Calcium formate CAS#544-17-2

Calcium formate is a white to almost white fine crystalline powder. It can be used an accelerator for the pozzolanic cement pastes. On the one hand, it shortens the initial and final setting times and increases the compressive strength and combined water content as well as gel/space ratio at all ages of hydration. On the other hand, it decreases the total porosity. It has been shown that it has a growth-promoting effect in weanling pigs challenged with E. coli, independently of their susceptibility to the intestinal adhesion of this strain. More importantly, calcium formate can be used as a nutrient supplement to the feed of young growing pigs or fattening poultry, further boosting the growth of animals and the feed utilization. At the same time, it causes a reduction of the occurrence of piglet diarrhea.

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.