My Hydrated Lime Storage Experiment

[HARK!]

Hydrated lime can be used to store eggs without refrigeration. If this is the first that you have heard of this; I would strongly recommend that you fully understand how to do it, before you attempt it.

Here is a good place to get started:

Last week I bought a 50 pound bag of hydrated lime, a vacuum sealer, and some paper lunch bags.

I did some more research on water glassing eggs, and was advised that using a 3 gallon bucket for storage makes it easier to gather the eggs on the bottom for use first. FIFO. A 3 gallon bucket will hold up to 80 eggs.

Sources told me that 5 quarts of hydrated lime solution will be sufficient to cover a 3 gallon bucket full of eggs.

I also did some research on the shelf life of hydrated lime. As I suspected, like concrete, it doesn't last all that long when exposed to humidity; so I thought out a practical way to store it for long term use.

I started by writing the following on each paper lunch bag:

HYDRATED LIME
5 OZ BY WEIGHT
MIX WITH 5 QTS WATER
FOR 3 GAL BUCKET

I didn't want to take any chance that I would forget those ratios over the years, should the internet be down for any reason.

I then weighed out 5 OZ
.
I then transferred that to a measuring cup. For the product that I purchased, it worked out 1-1/4 Cups.
I then put the powder in the lunch bags, and neatly rolled them up; so the the text that I had written on them was all visible.

I found that it was useful to wear a mask during this process, as I found that was was inhaling some of the dust that was being stirred up with all of the motion. Hydrated lime is caustic; so I could have worn gloves too. I just rinsed and dried my hands from time to time. I'm not worried about getting a little bit of wet concrete on me; but extended exposure can cause severe chemical burns. I kept my my fingers away from my eyes; but eye protection might not have been a bad idea either; but I'm not all that cautious.

The paper bags will help protect the hydrated lime from light; but more importantly it will help to prevent the fluffy powder from being drawn into the vacuum sealer, which would cause damage to the machine.

I bought two 8 inch X 20 foot rolls of the vacuum bag plastic. The full, rolled, lunch bags fit the 8 inch dimension very nicely. With a little bit of experimentation, I found that an overall bag length (before sealing) of 7-1/4 inches worked nicely. This will yield 66 bags of finished product. I started my bag cutting process by marking my first 7-1/4 inch bag as a template. Through transference I didn't want my measurement to deviate. I then took that bag and aligned it with the edge of the remaining roll. I marked the roll with a felt tipped marker, and made my cut with a paper cutter, for a nice clean, square, edge. Then I repeated that process, being sure to work off of my template each time.

Excluding the cost of the vacuum I managed to put these bags together for under $1 a piece. We will see over the years how well this method works. I'll try to remember to post an update from time to time.

Hopefully it works well, and even if the grid goes down; and the trucks stop running; I can hopefully store eggs year round without refrigeration (from anywhere from 8 months to two years) for many years to come.

Again, be sure to fully understand how to properly water glass eggs before before you start that process. When it comes to what I eat, I'm very cautious.

 

[HARK!]

I knew that hydrated lime would react with water; but I hadn't considered that it would react with CO2, but of course:

Calcium oxide is usually made by the thermal decomposition of materials, such as limestone or seashells, that contain calcium carbonate ($\ce{CaCO3}$; mineral calcite) in a lime kiln. This is accomplished by heating the material to above 825 °C (1,517 °F), a process called calcination or lime-burning, to liberate a molecule of carbon dioxide ($\ce{CO2}$), leaving quicklime.

$$\ce{CaCO3(s) → CaO(s) + CO2(g)}$$

The quicklime is not stable and, when cooled, will spontaneously react with $\ce{CO2}$ from the air until, after enough time, it will be completely converted back to calcium carbonate unless slaked with water to set as lime plaster or lime mortar.

How is the process of converting calcium carbonate (CaCO3) into calcium oxide (CaO)?

I need to provide accurate information in relation to the production process of calcium oxide from calcium carbonate. $$\ce{CaCO3 -> CaO + CO2}$$

chemistry.stackexchange.com

I had studied how to make Roman concrete years ago; and in that study I found out that hydrated lime is what was used for white wash that was applied to fences, and such, in days past.


It should have occurred to me that the unstable CO would inevitably reunite with the abundant surrounding CO2.

It will be interesting to see how well these bags protect my product from CO2 over the long haul.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We have watched a few videos on water-glassing eggs. There are people who swear by it. We all may have to learn to do it one day soon. I am currently building a catio for Barbara's cats (5 of them). It is 8 by 16 and could easily be converted to either a chicken coop or a rabbit pen. Either way, we may have to repurpose it as circumstances dictate. Thanks for posting the video.

 

[JM]

Well done.