Potassium chloride, reaction

A precipitation reaction occurs when two or more soluble species combine to form an insoluble product that we call a precipitate. The most common precipitation reaction is a metathesis reaction, in which two soluble ionic compounds exchange parts. When a solution of lead nitrate is added to a solution of potassium chloride, for example, a precipitate of lead chloride forms. We usually write the balanced reaction as a net ionic equation, in which only the precipitate and those ions involved in the reaction are included. Thus, the precipitation of PbCl2 is written as... 

Potassium Nitrate. Potassium nitrate, known but Httle used as a fertilizer for many years, may be reclaimed as a by-product of the production of sodium nitrate from natural deposits of caflche in Chile. KNO also has been produced by the double decomposition reaction between sodium nitrate and potassium chloride ... 

The first of these reactions takes place at temperatures of about 150°C, the second reaction proceeds at about 550—660°C. Typical furnaces used to carry out the reaction include cast-iron retorts the Mannheim mechanical furnace, which consists of an enclosed stationary circular muffle having a concave bottom pan and a domed cover and the Laury furnace, which employs a horizontal two-chambered rotating cylinder for the reaction vessel. The most recent design is the Cannon fluid-bed reactor in which the sulfuric acid vapor is injected with the combustion gases into a fluidized bed of salts. The Mannaheim furnace has also been used with potassium chloride as the feed. 

Reference Electrodes and Liquid Junctions. The electrical cincuit of the pH ceU is completed through a salt bridge that usually consists of a concentrated solution of potassium chloride [7447-40-7]. The solution makes contact at one end with the test solution and at the other with a reference electrode of constant potential. The Hquid junction is formed at the area of contact between the salt bridge and the test solution. The mercury—mercurous chloride electrode, the calomel electrode, provides a highly reproducible potential in the potassium chloride bridge solution and is the most widely used reference electrode. However, mercurous chloride is converted readily into mercuric ion and mercury when in contact with concentrated potassium chloride solutions above 80°C. This disproportionation reaction causes an unstable potential with calomel electrodes. Therefore, the silver—silver chloride electrode and the thallium amalgam—thallous chloride electrode often are preferred for measurements above 80°C. However, because silver chloride is relatively soluble in concentrated solutions of potassium chloride, the solution in the electrode chamber must be saturated with silver chloride. 

A variety of shale-protective muds are available which contain high levels of potassium ions (10). The reaction of potassium ions with clay, well known to soil scientists, results in potassium fixation and formation of a less water-sensitive clay. Potassium chloride, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate [584-08-7] (99), tetrapotassium pyrophosphate [7320-34-5] (100), and possibly the potassium salts of organic acids, such as potassium acetate [127-08-2] (101) and formate, have all been used as the potassium source. Potassium chloride is generally preferred because of its low cost and availabihty. 

Potassium Nitrate. Potassium nitrate [7757-79-17, KNO, is produced commercially in the United States based on the reaction of potassium chloride and nitric acid (qv) (35). Ammonia (qv) oxidation is the source for the nitric acid and the reaction is manipulated chemically to yield chlorine as a co-product. The process is operated at an elevated temperature to drive the reaction to completion according to the following equation ... 

Physicochemical relationships are such that soHd potassium chloride can be converted to soHd potassium nitrate ia a one-stage operation of the simplest kiad. The conversion takes place ia a stirred reaction system (Fig. 10). The overall separation is analogous to a rectification and stripping operation ia a distillation process. 

A methathesis reaction between hot aqueous sodium nitrate and soHd potassium chloride generates aqueous potassium nitrate and soHd sodium chloride. 

The quality and yield of carbon black depends on the quaUty of the feedstock, reactor design, and input variables. The stmcture is controlled by the addition of alkaU metals to the reaction or mixing 2ones. Usual practice is to use aqueous solutions of alkaU metal salts such as potassium chloride or potassium hydroxide sprayed into the combustion chamber or added to the make oil in the oil injector. Alkaline-earth compounds such as calcium acetate that increase the specific surface area are introduced in a similar manner. 

Manufacture. Most chlorate is manufactured by the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution in electrochemical cells without diaphragms. Potassium chloride can be electroly2ed for the direct production of potassium chlorate (35,36), but because sodium chlorate is so much more soluble (see Fig. 2), the production of the sodium salt is generally preferred. Potassium chlorate may be obtained from the sodium chlorate by a metathesis reaction with potassium chloride (37). 

When heated with pyrocatechol [720-80-9] copper powder, and alcohoHc sodium hydroxide, carbon tetrachloride gives a blue color that changes to red on addition of hydrochloric acid. This color reaction is not produced by chloroform. Quantitative analysis of carbon tetrachloride may be done by first decomposing the sample free of organic and inorganic chlorides, heating in a sealed tube with alcohoHc potash, and subsequently determining the potassium chloride formed as the silver haHde. The Zeiss interference refractometer has been used to determine the concentration of carbon tetrachloride vapor in air (36). 

The concentration dependence of iron corrosion in potassium chloride [7447-40-7] sodium chloride [7647-14-5] and lithium chloride [7447-44-8] solutions is shown in Figure 5 (21). In all three cases there is a maximum in corrosion rate. For NaCl this maximum is at approximately 0.5 Ai (about 3 wt %). Oxygen solubiUty decreases with increasing salt concentration, thus the lower corrosion rate at higher salt concentrations. The initial iacrease in the iron corrosion rate is related to the action of the chloride ion in concert with oxygen. The corrosion rate of iron reaches a maximum at ca 70°C. As for salt concentration, the increased rate of chemical reaction achieved with increased temperature is balanced by a decrease in oxygen solubiUty. 

Because tertiary alcohols are so readily converted to chlorides with hydrogen chloride, thionyl chloride is used mainly to prepare primary and secondary alkyl chlorides. Reactions with thionyl chloride are nonrrally carried out in the presence of potassium carbonate or the weak organic base pyridine. 

In these systems, particularly systems such as potassium chloride polymer, the role of bentonite is diminished because the chemical environment is designed to collapse and encapsulate the clays since this reaction is required to stabilize water-sensitive formations. The clay may have a role in the initial formulation of an inhibited fluid to provide the solids to create a filter cake. 

A mixture of potassium chloride and potassium bromide weighing 3.595 g is heated with chlorine, which converts the mixture completely to potassium chloride. The total mass of potassium chloride after the reaction is 3.129 g. What percentage of the original mixture was potassium bromide ... 

The most widely used reference electrode, due to its ease of preparation and constancy of potential, is the calomel electrode. A calomel half-cell is one in which mercury and calomel [mercury(I) chloride] are covered with potassium chloride solution of definite concentration this may be 0.1 M, 1M, or saturated. These electrodes are referred to as the decimolar, the molar and the saturated calomel electrode (S.C.E.) and have the potentials, relative to the standard hydrogen electrode at 25 °C, of 0.3358,0.2824 and 0.2444 volt. Of these electrodes the S.C.E. is most commonly used, largely because of the suppressive effect of saturated potassium chloride solution on liquid junction potentials. However, this electrode suffers from the drawback that its potential varies rapidly with alteration in temperature owing to changes in the solubility of potassium chloride, and restoration of a stable potential may be slow owing to the disturbance of the calomel-potassium chloride equilibrium. The potentials of the decimolar and molar electrodes are less affected by change in temperature and are to be preferred in cases where accurate values of electrode potentials are required. The electrode reaction is... 

Thus we have Example 5 from Table 4.1. Equation 4 gives a better description of the overall reaction, but equation 5 highlights the essential chemical process, and can also stand for the parallel reactions where sodium chloride is replaced by potassium chloride, or at r other soluble chloride. The chemistiy student is expected to appreciate how both equations 4 and 5 can represent the same chemical processes. 

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