The project report includes Present Market Position and Expected Future Demand, Market Size, Statistics, Trends, SWOT Analysis and Forecasts. Report provides a comprehensive analysis from industry covering detailed reporting and evaluates the position of the industry by providing insights to the SWOT analysis of the industry.
Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is an innovative product derived from lime, which has many industrial applications. PCC is made by hydrating high-calcium quicklime and then reacting the resulting slurry, or “milk-of-lime”, with carbon dioxide. The resulting product is extremely white and typically has a uniform narrow particle size distribution. PCC is available in numerous crystal morphologies and sizes, which can be tailored to optimize performance in a specific application.
Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is used in applications where, for example, higher brightness or a narrow particle size distribution is required.
PCC, Precipitated Calcium Carbonate, is also known as purified, refined or synthetic calcium carbonate. It has the same chemical formula as other types of calcium carbonate, such as limestone, marble and chalk: CaCO3. The calcium, carbon and oxygen atoms can arrange themselves in three different ways, to form three different calcium carbonate minerals.
Calcium carbonates, including PCC, are considered to be non-toxic. As long as the PCC meets certain purity requirements, it can be used as a direct food additive, as a pharmaceutical or as an indirect additive in paper products that come in contact with food. Similar acceptances and approvals exist around the world where PCCs are widely used in these applications.
Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) is filler used in many applications, like papers, plastics, rubbers, paints, drugs and so on. Its high purity, well-ordered particle size and morphology makes it the white filler of choice.1 In paint production, PCC has established itself as a primary extender due to its unique properties such as its low basic colour, high weather resistance, relative abrasiveness, low electrolyte content, non-toxicity and the pH stabilizing effect. Different kinds of crystal are suitable for a particular application and only the right PCC can boost the quality of the end products. Precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) produced with a prismatic and rhombohedral-shape has maximum light dispersion at 0.4 to 0.5 µm sized particles.
PCC is generally made from a high purity calcium carbonate rock called limestone. This limestone deposit is the result of a very thick layer of prehistoric sea animal shells and skeletons being laid down on the ocean floor. These shells and skeletons were largely composed of calcium carbonate. Over a period of five hundred million years this deposit was under high temperature and high pressure, and the deposit changed to a coarsely crystallized limestone. All of the organic matter that was in the deposit was removed by oxidation, a process called diagenesis.
The advantage of PCC lies in the prospect of tailor making the products with definite particle morphology, particle size and distribution as well as specific surface area. PCC is a refined natural form of limestone using techniques. The purity can be increased to 99.9 % or 99.999 %, and grain size can be controlled in a range from submicron to more than 10 micron.
Why is all That Processing Done?
First, there are several points in the PCC process where the calcium carbonate can be purified, removing much of the rock from the deposit that is not calcium carbonate—there are always some impurities in any limestone deposit. These include feldspar and other silicaceous minerals, as well as heavy metals.
• Second, the PCC process allows to grow crystals of different shapes. The particle formed is dictated by the control of reaction time, temperature, agitation, pressure, rate of carbon dioxide addition, and post-crystallization processing. These shapes—clustered needles, cubes, prisms, rhombohedrons—have different physical properties such as powder density, surface area and oil absorption, which give them outstanding performance in many applications where ground calcium carbonate does not perform as well.
• The precipitation process also allows the growing of very fine particles, down to nanometers or hundredths of a micron—much finer than can be obtained by just grinding the limestone rock. These ultrafine nano PCCs have special applications where high performance is required.
Carbon dioxide for PCC manufacturing is in general taken from cleaned flue gases of industries located nearby the PCC plant, thus reducing the CO2 emissions from this specific source. However, the production of reactive calcium from limestone usually generates an amount of CO2 equal to or larger than what is chemically stored in carbonates. Thus, in case calcium could be brought into a PCC manufacturing process with a smaller carbon dioxide penalty, the process route would contribute to mitigating CO2 emissions and global climate change. Carbon dioxide would be stored as a solid and stable mineral by using the technology commonly known as mineral carbonation.
For PCC manufacturing, however, it is essential to guarantee a high product quality, particularly high purity, as well as a suitable particle size. Assuming that these properties are not compromised, the product could be marketed as a replacement for PCC produced with traditional methods.
What Is Unique About A Precipitated Calcium Carbonate?
The different shapes allow PCC to act as a functional additive in sealants, adhesives, plastics, rubber, inks, paper, pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements and many other demanding applications. A formulator can choose a shape, and the physical properties that result from that shape, that gives the best performance in the end use.
In the PCC process, products can be made with very small sizes, with high surface areas, high oil absorptions, and/or with different powder bulk densities— from ultra-low to super-high powder densities.
The worldwide market for Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 0.7% over the next five years, will reach 3930 million USD in 2024, from 3760 million USD in 2019, according to a new study.
It is intended to prepare a Feasibility Report to install a Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) production facility with an installed capacity of 36000 Tons / Year as a Green Field Project.
