What Does
Calcium Carbonate Equivalent (CCE) Mean?
The calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) serves as the general basis of expressing hardness concentration and other elements, such as salts, in equivalent chemical terms to streamline various calculations.
The term simply means that the dissolved mineral concentration is chemically equivalent to the declared calcium carbonate concentration.
Corrosionpedia Explains Calcium Carbonate Equivalent (CCE)
Calcium carbonate equivalent is one of the key components in agricultural lime. There are other chemicals that are present, depending on the source of mineral. It is a vital component of liming due to many reasons, such as:
- It elevates the pH levels of acidic land areas.
- It offers a source of calcium for plants.
- It enhances the absorption of most plant nutrients.
- It facilitates the penetration of water, which can be difficult in acidic soils.
The quality of liming materials typically depends mainly on calcium carbonate equivalent. Other factors include fineness and size of the particles. CCE generally relates to purity or the neutralizing power per material's weight relative to pure calcium carbonate. For instance, liming materials like calcitic limestone, which is generally neutralized by calcium carbonate, has a CCE of 100, while hydrated lime has 135.
Reliable identification of CCE values is vital to ensure that the pH of agricultural soil is maintained over a certain period of time, as well as to ensure that the efficiency of lime is maintained along with the size of the particles.