Applications
Pearl ash has been used for soap, glass, and china production. In the laboratory, it may be used as a mild drying agent where other drying agents, such as calcium chloride and magnesium sulfate, may be incompatible. It is not suitable for acidic compounds, but can be useful for drying an organic phase if one has a small amount of acidic impurity.
Mixed with water, it causes an exothermic reaction. It is mixed with distilled water to make a safer electrolyte for oxyhydrogen production than potassium hydroxide, the more commonly used electrolyte.
In cuisine, it is used as an ingredient in the production of grass jelly, a food consumed in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines. It is used to tenderize tripe. German gingerbread recipes often use potassium carbonate as a baking agent.
Potassium carbonate is sometimes used as a buffering agent in the production of mead or wine.
It will soften hard water. Aqueous potassium carbonate is also used as a toxin-free cleaning agent and is also called electrolyzed or "engineered" water. The water softening properties of the potassium carbonate add to water's natural ability to remove dirt and sanitize areas.
Aqueous potassium carbonate is used in the fertilizer industry for removal of carbon dioxide from the ammonia production synthesis gas coming from the steam reformer.
Aqueous potassium carbonate is also used as a fire suppressant in extinguishing deep-fat fryers and various other B class-related fires, and in condensed aerosol fire suppression, although as the byproduct of potassium nitrate.
Potassium carbonate is used in reactions to maintain anhydrous conditions without reacting with the reactants and product formed. It may also be used to dry some ketones, alcohols, and amines prior to distillation.
It is an ingredient in welding fluxes, and in the flux coating on arc-welding rods.
Read more about this topic: Potassium Carbonate