potassium nitrate manufacturers

Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula KNO3. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3−, and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate.

It occurs as a mineral niter and is a natural solid source of nitrogen. Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as saltpeter or saltpetre.

Major uses of potassium nitrate are in fertilizers, tree stump removal, rocket propellants and fireworks. It is one of the major constituents of gunpowder (blackpowder) and has been used since the Middle Ages as a food preservative.

Uses:

Potassium nitrate has a wide variety of uses, largely as a source of nitrate.

Nitric acid production:

Historically, nitric acid was produced by combining sulfuric acid with nitrates such as saltpeter. In modern times this is reversed: nitrates are produced from nitric acid produced via the Ostwald process.

Oxidizer:

A demonstration of the oxidation of a piece of charcoal in molten potassium nitrate.

The most famous use of potassium nitrate is probably as the oxidizer in blackpowder. From the most ancient times through the late 1880s, blackpowder provided the explosive power for all the world's firearms. After that time, small arms and large artillery increasingly began to depend on cordite, a smokeless powder. Blackpowder remains in use today in black powder rocket motors, but also in combination with other fuels like sugars in "rocket candy". It is also used in fireworks such as smoke bombs. It is also added to cigarettes to maintain an even burn of the tobacco and is used to ensure complete combustion of paper cartridges for cap and ball revolvers. It can also be heated to several hundred degrees to be used for niter bluing, which is less durable than other forms of protective oxidation, but allows for specific and often beautiful coloration of steel parts, such as screws, pins, and other small parts of firearms.

Food preservation:

In the process of food preservation, potassium nitrate has been a common ingredient of salted meat since the Middle Ages,but its use has been mostly discontinued because of inconsistent results compared to more modern nitrate and nitrite compounds. Even so, saltpeter is still used in some food applications, such as charcuterie and the brine used to make corned beef. When used as a food additive in the European Union,the compound is referred to as E252; it is also approved for use as a food additive in the USA and Australia and New Zealand (where it is listed under its INS number 252). Although nitrate salts have been suspected of producing the carcinogen nitrosamine, both sodium and potassium nitrates and nitrites have been added to meats in the US since 1925, and nitrates and nitrites have not been removed from preserved meat products because nitrite and nitrate inhibits the germination of C. botulinum endospores, and thus prevents botulism from bacterial toxin that may otherwise be produced in certain preserved meat products.

Food preparation:

In West African cuisine, potassium nitrate (saltpetre) is widely used as a thickening agent in soups and stews such as okra soup[28] and isi ewu. It is also used to soften food and reduce cooking time when boiling beans and tough meat. Saltpetre is also an essential ingredient in making special porridges, such as kunun kanwa[29] literally translated from the Hausa language as 'saltpetre porridge'. In the Shetland Islands (UK) it is used in the curing of mutton to make "reestit" mutton, a local delicacy.

Fertilizer:

Potassium nitrate is used in fertilizers as a source of nitrogen and potassium – two of the macronutrients for plants. When used by itself, it has an NPK rating of 13-0-44.

About Damon:

Tianjin Damon International Trade Co.,Ltd. is an integrated company engaging in manufacturing and trading.Damon located in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) nearby the largest port in Northern China-Tianjin Xingang Port and possesses advantaged geographic position.Our main products are Sodium Sulphide,Sodium Hydrosulphide,Sodium Thiosulphate and Sodium Formate,etc. With the high quality products and professional service, products are exported to Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe and other countries and regions,get highly trust and praise from domestic and foreign customers.  

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