Low-Temperature Liquid Lime Slaking at Howard Bend Treatment Plant

MORE than 50 years have passed since the lime slakers used at Chain of Rocks, Mo., were installed. The design of these slakers was based on experiments in slaking lime conducted by W. F. Montfort.1 He established, through the use of live steam in heating the slaking water to 160°F, that maximum efficiency in slaking could be obtained by maintaining the temperature in the slaker tank at approximately 206° F. Montfort found that 1 lb of lime required a minimum of 3.5 lb of water to remain in a fluid condition. The heat exchangers, which were subsequently made part of the slaker equipment, were designed to allow the heat of the reaction to be transferred