Statistics have shown that in 2020 alone, Nigeria lost $1.26 million to the importation of quicklime alone and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has taken up a project on quicklime to save Nigeria from further loss. BINTA SHAMA reports.
About quicklime
Study has shown that calcium oxide (CaO), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is described as a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term “lime” connotes calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium, silicon, magnesium, aluminium, and iron predominate. By contrast, quicklime specifically applies to the single chemical compound calcium oxide. Calcium oxide that survives processing without reacting in building products such as cement is called free lime
Use and production of quicklime
Quicklime has a wide range of uses including in the production of iron and steel, paper and pulp production, treatment of water and flue gases and in the mining industry.
For the iron and steel industry, there are different supply of fractions of both reactive shaft furnace-burnt and hard-burnt rotary kiln lime. It is said that for client interested in the paper and pulp industry, tailored products with a focus on purity and function, such as SMA Cellkalk, SMA Kraftkalk-C and SMA Kraftmesa are either offered or suggested. Having our own deposits and production plants allows to develop the different properties required for the optimal function of customers’ processes, whatever the application.
On the other hand, quicklime is said to produce by heating crushed limestone to around 1,100 degrees Celsius in a shaft furnace or rotary kiln. The heating of limestone releases carbon dioxide, leaving calcium oxide (CaCO3 produces CaO + CO2). After heating, the quicklime is crushed and then milled to the appropriate fraction.
Another use of quicklime is the method for quick and anonymous disposal of a body. Usually, the body is laid out on a tarp or placed in a burial, and then to prevent it from smelling and speed decay it is covered with quicklime. In movies and TV shows, the quicklime effectively destroys the body so that identification is prevented. In the video game Team Fortress 2, which was used as an example to identify its use and importance, numerous bags of Mann Co. Corpse Grade Quicklime throughout their factory. Despite the fact that one doesn’t get to use the bags of quicklime, it clearly displays what they think the material should be used for.
Another benefit of its use is in the area of agriculture. It is said that, if the soil is acidic and unsuitable for agriculture, the farmer can treat it with quick lime, slaked lime, or chalk to neutralize the acidity. Quicklime, slaked lime and chalk are basic in nature. Farmers usually use quick lime slaked lime or chalk in order to increase the fertility and also when the soil becomes too acidic due to many reasons they use these bases. These bases work as a neutralizing agent which neutralizes the acid content in the soil. Here the reaction will be a neutralization reaction.
Plant growth can be greatly hampered by soil being too acidic. This is especially important when N fertilizers form acids. As N fertilizers are used to grow more food, soils are continually becoming more acidic. Soils with too much acid can cause several problems. Many forage plants, like alfalfa, have specific soil acidity tolerances (measured as pH) for productive growth, but as acids increase soil pH drops and growth is hampered. Nitrogen fixation is also hampered in very acidic soils. Acid soils have poor tilt and are poorly aggregated. Other nutrients are not as available to plants. The concentration of soluable metals in the soil may become toxic. There may be a calcium deficiency. Lime is used to reduce acids and make the soil more alkaline.
Importation of quicklime
According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, that Nigeria Imports from Spain of Quicklime, Slaked Lime, Hydraulic Lime (Other than Calcium Oxide, Hydroxide) was US$1.26 Million during 2020. However, the Council is working judiciously to ensure that the nation doesn’t loose such amount of money to importation so as to boost the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) of the nation and the economy at large.
RMRDC awarded overall best via quicklime
Consecutively, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) again, emerged overall best amongst many other Research Institutes under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), in the Research Institutions category Award using its ‘pilot plant for production of hydrates lime also known as QUICKLIME (as earlier stated).
Speaking to pressmen at the closing ceremony, the Director General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Professor Hussain Doko Ibrahim, said that the Council is working tirelessly to achieve its mandate in support of what the present administration is aiming at and that only prayer, consistency and hard work can single one or an organisation to be recognized for its positive efforts again and again based on merit. “I owe it all to Almighty Allah and my team.”
More passion
Further speaking, Professor Ibrahim said Nigeria endowed with numerous raw materials and the diversification of the present administration, has made RMRDC more passionate to see this dream come to pass and place Nigeria in a global competitiveness.
“All policies put in place by the federal government, have made very significant contributions to national development and this has contributed tremendously in making our economy to be a knowledge based and innovation driven economy as against the previous situation where the economy was almost dependent on commodities. For any nation to become economically independent, it will first and foremost have to develop the necessary capacities in raw materials which the Almighty has blessed us with cheaply which in the real sense is a setback between the underdeveloped and developing nations. And our capacity to converge our raw materials into products and services, we must look inward by improving our raw materials, embrace our indigenous inventions, reduce importation, and major more in exportation and make income from other nations. Thus, boost the nation’s GDP,” the Director General added.
Home for start-ups
Earlier, the Miinister of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu said that due to advancement in STI, the nation has become a home for start-ups, as technology has been transferred to many of the nation’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s).
“Nigeria has become a home of start-ups. Using one of our agencies, the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), which has branches in all the States of the Federation, technologies developed locally are transferred to many of our entrepreneurs. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are springing up in many parts of the country.
“In the past six years, the country has made significant breakthrough in providing remedy to major diseases in form of drugs and medicine derived from our indigenous natural ingredients. He further said the country has made a lot of progress in the development of new drugs and they are at different levels of certification including clinical trials.”
He noted that the invention that awarded the recognition by the mother ministry, ‘quicklime’ has numerous benefits but most of all is the fact that it’s beneficial whether health wise, agriculture, etc.
