Potassium Sulphate - High Purity Chemical Compound Ideal for Fertilizer Applications and Analytical Chemistry

The process for manufacturing Potassium Sulphate is similar to that used for the manufacture of sodium sulfate. Potassium sulfate can be synthesised by reaction of potassium chloride with sulfuric acid according to the Leblanc process. Potassium sulfate is produced according to the following reaction:
2 KCl + H2SO4 a 2 HCl + K2SO4
The Hargreaves process uses sulfur dioxide oxygen and water and potassium chloride as the starting materials to produce potassium sulfate. Hydrochloric acid evaporates off. SO2 is produced through the burning of sulfur
Potassium hydrogen sulfate or bisulfate KHSO4 is readily produced by mixing K2SO4 with an equivalent number of moles of sulfuric acid. It formsrhombic pyramids which melt at 197 A C. It dissolves in three parts of water at 0 A C. The solution behaves much as if its two congeners K2SO4 and H2SO4 were present side by side of each other uncombined; an excess of ethanol the precipitates normal sulfate (with little bisulfate) with excess acid remaining.
The behavior of the fused dry salt is similar when heated to several hundred degrees; it acts on silicates titanates etc. the same way as sulfuric acid that is heated beyond its natural boiling point does. Hence it is frequently used in analytical chemistry as a disintegrating agent. For information about other salts that contain sulfate see sulfate.
The principal use of potassium sulfate is as a fertilizer. K2SO4 does not contain chloride which can be harmful to some crops.