WO 2010/092117
15
30
/EP2010/051723,
Cross-reference to related applications
‘The present application claims the priority benefit of French patent
application No, 0950868 filed February 12, 2009.
TECHNICAL FIELD
‘The present invention relates to a process for preparing calcium chloride
that is stripped of magnesium and other metal impurities,
Prior art
Calcium chloride is a chemical that has numerous applications in all fields
of industry, including the food industry.
Although calcium chloride is a by-product of the manufacture of certain,
these by-products
products, especially sodium carbonate via the Solvay proces
are usually relatively dilute solutions of CaCl, which is very soluble in water,
but that contain often significant amounts of impurities, especially of sodium,
nd other metal compounds, such as iron, lead, ete.
magnesium
It is known that calcium chloride may be obtained by dissolving solid
calcium carbonate using hydrochloric acid. For large-scale production, the
production may be carried out directly starting from limestone, However,
although limestone is predominantly composed of calcium carbonate (CaCOs), it
usually also contains relatively large proportions of magnesium carbonate
(MgCOs) and other impurities.
Consequently, independently of the origin of the raw materials, itis
necessary, in order to meet the applicable product specifications, to avoid as far
as possible the presence of impurities and in any case the necessary measures
should be taken so that the acceptable values for each of the elements other than
calcium and chlorine are not exceeded.
Generally, within the context of the production of saline solutions (NaCl
brine, 36% CaCl solution, etc.), the magnesium must be removed in order to
meet the specifications for the end product. It is known that this step can be
carried out by adding an alkaline agent to the medium to be purified, which agent
results in the magnesium precipitating in the form of its hydroxide Mg(OH)s.