Potassium Chloride 1Kg 99%
Potassium chloride (also known as KCl or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt-like taste. It could be obtained from ancient dried lake deposits. KCl is used as a fertilizer, in medicine, in scientific applications, and in food processing, where it may be known as E number additive E508.
In a few states of the United States, it is used to cause cardiac arrest, as the third drug in the “three drug cocktail” for executions by lethal injection. It occurs naturally as the mineral sylvite, and in combination with sodium chloride as sylvinite.
Properties
Chemical formula: KCl
Molecular weight: 74.5513 g·mol−1
Boiling point: 1.420 °C
Melting point: 770 °C
Density: 1.984 kg/m³
Solubility in water: 217.1 kg/m³ (0 °C)
253,9 kg/m³ (20 °C)
360.5 kg/m³ (100 °C)
Chemical structure
Safety
Irritant
Description
As a chemical feedstock, it is used for the manufacture of potassium hydroxide and potassium metal. It is also used in medicine, lethal injections, scientific applications, food processing, soaps, and as a sodium-free substitute for table salt for people concerned about the health effects of sodium.
It is used as a supplement in animal feed to boost the amount of nutrients in the feed, which in turn promotes healthy growth in animals. As an added benefit, it is known to increase milk production.
It is sometimes used in water as a completion fluid in petroleum and natural gas operations, as well as being an alternative to sodium chloride in household water softener units.
Glass manufacturers use granular potash as a flux, lowering the temperature at which a mixture melts. Because potash confers excellent clarity to glass, it is commonly used in eyeglasses, glassware, televisions and computer monitors.
KCl is useful as a beta radiation source for calibration of radiation monitoring equipment, because natural potassium contains 0.0118% of the isotope 40K. One kilogram of KCl yields 16350 becquerels of radiation consisting of 89.28% beta and 10.72% gamma with 1.46083 MeV. In order to use off the shelf materials it needs to be crystallized sequentially using controlled temperature in order to extract KCl, which is the subject of ongoing research. There are also a small number of 511 keV gamma rays from positron annihilation which can be used to calibrate medical scanners.