Calcium Chloride
WHAT IS CALCIUM CHLORIDE ?
Calcium chloride is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CaCl2. It is a salt that consists of calcium cations (Ca2+) and chloride anions (Cl−). It is typically obtained as a white crystalline solid at room temperature. Calcium chloride is highly soluble in water and has a variety of applications across different industries. Calcium chloride, chemically represented as CaCl2, is an inorganic compound recognized as calcium chlorine. Composed of calcium and chloride, it often contains two water molecules. Known for its moisture-absorbing properties, it is categorized as a desalting substance. To maintain its efficacy, calcium chloride must be stored in air and moisture-proof packaging. At room temperature, it appears as white flakes or pellets and exhibits high solubility in water. It functions effectively as a desiccant in a temperature range from freezing point up to 80 °C or more and serves as the active compound in various Arbortech products. In its anhydrous form, calcium chloride has a molecular mass of 110.98 g/mol. With notable characteristics, such as heat release upon dissolving in water due to high enthalpy, it finds applications in de-icing, dust control on gravel roads, and as an absorbing agent in desiccants. Derived from limestone or brine purification through the Solvay process, calcium chloride is not considered hazardous to the environment, though it is classified as H319 under GHS, indicating its potential to cause serious eye irritation. Calcium chloride is utilized in both food and industrial grades, with a concentration of 95%
Some common uses of calcium chloride include:
- De-icing Agent: Calcium chloride is used to melt ice and snow on roads, sidewalks, and airport runways. It is effective at lower temperatures compared to traditional rock salt.
- Drying Agent: It is employed as a desiccant to absorb moisture in various applications, such as in drying gases and controlling humidity.
- Food Additive: Calcium chloride is used as a firming agent in food processing, especially in the production of certain fruits and vegetables to maintain their texture.
- Dust Control: In construction and mining industries, it is used to control dust on roads and at construction sites.
- Concrete Accelerator: It is added to concrete to accelerate the setting time, especially in cold weather conditions.
- Drilling Fluids: In oil and gas drilling, calcium chloride is used as a component in drilling fluids.
- Preservative: It is used as a preservative for canned fruits and vegetables.
- Dehumidifying Agent: Calcium chloride is employed in dehumidifiers to absorb excess moisture from the air.
These are just a few examples, and the versatile properties of calcium chloride make it valuable in a range of industrial, commercial, and household applications.
CALCIUM CHLORIDE APPLICATION ACROSS VARIOUS INDUSTRIES
-
Oil and Petrochemical Industry: The moisture absorption capabilities of CaCl2 are harnessed in the petrochemical industry to extract water from hydrocarbons. It aids in drying materials like ethane, butane, propane, and diesel fuels. Additionally, it plays a role in controlling pressure in industrial solutions and acts as a swelling agent in drilling mud.
- Deicing and Preventing Road Freezing: CaCl2 is employed to prevent the freezing of water, especially on road surfaces, owing to its ability to lower the freezing point. The dissolution of calcium chloride releases significant heat, facilitating the melting of ice on road surfaces. It outperforms other deicing agents such as potassium chloride, urea, and magnesium chloride at low temperatures, melting a larger volume of ice and increasing the melting rate.
- Food Industry: Calcium chloride is safe to take orally and is a common additive in the food industry. This substance is added to cheese, tofu, canned fruits and vegetables to make the food texture crunchy and firmer. In the food industry, CaCl2 is utilized to enhance the strength of fruits and vegetables during the cooking process. It is a common ingredient in the production of cheeses, canned fruits, vegetables, and energy drinks, serving as a flavoring and additive. CaCl2 reacts with pectin in fruits, preventing them from becoming too soft during canning. It also plays a crucial role in cheese preparation, influencing coagulation and clotting time. Calcium chloride is a compound used to increase the salty taste of pickles without the need to add additional sodium. Calcium chloride is a common ingredient in sports energy drinks. When calcium chloride dissolves in water, it separates into positive calcium ions and negative chlorine ions, and since the formula of calcium chloride contains two chloride ions, it creates a stronger electrolyte than “sodium chloride” which has only one ion. The ability to completely separate calcium chloride into its component ions gives a salty taste to the composition, and if it is not too humectant, it can replace table salt in foods and for daily use. However, if you eat too much of it, it tends to absorb water, causing intestinal problems and abdominal pain.
- Concrete Industry: CaCl2 accelerates the setting of concrete. When mixed with concrete, water, sand, and cement, it forms quick-setting concretes. This method enhances erosion resistance compared to ordinary cement but increases vulnerability to sulfate attack and concrete drop. Its use is restricted to non-steel concretes, with consumption limited to 2% by weight of cement.
-
Agriculture Industry: CaCl2 fertilizer is widely used in agriculture to address soil calcium deficiencies. It improves nutrient absorption, enhances plant resistance, strengthens cell walls, and facilitates better phosphorus transfer in plants. Moreover, it contributes to soil improvement and regulates sodium levels in the soil.
-
Roads and highways : Like sodium chloride, calcium chloride lowers the melting point of ice, so one of its most common uses is to create mass and increase friction on roads. In fact, when calcium chloride dissolves, an exothermic reaction occurs that produces heat. Calcium chloride is a hygroscopic substance, which means that it absorbs moisture from the environment. This property makes calcium chloride a good chemical to suppress dust on gravel or dirt roads.
-
Humidity control: Calcium chloride is more than just an ordinary moisture absorbent. This substance is very active; This means that it can absorb enough moisture to turn into liquid salt water at room temperature. Calcium chloride is the most common ingredient in dehumidifiers available in department stores to control moisture in drawers and cabinets. You can often combine it with baking soda, which is a flavoring agent.
-
Construction: Because calcium chloride absorbs water well and produces heat during the process, it is added to concrete in construction projects to speed up the curing of the material at lower temperatures. Adding a concentration of 2% of this compound to concrete produces the same curing speed at 50°F as plain concrete has at 70°F.
- Drilling: Calcium chloride is widely used in drilling oil wells. This compound can adjust the density of petroleum liquids and helps to control the pressure a lot. This mineral composition causes oil well fluids to swell during drilling operations. If this compound is used in drilling, it eliminates the damages caused by the formation of sludge. It is also easier to work with and dilute with water. On the other hand, this material can settle solid dust scattered in the environment during drilling. Oil well drilling and oil discoveries are almost impossible without the use of compounds such as calcium chloride.
FOOD CALCIUM CHLORIDE
CaCl2
CaCl2 is used as a thickener and food thickener, and is especially useful when canning vegetables and other types of food. CaCl2 also absorbs moisture so it is used as a desiccant. This property is useful when you put it in containers containing powders that need to stay dry.
INDUSTRIAL CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Industrial CaCl2 is used in the production of plastics and in fire extinguishers, in wastewater treatment and fabric softener. This combination is used in softening meat, canned vegetables and fruits and cheese production in the food industry. It is also used as a de-icing agent on roads, sidewalks and pavements during the winter. In addition, in the construction industry as a concrete accelerator to create high initial strength by accelerating the hydration process and in the mining sector as a maintenance material for the construction of transport roads due to its delicate nature in Absorbing moisture from the air and adding density to the road has a useful effect.
AGRICULTURAL CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Calcium chloride plays an important role in plant physiology, including involvement in the response to salinity stress and controls several processes. To overcome the negative effect of high salinity, adding supplemental calcium to the growth medium as an ameliorating agent can be necessary. CaCl2 is useful as a fertilizer because it provides essential micronutrients for healthy plant growth and development. This fertilizer is useful for providing calcium for the growth of fruits, reducing the decay of fruits and vegetables after harvesting, and for delaying aging, etc. Plants are not likely to be harmed by the use of this fertilizer unless excessive amounts are used. Calcium in the form of calcium pectate is responsible for maintaining plant cell walls. When calcium is deficient, new tissues such as root tips, young leaves and stem tips often show aberrant growth due to improper cell wall formation.
APPLICATION OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
If a person has no expertise in chemistry and chemical compounds, when it comes to salt, unconsciously, his mind moves towards sodium chloride salt with the chemical formula NaCl. But for a chemist, many other compounds are also introduced to fit this definition; Edible and industrial calcium chloride is one of them. We have heard the name of solid calcium chloride compound many times in different applications.
Calcium chloride can be obtained by refining soda ash, natural salt water or limestone. This reaction has been shown in previous episodes. This substance dissolves easily in water and if left in a humid environment long enough, it will actually turn into a liquid. This is called liquid calcium chloride. The most common uses of solid calcium chloride include anti-icing on roads, speeding up concrete preparation time, moisture control and improving the taste of food. We consider these applications together in the following section.
An overview of other applications of calcium chloride in various industries
- Maintenance of passageways on roads and highways: calcium chloride is used to suppress dust. Because this substance absorbs air moisture and prevents the formation of dust. Also, because calcium chloride melts ice, it can be used to control freezing in cold and icy weather.
- -Synthesis and preparation of chemicals: this material has a rich source of calcium ions. For this reason, it is used to produce calcium salts.
- Cement industry: Because calcium chloride is a rich source of chloride ions, it is used to produce cement with low alkalinity.
- Construction industries: This material is very effective in regulating the reaction conditions of concrete. For this reason, it is used as a concrete additive at low temperature. Due to the fact that the mixture of this substance with sodium silicate transforms sandy and gravel soils into a uniform solid state, it is used to increase the strength of the soil texture.
- Rubber and tire production: Calcium chloride is used to increase the weight of rubber and tires due to the reduction of the freezing point in the tire, which causes better adhesion.
- Air and gas dryer: this material can directly dry compounds with the help of moisture absorption.
- Aluminum and automotive industry: due to the fact that calcium chloride removes fluorides, phosphates, heavy metals and fats from industrial wastewater, it is used in industrial wastewater treatment.
- Application of calcium chloride in mining: This material is very useful for suppressing dust and preventing coal and ore from freezing because it absorbs moisture and lowers the freezing point of water.
- Papermaking industry: Calcium chloride is used to improve and soften paper texture, remove fatty acids and paper ink in the recycling process and increase the color acceptability of paper.
- Petrochemical industries: Calcium chloride is added to oil in petrochemical industries to increase the density and complete the nature of fluids. This substance is effective in speeding up the cement preparation process and for this reason it is used in the oil well cementing process. It also reduces the amount of swelling in drilling and is added as an additive to drilling mud. Calcium chloride is used as a drying agent in chemical processes.
CALCIUM CHLORIDE IN WATER
Calcium easily dissociates in water and forms calcium and chloride ions. Calcium makes plants grow, and chloride is an important micronutrient for plants and plays a role in photosynthesis.
SAFETY OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
- The health effects and risks of calcium chloride are given in the safety data sheet of this compound. The calcium chloride MSDS states that contact of solid or liquid calcium chloride with the eyes may cause severe irritation and possible burns to the eyes.
- Contact of industrial calcium chloride with the skin causes irritation and possible burns, especially if the skin is moist or wet.
- Accidental ingestion of calcium chloride may cause severe gastrointestinal irritation with nausea, vomiting, and possible burns. It may also cause heart problems. In very severe cases, symptoms such as seizures, rapid breathing, slow heart rate or even death occur.
- Inhalation of solid calcium chloride dust causes severe irritation of the respiratory system with pain, burns and inflammation.
- This compound is stable in terms of chemical activity. If you are dealing with this industrial compound, try to prevent dust production, avoid exposing the packaging to excessive heat and do not expose it to humid air or water.
- Calcium chloride is incompatible with other substances such as bromine trifluoride, furan-2-peroxycarboxylic acid.
- Dangerous products due to the decomposition of this mineral compound include hydrogen chloride and calcium oxide.
SIDE EFFECTS AND RISKS OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
CaCl2 is not toxic in normal amounts used in food. But its main danger is due to its drying properties and exothermic reaction when dissolved in water. Therefore, when in solid form it comes into contact with moist skin or eyes, it can cause severe irritation and mild burns.
Swallowing a large amount of this substance can lead to nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In addition, exposure to CaCl2 for a long time will cause respiratory problems and lung damage.
STORAGE OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Calcium chloride mineral salt should be stored in a tight container with a closed lid. Packages and bags containing this composition should be stored in a cool, dry and well-ventilated place away from incompatible materials. Protect the warehouse from increasing the volume of moisture. You should wash your hands thoroughly after working with this mixture. Minimize the generation and accumulation of dust caused by calcium chloride. Always keep the calcium chloride container tightly closed, even if you use it many times throughout the day. Always use cool water when dissolving calcium chloride. The heat produced from the process of dissolving calcium chloride in water is significant. Whenever the seasons change, you can expect the weather to do the same. Summer’s hot and humid days transition into fall, with cooler temperatures and rain, followed closely behind by the cold and snowy days of winter. If you’ve been proactive and pre-ordered your ice melt products in preparation for winter’s wrath, that’s great. However, it’s important to make sure you protect your investment by protecting it from the elements. To maintain product quality, it is imperative that solid CaCl2 is fully protected from moisture exposure. Here are some helpful tips to follow:
- Store in a dry area.
- Tightly reseal after each use to prevent caking that may result from exposure to humid air.
- Palletized product – this can be stored outside on a well-drained concrete or asphalt surface, covered by an intact (no tears, holes, etc.) plastic shroud.
If packages are not shrouded, they should be stored indoors or under a suitable, high-quality waterproof covering.
PACKAGING OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Calcium chloride packaging Calcium chloride packaging in laboratory grade and industrial grade is different from each other. Buying and selling calcium chloride dihydrate from Merck brand, weighing 500 grams, is done in standard packages and closed plastic containers.
Industrial calcium chloride with a purity of 95% is also available in 25 kg bags. In some manufacturing industries, calcium chloride is sold in the form of flakes with a purity of 74%, and this industrial grade is only used to absorb moisture.
In case of ordering in higher quantities, 1000 kg bags or bulk shipping are also available. To place an order to buy calcium chloride and get the price of edible calcium chloride and industrial calcium chloride, you must talk to importing and selling companies.
The product is packaged in 25 kg polypropylene (PP) bags to prevent moisture absorption. For additional protection, 50 of these PP bags are placed inside a larger jumbo bag. Based on customer requests, CaCl2 can also be supplied exclusively in jumbo bags or by placing the PP bags on pallets and shrink-wrapping them for secure transportation.
TECHNICAL DATA SHEET OF CALCIUM CHLORIDE
HARD FUSED / SOLID | DOUBLE FUSED | ANHYDROUS |
---|---|---|
Fused 72-75%Assay | Porous Fused 80-85% Assay | Anhydrous 94-98% Assay |
Appearance White Lumps (Powder not offered) | Appearance White Lumps or Powder | Appearance White Lumps or Powder |
Magnesium 0.3% max | Magnesium 0.3% max. | Magnesium 0.3% max |
Iron 100 ppm max. | Iron 100 ppm max. | Iron 100 ppm max |
Dry Basis Assay 98% min | Dry Basis Assay 98% min | Dry Basis Assay 98% min |
In 50 Kgs. HDPE bag with HMHDP liner. | In 50 Kgs. HDPE bag with double HMHDP liners | In 50 Kgs. HDPE bag with double HMHDP liners |