Startup Idea: Chemical Lime Workplace Cleaning Solution

Startup idea to develop an automated sprinkler system for managing and eliminating lime dust in a chemical lime mining environment. The system will periodically spray vinegar and water throughout the plant, reducing labour and health hazards in high-risk areas.

I work for a chemical lime above ground mining company named Lhoist North America. The daily duties of our job are extremely strenuous and often times work is needed around or directly under kilns putting off 200 plus degrees of heat. We are located in Alabama and it tends to be extremely hot and muggy here about 9 months out of the year. The natural heat combined with the heat from the kilns makes for extremely tough work conditions. On top of that, it is extremely dusty due to the nature of our product because it sticks and hardens to the plant structures. All the loose dust is comparable to water in that it can get on or inside of virtually anything. One bump against an I-Beam or handrail and you will be covered in lime.

Water will not remove the lime from these structures as it does not contain the right ingredients to dilute the lime enough to break it down. The only thing effective in removing the lime is 100 grain pure vinegar. This is what we have to use to get the lime off our skin which causes major skin irritation, 3especially on the face.

My suggestion would be to somehow create a sprinkler system that can run throughout the plant, similar to a fire suppressant sprinkler system in businesses, that will periodically spray coats of vinegar on structures, walls, catwalks, handrails, any high traffic areas where we need to do a lot of work and risk getting covered in lime. The vinegar sprays would then be followed by blasts of waster to help keep the loose dust and lime off of the structures so that when we bump something or the vibrations from us working(hammering, drilling, any type of maintenance work) will not cover us in lime.