Patent ID: 7338649

Claim:
A method for producing high purity, food grade hydrated lime, the method comprising the steps of: providing a source of raw hydrated lime; passing the raw hydrated lime through a first classification step which divides the raw hydrated lime into a first fine stream and a first coarse stream having particle sizes in the range from about +10 to 50 mesh; without combining the first fine stream with the first coarse stream, subjecting the first fine stream to a further classification step to produce a very fine product stream and removing the very fine stream to produce a very fine sized product having a particle size of about −325 mesh or below which meets CODEX chemical specifications; and wherein the step of subjecting the first fine stream to a further classification step includes the steps of first forming a wet slurry of the first fine stream and then subjecting the wet slurry to a wet separation process.