METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF WATER SOLUBLE POTASSIUM

CONTENTS IN FERTILIZER SAMPLES

1. PURPOSE:
Determination of Potassium in Fertilizer
2. EQUIPMENTS/APPARATUS:
Flame photometer
Analytical balance
Volumetric flask, 100ml 1000ml
Pipette
Wash bottle
3. REAGENTS/CHEMICALS:
Potassium chloride: Use Certified Reference Material (CRM) or dry about 3 g potassium
chloride (KCl) in an oven at 120C for 1 2 hours, cool in a desiccator and store in a air
tight bottle.
Dissolve 1.9103 g dried potassium chloride in DI water, and bring to 1-L volume
with DI water. This solution contains 1000 ppm K (Stock Solution). Prepare substock solution of 100 ppm K .
Prepare a series of working standard solutions from the sub-stock solution as
follows:
Dilute 5, 10, 15 and 20 mL sub-stock solution to 100-mL final volume of each by
adding DI water. These solutions contain 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppm K, respectively.
4. METHOD:
Dissolve 1.0 g ground potassic fertilizer material in 1000 ml distilled water. Shake well to
dissolve. Filter the solution. Make further dilutions if necessary. Take readings of the
filtrate on flame photometer using standard operating procedure.
5. CALCULATIONS:
Calculate potassium (K) concentrations according to the calibration curve. Use
appropriate dilution factor in calculation.
K (ppm) x dilution Factor x 1.2046
K2O (%) =
10000
6. PRECAUTIONS / SAFETY REQUIREMENTS:
a) Analyse Potassium Chloride salt (Certified Reference Material) as a reference.
b) Take ample quantity of sample (approximately 200g) for grinding. Care should be
taken that all the sample taken for grinding must pass through sieve to obtain
homogeneous sample.
c) Filter the sample in case of liquid sample. Use filtrate for further analysis.
7. REFERENCE / RELATED DOCUMENTS:
a. Richards. L. A. 1954. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils.
USDA, Agric, Handbook 60, Washington, D.C.
b. Standard operating manual of instrument.