tarboat's photos with the keyword: lime

Tufa calcite deposits below the vast lime waste tips at the former Harpur Hill limeworks of Buxton Lime Firms Ltd. Great care has to be taken around these deposits due to the high alkilnity of the water which exceeds pH 12 in the lagoon immediately below the tips. The following explanation is taken from this fascinating report. The Harpur Hill Site: its geology, evolutionary history and a catalogue of materials present Report number: CR/13/104 British Geological Survey Commissioned Report, May 2015. Authors: Antoni Edward Milodowski, British Geological Survey. Douglas I Stewart, University of Leeds. www.researchgate.net/publication/289335354_The_Harpur_Hill_Site_its_geology_evolutionary_history_and_a_catalogue_of_materials_present The site at Harpur Hill was developed in the 1830’s for the large scale production of lime for the agricultural, building and chemical industries, which continued until the early 1950’s when production on this site ended. Lime production was an inefficient process leading to the creation of large amounts of waste in the form of under- and over-burnt limestone, lime fines, and ash from the low quality local coal used in the process. This waste has been deposited in tips at a number of locations at Harpur Hill, one of the larger tips being created by ‘tumble tipping’ over the side of the Brook Bottom valley, close to one of the banks of lime kilns. The valley carries an ephemeral stream at this location, which has been culverted under the tip, though the culvert is now largely blocked by calcium carbonate deposited within it. Because the waste is partly comprised of calcined limestone, it reacts with water which hydrates the burnt lime and forms a calcium hydroxide-dominated leachate with a pH of greater than 12. The leachate migrates through the tip and emerges from its base into the Brook Bottom valley. Here, contact with atmospheric carbon dioxide and mixing with local bicarbonate water leads to precipitation of calcium carbonate. This has led to the development of an extensive tract of fine grained and soft tufa deposits of calcium carbonate over a large area of the valley bottom downstream of the spoil tip. Where largely undiluted by fresh water, the fluid in the resulting lagoon in the vicinity of the tip base maintains a high pH (>12). Mixing with fresh water inflows and uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide occurs as the surface water flows downstream, resulting in continued calcium carbonate deposition and pH reduction. Most of the precipitation of calcium carbonate occurs in the first 400 m or so and the alkalinity, except in dry weather conditions, drops to around pH 8 over this distance. However small amounts of calcium carbonate deposition occurs for up to 2 km downstream. The leaching of the lime waste by percolating rainwater and shallow groundwater, and the development of the ‘lagoon’ of calcium carbonate precipitate, has probably been occurring since soon after waste tipping on the side of the valley commenced. Precipitation is continuing today, over 60 years since lime production ceased at Harpur Hill, and around 100 years after the bulk of the waste on this part of the site had been tipped and this tip ceased to be utilised for waste disposal (more recently waste has been tipped elsewhere in the quarry complex to the east, including into worked out areas of the quarry as production methods and kiln locations changed).

Dereliction amidst vast piles of lime at the abandoned lime works at Cefn Cribwr outside Kenfig.

This is one of two kilns on the site of the Side Lime Works in Midlothian. In use in the mid nineteenth century they were both disused by 1893.

Singleton Birch limeworks at Melton Ross. The company is Britain's leading independent supplier of lime products. Two of the four Maerz limekilns here can be seen peeping under the conveyor in the centre.

Limekiln remains at the site of the nineteenth century Arniston Lime Works in Midlothian. Map evidence suggests that this kiln was in use during the 1850s.

These two kilns both part of the Side Lime Works in Midlothian. In use in the mid nineteenth century they were both disused by 1893.

Dereliction amidst vast piles of lime at the abandoned lime works at Cefn Cribwr outside Kenfig.

Derelict machine amidst vast piles of lime at the closed lime works at Cefn Cribwr outside Kenfig.

Discharge equipment at the base of the shaft kiln at the disused Cimenterie Delwart, Tournai.

The Delwart cement company at Tournai was founded in 1926 and at one time employed 170 people. Production included quicklime and cement. This shaft kiln remains in derelict condition whilst still advertising the manufacturer many years after closure.

Feeding the Dahuichang limekilns. These large traditional draw kilns were part of the Beijing based Capital Iron & Steel empire.

Limekilns of Capital Iron and Steel Group on the outskirts of Beijing at Dahuichang. This is a confusing site with old stone built running kilns on one side and these more modern steel cased kilns amidst a complex range of buildings and other processes.

This bank of two kilns was constructed after c1865 to replace an earlier kiln. The kilns were connected to the nearby Thorn Green Quarry by a short tramroad. At least one of the kilns was still in use until the mid twentieth century.

Limekilns of Capital Iron and Steel Group on the outskirts of Beijing at Dahuichang. This is a confusing site with old stone built running kilns on one side and these more modern steel cased kilns amidst a complex range of buildings and other processes.

Those who know my obsession with limekilns will understand why I had to dash straight out this afternoon after Eagle1942 drew my attention to a book that had a photograph of a kiln quite near to home that I did not know about. This is a fine intermittent kiln at the side of the old road that ran down from the Whaley Bridge to Buxton turnpike to Errwood in the Goyt Valley. It is unusual in being situated in the gritstone area rather than nearer to the limestone quarries. It would, however, be able to take advantage of coal supplies from the numerous small mines in this area. Today the old road has been cut by the Errwood Reservoir that was constructed in the 1960s and motor traffic now uses the line of the Bunsall Inclines of the old Cromford and High Peak Railway. The view is taken looking at the top of the kiln into the filled-in pot. Behind lies Errwood Reservoir and beyond the land rises to the Tors with Shining Tor off the left side.

Not all large limekilns were great stone edifices; some late eighteenth and early nineteenth century kilns were rather more basic. The area to the south of Buxton has a significant concentration of these kilns that produced lime on a commercial scale. This example is just outside the gates to the High Edge Raceway and lies just inside the Peak National Park. The bare ground just left of centre is the face of the waste tips, whilst up and to the right of this is the kiln itself with a gap at the front where the burned lime has been raked out. The quarry that provided the stone lies behind.

Natural processes take over at Cocking Limeworks. Draw hole of a disused limekiln.

Longliffe Lime supplies a range of lime powders to industry. The works is located on a former silica brickworks site.