Innovation and tradition Schaefer Kalk

INNOVATION AND TRADITION

Lime products can be found everywhere – they act as an ingredient in toothpaste or ready-to-mix concrete as well as in wastewater treatment plants. Julia Snow takes a look at the surprisingly wide product portfolio of lime experts Schaefer Kalk.

Based in Hahnstätten, Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany, Schaefer Kalk GmbH and Company KG can look back on a long tradition, which was marked with elaborate celebrations during its 150th anniversary in 2010. Five generations of the Schaefer family have managed the company since 1860, and they have based their ongoing success on an increasingly varied product portfolio.

Through strategic acquisitions in Germany and abroad, Schaefer Kalk has developed into a global supplier of specialised lime products. The lime production facilities in Steeden, Stromberg and Grevenbrück, which were purchased in 1999, together with Schaefer Kalk’s plants in Malaysia and China, have cemented the international reach of the company.

The most important factor contributing to the success of Schaefer’s products is the high quality of the limestone deposits in Hahnstätten, where Schaefer Kalk has access to raw material from one of the purest deposits in Europe: 350 million years-old Devonian lime rock with a very small mineral content. The company uses only the most advanced extraction and production technologies to satisfy the highest quality demands.

Active in many industries

Schaefer is one of the leading companies in the German lime industry and operates one of the most powerful lime plants in the world. The company quarries over three million tons of limestone per year, which is then crushed in grinders with an output of 700,000 tonnes, before being placed in 500,000-tonne hydrator units for further processing. After crushing and screening a small proportion of the extracted stones are delivered direct to customers, while the majority of the raw material is forwarded for further processing to the company’s 14 kilns. Depending on the required quality standard, the natural gas or solid fuel-fired kilns have a daily output of between 150 and 600 tonnes.

Schaefer PRECAL

The lime product range covers limestone and calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide and ready-to-use milk of lime, all offering a highgrade chemical purity and exactly defined physical properties under the brand name SCHAEFER PRECAL.

The calcined lime products include lump lime, fine lime, white lime hydrates and milk of lime, while the uncalcined limestone based products are available as lime stones and limestone granules, crushed limestone and limestone powder.

The company is a major supplier for the iron and steel industry, where calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide and powdered limestone are used for the blast furnace process and to separate the secondary components contained in the ore. Schaefer products are found in a wide range of sectors including the building materials industry, chemicals, iron and steel, paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, paper, environment, plastics and sealants and adhesives.

For all lime products, the security of supply is a vital criterion. 700, 000 tonnes per annum of grinding production capacity and a lime hydrating production capacity of more than 500, 000 tonnes per annum provide this security. It is enhanced by a storage capacity for shipping of over 20,000 tonnes.

Schaefer PRECARB

Under the brand name SCHAEFER PRECARB, the company supplies specialised precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) filler materials and pigments that have different properties with a defined grain structure. The company’s experience in PCC materials reaches back to 1954, and the modern production plants can be used to create specific solutions that match individual customers’ processes.

PCC can be produced as various crystal modifications and granule forms. The physical parameters for each of these precipitation products are optimised according to the desired application, for example particle size and granule size, single particles or agglomerations of primary crystals or specific surface and pore volume.

Its comprehensive know-how and use of state-of-the-art technology makes Schaefer Kalk one of the leading PCC producers, with an annual production capacity of over 350,000 tonnes. Wherever high chemical purity, brilliant whiteness and opacity, exactly defined crystal structures or exceptional fineness and tight particle size distribution are called for, Schaefer PCC is in demand. Its PRECAL products are needed for propylene oxide (an intermediate product for polyurethane), solvents and moisturisers as well as for antifreeze, resins, emulsifying agents and surfactants. Calcium oxide acts as a neutraliser and an important co-reactant for the production of citric acid, which is used in the beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. In petrochemistry, calcium hydroxide is used as an additive for mineral oils and to inhibit corrosion.

Schaefer PUTZ

The factory mortar made by Schaefer Kalk, and the finishing plasters made by its partner company KRUSEMARK, are distributed by SCHAEFER KRUSEMARK. The product range includes a complete assortment of plasterer or painter trade supplies: base plasters, finishing plasters, restoration plasters, thermal insulation plasters as well as a thermal insulation composite system under the brand name SCHAEFER KALOTHERM.

Schaefer Kalk has always put a great deal of emphasis on maintaining a diverse client base. To avoid being heavily dependent on the economic wellbeing of a limited number of clients or sectors, the company has successfully broadened its product range and acquired a broad spectrum of customers that will form the basis of future growth in many fields of application. n