• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.371-383
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• 2009

Crystallinity and textural relations, which are crucial in terms of the quality concept of high-purity limestone, have not been effectively applicable to the limestone evaluation as crude ore due to the difficulties in precise measurements. To overcome the above, as a new method of ore characterization, a measurement of shape factor and grain boundary frequency utilizing the image analysing system was adopted in this study. Some domestic limestones used for lime manufacturing were investigated by such a quality evaluation method, and its results are discussed and correlated each other samples. As the result, even though calcite contents of crude ore, i.e., limestone grade and its crystal size are similar, quality of manufactured lime is remarkably different depending on the degree of shape factor and grain boundary frequency. In other words, as the more irregular in crystal shape and the higher the grain boundary frequency, the manufactured quick lime became more superior in all terms of lime quality such as rate of calcination, porosity, reactivity, sintering and decrepitation effect. However, because the quick lime become easily overheated in case of relatively higher degree in shape factor and grain boundary effect, a technology minimizing heating time is necessary for the manufacturing of high quality lime. In limestone industry, such a ore characterization method will be much more reasonable than the conventional method by measurement of mean size, because the method may collectively comprise crystal shape and other textural factors which can not be numerically evaluated in the past.