Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol.169, 167-184, 1998
The dissolution rate of Ca(OH)(2) in aqueous solutions
The dissolution rate of reagent grade Ca(OH)(2) in aqueous solutions has been determined by means of a spinning disc method. The dissolution rate was found to be independent of disc velocity at a disc Reynold's Number above 9 x 10(3). The dissolution rate is important for environmental applications such as flue gas desulfurization using Ca(OH)2 in wet scrubbers and spray dryer reactors, and for pH control. The lime discs were prepared under high pressure in a cylinder and determined to have similar thermogravimetric response to temperature as that of the parent lime powder. The discs were tested in a pH stat device where the dissolution rate was correlated to acid consumption required to maintain a preset value of pH. Limestone powder was used to verify the experimental system as the results could be compared with published data. Lime dissolution rate was measured as a function of disc velocity, omega (rpm), solution pH and temperature (K). The variation of dissolution rate with temperature was found to follow an Arrhenius type expression, and the activation energy of dissolution was found to be 15,188J/mol. Also, dissolution rate increased exponentially with decreased values of pH over the FH range of 6.5-3.0. A correlation which has been used to describe limestone dissolution rate was also found to express lime dissolution for disc Reynold's numbers less than or equal to 10(4). This correlation has the form ln(N-5) = -17.68 -280(1/T) - 0.105(pH) + 0.458 ln(omega).