Waste Water Treatment And Drinking Water Treatment.
Potassium permanganate is used in industrial wastewater systems to oxidize organic and inorganic pollutants. Permanganate reacts over a wide pH range and requires no additional catalyst. For drinking water purification, permanganate is primarily used to help control iron, manganese, sulfides, and color and arsenic. Permanganate is applied primarily for problems with taste/odor,
Use of permanganate in oil refinery .
Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is used commonly in the refineries to oxidize pyrophoric sulfide. Generally the potassium permanganate is added to the Crude tower during the cold water washing as a 1% solution. At various intervals, samples are taken and checked for color. The colors of the fresh KMnO4 and the spent MnO2 are purple and brown respectively. If the color of the solution becomes brown, additional KMnO4 is needed. The reaction is judged complete when the solution color remains purple. It takes approximately 12 hours to complete the job.
Printed Circuit Boards.
In the production of multilayer printed circuit boards,epoxy smear, coats the surface of the conductive inner layers preventing electrical connections between layers. Solutions of either potassium permanganate are used to de-smear and etch back these through-holes. Electrolytic regeneration of the permanganate reduces chemical and waste treatment costs.
Chemical Applications.
Potassium permanganate is used as an oxidizing agent in diverse chemical reactions in the laboratory and in industry. It also serves as a disinfectant and in deodorizers. It can be used as a reagent for the synthesis of many different kinds of chemical compounds. In wastewater treatment, it is used to neutralize hydrogen sulfide. In analytical chemistry, a standardized aqueous solution of KMnO4 is sometimes used as an oxidizing titrant for redox titrations due to its deep purple color. In a related way, it is used as a reagent to determine the Kappa number of wood pulp. Mixing potassium permanganate and formaldehyde forms a mild tear gas.
Potassium permanganate is used in the chemical industry to produce specific functionality through the oxidation of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, olefins, and other organic functional groups. Dilute solutions of KMnO4 convert alkenes into diols(glycols). KMnO4 oxidizes pseudoephedrine hydrochloride to produce methcathinone.