Fluorite
Hazard to Others
Posts: 132
Registered: 26-12-2018
Location: United Arab Emirates
Member Is Offline
|
|
calcium carbonate and potassium sulfate reaction!?
I wanted to make potassium chloride and all I had was potassium sulfate fertilizer (I guess) so I thought I can mix K2SO4 and CaCO3 in water and add
hcl to make CaCl2 in situ which should react immediately with potassium sulfate to make potassium chloride and calcium sulfate right?
I added concentrated potassium sulfate solution to eggshells but it started reacting and releasing a GAS!
I did the reaction in PET water bottle and I took it outside cause I freaked out
WHAT HAPPENED?
|
|
|
Fyndium
International Hazard
Posts: 1192
Registered: 12-7-2020
Location: Not in USA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Are you sure the stuff you've got are pure? Even if they contained traces of acids, the carbonate could react.
The solubility of calcium carbonate is exceedingly low, two orders lower than CaSO4 so eventually they should react, yes, but how long it takes and
what conditions, is another issue. It would also be difficult to determine when the reaction is complete.
|
|
|
unionised
International Hazard
Posts: 5102
Registered: 1-11-2003
Location: UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Eggshells are remarkably porous. It's possible that most of the gas you saw was air.
It would be more efficient to dissolve the eggshells in HCl
then add the solution of K2SO4 to the CaCl2 solution.
That way you avoid the problem of CaSO4 "coating" the shells.
You still have a potential problem; the CaSO4 is likely to precipitate as a sticky mess which is hard to filter off.
|
|
|
rockyit98
Hazard to Others
Posts: 283
Registered: 12-4-2019
Location: The Known Universe
Member Is Offline
Mood: no mood is a good mood
|
|
potassium chloride is a common fertilizer called "muriate of potash" i got lots of it for cheap but need filtering and recrystallization.
may be try NaCl + K2SO4 and cool it Na2SO4 have low solubility at lower temperatures.
[Edited on 26-11-2020 by rockyit98]
"A mind is a terrible thing to lose"-Meisner
|
|
|
Piroz
Harmless
Posts: 19
Registered: 15-12-2020
Location: Poland
Member Is Offline
|
|
Some dessicants are good sources of CaCl2, I used that for making potassium chloride from wood ashes.
Quote: Originally posted by unionised  |
You still have a potential problem; the CaSO4 is likely to precipitate as a sticky mess which is hard to filter off.
|
It's not problem if solution is diluted, in diluted solution CaSO4 doesn't precipitate quickly, but forms tiny crystals. If the reaction occurs in
plastic bottle crystals will grow on the wall, leaving clear solution after few days.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
