The lime industry, a potential business area for Kanthal

Abstract: The subject of this M.Sc. thesis is to find out whether the lime industry is a possible business area for Kanthal AB. The lime industry is one of the biggest chemical industries in the world and it is very energy demanding. In the process of making quicklime, calcium oxide, a lot of energy is needed as the dissociation of limestone, which consists mainly of calcium carbonate, takes place in the temperature span between 900°C and 1300°C. The total production of quicklime was in 2009 about 280 million tonnes, and the selling price was about $100 per ton. Today, all limekilns are driven by fossil fuels, i.e. oil, coal and gas. The increasing demand on lowering the emissions of carbon dioxide strongly affects the industry, as it is responsible for about 2 % of the total emissions of carbon dioxide. The industry itself claims that the emissions may only be reduced about 10 %, although at very high costs. Kanthal AB produces electric heating solutions that may be suitable for lime production. However, the lime industry is conservative and the use of electricity for lime production is not economically feasible today. Most of the electricity comes from coal power plants and therefore the use of electricity would not be more environmentally friendly in most countries. New limekilns, which are more environmentally friendly, are on the way. These kilns do not necessarily have to use fossil fuels, provides a purer end product and the emission of carbon dioxide is minimized. The size of the production is also much lower, but the end products might be used in more demanding areas, e.g. the pharmaceutical industry, and be sold at a higher price. It is this area Kanthal has to focus on if going to enter the lime industry at this point.