Alpitch

The robust, bulk-grade standard for foundational metallurgical and industrial processing. Delivered in its traditional, uncrushed form directly from the calcination kiln, Normal Lump Lime provides a steady and dependable source of basicity, with a balanced dissolution rate that ensures sustained neutralisation. In calcium carbide manufacturing, its bulk lump form is charged with metallurgical coke or anthracite into a submerged-arc electric furnace, where temperatures of approximately 2000 °C drive the endothermic reaction CaO + 3C → CaC₂ + CO. The uncrushed lump geometry is critical to the process: it withstands the mechanical burden loads and thermal shock of the furnace, maintains an open, permeable charge that allows carbon monoxide off-gas to percolate freely to the top, and provides a steady, controlled feed rate of CaO into the reaction zone — minimising fines carryover, electrode fouling and thermal instability.