High-Solid Lime Milk Composition for Stable, Low-Viscosity Handling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lime milk suspensions face stability issues due to high viscosity and sedimentation, especially at high dry matter concentrations, leading to handling difficulties and equipment damage, which existing dispersants fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A lime milk composition comprising 40-65% dry matter, with a specific particle size distribution and a combination of carbohydrate dispersants and polycarboxylic polyether copolymers, maintaining stable rheological characteristics over time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If dry matter concentration of lime milk is increased to reduce transport volume and storage costs, then productivity and cost efficiency are improved, but viscosity increases and stability deteriorates leading to handling difficulties and equipment damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the particle size distribution of calcium hydroxide (specifically controlling D10, D50, and D90 values) and using specific dispersants to alter the rheological properties of lime milk, enabling high dry matter concentrations (50-65%) to be achieved while maintaining acceptable viscosity and pumpability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite approaches by combining multiple dispersants (carboxymethyl cellulose and/or polyacrylate) with specifically controlled particle size distributions to achieve synergistic effects that maintain both high concentration and good flow properties
2Quantity of substance
If dry matter concentration is increased to maximize storage and transport efficiency, then volume reduction is achieved, but sedimentation increases and stability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes physical parameters by precisely controlling particle size distribution (D10≥5μm, D50≥15μm, D90≥45μm) and chemical parameters by adding dispersants, which together prevent sedimentation even at 50-65% dry matter concentration by modifying interparticle forces and suspension rheology
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dispersants as intermediary substances that mediate between calcium hydroxide particles and water, preventing particle aggregation and sedimentation while maintaining high solid content through steric and electrostatic stabilization mechanisms
3Reliability
If particle size is reduced to improve reactivity and suspension stability, then reaction efficiency is improved, but viscosity increases and pumpability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes particle size parameters within specific ranges (D10≥5μm, D50≥15μm, D90≥45μm) to balance reactivity and pumpability, avoiding both excessive fineness (which increases viscosity) and excessive coarseness (which reduces reactivity), while using dispersants to maintain stability at these optimized particle sizes
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves low viscosity and minimal sedimentation, enabling effective handling and use of high-concentration lime milk under various conditions, reducing equipment stress and energy costs.
Implementation Method 1
0.1 to 3 dry weight % of a dispersant from the family of polycarboxylic polyether copolymers
Implementation Method 2
The viscosity or rheological behaviour of lime milk is an intrinsic characteristic impacted by their dry matter concentration... A stable lime milk is scarcely affected by this ageing since its intrinsic characteristics such as viscosity undergo little change
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a lime milk comprising at least 40 wt. % of dry matter composed of hydrated lime; 0.1 to 3 dry wt. % of carbohydrate dispersants selected from monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, their alkoxide form and derivatives thereof obtained by oxidation or hydrogenation; 0.1 to 3 dry wt. % of a dispersant comprising polycarboxylic polyether copolymers obtained by copolymerization of unsaturated ethylene monomers having between 15 and 100 moles of C2-C3 oxyalkylene groups, and unsaturated ethylene monomers of mono- or dicarboxylic acids, and/or their salts and/or the C1-C4 alkyl esters thereof. In some aspects, the proportion between the dispersant of the carbohydrate type and the dispersant of the copolymer type is between 5:1 and 1:1; the particle size distribution of hydrated lime comprises at least 99% of particles having a size lower than 100 μm; at least 75% of particles having a size greater than 1.2 μm.