The refining of calcium using a sulfate reducing bacterial system

White lime is used in many industries in South Africa but is not produced locally and must be imported. Many technologies have been suggested for the large-scale manufacture of calcium carbonate but these are not necessarily suitable for application in South Africa. This study investigated a chemical preparation of calcium carbonate combined with biological purification Calcium containing materials from the Pretoria Portland Cement, Lime Division factory at Lime Acres in the Northern Cape were studied as the starting materials for the manufacture. Investigation showed that they contained various impurities, including iron and manganese compounds which were largely responsible for the brown-grey colour of the lime products. Complete dissolution of calcium hydroxide, the purest of the potential starting materials, and subsequent hydroxide precipitation was not successful in removing all iron and manganese. Precipitation with sulfide ions was successfill, decreasing levels of metals to below the detection limit of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Studies of all potential starting materials revealed that the levels of impurities in the starting material did not have a large effect on levels of impurities in the calcium carbonate produced. It was therefore possible to convert the residual calcium oxide or hydroxide in waste lime dusts to white calcium carbonate, a marketable prciduct Recycling of the water and starting material used in the process served to increase, rather than decrease, the purity of the calcium carbonate product. This allows for water conservation as water is not consumed in the process but merely utilised. When waste lime dust was used as the starting material, sulfate was found in the product. While still a white lime, the calcium carbonate was not chemically pure. Sulfate removal was therefore investigated and the use of sulfate-reducing bacteria was studied as a novel application. A mixed sulfate-reducing bacterial population was isolated and found to be hIghly active at sulfate concentrations between 0.2 and 2 ~~~. They were capable of autotrophic growth and could reduce sulfate in solutions with elevated pH and in calcium carbonate suspensions, although they did not grow readily in these media. A process was designed for the production of bulk quantities of calcium carbonate making use of the facilities and materials available at Lime Acres. This was tested using a small scale bench-top reactor series, with favourable results. The process would allow automatic, continuous production of large quantities of white lime using waste lime dust. Provision was also made for manufacture of smaller quantities of pure calcium carbonate using sulfate-reducing bacteria to remove the sulfate impurity