Soda lime

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Soda lime canister used in anaesthetic machines to act as a carbon dioxide scrubber.

Soda lime, a

slaked lime with a concentrated sodium hydroxide
solution.

Chemical components

The primary components of soda lime include: calcium oxide (CaO) constituting approximately 75%, water (H
2O) accounting for around 20%, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) making up about 3%, and potassium hydroxide (KOH) present at approximately 0.1%.

Anaesthesia

Further information: Carbon dioxide scrubber

During

anaesthesia machine's breathing circuit, containing a soda lime canister filled with soda lime granules.[1] Medical-grade soda lime includes an indicating dye that changes color when it reaches its carbon dioxide absorption capacity. To ensure proper functioning, a carbon dioxide scrubber (or soda lime canister) should not be used if the indicating dye is activated. Standard anesthesia machines typically contain up to 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) of soda lime granules.[citation needed
]

Recent carbon dioxide absorbents have been developed to minimize the risk of toxic by-product formation resulting from the interaction between the absorbent and

inhaled anesthetics, like halothane. Some absorbents, including those made from lithium hydroxide, are available for this purpose.[citation needed
]

Space flight

In space flights,

Lunar Module
led the crew to adapt spare absorbent cartridges from the Apollo capsule to the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) system.

Rebreather use

Exhaled gas undergoes a crucial process: it must pass through a carbon dioxide scrubber where carbon dioxide is absorbed before the gas is circulated for breathing again. In

recompression chambers or submarines, a fan is employed to ensure a continuous flow of gas through the scrubbing canister. Notably, the use of color indicating dye in United States Navy fleet applications ceased in 1996 due to concerns about potential chemical releases into the circuit.[4]

Chemical reaction

The overall chemical reaction is:

CO2 + Ca(OH)2 → CaCO3 + H2O + heat (in the presence of water)

Each mole of CO2 (44 g) reacts with one mole of calcium hydroxide (74 g) and produces one mole of water (18 g).

The reaction can be considered as a strong-base-catalysed, water-facilitated reaction.[5]

The reaction mechanism of carbon dioxide with soda lime can be decomposed in three elementary steps:

1) (CO2 dissolves in water – slow and rate-determining),
2) (bicarbonate formation at high pH),
3) (NaOH recycled to step 2 – hence a
catalyst
).

This sequence of reactions explains the catalytic role played by sodium hydroxide in the system and why soda lime is faster in chemical reactivity than calcium hydroxide alone.[6] The moist sodium hydroxide impregnates the surface and the porosity of calcium hydroxide grains with a high specific surface area.[7] It reacts much more quickly and so contributes to a faster elimination of the carbon monoxide from the rebreathing circuit. The formation of water by the reaction and the moisture from the respiration also act as a solvent for the reaction. Reactions in aqueous phase are generally faster than between a dry gas and a dry solid. Soda lime is commonly used in closed-circuit diving rebreathers and in the anesthesia breathing circuit in anesthesia systems.[8][9]

The same catalytic effect by the alkali hydroxides (function of the Na2Oeq content of cement) also contributes to the carbonation of portlandite by atmospheric CO2 in concrete although the rate of propagation of the reaction front is there essentially limited by the carbon dioxide diffusion within the concrete matrix less porous.[10]

Analogy with the alkali–silica reaction

See also: Alkali–silica reaction

A similar reaction to above, also catalysed by sodium hydroxide, is the alkali–silica reaction, a slow degradation process causing the swelling and the cracking of

silica dioxide
in the reactions mentioned here above as follows:

reaction 1:   SiO2 + NaOH   →   NaHSiO3   silica dissolution by NaOH:
high pH
reaction 2:   NaHSiO3 + Ca(OH)2   →   CaSiO3 + H2O + NaOH     C-S-H precipitation
and regeneration of NaOH
sum (1+2):   SiO2 + Ca(OH)2   →   CaSiO3 + H2O     global reaction:
Pozzolanic reaction
catalysed by NaOH

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7817-5745-4. Archived from the original
    on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7020-2571-6
    .
  3. ^ Richardson, Drew; Menduno, Michael; Shreeves, Karl (eds). (1996). "Proceedings of Rebreather Forum 2.0". Diving Science and Technology Workshop. Diving Science and Technology: 286. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-18.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. PMID 8653065. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-18.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  5. ^ Joseph Pelc (1923). Process of treating lime-containing materials. Application filed August 30, 1921. Serial No. 496,963. Patented Mar. 6, 1923. United States, 1,447,568 Patent Office.
  6. ISSN 1381-2386
    .
  7. ISSN 0377-0486
    .
  8. doi:10.1097/00000542-194107000-00009
    .
  9. ^ Freeman, Brian S.; Berger, Jeffrey S. (2014). Anesthesiology Core Review: Part One Basic Exam. Chapter 17: Absorption of Carbon Dioxide. McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved 22 April 2020 – via Access Medicine.
  10. ISBN 978-0-8031-5667-8
    .

External links
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