Lime is an inorganic material composed primarily of calcium oxides and hydroxides. It is also the name for calcium oxide which is used as an industrial mineral and is made by heating calcium carbonate in a kiln. Calcium oxide can occur as a product of coal-seam fires and in altered limestone xenoliths in volcanic ejecta. The International Mineralogical Association recognizes lime as a mineral with the chemical formula of CaO. The word lime originates with its earliest use as building mortar and has the sense of sticking or adhering.
These materials are still used in large quantities in the manufacture of steel and as building and engineering materials (including limestone products, cement, concrete, and mortar), as chemical feedstocks, for sugar refining, and other uses. Lime industries and the use of many of the resulting products date from prehistoric times in both the Old World and the New World. Lime is used extensively for wastewater treatment with ferrous sulfate.
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