Reaction of hydrogen with liquid potassium

Abstract

A jet of clean potassium is continuously injected into hydrogen. A miniature electromagnetic pump is used to recirculate the molten metal. Rates of reaction of the gas with the metal surface over the pressure range 22·2–0·3 kN m^–2 have been measured at temperatures between 210 and 333 °C. The reaction obeys first-order kinetics with an apparent activation energy of 66·5 kJ mol^–1 which is slightly lower than that (72·4) for sodium. At the higher temperatures the process is complicated by the gradually increasing dissociation pressure of potassium hydride.