Is all soda lime created equal?

[QCPD16]

So I purchased an Icecap CO2 scrubber and used the included CO2 scrubbing media, which worked very well. I was getting daytime PH of about 8.25 and nighttime PH of about 8.15. After the included media expired I switched over to a more cost effective media (JorVet soda lime) and since making the switch my PH now tops out at just 7.97….. far below what I was getting with the icecap media. Can someone provide some insight on this? Thank you

 

[QCPD16]

For reference you can see that even as the Icecap media had changed color and started to become less effective it still outperformed the new media (last three days) by quite a bit

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

" Parameters such as chemical composition, moisture absorption, loss on dryness, granules shape, chemical absorbency and particle (dust) sizes play a very important role in determining the quality and life span of soda lime materials"

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mohd-Moesli-Muhammad/publication/263284091_Characterisation_of_Carbon_Dioxide_Absorbent_Material_For_Enclosed_Space_Applications/links/0deec53a7d29045fb1000000/Characterisation-of-Carbon-Dioxide-Absorbent-Material-For-Enclosed-Space-Applications.pdf

 

[Chrisv.]

" Parameters such as chemical composition, moisture absorption, loss on dryness, granules shape, chemical absorbency and particle (dust) sizes play a very important role in determining the quality and life span of soda lime materials"

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mohd-Moesli-Muhammad/publication/263284091_Characterisation_of_Carbon_Dioxide_Absorbent_Material_For_Enclosed_Space_Applications/links/0deec53a7d29045fb1000000/Characterisation-of-Carbon-Dioxide-Absorbent-Material-For-Enclosed-Space-Applications.pdf

This is super interesting— from the article it sounds like a lot of the key parameters are regulated by their primary customers (military and hospital settings). I’m sure reefing only accounts for a minuscule fraction of the market for this stuff. I’m a little surprised to see such noticeable differences given the strict tolerances set by those industries. I wonder how many of the “co2 reactors didn’t work for me” threads are due to using less effective soda lime.

would be cool to see a performance comparison.

 

[QCPD16]

" Parameters such as chemical composition, moisture absorption, loss on dryness, granules shape, chemical absorbency and particle (dust) sizes play a very important role in determining the quality and life span of soda lime materials"

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mohd-Moesli-Muhammad/publication/263284091_Characterisation_of_Carbon_Dioxide_Absorbent_Material_For_Enclosed_Space_Applications/links/0deec53a7d29045fb1000000/Characterisation-of-Carbon-Dioxide-Absorbent-Material-For-Enclosed-Space-Applications.pdf

Thank you for this info. I’ll start looking into some of these factors and try to figure it out.

 

[drawman]

Thank you for this info. I’ll start looking into some of these factors and try to figure it out.

@QCPD16 any update? I'm having the same issue the Icecap media gives a nice spike for about 3 days but the Jorvet does nothing. I'm surprised I would have thought it was the opposite based on what I remembered hearing others say.

 

[shutterspeed1000]

I have used Icecap and BRS and found the Icecap lasted a lot longer. No PH probe, but I usually check in the evening and morning to see how stable it was.