulp and paper. It is used in the treatment of liquid wastes as a coagulant in color removal, a filtration conditioner and as a neutralizing agent. It is also used in the recovery of valuable by-products from pulp and paper mill wastes.

Both lime and value-added lime-based products are available from Graymont for use in sulfite-pulping and kraft pulping processes. Graymont can supply quicklime as make up lime and chemical grade calcium carbonate for paper making applications.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.

Steel

Lime is an important ingredient in the production of steel. We work together with our customers to solve problems and define solutions that aid our steel customers to succeed in this highly competitive industry.

• Lime is used to convert iron into 'pig iron'. In the blast furnace, finely ground or granular limestone (with a low sulfur and alkali content) is used together with finely ground lime to convert ore into pig iron. The pig iron is later processed into steel.
• Lime is used as a fluxing agent in electric arc furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces. Lime removes impurities (for example, silica, phosphorus, sulfur) from the steel being manufactured. The lime fuses with the impurities to form slag, which separates from the steel and is removed. This process improves the quality of the steel.
• Lime is also used to enhance the refractory life of the furnaces. The magnesium oxide (MgO) in dolomitic lime reduces the tendency of steel slag to dissolve the MgO within the furnace refractory.

In addition to the widespread use of our non-blended lime and limestone products, Graymont develops and supplies custom blends of these materials to suit the needs of our customers. We provide solutions that will help our steel customers succeed in this highly competitive industry, maximizing their production and helping them to meet quality requirements.

Graymont's hydrated lime can also be used for miscellaneous applications in steel making including as a lubrication agent when drawing steel rods, pH correction in wastewater and for bathing finished steel products. Hydrated lime is also sometimes used as a whitewash coating on the steel.

Please refer to the related products shown or contact our sales team to enquire about our product range.

Contact us for more information or keep reading learn more about our applications.