Potassium Nitrate

About This Product

Potassium nitrate has the formula KNO3 and CAS number 7757-79-1, supplied as white crystals, prills or granules, freely soluble in water and only mildly hygroscopic compared with the other nitrates. Its agricultural value is largely about what it does not contain. Muriate of potash, potassium chloride, is the cheapest and most widely used potassium source, but it delivers roughly half its weight as chloride, and a number of important crops are chloride-sensitive: tobacco burns poorly, potatoes lose starch quality, grapes and stone fruit show leaf scorch and reduced quality. Potassium nitrate supplies potassium with nitrate rather than chloride, so those crops can be fed without the penalty. It also carries a low salt index for the nutrients delivered, which reduces the risk of root burn in fertigation and on saline soils. Beyond agriculture it is used as a heat-transfer and storage salt in concentrated solar power, in glass manufacture, in meat curing and in pyrotechnics, where it is a classic oxidiser. It is an oxidising agent and must be kept away from combustible material. It is used in fertigation and foliar feeding, chloride-sensitive crops, thermal storage salts, glass manufacture, meat curing and pyrotechnics. Bio Green Chem supplies potassium nitrate to specification on nitrogen and K2O content, chloride, moisture, insolubles and heavy metals.