Potassium Nitrate
- IUPAC Name
- potassium nitrate
- Molecular Formula
- KNO3
- Molecular Weight (g/mol)
- 101.1000
- Synonyms & Trade Names
- Potassium nitrate; Saltpeter; Nitre; E252
- Purity / Assay (%)
- 99% min
- Physical Form
- Solid
Categories
Technical Document
Brief Overview
Potassium nitrate is a major source of nitrogen and is commonly known as saltpetre. Potassium nitrate is a orthorhombic crystal structure at room temperature, then changes to trigonal state at higher temperature. It is highly soluble in water and as temperature increases, solubility increases. It is insoluble in alcohol and can react explosively with reducing agents, but it is not explosive on its own.
Manufacturing Process
In earlier times, potassium nitrate was obtained from natural mineral sources and from caves. Nowadays, the production of potassium nitrate is done by making ammonium nitrate react with potassium hydroxide.
NH4NO3 (aq) + KOH (aq) → NH3 (g) + KNO3 (aq) + H2O (l)
For industrial scale, sodium nitrate and potassium chloride are reacted together to produce potassium nitrate and sodium chloride.
NaNO3 (aq) + KCl (aq) → NaCl (aq) + KNO3 (aq)
