Formiato de cálcio

O formiato de cálcio (CAS 544-17-2) é um sal inorgânico branco, cristalino e inodoro, geralmente encontrado na forma de pó ou grânulos higroscópicos, com ponto de fusão em torno de 253 °C (com decomposição). Classificado quimicamente como um sal de ácido fórmico, atua como um agente quelante, acelerador de cura e fonte de íons cálcio em processos industriais. É amplamente empregado como aditivo em cimentos e argamassas para reduzir o tempo de pega, além de ser utilizado como conservante e acidulante em rações animais e alimentos. Suas aplicações estratégicas concentram-se nos setores da construção civil, nutrição animal, indústria de couros e produção de catalisadores, onde desempenha papel fundamental como intermediário funcional em formulações técnicas.

Preservative for food, silage; as binder for fine-ore briquets; in drilling fluids and lubricants.Calcium formate is an organic salt suitable for use in pig and poultry diets. It acts as a feedstock preservative and has an acidifying effect on the gastro-intestinal tract, which promotes good gut-health. The efficiency of pig and poultry feedstock digestion is dependent on the indigenous micro-organism concentration in the gastro-intestinal tract. With the approaching ban on the use of prophylactic antibiotics in animal feed as a means to control disease and promote growth, alternatives are needed to limit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria in the gut which can impair feedstock digestion as well as cause enteric diseases such as E. Coli and Salmonella. Acidifiers such as calcium formate preserve the feedstock before consumption and lower the pH in the gastro-intestinal tract, creating unfavourable conditions for these bacteria to grow.Calcium formate is used extensively in the leather industry as a masking agent in the chrome-tanning process. The addition of calcium formate to the tannage formulation promotes faster, more efficient penetration of the chrome in the leather. Calcium formate can also be used as a replacement for formic acid in the pickling operation.
Calcium formate, Ca(HCOO)2, is the calcium salt of formic acid, HCOOH. It is also known as food additive E238 in food industry. The mineral form is very rare and called formicaite. It is known from a few boron deposits. It may be produced synthetically by reacting calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide with formic acid.