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Hydrometallurgy

Lime Slurry Preparation Calculator

Milk of lime is prepared by mixing lime with water to a target solids concentration by mass. This calculator estimates the pure lime solids, the commercial lime required at a given purity, and the water mass and approximate water volume needed to make up a target slurry mass at a target wt% solids. It is a preliminary make-up mass balance only. It is NOT a lime slaking design, a neutralisation model, or a pH prediction tool, and it does not model lime reactivity, heat release, particle size, scaling, or slurry rheology.

TypeInteractive engineering calculator

Calculator

t

total milk-of-lime slurry to prepare

wt%

0–100 wt% solids by mass

%

commercial lime purity

Optional

kg/m³

make-up water density (default 1000)

Result
Pure lime solids required2000 kg
Commercial lime required2222.22 kg
Water mass required7777.78 kg
Water volume required7.77778 m³
Final slurry mass10000 kg
  • !Preliminary make-up mass-balance estimate only — this is NOT a lime slaking design, neutralisation model, or pH prediction tool.

Formulas

Target slurry mass
m_slurry = m_slurry,t × 1000
Pure lime solids
m_lime,pure = m_slurry × solids% / 100
Commercial lime
m_lime,comm = m_lime,pure / (purity / 100)
Water mass
m_water = m_slurry − m_lime,comm
Water volume
V_water = m_water / ρ_liquid

Diagram

Milk of lime = lime solids + water at target wt% solidslimewt%watermilk of limetargetwt%make-up balance — not pH or slaking design

Worked example

Prepare 10 t of milk-of-lime slurry at 20 wt% lime solids using commercial lime at 90% purity, with a liquid density of 1000 kg/m³.

  1. 01Target slurry mass: 10 × 1000 = 10,000 kg
  2. 02Pure lime solids: 10,000 × 20 / 100 = 2000 kg
  3. 03Commercial lime required: 2000 / (90 / 100) = 2222.22 kg
  4. 04Water mass: 10,000 − 2222.22 = 7777.78 kg
  5. 05Water volume: 7777.78 / 1000 = 7.78 m³
Result

Slurry mass 10,000 kg, pure lime 2000 kg, commercial lime 2222.22 kg, water 7777.78 kg (7.78 m³).

FAQ

Does this predict pH or neutralisation performance?
No. It is a make-up mass balance for preparing a slurry at a target wt% solids. It does not model neutralisation chemistry, pH, lime reactivity, or slaking — those require testwork and a process model.
Why is the water mass slurry mass minus commercial lime?
The slurry is lime plus water. For the make-up balance the water mass is the target slurry mass less the commercial (as-delivered) lime mass, then converted to a volume using the liquid density.
What does the purity input do?
It scales the pure lime solids requirement up to a commercial (as-delivered) mass. At 90% purity, 2000 kg of pure solids needs about 2222 kg of commercial lime.
Is this a slaking or storage design?
No. It does not address slaking kinetics, heat release, particle size, scaling, dosing control, or rheology. Final lime-system design needs vendor data, site data, testwork, and qualified review.

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