Chile saltpeter

Nitric acid, or aqua fortis as it was called in medieval times, has been known and used by mankind for centuries. At first, it was produced by heating a mixture of sodium nitrate (Chile saltpeter) and sulfuric acid. The product obtained was sodium hydrogen sulfate, and the nitric acid vapors escaping during this process were condensed ... 

Nitric acid was generated in this manner prior to the year 1900, and its production depended on the availability of Chile saltpeter. The increasing importance of nitrogen compounds as a fertilizer rendered this method inadequate to satisfy the escalating demand. In 1903, the... 

Natron-metall, n. (metallic) sodium, -pastille, /. Pharm.) troche of sodium bicarbonate, -pr parat, n, soda preparation, -reihe, /, Pets-og.) soda series, -salpeter, m. soda saltpeter, Chile saltpeter (NaNOa), -salz,... 

Iodine is recovered from iodates in Chile saltpeter by the reaction... 

Sodium Nitrate (Chile Saltpeter, Cubic or Soda Niter, Caliche, Nitratine). NaN03, mw 85.01,... 

Na nitrate occurs native in large deposits in the rainless districts of Chile, hence it is often called Chile saltpeter or Chile niter . The Na nitrate in the deposits constitutes from 20 to 50% in a distinct stratum of earth known as caliche . The caliche is crushed and lixiviated in large tanks of w heated by steam. The settled soln is run off to crystallizers, where crude nitrate separates, the mother liquors being run back to the lixiviators. The crysts are washed with a little w and dried in the sun they contain 95—96% Na nitrate (Ref 1)... 

Nitric Add from Saltpeter. In the manuf of nitric acid from Chile saltpeter 85 parts of saltpeter and 98p of coned sulfuric acid (both calculated on 100% basis) were heated together in large iron retorts, often capable of holding 5 tons or more of ingredients. The following reaction took place ... 

Eng 20, 470-477 (1919) (Description of ammonia oxidation process beginning with Kuhl-mann s method of 1839 and ending with the cyanamide process at Muscle Shoals) 7) C.L. Parsons, 1EC 11,541 (1919) (Oxidation of ammonia to nitric acid as well as the prepn of nitric acid from Chile saltpeter) 8) F.C. Zeis-berg, ChemMetEng 24, 443-45 (1921) (Manuf of nitric acid from Chilean saltpeter brief description) 9) G.B. Taylor, IEC 26,1217-19 (1922) (Some economic aspects of ammonia oxidation) 10) Ministry of Munitions, Manufacture of Nitric Acid from Nitre and Sulfuric Acid , London (1922) (Book No 7 of Technical Records of Explosives Supply, 1915—1919)... 

Oare Powders. Expls manufd in 1898 by the Cotton Powder Co, Ltd, of Faversham (Kent), Engl. They originally contained, as the main ingredients, Chile saltpeter (Na nitrate) and Dinitrobenzene, but later the latter ingredient was replaced by TNT Ref Daniel (1902), 587... 

Soda nitre chile saltpeter sodium saltpeter nitratine nitric acid sodium salt... 

Iodine occurs as iodide ions in brines and as an impurity in Chile saltpeter. It was once obtained from seaweed, which contains high concentrations accumulated from seawater 2000 kg of seaweed produce about 1 kg of iodine. The best modern source is the brine from oil wells the oil itself was produced by the decay of marine organisms that had accumulated the iodine while they were alive. Elemental iodine is produced by oxidation with chlorine ... 

Sodium is the sixth most abundant element on earth. It comprises about 2.6% weight of the earth s crust. Its salt, sodium chloride, is the major component of seawater. The concentration of sodium in seawater is 1.08%. As a very reactive element, sodium is never found in free elemental form. It occurs in nature in many minerals such as cryolite, amphibole, zeolite, sodalite, and soda niter. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most common salt of sodium. Some other important salts are caustic soda (NaOH), soda ash (Na2C03), baking soda (NaHCOs), Chile saltpeter (NaNOs), borax (Na2B407 IOH2O), sodium thiosulfate (Na2S203), sodium sulfate (Na2S04), and sodium phosphates. 

Synonyms Chile saltpeter Chilean nitrate soda niter... 

Diffusion of Iodine in Nature. The presence of iodine in the Chile saltpeter deposits was first noted by A. A. Hayes, who found it to be present as iodate (142,143). 

Lammot du Pont introduced a new formula, less expensive BkPdr by replacing the Indian saltpeter (K nitrate) with the much cheaper Chile saltpeter (Na nitrate) (Vol 5... 

DuPont, Lammot (1831—1884). Amer industrialist, grandson of founder of the company, E.I. duPont de Nemours. He expanded the duPont works and substituted the cheaper Chile saltpeter for K nitrate (imported from India) in the manuf of BkPdr. About 1880 he established the Repauno Chemical Co which manufd Dynamite contg wood pulp as an absorbent. He was killed by accidental ex pin in 1884 and was succeeded by William duPont... 

Until World War I, AN was manufd chiefly by neutralizing, with weak HNO, the NH, present in aqueous by-products of the artificial gas and coking industries. As the HNO, was then manufd from Chile saltpeter, it contained HC1, HNO, and boric acid as impurities, while the gas liquor NH, used contained pyridine and thiocyanates. Consequently, the AN also contained the same impurities. Such An was used in blasting explosives and, to some extent, in mixed fertilizers. In 1913 the manuf of HNO, from NH, produced from atmospheric nitrogen was begun in Europe. This acid was of a higher degree of purity and, as it was neutralized with synthetic NH, the AN produced was much purer than that obtained by the earlier process... 

Thermal Stability. In general, pnre AN may be considered stable up to its mp (169.9°) Reports of early investigators, such as Berthelot (Refs 1 8), that the salt begins to decompose at temps as low as 100°, were apparently correct because the substance was not pure. In the days when nitric acid (used for the manuf of AN) was prepd from Chile saltpeter, some nitrites and chlorides, as well as other impurities, remained in the AN, and it was apparently due to them that the stability of the product was not satisfactory. Tram it Velde (Ref 49) found that as little as 0 1% of Amm or Na chloride increases greatly the probability of decompn of AN, while 1—2% of such impurities are definitely the cause of increase of decompn of molten AN... 

SALTPETER. Potassium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is often called Chile saltpeter, and calcium nitrate is sometimes called Norway saltpeter... 

Nitrate. Sodium nitrate, nitrate of soda, Chile saltpeter, caliche, [CAS 7631-99-4], NaN03, white solid, soluble, mp 308°C. source in nature is Chile, in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen HN03 is frequently transformed by sodium carbonate into sodium nitrate, and the solution evaporated. Used tl) as an important nitrogenous fertilizer, (2) as a source of nitrate and HNO3, (3) in pyrotechnics, (4) in fluxes,... 

Caliche or Nitre- Bed. A term used in Chile for a layer of gravel or rocks contg Na nitrate (Chile saltpeter) together with Na sulfate (salt cake), Na chloride (table salt) small amts of other salts. Caliche varies in depth from 2 to 20ft and is covered by 1 to 12ft of sand overburden. The deposits are found in a desert in Atacama of province Tarapaca (Northern Chile) extending 400 miles north and south with a width of 5 to 40 miles. Deposits of Na nitrate, on a smaller scale have been found in Argentina, Bolivia, California and Peru (Ref 1, 2 3)... 

Chile Saltpeter, Same as Sodium Nitrate. See under Nitrates... 

The sodium iodate found as an impurity in Chile saltpeter was once the major source of iodine. 

In the method used before WWII, NA was prepd by heating Na nitrate (Chile saltpeter) with sulfuric add, while the current method consists of oxidation of anhydrous ammonia in the presence of catalyst (Pt gauze)... 

In addition to relatively small amounts of iodine that are extracted from the ashes of kelp, the great bulk of iodine produced commercially is obtained from sodium iodate. This compound occurs along with sodium nitrate (Chile saltpeter), and the iodine is extracted by treating the iodate with sodium hydrogen sulfite ... 

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